Strawberry Park finishes on a high note

By Ted Lehmann

Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival finished on Sunday with four very strong performances surrounding the delightful on-stage debut of this year’s Kids Academy. After a short rain delay and some mugginess on Saturday night, the day dawned misty and a little muggy but quickly cleared into a warm, dry, sunny day – perfect for bluegrass.

The morning’s music opened with Dry Branch Fire Squad’s traditional gospel set. Now, considering that it’s Dry Branch Fire Squad and Strawberry Park is in New England, you might expect something quite different than you would find a bit further south. And different it was, although filled with respect at the same time.

Nature and the power of God’s creation remained before the audience with Laurie Lewis’ very fine set. Lewis’ lovely voice blended with Tom Rozum or Scott Huffman in close harmony explores lost love, the beauty of the outdoors, lost friends, and more.

The Grascals have been busy on the festival circuit and in the recording studio for about three years now. They have made a couple of personnel changes, first adding Aaron McDaris at banjo and recently replacing Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle with Jeremy Abshire. McDaris took over with barely a ripple. Abshire is a fine fiddler with lots of life and enthusiasm to him. The Grascals present a lively and fast moving show that’s entertaining and musical at once.

How many festivals save one of the all-time great bluegrass bands for closing on Sunday afternoon? Not many, but Strawberry Park does. What’s left to say about the Lonesome River Band. Sammy Shelor, four time IBMA banjo player of the year, has established his own style as a standard for others to emulate.

These are excerpts from Ted's full report, available here with original photography.

Wintergrass gets an early jump

There is so much competition for festival attendees that some festivals have taken to making earlier and earlier lineup announcements, possibly intending to discourage regular festival attendees from sampling competitive fests.

At least that's my best guess for why Wintergrass put out its preliminary February 2009 lineup yesterday, at least three months earlier than usual. In past years, I have run into the Wintergrass producing team at the IBMA conference in September or October, where they would be dropping hints but not publishing a full list.

It's just the beginning of June, but, hey, who's complaining. The festival is off to a great start with the following names attached: Tim O'Brien, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, The Steeldrivers, Alison Brown & Joe Craven,
Tony Trischka Territory, Adrienne Young, Blue Highway, Missy Raines, 3 Ring Circle, The McCoury Boys, Bearfoot Bluegrass, Hot Buttered Rum, Scythian and Monroe Crossing.

One item of interest is the appearance of The McCoury Boys, which is presumably the name of the Del McCoury Band when Del stays home. Or when the band plays a late-night show after a main stage appearance, as with the upcoming Telluride Bluegrass Festival, in which the full band plays on Thursday afternoon and The McCoury Boys & Friends play the Sheriden Opera House that night.

In our interview with Del several months back he talked of his future retirement. I doubt this is it, but the Telluride and Wintergrass bookings suggest that sons Ronnie and Robbie are getting ready to step into the vacuum that Del will leave behind him when he does decide to hang it up.