Choose One Direction and Then Stick to It: Northern Connection Continues On The Right Path

 Traditionalist: Dee Gunter making an extraordinary appearance at Port Deposit, Maryland on 14 September 2014 with Frankie Short & Northern Connection Bluegrass Band.

15 September 2014 -

      I'm going through my notices for upcoming shows, fall programs, etc. I start getting them in mid-august. Fall and winter is such a busy time for the entertainment business and all the major concert halls in my neck of the woods. The competition for the almighty entertainment dollar is fierce. I know it sounds crazy, but if you're a professional band or entertainer and you haven't lined up your holiday gigs yet, you better go into a marketing mode. The smart ones are already contacting me and letting me know where they're playing for New Years. Time flies when you're working, in demand, and having fun. I'm sitting here looking at a schedule for an artsy-craftsy kind of place over in West Virginia that is promoting an Americana band that describes itself in the following genre (category? definition?): "New Orleans Gypsy Brass Circus Rock." Now, folks - this is why I refuse to pay money to see bands that advertise themselves as Americana. I won't publish the name of the band. I don't need to. I just wanted to point out either an identity crisis of monumental proportions or a bad marketing ploy to be cute. I can easily imagine a future Grammy Award given to the year's best band in the New Orleans Gypsy Brass Circus Rock category. Not.

      While I'm looking at this piece of promotional humbug, and not really casting aspersions, but rather pitying the people who printed it up, I'm still reeling from the Sunday performance at one of my favorite haunts. Let's get authentic. Let's ditch the manufactured names of musical forms just to bamboozle another sucker into buying a theater seat. Of course I'm prejudiced. I never claimed I wasn't. Just as my love for authentically produced traditional bluegrass music is sincere and honest, so is my honesty in not lying about my prejudices against fake bluegrass music. Or pretentiously fake bluegrass music. Or worse, pretentiously fake bluegrass music that parodies authentically traditional bluegrass music. I had the opportunity (once more with feeling) to see and hear Frankie Short and Northern Connection play at Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack in Port Deposit, Maryland. Little did I know that one of the Grand-Daddies of  Maryland traditional bluegrass would also be there, on hand, to be invited up to join Frankie and the band in the small performance space. Dee Gunter, known far and wide for his contribution to the history of  Maryland bluegrass music, sang four songs mostly dedicated to Jimmy Martin. Professionalism and talent is getting up from your seat at the drop of an invitation, grabbing the microphone, and allowing three other singers to join you in delivering four perfect pieces of bluegrass music. Time and again I've tried to explain that this is why I love this stuff. You don't have to manufacture fake labels or lie-filled press releases for it. The orthodox bluegrass true believers in the audience know it when they see it. Dee Gunter has done it so much he's got it down right; down to a fine art; the styling and the phrasing and just the right emotion. He makes it sound so easy; as if he's not working at all, but having a great time watching the audience experiencing a great time..

      Like a lot of working musicians in Maryland, Frankie Short follows in the footsteps of his father who was also a recognized practitioner of the art of bluegrass. I first met Frankie when he was playing exclusively with Baltimore Bluegrass, which as far as I'm concerned,  was one of the best bands in Baltimore. They officially disbanded last year and played their last gig on December 15th at Jumbo Jimmy's. Of course the performance was brilliant but also not without its sadness. Two days before that Frankie suffered a serious heart attack and it's a tribute to his popularity and a tribute to the Maryland Bluegrass Community that everyone I talked to was sincerely pushing and praying for Frankie's recovery. In honor of that, the last performance was packed with Baltimore Bluegrass fans. Frankie recovered and the band played one more time at the annual Christmas Party at Jumbo Jimmy's. I mention all this because on January 19th of this year (2014) Frankie emerged with another configuration called  Northern Connection. No surprise that the direction would remain sure and steady and always the same; traditional bluegrass in the Maryland style. The band consists of  Frankie Short, T.J. Lundy, Mark Seitz, Steve Streett, and Brian Eldreth. I've been watching them closely. I like what they do. All, are excellent musicians in their own right and often put their talents to work with other configurations. Northern Connection will celebrate its First Anniversary on January 19th, 2015.

