Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Great Southern Bluegras Fetival - Preview

Great Southern Bluegrass Festival
Ochlocknee, GA (near Thomasville)
March 21 and 22, 2008
It’s a sad event when a scheduled festival has to be postponed or cancelled. The Spirit of Suwannee Bluegrass Festival had been scheduled for the weekend of March 20 – 22, but it was cancelled. Promoter Don Miller tells me the cancellation was necessary because of inadequate pre-registrations and lack of sponsorship. My hunch says that Spirit of Suwannee Music Park was less than enthusiastic about this event, scheduling a large canoe festival for the same weekend and putting its emphasis onto Springfest coming the following one. Beer sales for Springfest are huge! Thus a fine festival with a varied lineup and a quality venue has gone down the tubes.
Fortunately, Miller’s co-promoter, North Florida’s Ernie Evans has stepped into the breach and arranged for a festival called “The Great Southern Bluegrass Festival” and held at Picker’s Paradise Park in Ochlocknee, GA (near Thomasville) on March 21 – 22. The headliner will be Grasstowne, a band only a little over a year old, but creating a buzz across the nation at concerts and festivals as well as through its hit CD “The Road Headin’ Home.” The Wilson Family Band, Southern Lite, Pure and Simple Bluegrass, and Southern Lite, as well as other bands to be announced are also on the bill. Of particular note in this schedule will be workshops offered by musical greats Alan Bibey and Phil Leadbetter on Saturday morning. Bibey, mandolin player for Grasstowne, has long been recognized as one of the very finest on his instrument. Chosen by SPBGMA as mandolin player of the year in 2006, Bibey was a founding member of four great bands as well as performing on countless other albums when pure, virtuoso picking is required. Leadbetter is one of only three Dobro players to ever have been awarded IBMA Dobro player of the year (2005) as well as being this year’s SPGMA Dobro player of the year. He is a fine teacher as well. An hour spent at a workshop with either of these masters is worth the price of admission to any festival.

Katie, Clint, and Robert Wilson
We first met the Wilson Family Band at the Spirit of Suwannee Bluegrass Festival a year ago. At that time they were still somewhat lacking in development, but were infectiously joyous about making their music. We were taken by them right away. Since then they’ve become friends of ours, and we seek out opportunities to see them perform. This is a family band with a difference, and the difference is joy. The look on Robert Wilson’s face as he watches and appreciates the work of his two children is priceless. Clint, at seventeen, has branched out from the banjo to also take solos on guitar and mandolin during their sets. We’ve also seen him play bass. Daughter Katie, still only twelve, has been playing fiddle for less than two years. Her fiddle playing, helped along by her friendship with Becky Buller, grows with each performance. Her voice will continue to mature as she grows into the songs she sings. The family has tailored song selection to her age and appearance, making her even more effective. Drew Jones on bass is a friend of the family and adds still another teenager to the group. Mother Melissa provides a steady beat on mandolin and has begun taking more frequent and demanding breaks. This band, hailing from rural Folkston, GA should be seen to be appreciated.

Melissa Wilson

Katie and Clint Wilson
Pure and Simple Bluegrass is a six member band which describes themselves as traditional with a “touch of comedy and magic thrown in.” Based in Dothan, Alabama, they appear mostly in the region and sound, at least from their on-line samples, to be a solid band. Southern Lite is the house band for this festival, as they are Ernie Evans’ band. Ernie brings a lively enthusiasm to everything he does, and this is reflected in the music his band plays. Ernie’s work on mandolin is very solid, and we were surprised to hear his very good flat picking in a guest appearance with Tyler Williams a month or so ago. Also appearing will be The Kenny Hill Band and The Andrews Family Band, neither of which provides sufficient Internet information for me to have anything to say about them. All told, the line-up for this event should provide sufficient variety and excellence to make its Friday evening all-say Saturday format varied, interesting, and enjoyable. The highlight, for both established fans and those who have not yet had the pleasure of seeing them, will be Grasstowne.

