Country Fiddlers

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Guys,
Wells,Vt had its annual Variety Fair this past saturday, and we had music provided by " The Country Fiddlers ". Good time had by all ! Kathleen managed to find some scented candles and a candle lamp with moose on it ! Food wasnt bad either !

 

[Thomas]

The pic stirs up some old memories back before the 8 track was invented...just about every small country town held country concert twice month on there green durning the summer ...banjo's,fiddles,flat tops every now and than someone would play the spoons..good time was had by all as the summer moon shine down...mostly thing of the past plus the barn dances now. ....gotta love those twin fiddles when they get it right.

 

[N80]

Every summer in Asheville, NC they have what they call Shindig on the Green on Friday nights in the square downtown. Musicians come from all over the western NC mountains and take their turn on the stage. Admission is free. Dancing is free. The music is almost entirely Blue Grass, some gospel, lots of fiddles, banjos, mandolins and steel guitars....or dobroes (?). The acts are all good. Lots of variety.

My favorite part is wandering around listening to the smaller bands and groups quietly practicing under the trees before they go on stage.

 

[jinman]

Scotty, your picture made me wonder why they didn't set up under the shade tree instead of out in the open like they are. Then I thought, "That's the "Texas" in me showing through." Heck! If it's cool enough, even that canopy could go.

 

[randy41]

not far from here, in Galax, VA., they have an annual fiddlers convention. i've never been to it since its not the kind of music i like but there is a big turn out.

 

[RobertN]

Grass Valley has a Fathers Day Bluegrass Festival every year. It runs 4 days. It is one of the bigger bluegrass festivals around. They do some really great stuff. I have only made there once, but do catch parts of it on the local public radio station that sponsors the festival.

 

[dmccarty]

My area of NC still has plenty of local places that put on "shows." There is an old store in a little dead mill town a few miles north of me that has music a couple times a month during the summer. I know of a barn to my west that puts on shows and in the same direction is a place I think is called the Ramsauer Grand Old Opery. The Opery is commercial where as the other places are more of a show up, have a good time, leave a few bucks to help pay the expenses.

There is also a place that has "festivals" a few times a year that has gotten so big its causing problems. They market the festivel as a kind of hippie come and have fun event but its really a money making business that causes lots of noise, traffic and light pollution issues for the neighbors. The people that run the festival are against this sort of impact in the county but since they are making money its ok if they do it....

A couple hours north, in the middle of no where, is a family style restaurant that is in a log cabin. Charter buses go to this place on the weekends. At 8:00 ish the owner and some of his friends and family go to a "barn" with a stage to play bluegrass, county western and gospel music. Since they are somewhat near a large school bus builder the seats in the barn are the big green bench seats used in school buses. They don't charge a cent but do pass the hat.

I would guess there are places to go to our south but I don't know. To the east is the big cities that do there own thing but they do have some places that put on outdoor events though they are larger.

Me, I wold rather stay home with a brewski on the porch listening to the frog and birds. I'll hear the neighbors come and go as well as people going to and from town on the road to our south. They can have the crowds. I'll take the hustle and bustle of the dogs chasing the deer.

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

The neat thing about this Asheville show is that some of these folks are the real thing, if you know what I mean. They have no desire to make a record or go to Nashville. No fancy cloths. They seem almost shy about playing in front of anyone at all. But you can tell that this music is a deep passion for them and many of them are very gifted musicians. They play and sing the 'old' music in the 'old' way, even the young teenagers.

I once saw a special about the English language that examined the lyrics of some of the songs of the Appalachian singers and found that these songs were sung the same way in Scotland or Ireland hundreds of years ago, but nowhere else. This is because the mountian culture was so isolated that the songs never changed over the hundreds of years they'd been handed down. Everywhere else in the US (and the UK) the songs had changed over time with the influence of mobile cultures.

I'm not a blue grass or gospel fan really. But it is inspiring to see people so dedicated to the old time music and so good at what they do.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I once saw a special about the English language that examined the lyrics of some of the songs of the Appalachian singers and found that these songs were sung the same way in Scotland or Ireland hundreds of years ago, but nowhere else. This is because the mountian culture was so isolated that the songs never changed over the hundreds of years they'd been handed down. Everywhere else in the US (and the UK) the songs had changed over time with the influence of mobile cultures.

Check out this movie: Songcatcher (2000)

thats exactly what you are talking about.