Enter to Win DelFest tickets !!!
UPDATE 4: We Have Our DelFest Winners !!!
BluegrassJournal.com, along with DelFest, McCoury Music and High Sierra Music, would like to congratulate the 2 winners of our DelFest ticket giveaway. Each winner will receive 2 festival passes and camping for the historic 1st annual DelFest that takes place in Cumberland, MD May 23-25, 2008.
The winners are Jayme Blume of Newark, MD and Jason Birkey of Hopedale, IL.
Both DelFest Ticket Giveaway winners sounded very excited to be going to DelFest when we called to let them know the good news. Jayme and Jason each said they would send some pictures from DelFest after the festival.
BluegrassJournal.com would like to thank DelFest, McCoury Music and High Sierra Music for allowing us to be a part of this special event.UPDATE 3 Drawing is closed. No more entries accepted. Winners will be announced shortly !
UPDATE 2 And the winners will be ???
Unfortunate as it is for our first winner. Shane O’donnell. will not be able to attend so, BluegrassJournal.com will be drawing 2 lucky winners for DelFest festival passes in less than 2 hours.
UPDATE: And the winner is…
We drew for the 1st pair of festival passes to DelFest at 5:00 PM Central time today, May 2.
The whole staff here at BluegrassJournal.com would like to congratulate Shane O’Donnell whose name was drawn out of the hat of entries.
Make sure and get your entries in for the drawing for the last pair of tickets to DelFest which will be drawn on Friday, May 9, 2008. See below for more information on entering.
Are you ready to kick off the Summer season right?Are you itchin’ to go to a bluegrass festival?Are you ready to be a part of Bluegrass History as Del McCoury celebrates 50 years in Bluegrass?Here’s your chance to be a part of the 1st Annual DelFest in Cumberland, MD May 23-25, 2008.BluegrassJournal.com, in conjunction with DelFest, McCoury Music and High Sierra Music, which is helping to promote McCoury’s festival., is giving away free festival tickets to Del McCoury’s first annual bluegrass festival, aptly named DelFest.The editors at BluegrassJournal.com are offering two pairs of tickets, which will be given away to subscribers of the Web site. And subscribing to BluegrassJournal.com is free — and easy, requiring only a username of your choosing and a valid email address. 1 comment
Ernie Thacker returns to Bluegrass Music
The story was written by Larche Hardy, freelance bluegrass writer and News Director WMBB-TV, Panama City, Florida. Many thanks to Larche for allowing us to publish this story and thanks to Veniece Kennedy and George Hester for the photos.
Ernie Thacker returned to the stage at Riverbend Bluegrass Festival in Ocilla, GA, for his first show since April 18, 2006, after a devastating accident nearly claimed his life. Photo by George Hester.Ernie Thacker has been making bluegrass music for more than 30 years and has appeared on hundreds of stages across America. But, he has never been more nervous than he was on stage this past weekend at the Riverbend Bluegrass Festival in Ocilla, Ga. His life changed drastically since he last played bluegrass professionally and now, confined to a wheelchair, he needed to know if he could still do what he loves to do most.
Exactly two years earlier, Thacker was on a winding road near his home in Clinchco, Va. He was heading to his brothers house for a jam session about 8 miles away. As he rounded a curve, CDs on his dash fell in the floor. He reached down to pick them up and that was the last thing he remembered until days later when he awoke in a hospital with his life hanging by a thread.
He had no recollection of the single car crash. He did not remember the good Samaritans that came to his aid and he did not remember the life flight to a hospital several miles away. He did not remember losing more than 50 pints of blood in 13 hours. He would learn in time.
The accident left him with 12 broken ribs, broken collar bones, a ruptured spleen, and a crushed aorta. Doctors cut the nerves to his legs while trying to control blood flow to the upper portion of his body. It rendered him paralyzed from the waist down. He spent more than 100 days in intensive care. His survival was called a medical miracle. Thacker calls it a Gift from God.
Now, with hundreds of hours of hospitalization and rehabilitation behind him, 37 year old Thacker is back on the road. He knows his musical life will be different. One of his lungs was severely damaged and he is learning to adapt to his new disabilities, including confinement to a wheel chair.
Before the accident, Thacker was a rising star in the bluegrass business. As a teenager, he landed the role of lead singer for Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys and traveled with the band for six years.
He later formed his own group, Route 23, and received critical acclaim for his soulful voice and superb musicianship. He has been recognized in the Top 20 Emerging Artists twice by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 1999 and 2000. Some have described him as the George Jones of bluegrass music.
He chose the Riverbend Bluegrass Festival on the two year anniversary of his accident to stage his comeback. It was also a way to show his appreciation to Veniece and Dale Kennedy, with the Riverbend Bluegrass Band, for helping his family after the accident.
