They are trying to showcase Bristol as the birthplace of country music, where the first albums were recorded in 1927 at a little studio right down the street.
The artists in attendance were: Tim O'Brien, Dale Jett, (Carter family) Yonder Mountain String Band, Odetta, and Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys. My bro-in-law drove up from FL with 2 friends because Chris Thile from Nickel Creek was supposed to play as well, and they figured it would be a once-in-a-lifetime show.
So we hung out on the backside of the Paramount for a bit, hoping to get a glimpse of someone or something...lo and behold Ralph Stanley came walking by. Or course we didn't try to engage him in any conversation. *grin* It was cool seeing him up close and personal, especially since we ended up sitting towards the back.
He's getting up in years, and so he only sang. "Only" sang. Woo boys...he did the song from "O Brother, Where Art Thou." It was acapella..."O Death." Amazing.
Sorry to say I couldn't say the same for the rest of the bunch, excluding one. Stanley's son wrote and sang a sorry song with the same melodic phrase for each line. I think I could have written a better one. His 14 yr. old grandson plays the mandolin very well, so perhaps the talent skipped a generation.
Tim O'Brien deserves mention...he is an artist and pretty talented.
The Carter Fold represented by the grandson? and 2 others needed better stage presence. They sang some of the old favorite family tunes.
The huge disappointment came about a third into the show, when they announced that Chris Thile was unable to attend due to sickness, or something. We were NOT happy, needless to say. The concert did little to help our crushed spirits, though something happened later that partially amended them.
I would say the crowning preformance of the evening was by Odetta.
She was amazing...seemingly timeless in age, with her mellow, husky voice rising and falling and mesmerizing me along with everyone else. Bob Dylan, Joan Biez and others all credit her with inspiring them. Hearing her will always be something I treasure.
On to an unexpected occurence. While we were seated and waiting for the show to start, watching folks take their seats, my bro-in-law happened to notice this man. We all debated over whether or not he was the actor from this movie we've seen.
Of course, the pic kind of gives away who he is from a series that he participated in. (Squint real hard...heh.) Recognize? Looking him up this morning I realized he's Uncle Bogg from Christy!! Imagine that. I knew he seemed familiar.
Frank Hoyt Taylor is his name, and the bro-ham was able to catch him coming out of the theatre. He was gracious enough to chat with us for a few minutes. Very cool. Our new favorite actor who lives in Scott County close to here.
So we ended the evening somewhat mollified.
I said 'Somewhat.'
Sounds amazing. I\'m going to check out Odetta\'s music asap!
ReplyDelete