Sep 24
Bean Blossom bows to Uncle Pen
Steve Dilling and Russell Moore of IIIrd Tyme Out photo by Rickey LambAttending a festival at Bean Blossom, Indiana, hallowed ground to Bill Monroe disciples, is almost like living a bluegrass classic. It has the hills and hollers where fiddle and banjo music rings, either from the amplified stage system or from the many late night/early morning jam sessions. It has many wisps of smoke rising from campers’ fires — makes no difference if it’s 90 in the shade or a crisp fall evening. (After all, even the most novice camper would ask, what’s camping without a camp fire?)
More importantly, like any good bluegrass tune, Bean Blossom’s bluegrass campground spills over with good, salt-of-the-earth types.
Today, the campground is quiet with Uncle Pen Days 2007 wrapping up Saturday. Only the last ghostly musical notes of jammers and performers can be heard, bouncing down the hollers and up into the hills. Of course, those notes are all figments of memories. And Uncle Pen Days produced a ton of them — notes and memories, that is.
Several folks camping in my neck of the Bean Blossom woods believed Uncle Pen Days’ opening night yielded what they felt was the best single package they had seen at this festival. Indeed, it was a powerful and eclectic night of music. Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen provided most of the eclectic part of the menu with an 80-minute set that took the listener to Hillman’s days as a member of the Byrds to the Hillman-Pedersen collaboration in the Desert Rose Band to just some darn good songs, performed as tributes to some of their favorite influences.
Randy Waller photo by Rickey LambOthers on this stellar opening night playbill were Ronnie Reno & Reno Tradition, Randy Waller & Country Gentlemen, Grasstowne, Steep Canyon Rangers, Eddie & Martha Adcock, the Anita Fisher Band and closing act IIIrd Tyme Out. Most were repeat performances on the 2007 Bean Blossom calendar, having performed during the gigantic Bill Monroe tribute festival in June.
Besides the hour and 20 minute show by Hillman and Pedersen, Eddie and Martha Adcock also performed an extended set, due mainly to health problems Eddie Adcock is currently weathering. Adcock’s maladies aside, the husband-wife duo, as usual, had the crowd in their hands, performing many request numbers.
Two bands — Steep Canyon Rangers and Grasstowne — performed exceptionally strong evening sets. Grasstowne vocalist Steve Gulley, surrounded by stellar musicians and lifelong friends, put the crowd in a frenzy with his dynamic, soulful vocals. And Steep Canyon Rangers proved to be a tough act to follow, even for the tough act that did follow them, IIIrd Tyme Out. The Rangers do a lot of original material in their sets, but it sounds so doggone traditional — with one strong kick.
And IIIrd Tyme Out closed the show in their usual fashion, leaving fans on their feet wanting more — even though more (or is it Moore, as in lead vocalist Russell Moore?) is never enough. This marked the group’s first Bean Blossom performance since the departure of bass player and band co-founder Rockin’ Ray Deaton. Edgar Loudermilk, a longtime picker with Marty Raybon’s Full Circle band, is filling Deaton’s shoes and, in doing so, is giving this strong vocal band an even stronger vocal presence. Deaton sang the band’s basement-deep bass parts, but Loudermilk is a high tenor who offers a different blend with Moore’s unique and dynamic voice. So, what’s a band like this to do without their bass singer? IIIrd Tyme Out’s answer is to use their bus driver, who like Deaton before him, is able to rattle the woofers like an old pro.
Myron Dillman, Paul Williams and Danny Tackett in an impromptu campground jam. photo by Rickey LambWhew! That’s a lot of music packed into one night, but as many said, it was perhaps the best single night of music they had seen on the Bean Blossom stage.
The four-day festival produced other memorable performances by a lineup of heavyweights in the industry. James King and his band were particularly strong with in-your-face harmonies by Kevin Prater and Adam Poindexter and some crowd-pleasing choreography as they worked the mics.
Bobby Osborne was … well, what can you say? He was Bobby Osborne. And J.D. Crowe and his merry band of pickers were the same as Osborne. Always, at their finest. And Bobby Osborne, perhaps feeling a little nostalgic, offering up several Osborne Brothers classics during his two shows.
Cherryholmes? They, too, were simply Cherryholmes, or as one emcee refers to the family band as bluegrass on steroids. What incredible energy.
Other powerful performances during the festival came from the Lonesome River Band, the Isaacs, and Kenny and Amanda Smith.
As has become tradition at Bean Blossom, Ralph Stanley appeared on Saturday, the event’s closing night. Also part of the festivities was the induction of a new Bean Blossom Hall of Fame member. This year’s selection was the original Carter Family.
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