| Bluegrass Festival Celebrates 20 Years | |||
| By Catherine Ellerton Moapa Valley Progress Published Oct. 14, 2009 “HOOT ‘N’ HOLLAR AND CLAP AS LOUD AS YOU CAN” Those instructions were given to the audience at the 20th Annual Logandale Bluegrass Music Festival which took place at the Fairgrounds October 9-11. It was a beautiful weekend. Folks had come from all over – approximately 180 RVers had journeyed to this small desert community to hear some of the finest Bluegrass performers in the country. |
 Ron Williams (left) and Fred ‘Smitty’ Smith of the Just For Fun Band perform in the opening set of the 20th annual Logandale Bluegrass Festival held last weekend at the Fairgrounds. |
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| Eight bands came together to celebrate this 20th Anniversary program. From the Carolinas to the Colorado Rockies to sunny California they came.
The Bluegrass Patriots had just recently returned from touring in Ireland and did an absolutely splendid job with an a-cappella rendition of the Gospel song, “The Home Above.” Many of these groups travel abroad as well as in the homeland and have been recipients of many awards for their performances and recordings. Loraine Jordan and the Carolina Road Band have won the International Bluegrass Music Award (IBMA) for the Recording Event of the Year in 2006 and 2009 (for the Album “Daughters of Bluegrass”) and group member Josh (also a member of the David Holt and Josh Goforth group) is in the running for a Grammy for the recording of “Cutting Loose.” These groups mix Bluegrass with Gospel and with a fair amount of instrumentals. The group “Lonesome Otis” from Southern California gave a beautiful performance of the song “Heard My Mother Call My Name In Prayer.” Some groups, like the James King Band, had just come in from the other side of the country – Florida in 99% humidity – to the desert and its lack of humidity – and laughingly were still trying to deal with that. A Nevada Style Band Scramble is one of the highlights of this Festival every year. Every musician or hobby musician can put their name in a hat. These names are drawn out and bands are formed. This year there were five scramble bands. During one set, these musicians get together and figure out what to do and how to do it and then play the next set. |
 Southern Nevada Bluegrass Music Festival President Al Bess performs on stage on Friday morning with his group, Just For Fun Band. |
I listened in on a couple of the rehearsals to watch the pieces all fit together and came away impressed with the thought that music is truly a universal language. Some of these musicians were from Blue Diamond, Nevada (Will LePage and Vera Vann-Wilson), “Smitty” came from Henderson, Lonnie Hockett, Sheryl Anne Horman and Ralph Henry from Salt Lake City, Alexi Nay of the Nay Family Band, Glenn Nelson and Ian Bagstad from Vegas and Gary Phelps from Rochester, Washington – a Festival attendee.
“We’ll start at F# minor and then to D – pause on the A part and go to B.” |
| “Let’s do something a little more traditional.”
“This is G now C then E.” “The fiddle should come in on part B.” At the end, it all fit together. “The Marty Warburton Band” delivered several instrumental selections that were amazing. Al Bess, the Southern Nevada Bluegrass Music Society President, was the recipient of a dedication song to him of a tear-jerking rendition of “Soldier’s Last Letter” by The “Carolina Road Band.” I reluctantly left this musical arena with the songs still resounding in my memories. New friends were made and old friendships renewed as we all joined together to celebrate the music of life. |
