Bluegrass festival

[Ace]

I was able to see and meet the guys from Lonesome River Band which put on an excellent show on Saturday, then today I drove the bus there that had "The Bits of Grass Band". What a strong inspiring group with GREAT instrumentals and Vocals! Parked the bus on the street and a short while later up comes another bus. It had "THE LEWIS FAMILY" in it from Virginia! I met and chatted with Little Roy Lewis the leader of the group. What a guy! Had a blast to say the least. Being with the groups that played all weekend was just great! Talked briefly with Andy Ball from Lonesome River Band about his playing mandolin which by the way was a sweet sounding "HILL". He said he has a Gibson but leaves it at home in Detroit! His chord playing and chops were done mostly up by the scroll and his leads were up down the tuners. He sure made it look easy! Also saw a local group called the Bluegrass Parlour band which was all kids in the upper teens. Vocals and playing were ok but you can tell a difference from the ones that have been out there on the road and those wanting to be! There was another all male group that featured a a local that flew in from Ca. Can't remember his name. The group as a whole played well but they talked too much on stage! Very distracting and personally, I would think it's disrespectful to the ones playing lead! I'm no expert by any means but when you can over hear the comments in the crowd it must mean something! To judge the weekend (if I had to) I would put it this way...
1 Lewis Family
2 LRB
3 Bits of Grass
4 Parlour band
There were others but nothing that really impressed me!

[HarmonyRexy]

Sounds like a good time, Ace!
I bet that you can meet some interesting people driving a bus! A bus full of mandolin players would be the ultimate.

There is an annual bluegrass festival coming up the end of the month in Yeehaw Junction, which is a tiny village in Florida. Two of the bands on the schedule may be 2 of the ones that you saw.... their names are the same, anyway. Bits of Grass and Bluegrass Parlor are playing.

[Ace]

Yea I plan on being there because I own and drive the bus for Bits of Grass! Great group to say the least!

Should make for another great time!

Ace

[C. Carr]

Nice post, but meaning no offense -- where did all this happen?

Charlie Carr
New Orleans (it sure didn't happen here)

[jim simpson]

I bet it was the Haines City Bluegrass Festival in Florida.

[mandolinplucker]

Ace, we have gotten together on the bus board. Going to festivals is a good way to put your bus to use. I love the festivals but I seldom make it to the stage shows. I spend most of my time in the campground pickin, grinnin and swappin lies with friends that I have met along the way. It's always fun,late at night, when the folks that are in the bands come to the campground to jam.