tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72119108782714475352013-05-21T00:23:02.899-04:00Welcome to my Blog. I write primarily about bluegrass music and the bluegrass experience. I also review books I read as well as offering road notes and travel entries. Come in and look around to see whether there's anything here for you. Be sure to check the archives and the labels. Please leave comments. I try to respond to all of them.Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.comBlogger922125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-14623179951005249992013-05-20T17:54:00.004-04:002013-05-20T21:47:44.269-04:002013-05-20T21:47:44.269-04:00

Saturday at Gettysburg started out threatening rain and teased us all day long. It was damp enough to preserve the festival's reputation for delivering rain, but not near wet enough to keep the fans out of their seats, considering the high quality of the bands in the day's lineup. I'll try to give readers a taste of the day, which for us lasted until well after midnight, when the schedule that

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-44571579825752892112013-05-18T10:31:00.000-04:002013-05-19T07:09:57.621-04:002013-05-19T07:09:57.621-04:00

Friday at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival was one of the glorious late Spring days you can only wish for when you know you'll be outside in the elements. The sun shone with just enough haze to take its edge off and hold the warmth in as evening approached. The music ranged from hard core traditional to cutting edge progressive and the crowd, perhaps somewhat changing in composition as

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-4659216144846701502013-05-17T10:37:00.000-04:002013-05-17T10:37:41.773-04:002013-05-17T10:37:41.773-04:00

Pete Wernick's ever popular Jam Camp ran at Gettysburg from noon on Monday until their brief performance in the very early afternoon on Thursday. Students at Dr. Banjo's camps always experience remarkable progress from the skill and confidence levels they arrive at camp with to making real music in jam settings and taking the stage to demonstrate their new found progress. Jam Groups During

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-88890601575933427792013-05-16T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-16T09:52:29.735-04:002013-05-16T09:52:29.735-04:00

The Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival opens for its thirty-sixth annual run at Strawberry Park in Preston, CT from May 30th through June 2, 2013. With a lineup so strong the highlights have highlights, this should be one of the best in several years. Featuring major national bands that you've known for years, some new bands on the scene, Traditional and Progressive bands, straight ahead

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-38565501053052603402013-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-15T10:15:07.822-04:002013-05-15T10:15:07.822-04:00

The essay below was carried on the Welcome Page of the California Bluegrass Association on Monday and will be included in the festival booklet of the Father's Day Festival at Grass Valley this weekend. I'm flattered that they thought it captured the spirit they seek to embody in this well-known festival. As usual, I look forward to your comments. Some people give Milton Harkey and Doyle Lawson

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-65606952161421703422013-05-13T09:08:00.000-04:002013-05-13T09:10:14.390-04:002013-05-13T09:10:14.390-04:00

The Denton FarmPark, located a few miles outside the small, run-down village of Denton, NC (population: 1636) in rural Davidson County. It contains a fine collection of farm buildings brought from the region as well as wonderful farm implements and antique steam driven equipment. A diesel train runs around the spacious park, giving children and adults rides on a conveyance

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-76221342905646366592013-05-12T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-12T09:00:09.008-04:002013-05-12T09:00:09.008-04:00

It was a rare pleasure to spend a week in the company of a man of such grace, charm, intelligence, and accomplishment as John Hay in this fine biography by John Taliaferro, All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay from Lincoln to Roosevelt (Simon & Schuster, 2013, 622 pages, $35.00). In a life of service stretching from his youthful assignment as Lincoln's private secretary to Theodore

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-10739670971279031352013-05-11T08:55:00.000-04:002013-05-11T09:09:29.413-04:002013-05-11T09:09:29.413-04:00

Friday at the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival provided wonderful warm weather and mostly traditional bluegrass music drawing from differing regional and musical traditions. The attendance grew with kids, dogs, and even parrots brightening the environment. Hordes of teens wandered the grounds, and one could only wish that more of them were carrying instruments.  The Denton

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-44639715946875913882013-05-10T09:58:00.004-04:002013-05-10T10:05:39.842-04:002013-05-10T10:05:39.842-04:00