      In a period of time when observers of the bluegrass scene in the States are proclaiming a critical near-death situation for the continuation of  hard-core traditional bluegrass, bands like Northern Connection carry on. When I'm discussing the bluegrass music 'health' situation with others I like to point out that here in Maryland we've seen the establishment of not only Northern Connection but also Bluetrain, The Cypress Creek Bluegrass Band, Special Blend, and The Rocks Bluegrass Factory Band. They're all working, they're all getting paid gigs, and all are building up their local followings at the clubs, bars, and fire hall dances. There are probably more that I don't even hear about working the non-paying street fairs and carnivals and what I like to refer to as the Pumpkin Fest Circuit. I'll always stick with the traditionalists; the bluegrassers who decided to go down the narrow path of traditionalist exactitude. There are but a few who exemplify it: Dee Gunter, Danny Paisley, James King, Marvin Ashby, Harold Tipton, Scott Brannon, and more. But it's enough of a traditionalist army to keep the music pure and authentic for at least several more generations. I won't really care what the music sounds like after I'm long dead and gone. But for today, I'll prefer to listen to the guys who've kept the music focused on a very narrow path. Somehow, quite mysteriously and magically, the music sounds a lot better in the hands of  Dee Gunter - and not Robert Plant.

 

Mark Seitz, Steve Streett, and Frankie Short

 TJ Lundy

Brian Eldreth

  

The Grand Reunion

 Doug Meek and his father, Brad Meek of the noted Meek family of Fiddlers. (7 September 2014)

7 September 2014:

      It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but bluegrass music has a way of making you eventually see the light. Then I got home and downloaded all my pictures and it became abundantly clear in all my photos from Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack. There was a Grand Reunion going on and the Master of Ceremonies was the incomparable Danny Paisley and his group of excellent musicians known as "Southern Grass." Danny Paisley and Southern Grass was the reason I was at Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack. He's been busy touring all summer and to see him perform in front of a huge audience is one thing; to see him perform (and have fun) up close and personal in a place like Jumbo Jimmy's and in front of family and friends is quite a different experience indeed. I therefore felt like one of the fortunate few who was there to experience it. Earlier in the week Brad Meek asked me if I would be there on Sunday. I gave him an affirmative. Brad is the father of the brilliant and talented (and very young!) Douglas Meek, primo Fiddler for Danny's band. I don't get to see Brad very often. Joyce Miller and Fran Honeycutt greeted me when I came into Jimmy's and both let me know their families would be on hand to see Danny Paisley. Pretty soon I was introduced to cousins, relatives, aunts and uncles, and the proceedings and dancing got pretty raucous as Danny commenced to do what he does best: play music.

      He played to a full house of  friends and family and people who love Danny Paisley and accept his music and his talent. I would imagine that Danny Paisley's style of singing and interpreting the music wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea. At times he's almost bordering on caterwauling and yelling, but there are times where he's absolutely brilliant in the expressed emotion. He knows exactly where he wants to go with any given song selection. It sounds so darned good for another huge reason: keeping up with every audible level, every note, every change in nuance is bassist Eric Troutman. The vocal work of Eric and Danny is reason enough to catch a Danny Paisley performance, but then add the vocal and banjo of  Mark Delaney. Mark Delaney is also an excellent soloist in his own right, but rarely solos when playing with Southern Grass. I hate the hackneyed term 'Deadly.' More confirming to say that the ultimate goal has been reached by Danny and Southern Grass - this is a team effort to produce authenticity and good music. Each member recognizes the talent and potential of the other. That kind of leadership comes down from the top - every Marine knows that and accepts it. One of the most difficult things in music is to instill teamwork among a bunch of acoustical pickers. It doesn't take long for an audience to catch on to a 'Hot-Dog' especially in bluegrass music. They don't last long on a stage or at a local jam. This why I love bluegrass. What seems so simple in the hands of a master like Danny Paisley doesn't explain all the complexities of putting together a masterful package. You have to listen to, and understand the intricacies. To repeat an old, over-used cliche, it takes everybody playing off the same sheet of music; but taking time to show-case your talent is an added bonus when you're watching and listening to Danny. This is where Ryan Paisley, Mark Delaney, Eric Troutman, and Doug Meek really shine forth. And when it happens to be really good, you're rewarded with that crazed Danny Paisley Smile.

