Rick Jones (Banjo) with Foggy Hollow Bluegrass, 24 May 2014
24 May 2014: Street, Maryland
It was billed as a benefit for two members of the Maryland Bluegrass Family who lost everything in a bad fire, but I think it was actually a Fiddle Festival. No. Wait a minute. It was a Banjo Festival with some of the best banjo-players in Maryland. It wasn't actually that, either. It was a Bluegrass Festival with a whole day's worth of some of the best bands in Maryland. Yeah. It was actually a festival with the voices and musicianship of Danny Paisley, Carroll Swam, Darlene Harris, Warren Blair, Martha McEvoy, and wild-man Frankie Short. No, it really wasn't a festival it was a party. You have to sit in a chair at a festival and scream "Down in front!" to people. Here, you could dance, eat lots of great food (no funnel cakes, no cotton-candy) and move around and see all the friends you might miss at a festival. Rick Miller (Blue Train) summed it up best: "Wow! I get to see the bands I've missed because we're always playing somewhere." We audience members hardly ever consider that. When you're working, you don't get to see other bands or player-friends in the business.
On this day, it was a rare opportunity to catch up on old times, recount bluegrass lore and funny stories, and generally celebrate the existence of a wonderful sub-culture. I met some really great people for the first time, heard some bands for the first time, and enjoyed hearing the stories of people like Steve Sadler (Foggy Hollow Bluegrass) and Brian Eldreth (Northern Connection). There's always a 'sleeper' or two just like at a festival. You walk away amazed that you hadn't heard them before. Such is the case with Carroll Swam and Bluestone and Butch Arrowood and his relatively new group called Short Notise. They blew me away. It's different when you're not out to impress anyone. You want to do the best you can because it's all for a good cause and you want to look good, but the day is about having fun, playing with, and playing for friends, and smoking and joking with the Boys out back while you're warming up and waiting to go on. Out back and in front of the dance floor it was hot - literally and figuratively.
The day warmed up and so did the bluegrass. Danny Paisley opened it up at 1:00 like an artillery barrage hitting the French trenches during World War I. Then in an emotional come-back, Rick Jones and Foggy Hollow played for the next hour, then Frankie Short and Northern Connection got the dance floor going. It never stopped till 10:00 pm and the Hall remained filled throughout the whole day of celebrating the music and fundraising for Rick and Joyce. All this when people had things to do and places to be on one of the busiest weekends of the year. I had to smile at it all. What a great sign of a healthy, vibrant music community. Darned near like a church of true-believers out to help someone in need. The Moveable Feast kept moving too. From up front to out back. How about this vision? John Glik and Mike Munford jamming out back. Mike Munford jamming with Carroll Swam and other guests. Warren Blair fiddling with T.J. Lundy and other fiddlers. One group would leave the hot Hall for some cool air outside and another group would take their place inside. You couldn't have purchased a ticket for this kind of music experience. And here's another fact: none of this happens in a vacuum.
It takes people to make it happen. It takes bands that are willing to give of their time because that's what they want to do. Sara Shock and Darlene Harris began weeks ago to get the ball rolling, along with the strong cooperation of the the Darlington/Dublin VFW Post. It was a natural. The Post has a long tradition of supporting live music, especially traditional bluegrass. On this day, I was fortunate to meet Post Commander Chris Harkins and 'media director' Jennifer Hannah. Both were very cordial in answering my questions and stayed the course for the whole day of taking care of the guests. Doug Kriess worked his buns off too, providing and taking care of the sound system. Doug plays mandolin with Foggy Hollow Bluegrass, so on this Saturday he was a busy man indeed. Donny Hudson and Cathy Berry brought in most of the meat and the Post Ladies' Auxiliary provided hot dogs. Hank Snow (his real name!) ran the auction and generally played master-of-ceremonies for the music and numerous raffles and 50/50's. The give-away raffle centerpiece was a fiddle donated by Harry Shorter. There was a lot of interest in that item. There are a lot of people to thank for such a wonderful day, but in the life of a bluegrass community the central focus is the music. Nothing would have happened without the presence of Danny Paisley, Foggy Hollow, Northern Connection, Fastest Grass Alive, Bluestone, Short Notise, and Blades of Grass. There to have a good time and donate their time was John Glick, Harold Tipton, Mike Munford, Rick Miller, Harry Shorter, and I'm sure I'm going to leave out some names in this list of luminaries. Thanks to them all, and thanks to all who donated their, time, talent, and money for such a worthy cause.
It was all the above - Festival, Party, Gathering, Family Reunion, Little Church, a unique opportunity for the Maryland Bluegrass Community to share the gifts.
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