Our Home on the Road   Spring has been slow in coming in the mid-South, but it edged into early summer as the opening of the Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival dawned bright and clear, becoming warm, then hot and staying comfortable into the evening. A large Thursday crowd came to greet a very strong Thursday lineup. The Roys The brother-sister duo The Roys have

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-45915386956572811712013-05-08T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-08T12:52:10.133-04:002013-05-08T12:52:10.133-04:00

Saturday at HoustonFest dawned chilly and damp with a cold mist filling the air. This is bad juju for cameras, so not many early pictures, although during the day the sky lifted with the sun breaking through around 3:00 PM, although the spirit of the event wasn't dampened and the music was always good. Still House  Still House is a group of Virginia men, most of whom play or work with

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-64025139870329023212013-05-07T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-07T09:00:05.425-04:002013-05-07T09:00:05.425-04:00

Richard Snow has written a love story; a love story between Henry Ford, the model T Ford, and the American people that changed the world and created the twentieth century. In IInvented the Modern World: The Rise of Henry Ford (Scribner, 2013, 384 pages, $30.00) Snow presents a narrative filled with Ford's ability, his monomania, his shortsightedness, his venality, his charm, and his

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-67429113019323903832013-05-06T16:54:00.000-04:002013-05-08T04:42:13.455-04:002013-05-08T04:42:13.455-04:00

Houston Caldwell HoustonFest grew out of tragedy and has become a celebration of Song and Service, , as the poster says. Nineteen year old Houston Caldwell's death in a motorcyle accident as he returned from Merlefest in 2010 was a tragedy not only to his family, but to the entire community of Galax, Virginia, where he was a dynamo of enthusiasm and action for all his interests

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-27819269978231490682013-05-03T09:46:00.003-04:002013-05-08T04:39:00.734-04:002013-05-08T04:39:00.734-04:00

Many people considering attending the IBMA World of Bluegrass and Wide Open Bluegrass being held in Raleigh, NC from September 24 - 28, 2013 are concerned about opportunities for RVers to find places to park. It's a good news story. The North Carolina State Fairgrounds has set aside a block of fifty (50) full service sites on its campground for IBMA use. The sites are equipped with water/

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-8902261383060379842013-05-02T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-02T12:10:17.740-04:002013-05-02T12:10:17.740-04:00

The storied Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival opens its 66th semi-annual festival on Thursday May 16 and runs through late Sunday afternoon May 19th with Dailey & Vincent closing with their 90 minute set. With the greatest lights in bluegrass music, plenty of able newcomers, Gettysburg favorites galore, one of the most creative and useful workshop schedules to be found anywhere, a newish,

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-40973951559327164392013-05-01T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-01T09:00:12.374-04:002013-05-01T09:00:12.374-04:00

Pacific by Tom Drury (Grove/Atlantic, 2013, 208 pages, $25.00) set in the chilly world of rural Minnesota and the warm, loosy goosey world of Southern California is held together by fourteen year old Micah Darling who moves from living with his small time crook father Tiny Darling and his partner to California, where his mother Joan has become a minor television star and film actress. The

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-49101326636021279682013-04-30T10:18:00.000-04:002013-04-30T17:18:28.198-04:002013-04-30T17:18:28.198-04:00

We first visited Willow Oak Music Park in 2008, finding a site with marvelous potential that had become a shambles due to poor leadership. Since Mike Wilson bought the park and began rebuilding its reputation, Willow Oak has undergone a remarkable transformation. While still a place where people can go to have fun playing both music and corn hole together, it is also now a music

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-42422649390692034392013-04-26T09:00:00.000-04:002013-04-26T09:00:07.086-04:002013-04-26T09:00:07.086-04:00

Deadly Harvest (Harper Collins, 2013, 496 pages, Paperbound, $14.99) by Michael Stanley, a pen name for South African authors Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, is the fourth in the fine series of detetective fiction focued on Detective David “Kubu” Bengu, Assistant Superintendent in the Criminal Investigation Division of the Botswana Police Department. The story is a gripping and grisly

