Armuchee Bluegrass Festival

This weekend was the Memorial Day Armuchee Bluegrass Festival at the Armuchee Saddle Club in Armuchee, GA north of Rome. As the years go by things change, people get older, move away or even die. This festival has the feeling of a family reunion and there are folks we only see at this event.

However, what never changes is the music and the people enjoying themselves. I thought I'd share a few thoughts and photos taken over the weekend.

There were bands we've followed for years.

And a few very talented groups that we saw for the first time.

Of course there were campers.

Old friends and new.

Lots of four legged friends.


And of course Trixie was with us. It was a challenge to keep the leaves and dirt out of her hair. I think this was the cleanest she looked all weekend, but she did have a great time.

Pickers made their way to the stage.

Then they would wait for their turn to play.

Some folks sat in chairs under the covered stage area while others sat on the ground out under the sometimes sunny sky.

One of my favorite parts of the festival is the jam sessions. There are so many different groups around the campground. Lots of varying levels of talent. Veteran musicians right beside pickers just learning how to play.

And you always see some unexpected things.


We're home. We're tired. But already looking forward to the Labor Day Festival. If you are in North Georgia over Labor Day stop by. We'd love to see you.

Stop by The 2.8 Project for another post about the Armuchee BGF.

Who Woulda Thunk It?

Today, I was reading a favorite blog, The Pioneer Woman.com. As she frequently does, there was a question for her readers. Today's question was "If you could only listen to one music genre, what would it be?" For me the answer is Bluegrass.

The question sent me down a long road of memories about Bluegrass and my life. I can't remember a time when Bluegrass wasn't part of my life. As a child I can recall listening to Flatt and Scruggs on TV and Saturday nights at Mamaw's with Cousin Porter, Mamaw, and my mom playing and singing for hours on end. Frequently, my mom, brother and I would sing for benefits around the area. Usually it was just us singing and Mom playing her guitar. However, just before one benefit, Dad happened to meet a couple of brothers at the local music store. He discovered they both played Bluegrass and during the course of their conversation, he invited them to come by the house to see if we could join forces for the upcoming show.

We practiced a couple of times and on the night of the benefit show, they played their set and then played the music for Mom, Darrell and me as we sang our songs. We felt like "big time singers" with a whole band. I still remember how much fun we had.

I was a teenager at the time and loved traveling with my family to Bluegrass Festivals across the South. We met many of the stars of the day and lots of wonderful people who were there to listen to the music just like us. We made memories I still treasure, as we traveled from festival to festival.

A couple of years later, John was at the house and everyone was just sitting around talking and watching TV. He looked over and said, "Put on your shoes and lets go to a movie." That was our first date and the rest is history.

John played music professionally for a time and was away for long stretches. There weren't any cell phones or email back then, so we weren't able to talk much while he was traveling. By the time he decided to quit the road, I wasn't interested in dating anyone else. We were married just six days after my 20th birthday.

During our married life, we've played Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel music as a part of several groups as well as gigs with just the two of us. We've made friends that are as close to us as family. We've traveled to Bluegrass Festivals through out the south, and met stars and ordinary people. (Most stars are ordinary people too.) We've had glorious fun and shed a few tears along the way.

In a couple of weeks we will celebrate our thirty-fourth wedding anniversary. Who woulda thunk that a chance meeting at a music store with my dad would have lead to meeting my future husband.

I want to encourage everyone to embrace life. You never know when a casual meeting might turn into the rest of your life. It led me to my soul mate and when I look at him my heart still goes pitty pat. Not bad after 34 years.

Later
D