First class all the way

Bluegrass music has come a long way from its roots in the hills and hollers of the South. Today, given enough enthusiasm for the music and a sufficiently fat wallet, aficionados can fill their summers with outdoor festivals where banjos cluck and fiddles saw incessantly over a period of days.

Just how star-studded is Bluegrass First Class? Acts like Rhonda Vincent & The Rage (pictured) will be rubbing elbows with other headliners like IIIrd Tyme Out and J.D. Crowe and The New South. Play your cards right, and you might even be able to jam with them. Photo By Albert Sanchez

They can join the International Bluegrass Music Association, which is 5,000 members strong and devoted solely to the musical form given birth to by Bill Monroe. And the most adventurous of them can even embark on a growing number of bluegrass cruises, where, in exchange for a couple thousand dollars, they can share a bunk in steerage with a fellow banjo player, or salve their seasickness with the gentle zings of a dobro.

But for all its hard-won commercial success, bluegrass today remains one of the most intimate forms of music going. It’s that rare genre in which fans can nuzzle up to the greats and sometimes trade licks with them, transactions that are often as not carried off in honeyed Southern accents and “aw, shucks” shrugs of deference.

They’ll have the chance to do that and more this weekend, when the annual Bluegrass First Class festival returns to Asheville. In its 13th year, the three-day event, hosted by the Crowne Plaza Resort, is designed to get bluegrass fans out of the elements and a good deal closer to their idols. The performance roster this year includes Tony Rice, Doc Watson, J.D. Crowe and The New South, IIIrd Tyme Out, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Dry Branch Fire Squad and local group Balsam Range. In addition, Haywood County fiddler Bobby Hicks will lead a workshop on the instrument with Jan Johansson.

Getting all this talent here hasn’t been easy, says festival organizer Milton Harkey. In fact, it’s consumed most of his adult life. For 17 years, he organized and ran a summertime bluegrass festival in Denton, N.C. In 1985, along with several other movers, Harkey helped establish the International Bluegrass Music Association, which has grown into the industry’s chief agent and talent-groomer.

“Seven of us met in the BMI boardroom in Nashville, Tenn., and we said ‘We have a chance here to do something big for the music,’” he recalls. Three years on the IBMA board followed, and eight years as the organizer for the Pizza Hut International Bluegrass Showdown, a multistate competition designed to winnow local bands and send the strongest talent into multirecord deals.

“I know almost everybody in the music,” Harkey notes. And he has put those connections to work, securing acts for this year’s festival well before last year’s festival even began.

Legendary jam: Virtuoso guitarist Tony Rice will share the stage with bluegrass master and living legend Doc Watson.

Harkey is hard-put to mention any favorites at this year’s festival, but says he’ll be certain to be in the room when guitarist Tony Rice plays. “He’s just unbelievably talented as far as this music goes,” he says. “He’s just up in the stratosphere somewhere.”

Festivalgoers will also have the rare opportunity to see Doc Watson and Tony Rice share the stage, a tidy lesson in where bluegrass flat-picking came from and where it’s going. At 84 years old, Watson’s guitar playing remains deft and sure, and his warm baritone and gracious stage presence are unflagging.

“That’s going to be a phenomenal thing,” Harkey predicts.

As well as a full slate of featured acts taking place in the Crowne’s Grand Ballroom, festivalgoers can retire to the hotel’s sunken lounge, where amateur pickers can get stage time with the vigilant help of professional sound technicians. And attendees, the bulk of whom are expected to be musicians themselves, can pick their instruments well into the night without fear of being thrown out into the mountain cold.

“I had one guy call me for tickets this year and he said, ‘Aw man, it’s the only festival I know of where you can walk around at four in the morning and find someone to pick with,’” Harkey relates with a chuckle. For those whose love of the banjo sets with the sun, Harkey has reserved a “quiet wing” of the hotel, where guests will be insulated from even the most insistent plinking. So far, bluegrass fans from 17 states and three foreign countries have already reserved tickets for the event.

The festival’s modest size of 800 means that there may not be much seating left by the time you read this. But if you’re determined, Harkey has some advice:

“I would suggest that people call me directly,” he says.


who: Bluegrass First Class
what: A banjo-friendly bonding experience
where: Crowne Plaza Resort (1 Resort Drive)
when: Friday, Feb. 22, through Sunday, Feb. 24 (Friday, $40; Saturday, $50; two-day pass, $90. www.bluegrassfirstclass.com. Milton Harkey may be reached directly at 275-8650)

 

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

3 thoughts on “First class all the way

  1. Kriss

    The article mentions “Haywood County fiddler Bobby Hicks.” To my knowledge, he lives in Madison County.

  2. Kriss

    I wasn’t absolutely sure of his residence, but I assumed it was Madison, since he’s very well-known in Madison County. He and a bunch of other old-time and bluegrass musicians generally get-together every Thursday night at Zuma Coffee House in Marshall to jam. Wonderful music!

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.