Volume 38, No. 4 © Central Texas Bluegrass Association April, 2016 Lone Star Fest, Arlington: April 22-23 early every year since about 2010 (if memory serves), the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation N has sponsored a late winter-early spring indoor bluegrass festival, usually at South Oaks Baptist Church in Arlington. I think I missed that 2010 edition, which was headlined by Blue Highway, IIIrd Tyme Out, and Alecia Nugent, but I’ve attended most of the ones since then. This year’s festival, arriving a little later in the year, will be headlined by Flatt Lonesome and the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band. Although not listed in the display ad, Blake Williams will be there, too, as a workshop presenter telling stories of life on the road with Lester Flatt, Bill Kenny and Amanda Smith (seen here at Farmers Branch in 2012) will be one of the headliners at the indoor festival in Arlington later this month. Photo by K. Brown. Chris Jones and the Night Drivers in Arlington March 2, 2013. Back then, this festival wasn’t yet named the “Lone Star Bluegrass Festival,” but it was at the same venue where it’ll be this month. And Ned Lu- berecki was the banjo picker. Photo by K. Brown. April birthdays: Darin Aldridge, Junior Barber, Delia Bell, Wayne Benson, Gena Britt, Hylo Brown, Vassar Clements, Stuart Duncan, Pat Enright, Lamar Grier, Jody Rainwater, Doyle Lawson, Kate McKenzie, Todd Phillips, Missy Raines, Larry Rice, Mark Schatz, George Shuffler, Roland White, Bill Yates. CTBA Board Meeting: Sunday, April 17, 3 PM at the Rusty Mule, 9201 Highway 290 W, Aus- tin, Texas 78736 (board meetings are open to all CTBA members). And yes, this is a new location. The Central Texas Bluegrass Bulletin is published by the Central Texas Bluegrass Association, a 501(c)(3) tax- exempt Texas nonprofit corporation. Contributions are deductible as charitable and educational donations. Work published in this Bulletin is used by permission of the writers, artists, and photographers, who retain all copy- rights. Jamie Stubblefield, president Jason Pratt, vice president Central Texas Bluegrass Association Box 9816 Sam Dunn, board member Austin, Texas 78766 Mike Hurlbut, membership chair Nan Hurlbut, board member www.centraltexasbluegrass.org/ Alice Moore, secretary Lenny Nichols, treasurer Jeff White, webmaster Tim Towell, board member Ken Brown, hapless newsletter editor Bob Vestal, board member 2 Monroe, and assorted Opry stars. If you’ve seen Blake before, perhaps with the Williams and Clark Expedition, you know you’re in for some choice entertainment. He played banjo for Lester Flatt and the Nashville Grass until Lester’s death in 1979 (including two albums), next spent ten years with Monroe (recording six albums), then co-founded the Expedition with man- dolinist Bobby Clark. One of those Monroe albums, Southern Flavor, won a Grammy in 1988. The festival starts at 6:30 PM on Friday and wraps up at 9:15 PM Saturday evening. The jam- ming will be curtailed a bit early on Saturday to allow preparation for Sunday services, but a late night jam room will be available at the host hotel (the La Quinta a few miles west in Fort Worth). Flatt Lonesome, the young trio of Florida siblings Buddy Robertson (guitar), Charli Rob- ertson (fiddle) and Kelsi Robertson Harrigill (mandolin), along with Paul Harrigill (banjo), Dominic Illingworth (bass), and Michael Stockton (dobro) has only been in existence since 2011 but won the SPBGMA championship in 2012, were selected as IBMA Emerging Artists in 2014, were nominated last year for Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year, made their debut on the Grand Ol’ Opry last August, and have released three albums. One of their songs was selected as a winner in the 2014 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest. Besides the Opry, they’ve performed at the IBMA FanFest, the Station Inn, and several of the major bluegrass festivals scattered across the country (Joe Val, Grass Valley, Summergrass). And you Flatt Lonesome at the Burnet Bluegrass Festival, July 19, 2014; L to R: Paul, Kelsi, Dominic, Buddy, Charli, Michael. Photo by K. Brown. 