"I am The Resurrection and the Life." - James King

 James King - a special appearance at Jumbo Jimmy's ( Port Deposit, Md.) 24 November 2013

24 November 2013

     It's not often I pull double duty on a bluegrass weekend. Especially on such a cold, nasty weekend here in the DC area. But I'm driven on by the urge not to miss anything, and apparently there are a lot of other Maryland bluegrass fans who feel the same way. Come hell or high water, when good bluegrass is offered the crowds will show. Blue Train made its second appearance at the Williamsburg Inn on November 23rd, and surprise, surprise, reservations had to called in at the last minute if you wanted a table. There was a lot of last-minute confusion and one would think that's a bad omen until you realize that any local band would want that kind of situation to occur. There's nothing more satisfying than a full-house. And the Williamsburg Inn Pavilion is a rather unique playing space. It's a huge, attached event tent with a beautiful dance floor and stage, and it's cozily warmed against the cold with a heating system. We got there early to enjoy a meal and we were lucky to get a table in the main dining room. The Inn was filled with Saturday night diners.

     I think back to June 17th, 2013 when Blue Train made its first appearance up in Spring Grove, Pa. They were good then, today they're even better and improving with each show. The dance floor was busy all evening. The wind howled outside and no one cared. Dave Propst never sounded better on mandolin and vocals. As a matter of fact, the whole band sounded better. It's tough to single out any particular band member because these guys work so well as a unit. I gave up on my usual picture-taking and note-taking early on and joined everybody on the dance floor. The whole room was busy with inter-action between old bluegrass friends. Herb Martin and Aaron Martin were there and Herb was handing out some of his home-raised eggs to friends. (I copped a dozen - Thank You Herb!) The Martin Brothers & Aspen Run, in tandem with Blue Train have a big show coming up on December 7th at the Eureka Fire Hall in Stewartstown, Pa. Connie and I danced the night away - we all did - especially the Baltimore Fan club of Kerry, Clarice, Brenda and young Ronnie, who had never experienced bluegrass music. He may never experience anything like that again.

     We go to mass at 10:00 every Sunday. We had a tough time dragging ourselves out of bed. The price you pay for having fun with friends and then driving all the way back to Virginia in strong winds very late at night.
James King was playing in the afternoon at Jumbo Jimmy's in Port Deposit. I should have taken the day off but I'm an addict for hillbilly music and had this gut-feeling that I didn't want to miss an opportunity to see James King. I'd heard so much about him. He's one of the local legends in Maryland bluegrass circles. I had just purchased his latest CD "Three Chords and The Truth." I play it over and over again. Then everybody started telling me stories about James King. It's often hard to dismiss hearsay from fact, especially in this crazy realm of the bluegrass community. The music is what matters and this is the central statement in "Three Chords and the Truth." When I try to document this music I approach it with one thing in mind: is Ed Henry being entertained or not? This style of music will not entertain or even begin to enlighten everybody. Especially when it's being so basically delivered to a listener. I left the pavilion on Saturday night (no one wanted to leave due to the energy, and besides, the wind was blowing so badly!) and Rex Smith, Yvonne Smith, and Jerry Riecke hounded me with questions as to whether I would show up for James King the next day. "I don't know," I said, "Let's wait and see."

     The wind hadn't abated one bit. I made it to mass and checked my Christmas lights before I left for Port Deposit. I'm glad I got them up on the house while the weather was still balmy. I got to Jumbo Jimmy's and it looked like old home-week. The place was packed. The warnings were correct. Get there early if you want a seat. Joyce Miller and the Lundy's were taking up a couple of tables. Old musician friends of James' had come down from Pennsylvania. There was a buzz in the air. It was a family reunion of a lot of people who had played together since the early 80's. There was a lot of talk about Danny Paisley's health situation - if you're reading this Danny, know there are a lot of your fans and friends pulling for you. The music started at 4:00 and the dance floor quickly filled and stayed that way through 7:30. Working without a play-list James King was shooting from the hip with old country standards, songs from his latest CD, and Stanley tunes. It got wild. The band had to pull back their equipment a couple times to give more room to the dance crowd.
I'm a bluegrass hillbilly music junkie. I thought I was going to over-dose. Good music, good times, wonderful people to be with and enjoy yourself. It's about as simple a combination as you can get. James King is in the end, wonderful entertainment.

Blue Train:  Rick Miller, Dave Propst, Tom Reeves, George Osing, and Tom Lyons.

James King's players:  Barry Crabtree, Merl Johnson, Jesse Smathers, and John Marquess.