Katy Daley emceed the festivities at ROMP in Owensboro, Kentucky on June 24-27, 2009. This time around, ROMP’s lineup featured some of the biggest names in bluegrass, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Del McCoury Band, J.D. Crowe & the New South, and Dan Tyminski Band. In addition to her role as master of ceremonies, Katy also provided Bluegrass Country with regular updates and took photographs for BluegrassCountry.org.
12:19 pm CT Sunday, 28 June 2009
I don’t have any official weather report but it did seem a little cooler today. Fans were still hugging the tree line and awnings to keep out of the direct sun. It was hard on the working bands but they all put on great shows. The list of entertainers include: Bill Evans and Megan Lynch, Ronnie Reno, Valerie Smith & Becky Buller, the Bluegrass Parkway from Australia, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and The Dan Tyminski Band.
In honor of Pinecastle Records’ 20th anniversary, founder and owner, Col. Tom Riggs, presented a generous check to the International Bluegrass Music Museum. He also emcee’d the Pinecastle portion of the show: Grasstowne, Special Consensus and the Dixie Bee-Liners.
The IBMM sponsors music lessons at the museum throughout the year. This grew out of the Bluegrass in the Schools program. The students range in age from 6-80 and take lessons on instruments the museum provides if needed. Today it was showtime for the “Kentucky All-Stars,” which is their stage name. Over 250 students participated. They’re all helping to keep the bluegrass tradition alive.
Several hundred fans signed the Bill Monroe Stamp petition and some of the musicians added their signatures, too. Speaking of Bill Monroe, tomorrow will be my first visit to Rosine, Kentucky, the birthplace and burial site of “The Father of Bluegrass.”
- Katy
Coming soon, The Road to Rosine…
12:22 pm CT Saturday, 27 June 2009
Could it be any hotter? That’s the standard ROMP greeting of the day. I don’t have the official temperature and dewpoint so just think Washington, DC in August. It’s well into the mid-90′s and humid. But in good bluegrass festival tradition, the show goes on.
Many of the Pioneers of Bluegrass kicked the show off with performances from Bud Reed, Dave Reed, Ralph Reed, Tommy Scott, the Ozaki Brothers, Roger Sprung, Al Hawkes, Carl Pagter and many, many more. At first glance the audience looked pretty sparse. But if you looked under the big awnings and along the tree line you could see that the bluegrass fans were there and enjoying the music while trying to stay out of the direct sun.
I was glad to see some of our “hometown talent” there. All4Hym — who you will all remember performed at the first BGC Open House — did a great set. Williams & Clark Expedition pleased me immensely when Kimberly sang her great version of Tennessee Waltz. That was a real crowd pleaser; they should include it in very set. Can’t match them musically but I can hold my own in the backstage battle of hats & sunglasses. Here I am with W&C’s Wayne Southards.
By the time the sun and the temperatures started to drop, fans came out of the tree line shade and set their lawnchairs up directly in front of the stage to see the great Bobby Osborne and Rocky Top X-press, JD Crowe and the New South and the Josh Williams Band. If we lined up all of the awards those three acts have won, we would have run out of room on the stage.
More music at Yellow Creek Park on Saturday, while Oral Video History films continue to run in the air-conditioned IBMMuseum downtown. More later from ROMP in Owensboro, Kentucky.
- Katy
Editor’s note: Nice fedora.
1:37 pm CT Friday, 26 June 2009
Fred Bartenstein mentioned to me on the way out to the park this morning that there are three aspects of Bluegrass: the music, the industry and the community.
Interesting, since I’ve been thinking a lot about the community part of bluegrass this week. I am very happy to have been able to spend some time today with my long-time friend, Roland White.
I first met Roland in the 70′s when he was a member of the Country Gazette, but I’ve “known” him a lot longer than that. I remember him when he was a Country Boy on the Andy Griffith television show and as a member of the legendary Kentucky Colonels. Roland and his brother Clarence are being considered as inductees into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame this year — a well deserved honor.
Roland is a fine musician with a long bluegrass history (he worked with Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt, Dreadful Snakes, Nashville Bluegrass Band and now heads up his own group, The Roland White Band). Members of the Country Gazette — Roland and Alan Munde especially — have been very generous with their time and talent throughout my broadcast career. They have played an important part in my personal bluegrass history.