3 may have seen them on Music City Roots, or, in the last couple of years, at the Burnet Blue- grass Festival right here in Central Texas. The Kenny and Amanda Smith Band probably needs no introduction, because they’ve been a staple at the fall festival in Farmers Branch for several years (the picture on page 1 is from four years back). The band won IBMA Emerging Artist of the Y ear in 2003; after spending six years with the Lonesome River Band, flatpicking wizard Kenny Smith was IBMA Guitar Player of the Year in 1999-2000, and Amanda was Female Vocalist of the Y ear in 2014. The band has appeared at the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ol’ Opry, Wintergrass, Gettysburg and several other major bluegrass festivals, as well as appearing on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Com- panion show. They’ve released at least half a dozen albums as a band, along with a couple of solo guitar albums by Kenny. I’m not sure who’s accompanying them now, but I think when I saw them last, they had Cory Piatt on mandolin and Austin Ward on bass. In addition to the above, there are six other bands, all from Texas. Bobby Giles and Music Mountain, first-place winner in last year’s Front Porch Showdown, is from the Panhandle and Rolling Plains of Texas. CTBA members may remember Bobby from frequent Sunday jams at ArtZ Rib House in Austin. The band includes Bobby (guitar), Steve Loggie (banjo), Tim McGaughy (mandolin), Becky McGaughy (bass), and Dave Kuncicky (fiddle). Most of our readers are probably familiar with Robertson County Line, a CTBA member band headed by Bastrop luthier Jeff Robertson (guitar), usually appearing with David Hallmark (mandolin), Jacob Roberts (bass), and Jonathan Thrift (banjo). Need a guitar or a CD? Jeff will fix you up. Also appearing on the bill are the Herrins, the Coleman Brothers and Lone Star Boys, Pearl and the Polka Dots, and Pine Island Station, another CTBA member band. The whole thing kicks off with Pine Island Station on Friday evening and wraps up with Kenny and Aman- da on Saturday evening. In addition, on Saturday there’ll be an hour (2:15-3:15 PM) of tall tales by Blake Williams (don’t miss that!), plus banjo, dobro, guitar and mandolin workshops from 3:345– 6 PM. The festival is at South Oaks Baptist Church, 5925 Highway 287 in Arlington. To get there, take I-35W to Fort Worth, exit eastbound on I-20, go about six and a half miles, then exit southbound on US 287, go another mile and a half, take the Sublett Road exit, cross under US 287 and double back northward on the US 287 frontage road a short distance. The church is on the east side of the highway, and there’s plenty of parking on three sides. Unless Google has misled me, the GPS coordinates are lat 32.6448879, long –97.186196. Jamming is in the Activities Building next to the church. Food and other vendors are located here, there’s a central gym large enough for more than one jam, and there are several separate rooms off a side hallway that can also be used for jamming. Jamming is not allowed in the lob- by area of the church, but there’ll be an instrument check room here in case you want to park your instruments while watching the show. Jamming will shut down shortly after the shows end on Saturday night, but the host hotel (La Quinta Inn Forest Hill, to the west in Fort Worth) has a late-night jam room available. Discounted festival rates are available at La Quinta, but you have to call by April 4 and ask for the Lone Star Fest rate. Food available onsite is the usual fare — hot dogs, hamburgers, chili, chips, and so forth. A Denny’s and some fast food restaurants are located at the Sublett Road intersection to the south, 4 but the frontage road is one-way, so you must either walk or else drive all the way up to I-20 and double back. And the Denny’s is often crowded on a Saturday evening. Admission is both reserved and general admission. Advance ticket sales are for both days. Fri- day tickets at the door are $15, Saturday $22 for general admission and $25 for reserved seat- ing. Schedule Friday, April 22 6:30-7:15 PM Pine Island Station 7:30-8:15 PM Bobby Giles and Music Mountain 8:30-9:30 PM Robertson County Line Saturday, April 23 12:30-1:15 PM Pearl and the Polka Dots 1:30-2:15 PM Robertson County Line 2:30-3:15 PM Pine Island Station 3:30-4:15 PM Coleman Brothers and Lone Star Boys 4:30-5:15 PM Bobby Giles and Music Mountain 5:30-6:15 PM The Herrins 6:30-7:45 PM Flatt Lonesome 8:00-9:15 PM Kenny and Amanda Smith Saturday workshops 2:15-3:15 PM Blake Williams, Bluegrass Storytelling 3:45-4:45 PM Banjo and dobro 5:00-6:00 PM Guitar and mandolin 5 6 The ambrosial and insouciant Ra- chel Bates of Pearl and the Polka Dots entertains the audience of porcinovores during the pig roast held at the Frintz Farm, north of McDade on March 5. I didn’t hear the Polka Dots play any polkas, but they were the highlight of the festi- val.