My Bluegrass Odyssey

Links to Photos and Travel Reports at bottom

Bobby & Sonny - the Osborne Brothers

Bobby & Sonny - the Osborne Brothers

In reviewing my reports on bluegrass festivals while creating on-line versions, I’ve noticed that I often don’t mention the names of the groups I’ve seen. This was in recognition of the fact that most of my readers were not familiar with the genre and don’t share my enthusiasm.

Since the on-line versions may attract some bluegrass fans, I’ve remedied this oversight by adding some names where appropriate. And for those who are not fanatics, this information may guide you if you decide to explore this wonderful music a little more. These and other additions are indicated by red text.

My own bluegrass odyssey goes back many years. Back in the good old days, bluegrass was just another aspect of country music – you’d hear it on The Grand Ole Opry and similar programs, and on country music stations. TV shows such as the Porter Wagoner Show and others would include bluegrass musicians along with the more mainstream country stars of the day.

I always enjoyed bluegrass, and considered it just a part of country music. One thing that really piqued my interest was a TV broadcast that I happened to see some time in the 60s. It featured Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs playing “Salty Dog Blues,” and I was amazed and impressed at the performance. When each player took his solo, he stepped up to the mike and played his part with precision, looking as if it was the easiest thing in the world. This song has been my favorite bluegrass song ever since.

In the late 1990s, I discovered that there was a bluegrass festival in my home town of Mariposa. I decided to check it out, and took in the afternoon and evening shows, joined by my younger daughter and her husband, Jennifer & Rod.

The next year (May 1998) I again went on Saturday, joined this time by my older daughter and her family, Teri, Tim & grandson Mikie.

In 1999 I took Friday off from work, and attended my first full weekend festival. I didn’t take the trailer, but instead went back to dad and mother’s house after the music ended Friday and Saturday nights.

Tim & Teri decided that the next year, they would go with me for the weekend, and for the first time I took my trailer. Both grandsons, Mikie and Johnny, came along, as well as Moses, a friend of Johnny, and Tim’s parents, Marge & Rocky. This time I took off work so we could go on Thursday.

Everyone enjoyed the festival in their own way...the adults for the music and just getting away from the day to day routine...Mikie just because he enjoys life nearly all the time...JD and Moses hanging out together and doing whatever they could find to do. They went to town most of Saturday; and went out to dinner with dad and mother.

We immediately agreed that we would return next year (2001), but it was not to be. The Mariposa Arts Council decided not to hold the festivals any longer, so I started looking into a festival I had heard of that would be held in Parkfield, in the coast hills west of Fresno. Teri, Mikie and I went to it, and I have not missed one since. (2007/08 update: I was unable to go to Parkfield in 2007, but I was back in 2008.)

The following year (2002) was the first festival after I retired, so for the first time I did not need to go home on Sunday night. We went on Wednesday as I recall, and came home Monday morning, and enjoyed everything about it. With the extra time available due to not having to go to work, I began to seek out and attend other festivals, and the rest is recorded in my endless series of travel reports.

By my informal count, I have attended 37 festivals, 6 of them for one day only, and the rest for the full three or four days. I’m looking forward to many more.

The official count
(Updated May 25, 2010)

Summergrass (Vista CA)

1

Jake's Brown Barn Festival.................................

1

Camp Rude/Parkfield..........................................

9

Logandale NV....................................................

2

Colorado River (Bullhead/Laughlin)......................

3

Bluegrass on the River (Parker AZ).....................

3

Bluegrass on the Beach (Lake Havasu AZ)...........

3

Bluegrass in the Foothills (Plymouth CA)..............

5

Superstition Mountain (Apache Junction AZ).......

1

Supergrass (Bakersfield).....................................

2

Kings River/Hobbs Grove (Sanger CA).................

5

Mariposa Festival...............................................

4

Huck Finn Jubilee (Victorville CA).........................

3


By the way, if your cable or satellite system offers RFD TV, you have access to some great bluegrass and country music (it’s channel 379 on my DirecTV service).

The best show is Reno’s Bluegrass Festival. Don Reno & Red Smiley were among the first generation of bluegrass pioneers. Although lesser known, they were nearly as influential as Bill Monroe or Flatt & Scruggs. Don’s son Ronnie leads the Reno Brothers, and hosts the show. Every episode features one song by the Reno Brothers, followed by interviews and performances by some of the top names in bluegrass. Sometimes there is a clip from Reno & Smiley's TV show of the 1960s. These shows are about ten years old.

April 2008 update: For a couple of years the Reno show was off the RFD network, but now it's back - yeehah!

The other pure bluegrass offering is Cumberland Highlanders. Originating from Bill Monroe’s home town of Rosine, KY, these shows are current, or at least not more than a year old, and feature many regional groups from the southeast. Frankly the production work leaves a lot to be desired, but sometimes you can hear some outstanding music by groups you’ve never heard of. I’ve also seen the Cherryholmes Family, Ralph Stanley and a couple of other familiar groups.

Stan Hitchcock’s Heart to Heart Classics focuses more on mainstream country, but it tends to be the more traditional artists rather than the current crop who are mostly rockers with big hats. These shows also appear to go back about ten years. The format is very informal, with interviews interspersed with purely acoustic performances by the artist, accompanied by Stan on guitar. April 2008 update: This show also was off the RFD-TV for a couple of years, and now is back.