I’m seeing a lot of people at 2009 ROMP who are playing with long-time friends. Many of these musicians share a long musical history. I was privileged to bring Eddie & Martha Adcock and Tom Gray on stage yesterday. Their music was so sweet — it’s the kind of music that can only come from people who have played together and cared about each other for a long, long time.
I know that many of you enjoy the musical aspects of Bluegrass. I hope you will also become a part of the bluegrass community and be blessed, as I have been, with life-long friends.
- Katy
9:14 am CT Thursday, 25 June 2009
Last night I attended a wonderful concert at the RiverPark Center. The show was a 60-year anniversary celebration of the Wax Works, which is a family business now owned by Terry Woodward. Terry is a supporter of the International Bluegrass Music Museum and generously donated the proceeds of the concert to the museum.
What a night! WAMU’s Bluegrass Country’s friend, Fred Bartenstein served as the Master of Ceremonies and started the show with a talented young clogging team, Barry Lanham’s Foot Stompin’ Express. Then came Mike Snider’s String Band. I don’t know whether to describe him as a fantastic musician or a stand-up comedian. He’s both. He told some hilarious stories (usually about his wife, “Sweetie”) between songs. He was a real crowd pleaser.
After a short intermission it was time for Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives. I should say it was time for the FABULOUS Marty Stuart. What a set those hillbilly hipsters put on. “Handsome Harry” was on drums, and “Cousin Kenny” wowed us with his guitar playing. They covered every musical base from gospel to rockabilly. The audience brought them back for an encore of three more songs. FABULOUS!!!!!
Then it was time for the set this old Del-Head was waiting for: The Del McCoury Band and they played all the audience’s favorites — High on the Mountaintop, Vincent Black Lightning, Cheek to Cheek with the Blues and more. They asked Marty Stuart to come out for a mandolin duet with Ronnie. They burned their way through “Bluegrass Breakdown.” Then the IBMMuseum’s executive director, Gabrielle Gray, brought out a new exhibit: Uncle Pen’s fiddle. Yes, the fiddle that Bill Monroe made famous in the song will now be on display at the museum. Gabrielle played along with the band for a few measures and then bowed off stage.
After the show, in true bluegrass fashion, the bands stayed for “shake and howdy” time with all the fans and friends. And since it’s a gathering of bluegrass pioneers, there were a lot of those on hand. What a great night it was.
- Katy
8:05 am CT Thursday, 25 June 2009
My traveling companions are Pete and Kitsy Kuykendall. Pete is the publisher of Bluegrass Unlimited and Kitsy is on the International Bluegrass Music Museum board of directors. In addition to enjoying being with long-time friends, I am benefiting from all their bluegrass knowledge, but that’s a story for another entry.
Tonight we’re attending a ceremony where the bronze plaques for Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductees Bill Clifton and Charles K. Wolfe will be unveiled. Pete wanted to wear something special for the party and bought a pair of vintage (read previously owned) spectator shoes at an antique store in Virginia. There was a small problem with one of the buckles so he was really glad to see a sign advertising “Raines Shoe Hospital” in downtown Owensboro. He said we wouldn’t believe the place or the owner so, of course, Kitsy and I had to see it, too.
Don Raines, who I call the Shoe Doctor, runs the place now but it was started by his father a long, long,
long time ago. And Don likes the store just the way his dad left it. Even if you don’t need your shoes repaired, it’s worth a visit to see all the antique toys, Christmas decorations, etc. he has there. His telephone is an old model used by the electric company lineman made famous by the Glen Campbell song, “I Am a Lineman for the County.” The phone company has offered to update it but Don likes that old dial phone.
He showed me a tool that he uses to put a metal tip on the end of a shoelace. That saves his customers the price a new pair of shoelaces. He keeps all that in a wooden CUBAN cigar box, which he said his father bought when it was legal to have Cuban cigars.
