Virginia Governor proclaims July 2011 Bluegrass Festival Month

          On February 1, 2011 Virginia Governor, the Honorable Robert F. McDonnell, issued two Certificate of Recognition. One declares July 2011 as Virginia Bluegrass Festival Month; the other honors Virginia resident Bill Clifton for his contribution as a musician and as the promoter and organizer of the World's first bluegrass festival held at Oak Leaf Park in Luray, Virginia on July 4, 1961.  The Governor also officially recognized the Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival, the festival celebrating "the 50th anniversary of this important moment in Virginia's history and the Commonwealth's rich heritage of bluegrass music."   

          The three-day festival event will pay homage to the great musics from the Shenandoah Valley, including bluegrass, mountain music, old-time string band, traditional country, gospel and shaped-note singing, Piedmont blues, and folk music.  With one main stage and two more intimate music spaces the festival will bring together a sample of music representing the musical history and traditions of the Valley.  The festival will also have a 17th & 18th century arts & craft area, great food vendors, Shenandoah Valley wine & beer tasting areas, activities for every member of the family, lots of music, dry camping, and jamming and field picking.

          This years Oak Leaf Festival features: Bill Clifton & Jimmy Gaudreau, Nothin' Fancy, Bill Emerson and Sweet Dixie, Robin & Linda Williams & Their Fine Group, Steel Wheels, Martha and Eddie Adcock with Tom Gray, Larry Stephenson Band, Jimmy Gaudreau & Moondi Kline, Shenandoah Drive, Virginia Blue, Heartland, Madeline MacNeil & Ralph Lee Smith, Professor & Mrs. Gibson, Page County Ramblers, Highlanders Old-Time String Band, Eric Freeman (Piedmont blues), Me & Martha Band, Gospel & Shape Note Singing, and a Special Showcase of Shenandoah Valley Talent and more...

           The Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival is the largest single music festival event of its kind in the Shenandoah Valley and the must attend event for 2011.  For more information and tickets visit www.shenandoahmusictrail.com and follow the festival link or call 540-209-3540.

DON'T FORGET TO BRING YOUR INSTRUMENTS.

Order your advance tickets HERE (Deadline for advance ticket sales June 15, 2011)  

          While attending the Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival you might want to experience one of the World's wonders, the famous Luray Caverns.  Discovered on August 13, 1878 when the cold air rushing out of a limestone sinkhole atop a big hill west of Luray, Virginia, blew out a candle held by Andrew Campbell, the town tinsmith. So began the discovery of Luray Caverns. Campbell, with three other men and his 13-year-old nephew, Quint, were exploring the area, looking for a cave. With the help of local photographer Benton Stebbins, the men dug away loose rocks for four hours before, candle in hand, Campbell and Quint slid down a rope into the cave. They could scarcely believe what they saw. The party had discovered the largest series of caverns in the East, an eerie world of stalactites and stalagmites seen by the light of a candle.

          Two years later, the Smithsonian Institution sent a delegation of nine scientists to examine the caverns and praised them for their ornamentation. The report of July 13 and 14, 1880 comments "... it is safe to say that there is probably no other cave in the world more completely and profusely decorated with stalactite and stalagmite ornamentation than that of Luray."

          After 132 years, Luray Caverns is the most popular caverns in the eastern United States.  Want to know more?  Link to Luray Caverns. 

          Also on the campus of Luray Caverns is the host of the Oak Leaf Festival, The Luray Valley Museum.   The Museum features a collection of buildings from the area including a restored 1860 log thrashing barn, 1854 blacksmith shop, 1830 Mennonite/Brethren Church, 1883 Hamburg Free School, which is one of the first African-American Schools in Virginia, 1840 Justice Bell House, and other historically significant out-buildings. The Luray Valley Museum has a great collection of Valley artifacts and art work with display and exhibit areas highlighting the Valley's heritage.  There is a mining sluice for children reminding us that the Valley had a brief period of silt-mining.

SMT Trail Logo

As we look toward the Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival, July 2,3,4, 2011, we are reminded of the history of bluegrass music itself.  The words "blue grass" to describe the music genre were first used in print in 1957 and in 1958 on a Smithsonian Folkways record Mountain Music, Blue Grass Style (SF 40038) assembled by the late Mike Seeger of Lexington, Virginia.  According to the history of Billboard Magazine, prior to 1958 the golden years of Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, etc. was listed under several different musical categories. From 1944 to 1948 "Folk Music" was used and was briefly changed to "Hillbilly" but quickly returned to Folk. Folk was changed to "Country & Western" on December 10, 1949 and was carried until October 20, 1958 when the name was changed to simply "C&W". The "Western" was dropped to "Country" on November 3, 1962. By that time "blue grass" was often referred to and listed in magazines and reference books as "hillbilly" or "mountain music".  The academic reference guide, Music Index, which reports all published academic papers about music, did not add "bluegrass" as a category separate and apart from "hillbilly" or "mountain music" until the 1987 (*see note below).

          During the heyday of country/western music the various music styles of "hillbilly", honky tonk, blue grass, string-band and the emerging Nashville sound all shared the same stage.  Like all of the music parks in their day, Oak Leaf Park in Luray was no exception. Patsy Cline, Ralph Stanley, and George Jones would often appear on the same bill.  However, beginning with the urban folk revival in the late 1950s this new music "bluegrass" was catching on.  As history indicates, there was at least one bluegrass day held as part of an ongoing, longstanding weekly music series prior to the 1961 Oak Leaf Festival.  However, this one day program was not organized nor advertised as a stand alone bluegrass festival event. 

