Music on the Mountain
What a summer for music!
We missed MerleFest earlier this year, but ...
... our musical summer starts this weekend, Saturday, June 10, at the Blue Ridge Music Center up on the Parkway in Virginia near MP 213.
It's a really beautiful outdoor amphitheatre-type setting for the music of Appalachia, especially as the fog begins to roll in of an evening. Come early with your lawn chair and picnic dinner, kick back, and listen to the music echoing through the hills!
Wayne Henderson, guitarist and luthier of renown from Rugby in nearby Grayson County, VA, will be appearing this Saturday with Eddie Pennington, the Merle Travis thumb-style protoge. Both are awesome pickers. Maybe Wayne will bring his '39 C.F. Martin D-28 out of the bank vault for the occasion.
The following weekend, June 15, it's the Wayne Henderson Music Festival (yes, the same Wayne) at Grayson Highlands State Park, again up in Virgina and at one of my favorite places in the whole world. This year's headliners are the Krüger Brothers, the blue grass band based in, of all places, Switzerland.
(Just to avoid any confusion, the aforementioned MerleFest that we did not attend this year is named in honor of Doc Watson's son, Eddie Merle Watson, who was named in honor of Merle Travis. Merle Watson, ever bit as talented as Doc and Merle Travis, died in a tractor accident at a relatively young age. Doc, now regularly performs with Merle's son, Richard, and both were the headliners at Wayne's festival two years ago. Eddie Pennington was there last year.)
Then the Appalachian Summer Festival begins in Boone. We've already got our tickets for Doc Watson with Sam Bush (July 1), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (July 15) and Arlo Guthrie ( July 22).
(Doc Watson is usually introduced at the Appalachian Summer Festival as having come "all the way from Low Gap, North Carolina" to perform. That's a distance of about 7 miles over a length of US-421 leading into Boone designated the "Doc and Merle Watson Highway". It always brings a hoot from the knowing crowd.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded the famous album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" in the early 1970's with Roy Acuff, "Mother" Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Vassar Clements, Junior Huskey and many other famous guests.
Arlo Guthrie, of course, is Woody Guthrie's son.)
And, just in case we have not had enough, there's also the Doc Watson Music Fest on July 14 and 15 at Cove Creek.
Sure hope a little of all that good picking wears off on me.
We missed MerleFest earlier this year, but ...
... our musical summer starts this weekend, Saturday, June 10, at the Blue Ridge Music Center up on the Parkway in Virginia near MP 213.
It's a really beautiful outdoor amphitheatre-type setting for the music of Appalachia, especially as the fog begins to roll in of an evening. Come early with your lawn chair and picnic dinner, kick back, and listen to the music echoing through the hills!Wayne Henderson, guitarist and luthier of renown from Rugby in nearby Grayson County, VA, will be appearing this Saturday with Eddie Pennington, the Merle Travis thumb-style protoge. Both are awesome pickers. Maybe Wayne will bring his '39 C.F. Martin D-28 out of the bank vault for the occasion.
The following weekend, June 15, it's the Wayne Henderson Music Festival (yes, the same Wayne) at Grayson Highlands State Park, again up in Virgina and at one of my favorite places in the whole world. This year's headliners are the Krüger Brothers, the blue grass band based in, of all places, Switzerland.
(Just to avoid any confusion, the aforementioned MerleFest that we did not attend this year is named in honor of Doc Watson's son, Eddie Merle Watson, who was named in honor of Merle Travis. Merle Watson, ever bit as talented as Doc and Merle Travis, died in a tractor accident at a relatively young age. Doc, now regularly performs with Merle's son, Richard, and both were the headliners at Wayne's festival two years ago. Eddie Pennington was there last year.)
Then the Appalachian Summer Festival begins in Boone. We've already got our tickets for Doc Watson with Sam Bush (July 1), the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (July 15) and Arlo Guthrie ( July 22).
(Doc Watson is usually introduced at the Appalachian Summer Festival as having come "all the way from Low Gap, North Carolina" to perform. That's a distance of about 7 miles over a length of US-421 leading into Boone designated the "Doc and Merle Watson Highway". It always brings a hoot from the knowing crowd.
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded the famous album "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" in the early 1970's with Roy Acuff, "Mother" Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Vassar Clements, Junior Huskey and many other famous guests.
Arlo Guthrie, of course, is Woody Guthrie's son.)
And, just in case we have not had enough, there's also the Doc Watson Music Fest on July 14 and 15 at Cove Creek.
Sure hope a little of all that good picking wears off on me.
Comments
Post a Comment