Friday Sept. 5 kicks off the 5th Annual Franklin Music Fest in Franklin, KY. The 2 day event, hosted by the ever popular Williams & Clark Expedition, features a line-up of bluegrass talent waiting to be rivaled.In addition to crowd favorite Rhonda Vincent & The Rage expect to see Dailey & Vincent who are nominated in 10 IBMA Awards categories this year. Also scheduled to appear are Cherryholmes, Nothin’ Fancy, IIIrd Tyme Out, The Grascals, The Isaacs and The Martins.

Tickets will be available at the gate and more information can be found at the Franklin Music Fest web site.
Friday:

• Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
• Cherryholmes
• Nothin’ Fancy
• Williams & Clark Expedition
• Dailey & Vincent

Saturday:

• The Isaacs
• IIIrd Tyme Out
• The Grascals
• Williams & Clark Expedition
• The Martins

Tickets:

• Friday – $20.00
• Saturday – $25.00
• Weekend pass – $40.00
• Children Under 12 Free

On A side note:
Our good friends Dave and Wendy Connor will have a “pickin’ parlor” setup on their campsite (last campsite in the back) and would like to invite people to come down and jam.

Editor’s Note: Bob Dieterlen had a chance to talk with  Hunter Berry backstage at the 2007 Franklin Music Fest in Franklin, KY last year. Hunter was gracious and shared plenty of stories on how he got into Bluegrass Music and playing the fiddle. He also discussed those who influenced his playing and what life on the road is like. 

Hunter along with his current boss, Rhonda Vincent, and bandmates The Rage will make a return trip to the Franklin Music Fest this coming Friday, September 5th.

BluegrassJournal.com: Tell us a little about your background and how you got started in bluegrass.

Hunter Berry: Well, I am 23 years old, and started playing fiddle at the age of nine. I took lessons locally in Johnson City, TN from a gentleman by the name of Benny Simms. Benny was Flatt and Scruggs first fiddle player after they broke from Bill Monroe. He recorded the original cuts of Pike County Breakdown & Foggy Mountain Breakdown as well as many others while with Flatt & Scruggs. Benny passed away with cancer, and I started taking lessons from another local guy named David Yates. I got into the jamming scene of east Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina very heavy as a little kid. It seemed liked I was playing fiddle somewhere every night. I quit formal lessons with David at age 13, and learned a ton at jam sessions. I truely believe to get better, you have to get into jam sessions with people who play better than you do, cause then you’ve got no where to go but up.

BluegrassJournal.com: What was your first paying gig?

Hunter Berry: I was 12 or 13 years old, playing at the Carter Fold in Hilton, Virginia. It’s an old timey ampitheater type place that came down from the original Carter family. I would sit in with bands that needed a fiddle player, and I believe I made fifty dollars a night. My first paying gig playing in a band was with a group called Country Grass in Advington, Virginia. They played at an old tobacco warehouse every Saturday night. That was fifty dollars every week. Now this was when I was in sixth or seventh grade, so making $200.00 a month was crazy. My family never wanted for anything, but we didn’t have a lot of money, so having $200.00 every month was really something. I thought I was living high on the cotton man! I tell you a little story, while I was playing at the tobacco barn, I had a banjo playing buddy about the same age that used to make extra money putting up hay during the summer. I told him I was kinda gettin discouraged and burned out with the whole music thing, and that I would like to go with him one day and put up hay to make some money. One day we went and put up hay for only about 3 to 4 hours, and I made fifteen bucks, working my butt off, with hay scratches all over my arms and my hands tore up. Three hours out in the hot sun working that hard and only got paid fifteen dollars. I was making fifty dollars playing fiddle for an hour on a Saturday night. I knew right then that I was gonna be playing music for a livin the rest of my life! (laughs)

BluegrassJournal.com: You have your own distinct style of playing. Besides your teachers, which fiddle players influenced you the most?

Hunter Berry: The first CD I bought was called Blue Ribbon Fiddle, put out by Rounder Records. It had several different fiddle players on it, but at the time it was a little above my head to learn off of. The next CD’s I bought were the Flatt & Scruggs red box set. These recordings had a lot of Benny Martin on them. and Benny was the first fiddle player to really grab my attention. He was one of the first fiddle players to play with the same authority as the lead vocalist, and also the same aggressivness as the lead banjo player. At that point in time, I don’t believe you heard anyone playing that dominant on the fiddle. Benny is definitely one of a kind and a major influence on my playing. I got to know Kenny Baker playing at the Carter Fold as a youngster, and Kenny was always extremely nice to me. Kenny encouraged me alot with my playing. Bobby Hicks, Paul Warren, Chubby Wise, all those cats that are legendary affected my playing in some way.

BluegrassJournal.com: How did you meet up with Rhonda Vincent?

Hunter Berry: I was with a little band called Leisure Time, and I got an offer to go with Melvin Goins when I was 16 years old. At this point, I was still in high school and the school allowed me to take Thursday and Friday’s off to travel, because they knew I played music alot. They were very supportive, but I also had to go to school an hour early every day and stay an hour late to make up the time. Anyway, I played with Melvin my Freshman year of high school. I played with Melvin for one year, and about half way through my Sophmore year, Doyle Lawson called and asked me if I would like the fiddle job with his band. I had a choice to either stay in school or work with Doyle. There was no way to do both. So, I decided to quit school and go on the road with Doyle. I did have to take my GED before I was allowed to quit and go on the road. I was with Doyle somewhere between 8 months and a year when Rhonda Vincent called and asked if I was happy where I was at, and I said yes, but could be happier, what’s your offer?! The offer was good and I have been with Rhonda ever since.

BluegrassJournal.com: How is life on the road with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage?

Hunter Berry: Busy! Very Busy. We spend an average of 300 days a year on the road. It does not leave a lot of time for anything else. It is a hard working gig. It’s a lot of work, but I love it. This would be a miserable life if you did not absolutely love the music and the road. No amount of money would matter, you got to love it man!