Don Raines tells great stories about the town and its residents. Be sure to visit him sometime: Raines Shoe Hospital, 333 Frederica Street, Owensboro, Kentucky
- Katy
3:03 pm CT Wednesday, 24 June 2009
The Ozaki Brothers — Yasushi and Hisashi — came all the way from their home in Yokohama, Japan to attend 2009 River of Music Party in Owensboro, Kentucky. The Ozaki Brothers are credited as being Pioneers of Bluegrass and for being in the small group of people who introduced bluegrass music to Japanese audiences. The brothers first heard “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain” on a record their father brought back from a trip to the U.S. in the 1920′s and fell in love with American folk music. During World War II (when they were 12 years old and 14 years old) they were prohibited from listening to American music or using the English language. So they listened to the record secretly.
Right after the war they learned to play with home-made instruments out of cigar boxes and the three strings used on a shamisen. In true bluegrass tradition their mother sold her kimono to pay for a steel guitar and a real guitar for them to learn. (How many musicians tell us how their mother sacrificed so they could learn music??) First they learned Hawaiian music and country music. Can you believe it? The Ozaki Brothers just told me they listened to Armed Forces Radio Far East Network and they remember the show Rice Paddy Round-up, which I listened to growing up in Okinawa!
They formed a band and performed at Army camps to earn money. They remember earning $50 a night for a six-man band. At that time 360Yen was $1.00. At that time the average Japanese earned about 4,000Yen a month. So they were earning BIG MONEY. Plus, after the war there were food shortages and the American Army camps would serve the band dinner. They would take their guitars out of the cases and fill it with food and take it home so their families could eat.
They discovered bluegrass in 1957 when they met Mr. Harry Arita, who collected bluegrass records and memorabilia He didn’t play any instruments but he brought the Ozaki Brothers together with some other musicians and they formed the first bluegrass music band in Japan. Some of their favorite bluegrass groups were Bill Monroe, Louvin Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys. They performed on Japanese radio programs and continued to earn GOOD money at the American Army camps. Yashushi became an IBM computer engineer after school. And Hisashi worked for Sumitomo Life Insurance Company. That was the end of their bluegrass days. We are happy to see them at 2009 ROMP and celebrate their contribution to international bluegrass.
- Katy
p.s. At lunch I saw them eating at the table next to me. They were splitting a HUGE piece of chocolate cake a la mode. I told them they could become millionaires if they would write a book about how to eat big desserts and stay skinny. They will let me know when it’s published.
12:22 pm CT Wednesday, 24 June 24 2009
I’ve just finished watching today’s first Video Oral History Project presentation at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. The first video was an hour-long interview with Eddie & Martha Adcock. What a valuable service the IBMM is performing by recording Pioneers of our music. They discussed their personal and professional histories. Their recollections were skillfully edited with performance video. Fascinating! I wish you could all visit IBMM and see these videos. IBMM’s Executive Director, Gabrielle Gray, tells me that so far the museum has so far produced between 170 and 180 in-depth first person interviews. Most of them were gathered in the person’s home and they choose their own interviewer. If they don’t have a preference, the project director (Joe Gray) suggests who might best do their story. All of the Video Oral Histories are kept in a large bank vault until the time they’re edited. So far about twenty have been edited into individual documentaries. Museum visitors can view the documentaries. They are also available to be shown at bluegrass events around the world. For more information on how to host a Bluegrass Masters Film Festival, contact Gabrielle Gray at:
gabrielle@bluegrassmuseum.org
- Katy
8:29 am CT Wednesday, June 24 2009
The TV weatherman says we’re in for some hot weather. Today will be 91 degrees and the mercury’s only going up from there for the rest of the week. Won’t complain about that — yet! Today at “Woodward’s at the Museum” the music starts at 11 and runs through 4 with groups like Blackberry Jam, Mountain Harmony, King’s Highway and more regional groups.
The Bluegrass Masters Film Festival at the Museum starts today. These are the Museum’s on-going Video Oral History Projects. How lucky we are to have so many of the music’s pioneers still available to interview and hear in their own words about the part they played in bluegrass history. Today’s featured artists are: Eddie & Martha Adcock, Josh Graves, Pete Seeger and Wade Mainer.
Tonight is the 2009 ROMP Kick-Off Concert with music from Mike Snider, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives and the Del McCoury Band. Guess I don’t need to tell you this Del-Head is looking forward to that. There’s a huge billboard in downtown Owensboro advertising this concert with bigger-than-life-size photos of Del, Marty and Mike. I’d like to look out the Control Room 3 window every morning and see something like that!
- Katy
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