CTBA May 2017 Newsletter
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CENTRAL ASSOCIATION Member IBMA May 2017 Volume 39, Number 5 © 2017 Central Texas Bluegrass Association Sam Bush played Friday night on the Hill Country State of the 30th Anniversary Old Settler’s Music Festival in Driftwood, TX. Sam and the guys played….well...that pretty much says it all. It was a more high-energy music than most ears are entitled to hear in one sitting. Backing up Sam are Scott Vestal on banjo, Chris Brown on drums, Todd Parks on bass, and Stephen Mougin on guitar. Photos by Bob Vestal. INSTRUCTION FOR BANJO, GUITAR, AND MANDOLIN Private Lessons in North and South Austin Eddie Collins www.eddiecollins.biz 512-873-7803 2 3 CTBA Bands centraltexasbluegrass.org/bands.html Better Late Than Never Missing Tradition The Rusty Razors Austin/Round Rock Dan & Diana Ost Patrick Davis Duane Calvin 512-845-8749 515-802-7438 512-835-0342 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] One Eye Open The Sieker Band Black Diamond Max Zimmet Rolf & Beate Sieker Austin www.oneeyeopenband.com 512-937-4496 Chuck Middleton [email protected] www.siekerband.com 512-203-4574 [email protected] Out of the Blue Shawn Spiars Rob Lifford Shawn Spiars Eddie Collins 512-422-7706 512-627-3921 Eddie Collins www.outoftheblue.ws www.banjohangout.org/my/ 512-873-7803 [email protected] sspiars www.eddiecollins.biz [email protected] [email protected] Pearl and the Polka Dots Rachel Bates The Texas Honeybees Four Fights Per Pint 817-239-5624 Leslie Collier Jay Littleton www.facebook.com/ 512-328-0144 512-- 848-1634 pearlandthepolkadots [email protected] www.facebook.com/ [email protected] FourFightsPerPint West of Waterloo [email protected] Pine Island Station Austin & Hill Country Gary & Janine Carter Michael Sanders Hot Pickin 57s 936-520-2952 512-673-9095 Max Zimmet www.pineislandstation.com [email protected] http://hotpickin.com/ [email protected] [email protected] Wood Street The Piney Grove Bloodhounds The Lost Pines Ramblers Oak Park, IL, Robert Becker Talia Bryce Wayne Brooks 708-714-7206 512-814-5134 512-699-8282 www.woodstreetbloodhounds.com www.lostpinesband.com 877-899-8269 [email protected] [email protected] www.pgramblers.com [email protected] 4 5 Peter Rowan played the Hill Country Stage at this year’s 30th Anniversary Old Settlers Music Festival in Driftwood, TX. Rowan kept the crowd hoppin’ as he and the boys from Wood & Wire showed us what bluegrass is all about. Members of Wood & Wire are Billy Bright (mando), Tony Kamel (guitar), Dom Fisher (bass), and Trevor Smith (banjo). Photo by Bob Vestal. 6 Not sure what this young feller is pointin’ at unless he’s meaning to say that he thinks he’s found some really good bluegrass music or maybe he’s trying to tell me that his CTBA cap is about worn out and he needs a new one! Oh, wait, that’s Alan Munde, having a good time listening toWood and Wire play on the Blue- bonnet Stage at this year’s Old Settlers Music Festival. But still, maybe it is time for a new cap. Just sayin’. Photo by Bob Vestal. 7 OLD SETTLERS DOES IT AGAIN BY JEAN SPIVEY The 2017 edition of Old Settler’s Music Fes- tival was a resounding success. Old Settler’s started 30 years ago as a small, one-day bluegrass festival in Old Settler’s Park in Round Rock. This small festival has grown into a four-day, nationally-respected tradition, showcasing the best in bluegrass, Americana, and roots music. We proudly maintained our heritage with bona-fide bluegrass legends like Del McCoury and Peter Rowan, as well as the best new bluegrass in the genre like The Lil’ Smokies, Wood & Wire, and Billy Strings. And, we have broadened the scope to include artists like the Lone Bellow, the California Honeydrops, and Los Lobos. We are delighted to play a role in encouraging young artists with our youth competition, campfire jams, and performance workshops. I can’t tell the Old Set- tler’s story without mentioning Sarah Jarosz, who won our first youth competi- tion in 2002 and won two Grammy awards this year, or Shakey Graves, who got his name around the Old Settler’s campfires and, at one time, served on our vol- unteer trash crew. We’re pretty lucky to have a strong, core group of volunteers. Judy Knopp in art- ist relations has been with the festival since its inception. Many other volunteers come back year after year. The sense of community among the volunteers is one of the festival’s strengths. We’re also blessed with a supportive group of spon- sors and attentive, dedicated fans who love music. This year we had to rearrange the entire festival footprint because the Salt Lick had asked us to move our Bluebonnet Stage away from the