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-35559651616708542982013-04-25T09:00:00.000-04:002013-04-25T09:00:01.972-04:002013-04-25T09:00:01.972-04:00

The Morels by Christopher Hacker (SoHo Press, 368 Pages, $29.95) is a sometimes difficult, often brilliant, and disturbing novel which examines the role of art and the artist within the context of a confused and difficult family during the period from the counter culture days of the 1960's to the near present. Narrated by an unnamed observer/friend of the Morel family, it follows the

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-55407285640442711082013-04-24T13:10:00.000-04:002013-04-24T13:12:00.227-04:002013-04-24T13:12:00.227-04:00

FarmPark Stage Doyle Lawson  The 32nd Annual Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Bluegrass Festival will run  from May 9 - 11 at the beautiful Denton FarmPark in Denton, NC. Boasting one of the finest multi-use facilities available for a festival, the FarmPark offers a covered pavilion for performance, a vast campground with plenty of water and electric sites, and an extensive and fascinating

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-76522846443281087822013-04-22T09:00:00.000-04:002013-04-22T09:00:15.983-04:002013-04-22T09:00:15.983-04:00

We owe our very pleasant day with the Infamous Stringdusters at the U.S. National Whitewater Training Center in suburban Charlotte, NC to Shelley Burleson, who posted a note that she was heading to Ashville to get her a Stringdusters fix. Irene caught it, and we discovered that the Stringdusters would be performing at TuckFest on Sunday afternoon. Our only regret is that we missed the

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-50286020382381886562013-04-18T11:13:00.000-04:002013-04-19T09:16:34.769-04:002013-04-19T09:16:34.769-04:00

 HoustonFest, a memorial festival dedicated to the memory of the late Houston Caldwell, will have its third star-studded run on May 3 - 4 at Felts Park in Galax, VA. The superb lineup features bluegrass headliners and also features local bluegrass and old time musicians from the region.  It's a two day musical feast designed to celebrate the life of the young soldier, fireman, and award

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-72344154099941129082013-04-17T09:00:00.000-04:002013-04-17T09:00:17.834-04:002013-04-17T09:00:17.834-04:00

David Rohde, a distinguished journalist who has covered the Middle East extensively, has written a book examining US policy and behavior in the Middle East with a particular emphasis on post 9/11 activity. In Beyond War: ReimaginingAmerican Influence in a New Middle East (Viking, 2013, 240 Pages, $27.95) David Rohde explores the systematic failures of policy in Afghanistan, Iraq, and

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-25058398746435833522013-04-15T10:53:00.000-04:002013-04-15T19:07:38.026-04:002013-04-15T19:07:38.026-04:00

The Joy Theater Kings Mountain, North Carolina, is a small (pop. circa 10,000) suburban city in the neighborhood of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The mountain after which it is named, the site of an important revolutionary war battle, looms over it, providing a scenic background. Like many small cities and towns in the state, Kings Mountain has been damaged by the decline

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-73357031305508521482013-04-11T16:36:00.001-04:002013-04-11T17:15:42.975-04:002013-04-11T17:15:42.975-04:00

The Willow Oak Bluegrass Festival at Willow Oak Park near Roxboro, NC will run from April 25 - 27 this year. This revived festival, under the direction of former Bass Mountain Boy Mike Wilson, now offers a reconfigured performance area and stage, plenty of camping spaces in a shaded, pretty area, good vendors, and lots of fun in a traditional bluegrass setting. There are

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com0Roxboro, NC, USA36.35346491304663 -78.9528071880340636.35266541304663 -78.95406768803406 36.35426441304663 -78.95154668803406tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7211910878271447535.post-12982713689739843372013-04-10T17:32:00.000-04:002013-04-10T17:32:58.930-04:002013-04-10T17:32:58.930-04:00

The following essay is an unedited re-posting of an essay of mine that was published yesterday in the California Bluegrass Association's Welcome Page. I look forward to your responses to it. Does every band's performance deserve to receive an encore or a standing ovation every time it performs? I don't think so. Somehow, in our desire to be nice and to encourage every band, we think we

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