Comments on: Motor City Bluegrass?

By: Fred Cornett

Fred Cornett — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:38:56 +0000

I grew up in Kentucky and had several brushes with a few of the early greats of bluegrass. I actually have a banjo ( very cheap and unfortunately unsigned) that I won at a concert and was personally handed to me by none other than Lester Flatt in 1974. The 12 to 14 year old mandolin player standing next to him on stage that I actually had lunch later with was a kid named Marty Stuart.. Also on that venue that day was Mac Wiseman and Doc Watson… I later played guitar briefly with a pickup bluegrass band in Owensboro and had the opporturnity to meet Bill Monroe through our banjo player John Laswell who traveled with him for two summers while he (John)was in college. And lastly, I’ll stop bragging after this one, I had the opportunity a couple of years later to see two young guys in a band called New Grass Revival. I remember being totally blown away by this guy on the banjo and equally impressed by the mandolin player in the band. They were playing in the middle of the Goodlettsville, Tennessee mall, just outside of Nashville and nearly begging people to stop and listen to them. Their names? Bela Fleck and Sam Bush…. Memories of days that even Nashville had difficulty recognizing the greatness of bluegrass!!

By: Screendude

Screendude — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:25:16 +0000

I just returned from my first bluegrass/oldtime music festival, Uncle Dave Macon Days in Murfreeboro, TN. Had a blast. It was an amateur contest/showcase. Best of all, all three days are free, just bring a chair. There were contestants of all ages from 6 to 90. I was most impressed with the skill level of the youngsters and I learned what “fiddle sticks” are. Now if I could only learn to play as well as some of those 10 year olds.

By: pinky57

pinky57 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:52:15 +0000

Bluegrass festivals are now the major source of our vacations! Last week, we went to the Red, White, and Bluegrass festival in Morganton, NC. We saw over 25 bands over the course of 4 days, including The Grascals, The Steeldrivers, Jr. Sisk,, Cherryholmes, Larry Sparks, Larry Stevenson, Blue Highway, Dailey and Vincent, Dan Tyminksi, and many more. While the big names are a major draw, we always find a local group, or lesser known band that turns out to be our favorite performance of the weekend. Almost every band, after the set will do a “meet and greet” so you can buy their cd’s, get an autograph, or just say “Hi”. If you haven’t been to a Bluegrass festival before, find one and go and have a great time!

By: dave2311

dave2311 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:44:40 +0000

I’ve never been to a bluegrass festival, but i have been to Murfreesboro. I think for our part of the continental U.S., the Smokey Mountains are one of God’s great creations. There is a civil war historic battlefield there. One of these days i’ll have to take a trip and visit a bluegrass festival. I’m with Doug, go and experience it at it’s source! My appreciation for this genre of music has really grown recently thru Fretmentor’s bluegrass class. I’ve missed out all these years!

By: Screendude

Screendude — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:45:59 +0000

I’m leaving Thursday for my first Bluegrass fest in Murphysboro, TN , just south of Nashville. I’m realy looking forward to it.

By: Doug Fountain

Doug Fountain — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:57:23 +0000

Bluegrass festivals are a blast. I usually get to one or two during the Summer in Tennessee and North Carolina, but even better are the impromtu events that are held in backyards, boat docks, and my favorite is a small farm in Bristol, Tn every Wednesday evening and some of the finest pickers in Tennessee show up. Bluegrass is just a way of life up there and very different from South Florida.

By: lspencerini

lspencerini — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:19:55 +0000

Sounds good to me. I used to live in Virginia where we had a bunch of festivals. While I lived there I only went to a couple of small festivals they had in Richmond, but I really enjoyed the music and the people I met. I always meant to get to Galax, VA, where they have a pretty big, annual bluegrass fest, but I didn’t ever make it. I’d love to go check it out now.

By: Tigerpaws

Tigerpaws — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:26:46 +0000

I’ve never been to a Bluegrass Festival. Sounds like a lot of fun especially if a group is going together. We used to do this for Marathons and besides having a ball we got to see a lot of the big cities in the U.S. Maybe we need to start planning “Bluegrass Road Trips”.