Our little business of bluegrass isn’t that big but when somebody is in need it seems like everybody pulls together. If it hadn’t been for people like Veneice and Dale, my wife and I would have probably lost everything we had.
Hundreds of musicians and Thacker Backers participated in fund raising events all over the country to help the Thacker family with expenses over the past two years.
Ernie Thacker and Route 23 perform at the Riverbend Bluegrass Festical in Ocilla, GA. Photo by Veniece Kennedy.Flanked by his band, Route 23, he made his way to the stage for his first show since April 18, 2006. About three hundred friends and fans gathered at the Riverbend festival site to hear him perform. He followed groups like Grasstowne, The Sullivans, and The Chapmans who were also on the weekend line-up.
Thacker dedicated his show to his wife who he says stayed by his side while he was in a Bristol, Tenn. intensive care unit.
I love her to death and I am glad she is here with me, he said.
He performed a couple of songs from his Chill of Lonesome CD then spoke directly to the crowd.
I lost half a lung during the accident and I just don’t have the breath to push it like I used to but I’m going to work and work to get it back down to what it used to be. I have to learn to sing all over again.
Even though his voice was weaker, it did little to curb the enthusiasm of the audience. At one point during the performance he received a standing ovation.
Folks you don’t know. Ive been playing music for twenty years and I guess this is the most nervous I have ever been on stage. I appreciate you so much. I love all of you.
As a testament to his popularity, Pinecastle Records contracted in February to release a new album entitled The Hangman. No date has been set but the label expects to release it by the fall. The project was nearly complete before the accident but some work has taken place since.
Though Thacker has come a long way with his recovery, he admits there is still much work to do. Building his strength is one of his priorities. He knows,however, it will be a long process. Support from fans will be a big part of the recovery. The enthusiasm and reception from the crowd at Riverbend moved him to tears.
This music gets in your blood. When you cant do it, that’s all you think about. My goal was to just get back out and see everybody and play again. Words cant describe how you just made me feel.
It may not have been the performance he wanted but he accomplished what he set out to do. He was back on stage doing the thing he loved most. For his many fans, it was more than expected. Ernie Thacker is a miracle minstrel destined to share his gift with those who love the music.
He performed two sets during the festival. According to his website, www.erniethackerroute23.com, he will appear at more venues this summer and fall.
Bluegrass Bits and Pieces
Upcoming Bluegrass Festivals
April 25-27 — Benson Bluegrass Festival at the Lions Park in Benson, Arizona - Featuring the music of lllrd Generation, Digger Davis & Tombstone Flint Hill Special Titan Valley Warheads, Fiddlemania ~ Bost Family Traditions, Trusting Heart, The Hermit Tree, and the Jam Pac Neighborhood Band
Tickets: Fri - $8.00 Sat & Sun - $12.00 and a 3-day pass is $25.00
May 8-10 — The Doyle Lawson Bluegrass Festival in Denton North Carolina - Scheduled to perform are: Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Dailey and Vincent, Dan Paisley and Southern Grass, Dale Ann Bradley, The Grascals, Randy Waller and The Country Gentlemen, Cadillac Sky, Bill Yates and Friends, Cherryholmes, Paul Williams and Victory Trio, Special Consensus, J.D. Crowe and the New South, and Goldwing Express.
For ticket information contact Denton Farmpark via telephone at (336) 859-2755.
May 16-17 — Blackwater Bluegrass Spring Festival at the Blackwater Park near Jasper, Alabama - Bluegrass artists scheduled to perform include: Marty Raybon, Clear Blue Sky, Iron Horse, Crossing the Gap, Cottonmouth Creek, Foggy Hollow, Canaan’s Crossing and Stan Nelson and Hurricane Creek.
Tickets at the Gate will run $15 and $20 for Friday and Saturday single day passes respectively and a weekend pass is $30.00
Blueplate Special serving up Bluegrass
WDVX’s Blueplate Special will be serving up a heapin’ hot helping of fiddle licks Friday, May 2 when Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper stop by the studios for visit. Also scheduled to appear on May 2 are the Pea Ridge Ramblers.
Clinton, Tenn. Bluegrass baand Laycee Lee and Granite Station will perform on the Blueplate on Tuesday, May 6 wiht guest Alex Leach.
- Fri., May 2: Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper / Pea Ridge Ramblers
- Tue., May 6: Laycee Lee and Granite Station w/ Alex Leach
East Tennessee’s Own® WDVX will host several great Bluegrass bands on the Blue Plate Special, an hour long radio program featuring bands playing live in the studio. Locals are encouraged to be part of the WDVX studio audience weekdays at noon (Eastern Time) for free performances in downtown Knoxville, Tenn. at the WDVX studios and for those who can’t make it down for a show, listen live on-line.The WDVX studios are located in the Knoxville Visitor’s Center at the corner of Gay Street and Summit Hill Avenue in downtown Knoxville, Tenn.
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