          The organizer and promoter of the 1^st Festival was Virginia resident, Bill Clifton.  The books written on both the history of country music and bluegrass music all credit the first Bluegrass Festival ever held to be the Oak Leaf Park event in Luray, Virginia on July 4, 1961 .  Dr. Bill Malone, an historian specializing in country music and other forms of traditional American music, authored in 1968 the book Country Music USA.  This book was the first definitive academic history of country music.  Malone and other bluegrass scholars clearly indicates that the 1961 Luray festival was the first bluegrass festival.  Malone is Professor Emeritus at Tulane University, now resides in Madison, WI and continues to write as a Country Music historian.  Malone also indicates that the 1st multi-day bluegrass festival was held in Fincastle, Virginia September 3, 4, 5, 1965. The promoter for that festival was the late Carlton Haney. 

          Bluegrass festivals grown over the years and became so popular that today there are thousands of bluegrass events held around the World annually.  The roots of bluegrass can be traced back to one day in what is now an over-grown pasture field on Oak Leaf Road in Luray, Virginia.  The Shenandoah Music Trail is bringing the first 50-years of the bluegrass festival full-circle.  On July 2, 3, 4, 2011 the 1st Annual Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival will celebrate in grand style the bluegrass festival's 50th anniversary.  Hosted by Luray Caverns at the Luray Valley Museum, the three day celebration will include today's great bluegrass talent including some of the musicians from the original festival.  

Roger Wesley Farris of Waynesboro, died Friday, March 25, 2011.  

      Roger came to love music making later in life and left us all too suddenly.  he was a charter member of the Shenandoah Valley Mountain Music Makers Association, served as the Chairman of the SVMMMA Board of Directors, a member of SVMMMA's Executive Committee, and worked tirelessly promoting the Shenandoah Music Trail and the Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Music Festival.
      In memory of our dearest friend, champion and fellow music maker, the Shenandoah Valley Mountain Music Makers Association has established the  Roger Farris Memorial Scholarship Fund to share his love of music making with others by providing musical instruments and instruction to others so that they to may know the joys and benefits of music making across the life span.

      He was the beloved husband of Evelyn, devoted father to Wesley, Carmen, and Tonia, and much-cherished grandfather of Lexia, Natalie, Zoe, Winston, Beatrice, Owen, and Colby.

He is survived by brothers Gary, Victor, Anthony, Kimbal, and Eric; and a sister, Debby, all who will deeply miss the anchor and mainstay of our family.
      Roger was born July 19, 1942, in Rockbridge County. He started working on bridge construction as a teenager with his father, a bridge builder. Roger received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1964 and a Master of Science in Industrial Administration from Purdue University in 1968.
      Most recently, Roger was proud to serve as Chairman, Board of Directors for the Shenandoah Valley Mountain Music Makers Association, Inc.  

Pickers and Singers take turns at JMU Circle Jam - April 2011

The last Bluegrass Jam at JMU takes place on May 17th and will resume next September.  The weekly Bluegrass Jam will begin its 4th year on Tuesday evening September 13th at 6pm (to 9pm) and will take a Winter Break from December 13 to January 10th and will resume on January 17th and continue until May 15, 2012.

       The weekly jam is free and open to the public.  The jam circle consists of seasoned veterans players/singers as well as those beginning their musical journey. Family friendly.  The jam is held at JMU Memorial Hall, 395 S. High Street in Harrisonburg, Virginia. For more information call - 540-209-3540. 

What would a Music Symposium be without Music

On March 31 almost 50 participants got a chance to meet and explore the potential economic impact of the Creative Economy, Societal Entrepreneurship, and the Shenandoah Music Trail.  Attendees included: local business leaders, elected officials, economic development professionals, local chamber directors, musicians and other Valley stakeholders.  The panel discussants included:  John Noftsinger, JMU - Research and Sponsored Programs, Don DePoy - Executive Director, Shenandoah Valley Mountain Music Makers Association, Jon Lohman - Director of the Virginia Folklife Program -VA Foundation for the Humanities, Scott Suter - Bridgewater College - Shenandoah Valley Folklorist, Roddy Moore - Ferrum College's Blue Ridge Institute, Todd Christensen, Executive Director, SW VA Cultural Heritage Commission, Greg Hitchin, Director, Waynesboro Economic Development, Sherri Smith - Executive Director, Virginia Artisans Trail, Briana Campbell, Executive Director, Luray/Page County Chamber, Rod Graves, Luray Valley Museum, Karen Lawrence, Staunton Music Guild and the Key Note Speaker was Joe Wilson, Chairman of The National Council for the Traditional Arts.  Contact Don DePoy, for more information.

Me & Martha performing for students at Wenonah Elementary School in Waynesboro, Virginia

Me & Martha, that is Don DePoy and Martha Hills perform all over Virginia (243 times in 2010) bringing their love of Shenandoah Valley music to others.  Whether a school, library, historical society, assisted living facility, jam session or a public concert the consistent message is "It's all about the music."   DePoy and Hills are the co-founders of the Shenandoah Valley Mountain Music Makers Association, Inc a 501 (c) (3) and organizers of the Shenandoah Music Trail and the Oak Leaf Bluegrass & Mountain Festival. DePoy is a 5th generation music maker from the Shenandoah Valley and holds a PhD in American Music and Popular Culture.  Hills is originally from Maine and is an early childhood educator. 
More about Me & Martha.

Do you love music?  Do you love outdoor festivals?