The grounds of KC Campground, Milan, Michigan are already filling with campers. There is room for more, but this is as large an early crowd as I have seen. Here is the view to the northeast of our camper at noon, Wednesday.
And here this is what it looks like to northwest at the same time.
You should all come on out, a great line-up is in store. We expect typical Michigan August weather, hot, humid, and maybe an afternoon showers or two.
On Saturday, May 8, 2010 Detour Bluegrass will appear as part of the Gopherwood Concert Series in Cadillac, MI. Gopherwood concerts are held in the Cadillac Elks, 122 S. Mitchell St. There is parking in the rear near the elevator. According to the series website:
At this time our online ticket sales have been suspended due to technical difficulties. We apologize for the inconvenience. Advance tickets can be purchased at Toy town in downtown Cadillac, or by calling 231-775-2813. Also, we have changed our ticket price structure. Student prices are now for kids age 13-20. Children 12 and under are FREE. We hope this will encourage you to come out to a Gopherwood show, and also help introduce your children to a wide variety of great music.
Detour, L-R Peter Knupfer, Kevin Gaugier, Jeff Rose, Zak Bunce, Scott Zylstra
photo from Pickin on CF, © 2009 CandidPix.info
Detour is an excellent band, one of few Michigan based outfits currently receiving national airplay and chart action on an album. Detour recently added singer/guitarist Missy Armstrong to their line-up, and we are anxious to hear her with the group.
You can hear music from the latest Detour CD on their MySpace page.
We spend a great weekend down at Joe Mullins’ fabulous Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival. If anyone needs to know how to run a show, they need look no farther that that fine example, or any of the Adams & Anderson presentations. Today I am concentrating on an overview Southern Ohio festival. Papa is working on his pictures, and I will to do a quick review of each band’s performances later this week, when I can illustrate with them.
Central to the Festival’s success is the nice facility; the Roberts Centre is a roomy conference center. I have never waited in line at the woman’s rest room, something I cannot say that for any other entertainment event that I have attended over the years. There is sufficient parking, and overnight RV parking is free. Although it is not a campground, but complementary parking is a real nice feature. The attached hotel, a Holiday Inn, fills up fast, but there are a variety of hotels in all price ranges located in the area.
Although the room where the music is presented has super high ceilings (think gym), the sound crew does a good job of controlling the echo. The good result comes from several year’s experience in the building, and a desire to satisfy the festival’s customers. Mr. Mullins told us that the sound crew spent an entire day in the rafters, using lasers and aiming the speakers to minimize problems, and maximize sound distribution.
Next to the music area another room contains vendors, artists product tables, and a snack bar; with tables allowing room to visit and eat. A separate room for jamming is located nearby, and there is jamming in halls after the show. A great recent addition is a buffet dinner just down the hall. We have enjoyed excellent food at a reasonable price, with quick service when we have elected to eat there. There is also a chain restaurant, Max & Erma’s, located in the adjacent Holiday Inn.
Mr. Mullins serves as the MC for his own festivals. Although this might not be appropriate for all promoters, it is a perfect fit for Joe, who is one of several radio personalities on his four area radio stations. Joe’s band, The Radio Ramblers, also performs at each Festival. Wow! Imagine having the business Savoy to pull together two wonderful festivals each year, operate a broadcasting company, act as an MC, and also use what may be his most respected talent, playing that banjo and singing. Joe was member of the original Longview, along with James King, Dudley Cornell, Don Rigsby, Glen Duncan, and Marshall Wilborn. At that time many of us were impressed by his soaring tenor singing and ringing banjo, and nothing has changed there.
This spring’s festival is history, but I recommend that you consider attending next November’s edition, November 11, 12 and 14.
Papa and I took off last weekend, heading out to shake the cabin fever which has taken root around here. I think we were successful, I feel more energy and may actually get something done this week, if I continue like yesterday. Our first stop was Owens Community College, where we saw the Grascals. We last saw them at the Jekyll Island New Year’s Eve festival, in January. The show featured a few numbers from their upcoming CD that we had not previously heard. The Grascals do a tight stage show, with lots of smiles, with great presentation.
Of course, they also have good instrumentals, very good. We were able to pre-order their new CD, which is coming out on March 30th. At the attractive price of $9.99, that was a no-brainer. I also grabbed Kristin Scott Benson’s latest, it was missing from my collection. The Grascals are headed out on the Hank, Jr., Rowdy Friends Tour, in addition to their own busy schedule. It looks like a successful 2010 for the band. The rest of Papa’s pictures are posted on his site.
On Saturday, we drove on over to Kidron, Ohio to visit Lehman’s hardware. We have pursed the catalog and the website, but never actually seen the store. The store was bigger than life, and we had fun looking at all the available items. I did not buy one of each, but I wanted to!