From the late classic era comes The Porter Wagoner Show. Bluegrass artists are rare, but these shows go back to the 1960s, and you get a chance to see artists who are long gone. In recent weeks I saw a very young Waylon Jennings, an equally young Bobby Bare, and departed giants such as Hank Show and Marty Robbins. Many of the shows also feature Dolly Parton, by herself and harmonizing with Porter. Bluegrass purists may not care for the electric guitar, much less the electric banjo, but the fiddler, the late Mack Magaha, toured for many years with Reno & Smiley, so there is a bluegrass connection here.

9/30/09 update: The RFD Network is currently offering a brand new musical show with an old-style flavor - the Marty Stuart Show. Unless you have had no contact whatsoever with country music over the last 20 years, you know that Marty has been a big star for a long time. Before that, "Little Marty Stuart" played bluegrass with Lester Flatt's band at age 13, and later toured with Johnny Cash.

His show reminds me in some ways of Wagoner's, complete with the fancy western suits and a talented band, the Fabulous Superlatives, whose members sometimes step forward to do a lead vocal. Most shows feature a bluegrass or traditional country artist, and his wife, country star Connie Smith, makes an appearance in each show. It's a nice mixture of electrified and acoustic country music. Although the show starts out electrified, by the mid-point acoustic instruments have nearly taken over in most episodes.

If you have any interest in bluegrass, country, or acoustic music in general, these shows are all worth checking out.

--Dick Estel, June 2006 (Updated May 2010)

Photos
(Photos open in a new window)

One way to enjoy a bluegrass festival Johnnie, Mikie & Moses Tim & Teri, Rockie & Margie, Mikie
Everyone enjoys the  festival in his own way Johnnie, Mikie & Moses Tim & Teri, Rockie & Margie, Mikie
 
Bill Monroe Ralph & Carter Stanley Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
Bill Monroe Ralph & Carter Stanley Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
 
Cherryholmes Family, Camp Rude, Parkfield, 2001 Don Reno & Red Smiley Ivan Rosenberg (Uncle Slosh), seated; promoter Pat Conway in cowboy hat, et al
Cherryholmes Family, Camp Rude, Parkfield, 2001 Don Reno & Red Smiley Ivan Rosenberg (Uncle Slosh), seated; promoter Pat Conway in cowboy hat, et al
 
The Promoters
Bill Bogan, Soggy Mountain Festival Randy Gray, Colorado River Festival Larry Baker, Parker & Plymouth Festivals
Bill Bogan, Soggy Mountain Festival Randy Gray, Colorado River Festival Larry Baker, Parker & Plymouth Festivals
 
Jerry Johnson, Kings River Festival Jerry Johnson, Doug Cornelius, Patrick Tenyenhuis Pat & Rosie Conway, Camp Rude (Parkfield)
Jerry Johnson, Kings River Festival Jerry Johnson, Doug Cornelius, Patrick Tenyenhuis, Kings River (at 2009 Hobbs Grove) Pat & Rosie Conway, Camp Rude (Parkfield)
 

Dick's Bluegrass Links

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Jim & Jesse McReynolds

Jim & Jesse McReynolds

Travel Reports
 
Before 2002     2002     2003     2004     2005     2006     2007

2008     2009    2010    Other

 
Before 2002
Early Trips Later Trips
Camping Trips Backpacking Trips
Bluegrass Odyssey
 
2002
Journey of 2002 (Ohio & Back) Logandale & Utah Parks 2002
 
2003
Arizona & Bluegrass on the River 2003 Grand Canyon & Logandale Bluegrass 2003
Parkfield & Huck Finn 2003 Early Frog Camps (2003-2005)
 
2004
Paso Robles & Parkfield 2004 Road Trip 2004 (Ohio & Back)
Bullhead City Bluegrass, Mesa, Superstition Bluegrass 2004 Bluegrass in the Foothills 2004
 
2005
Arizona-Southern California 2005 Huck Finn Bluegrass 2005
Morro Bay 2005 Stargazer Rock Camp 2005
Parkfield Bluegrass 2005  
 
2006
Huck Finn Bluegrass 2006 Las Vegas Commodore Expo 2006
Rock Creek Non-Camp Stargazer Rock Camp 2006
Parkfield Bluegrass 2006 Oregon 2006
Bluegrass in the Foothills 2006  
 
2007
Frog Camp 2007 Eastern Sierra Journey 2007
Las Vegas Commodore Expo 2007 Stargazer Rock Camp 2007
Roundup #1
(Mother Lode; Kings Canyon, Yosemite)
Bullhead City, Bakersfield, Joshua Tree 2007
Bluegrass in the Foothills 2007  
 
2008
Nevada-Arizona Hockey & Bluegrass 2008 Parkfield Bluegrass 2008
Frog Camp 2008 Las Vegas Commodore Expo 2008
Stargazer Rock Camp 2008 Bluegrass in the Foothills 2008
Hobbs Grove Festival 2008  
 
2009
Roundup 2009
Las Vegas, Mariposa, Table Mountain, Orange County
Frog Camp 2009 Southern Journey 2009
Parkfield Bluegrass 2009 Stargazer Rock Camp 2009
Bluegrass Tour 2009 (Brown Barn, Plymouth, Hobbs Grove) Hensley Lake Camp
 
2010
Mojave National Preserve & Havasu Bluegrass Roundup 2010
Parkfield Bluegrass 2010 Lake Almanor & Mt. Lassen 2010
Las Vegas Expo Summergrass
  Brown Barn, Watsonville & Hobbs Grove
 
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Updated August 27, 2010