Re: First Time To A Pickin' Festival
If you want to hear some really good music, look around for locals that get together, usually on weekends. There are two of them about an hour and a half from me: Williamson Music Barn and Hollonville Opry.
They were started by locals and feature music from all over Georgia (and sometimes Alabama and South Carolina) and have been around for years. I'm not sure about Williamson but the Hollonville Opry is at least 25 years old. They each run for about 3 hours on Friday or Saturday night and feature 3 different acts of gospel, bluegrass and/or country music. There's never a charge to get in but donations are certainly encouraged. Furthermore, there's always food and non-alcoholic drinks and it's free, too, but once again, they promote donations.
Both venues have excellent sound systems The talent is not paid in money but they practically stand in line to get booked in. The pay comes from the audience, not in money but in appreciation. Some of the groups are family bands while others may be neighborhood groups or even organized groups. The audience really, really likes the music and they show it.
One of my favorite features of the Williamson Music Barn is the parking lot picking. Before, during and after the inside performances, there a hand full of pickers (banjos, mandolins, fiddles, dobros, guitars and a stand-up bass) played by the Sheriff. This isn't a Jimmy Capps-type sheriff. This is a “Let me see your driver's license, boy” type of sheriff. I've participated in a few of these but I'm always a little embarrassed because everyone so much better than I am. In any event, it's fun.
Our group has played Williamson twice this year and we're also booked for October. I'm looking forward to it and, yes, I'll probably embarrass myself during the parking lot picking.
David Hopkins
2001 Gibson F-5L mandolin
Breedlove Legacy FF mandolin; Breedlove Quartz FF mandolin
Gibson F-4 mandolin (1916); Blevins f-style Octave mandolin, 2018
McCormick Oval Sound Hole "Reinhardt" Mandolin
McCormick Solid Body F-Style Electric Mandolin; Slingerland Songster Guitar (c. 1939)
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of political correctness, incompetence and stupidity.
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