      I felt privileged to see a lot of that smiling last Sunday. The dance floor was hot. Nobody wanted the two encores to quit. On a rare and delightful Sunday evening nobody wanted Danny and Company to pack up their instruments and go home. There were lots of  Millers, Paisleys, Lundys, Honeycutts, and Abels in the audience having a grand impromptu Family Reunion of  the representative families of Maryland Traditional bluegrass. Once in a while the planets line up just right. The driving force is bluegrass at its best. What a great time to spend with Brad and Doug Meek. Till I see you again, Brad.

Bobby Lundy and Gail Honeycutt Abel

T.J. Lundy and Mom, Joyce Miller

Some of the regulars from the "1 O'Clock Orchestra" at Jumbo Jimmy's Crab Shack: Rex Smith, Leon Werkheiser, Jerry Riecke,  and Dave Armstrong.

Yes. I'm Still In Love

 Yes. We're Still in Love

5 September 2014

      Hello My Friend! I found a beautiful picture of my wife the other day and I posted it to Facebook. I want everyone to know how beautiful she is. I also posted the caption "Yes. I'm still in Love!" After posting I sat back and decided it was time to return to talking about where I am with my Catholic Faith. If we don't think about these things they have a tendency to slip to non-priority. In the past few weeks I've been missing mass and that usually sends me down the guilt-path. When I converted to The Church I made a promise to love, honor, and obey the Teachings. Lately I've been lax in loving, and lax in honoring. I'm not happy right now with the changes in the liturgical verbiage. I've talked to other Catholics who are in the same boat. The central meaning  is still there, but being a Convert it took me a while to learn and properly recite all the old parts of the liturgy, and now I have to re-learn certain key parts of the newly re-arranged prayers. Just one more thing to cause me to take umbrage with the authorities! But in the end it's such a piddling matter to get angry over. Yes, I'm still in love. I'm in love with my wife and I've promised to love Christ's teachings. And I've promised to accept and honor the love that's being offered to me each time I take the Eucharist during mass. There have been any number of times in my short career as a Catholic that I've been struck to the core as a Convert to the Church. Father Dan Mode told me in a private conversation two years ago that the central teaching of  Christ and the central teaching of  the Church has everything to do with saying "Yes." The second teaching is this: Christ came into the world to direct each of us toward an understanding of God's unconditional love for each of us. I'm simply a human male married to a wonderful woman who bore our son, but beyond that she gave me riches I could have never imagined when I was a young, stupid, unmarried male. I may have never become a Catholic (a very happy one - you need to understand that) without her constant, loving help. Without her, I may have never understood the connection between my telling her how much I love her, and at the same time expressing those same words each time I take Communion with Christ and my Church. It's the "Yes" that Father Mode was talking about. It's all a big mystery as one favorite priest once told me. Life is a lot more fun when you find the joy in it instead of any sorrow. My complaints are meaningless and piddling in comparison to God's Great Plan for each of our lives. I'm still in love with Connie and that's such an easy choice. So much easier if  I  realize that my marriage is a sacramental gift I received when I made my final decision to convert to Catholicism.  +

It Sounds Better in Maryland.

3 September 2014:

      I admit my faults; my prejudices. But I've been spoiled. Treated like a spoiled child in a candy shop. Everyone knows I live in Virginia and sneak across the Potomac River to enjoy the bluegrass music in Maryland. I'm frequently asked why I do it so I'll say it once again for the record:  every weekend, every day of every weekend and sometimes on Thursdays, I can find entertaining, first-class bluegrass within a 70-mile range of my home in Virginia. But not in Virginia. I find it in Maryland. Last December I commenced my Maryland Traditional Bluegrass Calendar to document how much Traditional bluegrass was going on in Maryland. In January or February I plan on making a report of the findings, and then continue the calendar/schedule/listings on into 2015. The unscientific research is strictly mine and doesn't include Old Time music, or non-traditional bluegrass groups of which, there are plenty in Maryland, working the clubs, festivals, public picnics, and County-sponsored public concerts. No. My only concern is traditional bluegrass;  music done in what is commonly referred to as "the Baltimore style" or  "the Maryland/Baltimore style." The nick-names are strictly regional and probably have nothing to do with reality. Suffice it for me that I like whatever it is, and I like what I'm hearing when I have the opportunity to seriously listen to it.