Alan Bibey (Grasstowne)

Phil Leadbetter (Grasstowne)
Picker’s Paradise Park can be found here. Some pictures of the facility can be found here. The pictures suggest a very pleasant setting in southern Georgia with trees, water, a comfortable and roomy music shed, and plenty of camping spaces. Water and electric are provided and there are hot showers and flush toilets available. Nearby Thomasville, located in south Georgia a few miles north of the Florida border, appears to be a pleasant town of slightly more than 18,000 people. Average daily high temperatures in Thomasville in late March are in the low seventies with evening temperatures in the low fifties. It’s early spring in this part of the world, and the azaleas should be in full bloom. Picker’s Paradise Park can be easily reached from North Florida, Eastern Alabama and South Georgia, Snowbird bluegrass fans beginning their trek homeward in late March should find this to be a pleasant and rewarding stop.

Steve Gulley (Grasstowne)

Jason Davis (Grasstowne)



9 comments:

  1. Robert Wilson sent me an e-mail and asked me not to forget to mention how handsome he is. Well...OK...he's...uh...Handsome and his kids and wife love him. - Ted

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  2. Boy it's great to be loved! See y'all soon.
    Robert

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  3. Look at the line up from the cancelled festival at Suwanee and compare it to the "Brand New" festival at Thomasville, GA. Looks like a Bluegrass "Bait & Switch" to me. Where's Mountain Heart, Lonesome River Band or Cadillac Sky?

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  4. Mountain Heart & Cadillac Sky Acoustic Apocalypse Tour: Hawkinsville, GA. (Mar. 21)

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  5. Ernie has managed to cobble together a festival and to keep a headliner band for Great Southern. Keeping the entire lineup together and moving the festival to a new venue without a pre-sale and strong sponsorship requires deep pockets. I never suggested this would be a replacement, but it surely is a small festival that will provide and enjoyable two days of good bluegrass music. Who could ask for more? - Ted

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  6. Anonymous(Bait and Switch),

    Sir or ma'am you've never been more wrong than you are about that. I personally was involved in the first conversation about doing this festival. I can assure you nothing of the sort happened. When Don had to cancel the festival that left us with an open weekend. A few of us wanted to pick somewhere that weekend and started talking about putting a show together.
    I can promise you I would never have my family involved in any shady doings.
    God Bless,
    Robert Wilson

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  7. To Anonymous,
    Where did Mountain Heart & Cadillac Sky come up with "Acoustic Apocalypse Tour"?

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  8. It never fails that when someone tries to support bluegrass with high visibility, someone feels the need to express themselves by undermining them. It would be more constructive and or appreciated if they were to help support the effort or keep their opinions to their self. Our area is not a hot bed for bluegrass like Virginia and Carolina's. It takes a lot of hard work, determination and financial resources just to make it happen. Most of the time it is at a financial loss. Yet, we keep trying because we love and respect the art form regardless of the financial impact and risk. Understanding all of this and living it, I will not post anonymous because I am proud of all of the musicians and media support that stepped up to the plate to make this weekend happen on such a short notice. Let me also clear the air, the promoter, Don Miller has nothing to do with this event and is an outstanding person as well as a promoter. He has spent over $200,000.00 of his personal money over the last 5 years with much less return to make the event possible and employ bands that NEVER get booked in Florida including major headliners. Cadillac Sky, Mountain Heart and Lonesome River Band have had the benefit to have this festival in their itineraries in the past and have always been paid without fail because Mr. Miller has taken ALL of the risk. It is a major loss to our area and a lot of work will now go unnoticed. Your sarcasm is beyond comprehension, insulting and about as far left of center as you can get. Mr or Mrs anonymous, who ever you are, let me answer the last question for you.

    Question: Where's Mountain Heart, Lonesome River Band or Cadillac Sky?
    Answer: Mountain Heart and Cadillac Sky are working for a promoter friend of mine, Scott Brown who also came to the rescue to help keep these guys employed and bluegrass alive in our area. As for Lonesome River Band, Sammy Shelor is a person friend of mine and maybe you should ask him if he thinks this is a bait and switch. He would think you weren't playing with a full deck. Sammy was very instrumental in the birth of the festival and understands totally what has taken place. By the way, I will take the liberty to send him a copy of this post so he can laugh too.

    I do however have a few questions for you now, where is your integrity and where is YOUR checkbook? I don't think I want to know who your are so I won't even ask.

    In closing, I would like to offer you a free pass to our event so you can look all of the artist in the eye and express your concern in person. There is no dress code so you will be able to attend with a bag on your head so you can remain anonymous.

    Ernie Evans
    (904) 886-8378

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  9. I don't think Mr Lehmann was right in expressing his "hunches" & opinions about Spirit of Suwannee Music Park.

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