We walked up the street and ate in a restaurant in the basement of a meat market, a wonderful lunch in a n on-tourist setting. On the way back I noticed the name on a building that serves as the Fire Department: Bixler. How the Bixler family of Kidron, Ohio is related to Papa’s great-grandmother, Elizabeth Bixler (1860-1935), is a puzzle for another day. We did get a good shot of the building to bring home.
Then, off to Mansfield, Ohio, home of the beautiful Renaissance Theater, to see Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Ralph is looking good, and singing well. He did a couple of Clawhammer tunes, always crowd favorites. Nathan (on guitar) is all grown up, no longer the little kid at the back of the stage with the spoons.
It was nice to see Jimmy Cameron on bass and vocals, doing a fine job. The entire band did a fine job, and we really enjoyed the show.
You can see the rest of the photos are on Papa’s site.
All good things come to an end, and we had to get back home to work on the yard and garden. Well, I slept a lot of Sunday, my allergies and sinus problems are a real problem this time of year. But Papa worked on the garden, and it looks like it is drying out pretty well.
We had a great time, a little taste of summer, and saw some great music!
Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out return to the Oakland Community College Bluegrass Series tomorrow night, January 22, 2010. The group enjoys tremendous popularity in the Detroit area; many fans are looking forward to their annual appearance. You can get tickets online through the College site, if you wish.
The concert will take place on the Waterford Campus, 7350 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford, MI 48327-4187, in the student center arena. Although the facility is not as nice as the theater in Royal Oak, is is comfortable, and the students are very welcoming.
To get to the facility, turn onto Campus Drive (for some reason, it is to the left of the flag on the Google Map), and drive up to the parking lot at High Oaks Drive. The student center is just a short walk, follow the crowd.
Hope to see you there.
On a lighter side, it is snowy and cold here southeastern lower Michigan. I do not like the snow and the cold, and I like it less every year. I shoveled the drive anyway, it gives me some exercise.
We had a nice time at Winterfest down in Perrysburg last weekend. Papa got some nice pictures, here is my favorite:
This young man’s name is Chris, but Papa just calls him “little Stacy”. If you know his Dad, you know why. I heard that is grandpa got him that banjo, and that he can hold it up pretty well, and has started leaning a roll or two. He didn’t stay on stage very long, I believe the crowd was a little larger than he expected it to be.
I have a bunch of work to do, so that is all for today. Keep warm!
People who have been listening to bluegrass and other acoustic music for many years already know, but I thought that the rest of you might like to hear about how a community can help it’s members. Recently, we have heard of many instances of musicians and fans helping out when help is needed. These stories of how the community of bluegrass rally around its members are not found in the mainstream press, it is up to us to share the love, the results, and the possibilities.
Two members of Don Rigsby’s band, Dale Vanderpool and Gerald Evans, Jr., are fighting cancer. A benefit spearheaded by Joe Mullins which was held on the weekend before Christmas raised some much needed funds for the men and their families. We were unable to attend, but the wonderful efforts of those responsible were never far from our hearts as we carried our our family plans the weekend of the benefit.
Yesterday, members of Andy Hamilton’s band, East Kentucky Grass, outlined their plans for a benefit for Andy, who is battling cancer. They emphasized the benefit over all else, and reminded us to keep Andy in our prayers.
Over Christmas break, the heart warming story of David McLaughlin’s hearing loss and how Claire Lynch jumped up to help him has been in the bluegrass headlines.
Papa and I were driving down a rather snowy I-75 on Friday morning, headed (where else?) for a bluegrass show in Perrysburg, Ohio, when an article detailing David McLaughlin’s response to Claire’s efforts hit my feed reader. I read David’s letter, which was posted on the Bluegrass Blog, out loud to Papa. I was pretty choked up by the end, and so was Papa.
These events remind me of the small town I grew up in; everyone loved and helped their neighbors. People took time to care what was happening, and participate. I hope the communities that you belong to and take part in are as warm and loving as the bluegrass community is!
Wow, the end of summer has really crept up on me. The Parade of Stars Bluegrass Festival is tomorrow, Saturday, September 12th, the time, 12 noon until 7:40 p.m.
The City of Auburn Hills and the Chrysler Foundation have sponsored this fine bluegrass show at Civic Center Park, 1827 N. Squirrel Road, Auburn Hills, Michigan 48326 for the past 12 years, and this year looks to be great fun. This is a free show, just bring your lawn chairs. There are refreshments available on the site, and you can bring your own but alcoholic beverages are not allowed at this family event. The bands, in order of appearance are:
The Josh Williams Band site, their MySpace
The Chapmans Band Site, and their MySpace
Nothin’ Fancy, and the Nothin’ Fancy MySpace
Special Consensus, and the Special C MySpace
The phone I have for more information is: 248-370-9553. There is also a PDF flyer posted on the city website.