lawn by the creek where they hold weddings and receptions. We have had several rain years and each time had torn up the grass – it was impossible to fix it by the next week when they needed it for a wedding. We moved the Bluebonnet to the back of the property and moved the larger stage across the field, giving us one big backstage area. That worked great – eliminating golf cart traffic between the two stages and making production so much more streamlined. We were also able to greatly improve the backstage experience for VIPs and Platinum ticket buyers. So, it was challenging, but it worked. All in all, it was one for the books, and even though I haven’t finished putting the festival to bed, I’ve already put out some offers for 2018! 8 9 Talk about team work! Ten Bluegrass Associations and Bluegrass-supporting groups across Texas worked together to compile the funds needed to put on the 2017 Bluegrass Instrument Contests for banjo, guitar, and mandolin and help continue the tradition of having Texas State Champions for each of those instruments this year. Those organizations generously agreed to contribute the funding that will provide for the Cash Priz- es, Awards, Judges Compensation, the Winfield Accreditation, and the Texas Champ entries to the National Competition and Festival. The venue this year is the Pearl, Texas Community Center, centrally located in the middle of the state (see http://www.pearlbluegrass.com/NEWSmugMug-Files/NEWMap/MAP-to-Pearl/n-VpCpWV ) and will be provided for free. The contests will be held in conjunction with thePearl Bluegrass Jam & Stage Shows held on the first Saturday of each month. Following is the schedule. • June 3rd – Texas State Mandolin Championship • July 1st – Texas State Guitar Championship • Aug 5th – Texas State Banjo Championship • Sept 13-17 - National Competition at Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas The Cash prizes for the first three places in each of the contests (banjo, guitar, mandolin) will be: First Place: $500; Second Place: $350; Third Place: $200. 100% of the funds contributed will be used for the contest. No one except the contestants and judges will be paid. Volunteers from Pearl Bluegrass and Bay Area Bluegrass (BABA) will help run the contest, coordinat- ed by Lynn Holbrook, the BABA Contest Chairman. Rick Kirkland, the BABA President, is maintaining the relationship with the Winfield National Competition organizers and managing the incoming con- tributions and cash awards. Think about any musicians you know who may be interested in representing your area at the State Championship along with a fun time of jamming, free Stage Shows ,and “Bluegrass in the Country” at Pearl. See the flyer on the next page. Complete info is available on the Bay Area Bluegrass website at http://bayareabluegrass.org/Contest.php 10 11 One of the hardest working bluegrass groups in Central Texas, Hot Pickin Bluegrass, has officially changed its name to Hot Pickin 57s. The group started out as a pure bluegrass group, but has morphed into a band that at any given moment might break into Texas Swing, Classic Country, Americana, Gypsy Jazz or Old-Time Rock 'n Roll. The 57 part of the name is a reference to the varie- ty of music they play, like the old Heinz slogan that identified the total number of products they sold, Heinz 57. It also harkens back to one of the greatest years ever of classic American-made cars, 1957, which makes sense, since just about all of their music is American made, including their many originals. Bluegrass fans seem to love the variety of the group. All the music is performed on acoustic instru- ments - Max Zimmet on guitar and mandolin, Eddie Collins on banjo, guitar, and mandolin, Mike Mont- gomery on fiddle, and Vance Hazen on upright bass. You can find all the info and show schedule on their website at http://hotpickin.com Photo by Lisa Rich. Got word from Dave Moore that the Boerne Pickers jam is alive and well. Dave says, “We are an acoustic jam focusing on traditional bluegrass and fiddle music, Gospel, Irish tunes, and a smattering of other styles. Our purpose is to play awesome music, introduce and exchange new songs, and learn together. We welcome musicians from the NW side of San Antonio, Boerne, Comfort, and surrounding areas and all others willing to brave the traffic and con- struction on -I 10. Friends, family, spouses, significant others, onlookers, and coffee drinkers are welcome!” You can bring your instrument(s), music stand (optional), and a few copies of any music you'd like to share with the group. The jam happens the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, 6:30-8:30 PM at Electric Coffee, 215 W.