Sunday, January 11, 2009

RiverCity Bluegrass #5 1.11.09



Pam and I have attended the Saturday performances of the past five RiverCity Bluegrass Festivals but never a Sunday until this year. It was truly exceptional day of music, well programmed and well balanced. The marquee was Dr. Ralph Stanley, but the road to sit at his feet and was full of pleasures: gospel, westerns, pure chop progressive, and the arrival of two new forces in bluegrass were all heard prior to the the good doctor and seven piece band of family and monster musicians.

Steep Canyon Rangers



This group from Chapel Hill North Carolina has a style a lot like their onstage garb. They are suits but no ties. There is solid musicianship and showmanship but with a kind of new country edge. They are not as tight as Del McCoury's boys but not nearly as loopy as the Yonder Mountain String Band. Yet I wager they could do just fine sharing the stage or the bill with either. If you are an acoustic music fan they are worth seeking out.

Riders In The Sky




I have not had the pleasure of spending an hour of the Riders on a Sunday afternoon since nearly twenty years ago when they were the musical guests at the Harvest Festivals that used to run annually at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Hall. Ranger Doug is still the idol of American youth. Woody Paul is still the king of the cowboy fiddlers. Accordionist Joey, the CowPolka King plays both ends against the middle. And yes, he's still Too Slim.

I remember a story somewhere I read that said Too Slim was among the crowd that started the Paul is Dead rumor. Somehow I can believe that might be true. Especially with the kind of anarchy of mirth he can stir.

Among the mayhem, we hit a trifecta on this their 5701 appearance in the past thirty one years. (I think those numbers are right) Among the jokes, pokes, and schticks and moments of cowboy code and majesty (Ranger Doug channeling Gene Autry with Back in the Saddle Again) we heard Tall Timber, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and Cool Water. No one does the songs of The Sons of the Pioneers quite like Riders in the Sky.

Psychograss




Banjo legend Tony Trischka was bowing the legato notes of Jimi Hendrix's Third Stone From the Sun when this picture was taken. Really. When he and his Psychograss friends got to the space and play the tape backwards part, an older man with a baseball hat in front of us gave the most amazing non verbal to his wife. Pam also kind of made a face.

But mostly Psychograss was about pedigree picking. It is kind of like Dawg David Grisman or Thiele and the Watkins' of Nickel Creek. Trischka, Darol Anger's violin, Mike Marshall's mando, bassist Todd Phillips, and a guitar player that other guitarists truly gush about, David Grier create instrumental music that jams and sometimes is maybe a little too pretty, but it felt just right at the midpoint of this day of music.

I mentioned to Pam later that I think I must have seen one or the other or both Mike Marshall and Darol Anger maybe twenty times in the past nine years, ever since a friend of the friend brought the music and fun of the String Cheese Incident into our lives. I don't think I really sought them out. Darol would be playing with Yonder or Mike Marshall would be playing with Thile or they would crop up at a festival in their role as a duo.

Dailey & Vincent



Jamie Dailey, Darrin Vinent and their band reportedly had to change planes four times to make it to festival. They said they came ready to sing their hearts out and they did. I can see why they are racking up the IBMA awards. They have a very appealing mainstream traditional bluegrass act with a solid gospel base.

Gospel bluegrass can make me feel all sticky and thick when it goes on and on. Dailey & Vincent's set was definitely on that border, but they were so energetic, musical, and aiming to please. They came back for a reprise on a couple of tunes One of these when Dailey called for a little more because the bass line singer in a quartet arrangement had to use the banjo mike the first time through because the vocal wasn't coming through hot enough. I love unique concert moments like that.

Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys



This image is significant because it shows three generations of Stanleys. Ralph Junior played and sang some fine pure country. And seventeen year old mandolin sensation Nathan gave his grandaddy a fine introduction filled with dates, awards and recognitions as well as later a great vocal foundation like those of his Great Uncle Carter before he died with which again his grandfather can sing those lovely high lonesome harmonies.


Ralph Stanley is a legend of legends. He commands a biblical presence. This is especially true when he is pleading with Death to give him another year. But also when he is truly old and in the way when he strikes the clawhammer on the banjo giving it an eerie loud and even rowdy kind of voice and energy. A favorite moment is when after being formally introduced by his grandson he tore into a ferocious version of Little Maggie. What a pleasure it was to be able to spend a little time with Dr. Stanley, one of the few remaining greats from the early genus of American bluegrass music.

George McKnight & The Finale



George McKnight, the emcee for this and many other festivals led a big jam at the end with the Carter Family's Will the Circle Be Unbroken with several verses sung by Dr. Ralph. It was a great way to end what was as close to a perfect day a single day of music I can recall.
posted by well-executed buffet at 10:07 PM
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