The weather is supposed to be wonderful, and we are looking forward to a nice day in the park. Check out the artists websites and Myspace pages for samples. We hope to see you there.
Papa and I headed south last Friday morning, and ended up in Wilmington, Ohio. Joe Mullins and his family hosted the Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival, a great destination for bluegrass fans. I am ever so glad we made the trip.
On December 12, 2006, I made a post about the death of Dempsey Young. Just a few short weeks later, I posted again concerning Lost & Found. Most of us did not expect to see the band again soon. They were scheduled to play at Jekyll Island, but we thought Allen might cancel. However, the first table we saw in the vendor area at Jekyll Island that year was Allen’s. When the band took the stage, many of us in the audience were crying. We spoke with people who had come to the show from Dempsey’s church to support the band, and everyone was amazed at Allen’s determination to continue. Papa went up to take a picture, and came back crying; he reported that Allen was singing with tears running down his cheeks.
Scott Napier played mandolin, tough enough with a new band, but impossible so short a time after Dempsey’s tragic death. I remember the looks of determination on the faces of Scott and Ronald Smith, the L&F banjo player, as they completed “Golden Slippers”, completely synchronized, and strikingly similar to the way Ronald and Dempsey had previously done. It was a signature tune for Dempsey, and he and Ronald had it to a T. It actually seems like the audience was holding it’s collective breath; then, finally the song ended. No major mistakes, no real problems.
We have seen Allen Mills and his band a since. This past Friday at Wilmington, however, seemed different. The band took the stage with assurance; the old demons seems past, and a bright future ahead. Scott and Ronald smiled and enjoyed a performance of Golden Slippers, and the entire band seemed relaxed and in sync. Scotty Sparks (guitar and vocals) is a wonderful singer, and Allen brings some humor and smiles along with his singing and bass playing. They had fun, I had fun, as did the rest of the audience. So, my favorite photo from last weekend is of L&F:
My next favorite is of the mandolin player that helped make it happen.
And my third favorite is of the Ronald Smith, another part of the team.
What I like about these guys is their ability to bring their talent to help Allen renew and revitalize L&F. What I like about these photos is they show the band is clearly meshed, and having fun. I enjoyed their shows, like the new CD!
The show wasn’t about Lost & Found, but their performance struck me, but for some reason I found myself noticing the difference from the first show without Dempsey, the one at Jekyll Island several years ago. There were many other find bands on stage; Papa’s pictures are here, and I have much more to say about the show tomorrow!
Papa and I had a wonderful time at M-in-L’s home “up North” over the weekend. We ate a little cake, and visited. We had a brief visit with S-Dad, and continued on toward home. Since we were in the neighborhood, and hungry, we ate at Zenders something we rarely do. It was nice to sit in the dining room and enjoy a meal I hadn’t cooked. But it was even better not to have to clean up after.
We were checking out things on the home front on Sunday evening when S-Dad called, and reported that he had my cell phone. Great. I figured out when it must have “jumped” out of my purse, but that didn’t help much.
Papa and I finally decided to load the van with items left over from S-Dad’s move and head up there Monday. We made good time, got his desk into the house, visited a bit, got my phone, and headed home. We were here in time to eat leftovers for lunch. Papa ran some errands, and I cleaned. I haven’t finished, but the place is livable.
I’m still evaluating Twitter, and beginning to think that it’s probably not for me.
People use Twitter a couple of ways that I have noticed, the first is promoting their blog posts. Since I have the blogs I follow already in my reader, it is a duplication for me. There are a couple of Twitter account users I have found who are posting diary pages, short diary posts from ancestor’s diaries. I find those fascinating, but none of them are even slightly related to my research interests. There are also Twitter users disseminating information, one that has caught on with me is Green Michigan. I can post Twitter updates from Facebook, but don’t imagine they are directly useful to Twitter users. I could also post links to new blog posts, but I think many people interested in my daily posts, link in from Networked Blogs on Facebook, or from their reader.
There is a camper show later this week, that will certainly be interesting. The dealer that we bought our (used) motor home from several years ago recently went out of business. There are deals out there, but like a lot of people, we’re uncertain about spending right now.
I just updated Jimmy’s Pickin of Cystic Fibrosis site, and I hope all of you will take a look. If you live in Michigan, please consider attending. It’s a bunch of fun, and for a good cause
I got up this morning and realized it was Tuesday, and I have a lot of things piled on my desk. I will be able to go to the Library of Michigan tomorrow, and I don’t want to waste the time I am there. This afternoon will be devoted to organizing the research I’m doing while I’m over there, so I can be productive.
