The Acutab 'Once In A Lifetime' All-Star Show
Bristol, Tennessee on Friday, 7 January 2000.
THERE IS NO WAY I can adequately convey just what an emotionally-charged event this was. Having the opportunity to assemble my musical heroes together for such aunique concert performance finds me without words to describe it.
The scheduled artists were:
The level of professionalism was a stunning thing to behold. In many cases, they were playing songs they had never heard before or had not played in many years. Special kudos to Barry Bales who played all the bass, Ronnie Bowman who wasbattling the flu (but still sounded great!) and Jeff Autry who subbed for Tim on very short notice. 7:30 p.m. Show time. A complete sell out, with hardy souls standing outside in the cold for an hour hoping for cancellations. We kicked off with Shelor, Smith, Bibey, Bales and Stewart doing Daddy's Dream, a way-cool banjo tune in B from the upcoming AcuTab CD. Then, Ronnie Bowman came out to sing Think Of What You've Done with Alan O'Bryant singing tenor. Next Alan sang Blue Ridgemountain Home. A great way to kick off any bluegrass show! There isn't room for every detail, so a summary follows: Then, Sammy and Ron did a banjo/fiddle duet on "Turkey In The Straw, " also on the upcoming CD. Alan O'Bryant joined them for "Lonesome Scene Of Winter" from Sammy's "Leading Roll" CD. After that, Wayne, Barry, Ron and joe came on to do "Benny McCoy, " a terrific new Mark Mathewson song from the AcuTab project, Alan O'Bryant singing. This is a really neat song; a new twist on the time-worn murder ballad genre. Rob Ickes and Jeff Autry joined the throng for Rob's version of Reuben from his "Hard Times" album. Joe Mullins has always had a superb banjo arrangement of this and I especially enjoyed hearing him with this crackerjack rhythm section. Rob then was featured on a solo dobro arrangement of How Great Thou Art. Next, Jeff Autry, playing New Echota from his "Foothills" CD followed by a sneak peek at Bluegrass 2000 in the form of Wayne Benson's Old Rowdy. Other than Barry on bass, the whole Bluegrass 2000 cast (Scott, Jeff, Wayne and Ron) was on stage. Mark Newton and Scott followed with a haunting banjo/vocal rendition of Pretty Polly. Scott played it to striking effect on a Stealth tuned in open F; bluesy modal stuff is right up Scott's alley. Kenny Smith soloed Me And My Farmall from his Studebaker CD, which he does on occasion with LRB. It is a compelling piece of music and was beautifully played. Staying withthe Studebaker theme, Ronnie Bowman and Amanda Smith joined him to sing One Horse Wagon, with Alan Munde, Barry and Wayne. When Amanda sang Ronnie Bowman's gorgeous Lay This Broken Heart To Rest, with Kenny and Ronnie harmonising, you could hear the heartbeats in the audience! Alan Munde featured his extremely cool, C-tuning version of I'm Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover - a smiley, happy banjo tune which will be on the AcuTab CD - and his personality drips from every note! Wayne, Rob, Barry and Kenny formed the band for this number. Ron Stewart then sang one from his upcoming Rounder release, The Girl I Love Don't Pay Me No Mind, with Alan O'Bryant singing tenor. They actually got an encore for this song and Ron had to do another chorus! The first set closed with RonnieBowman doing the first track from the AcuTab CD, "Lonesome Wind, " a terrific new bluegrass song written by my friend Shannon Slaughter. Sammy, Kenny, Wayne, Ron and Barry were on stage for this one along with Alan on tenor. Pete Wernick openedthe second set with a solo banjo rendition of Little Liza Jane, his contribution to the AcuTab CD that I think everyone will enjoy hearing. Wayne, Barry, Ron and Jeff then came on to play Pete'sHaystack Rock from the On A Roll CD. Now time to play some macho, SE-style bluegrass in B! Baucom & Bibey were joined by Kenny, Ron and Barry for the title track of the AcuTab project, Terry's banjo tune Knee Deep In Bluegrass. Kenny was stomping his foot so hard that I could feel it across the stage - Baucom does that to you! Mark sang , his contribution to the AcuTab CD - the Jimmy Martin classic Home Run Man. He delighted the audience when he introduced a special guest, Paul Williams, to sing tenor. Yes... that Paul Williams who wroteand sang with Jimmy Martin back 'in the days'. He sounds as good as ever. Paul then treated the folks to Hills Of Roan County. The crowd could not contain themselves and Joe Mullins, standing next to me backstage, was barely able to contain his excitement, either! Hearing Paul again was a real treat, especially with such an all-star band. A highlight of the evening to be sure. Keeping with the Key-Of-B theme, Alan Bibey sang one of my favorite bluegrass tunes ever: I'll Be Alright Tomorrow, from his upcoming Sugar Hill CD. It includes one of the greatest hook lines in all of country music: "I may be a little bit tight tonight but I'll be alright tomorrow." He then played another from his new project, Herschel Sizemore's instrumental Amandalena. A highlight was the guitar duet between Kenny and Jeff on Angelina Baker. Done by Kenny & Tim on the AcuTab CD, Jeff brought an interesting, more modern flavor to the arrangement which Kenny picked up and ran with. One of my special favorites was next, a new Vestal banjo tune By Stealth. Scott was joined by Jeff, Wayne, Rob and Barry. It's a great tune with a couple of typical Vestal twists but without being terribly difficult to play. Ruthie followed with Pete and Alan O'Bryant re-creating, with just banjo, and vocal the track that was such a big hit a couple of years ago. Scott, Wayne, Rob, Barry, Jeff and Ron then returned for agreat send-up of Groundspeed. Scott played it really straight, leaving outhis trademark 'second break'. The show was drawing to a close so we started bringing more and more folks on stage. Both Alan and Wayne came out to do the Sizemore classic Rebecca, with Sammy, Terry and Scott all on banjo and both Jeff and Kennyon guitar. The audience was treated to a very rare twin banjo break featuring both Scott and Terry. Watching Scott play this with Terry is something I will never forget. He watched Terry's face the whole time - it was priceless! Alan and Wayne also twinned the final break on mandolins. Then Alan O'Bryant, Mark Newton and Ronnie Bowman came out - along with Alan Munde, Joe Mullins and Pete Wernick on banjo - for Little Maggie. Everybody got a piece on this extended version that closed the show. For an encore, we had all 16 musicians/singers on stage for a big jam on Nine Pound Hammer. I don't gush with any regularity so, please believe me when I say that this was a special night - a truly historic event. If the video comes off as well as we expect everyone will be able to share in the magic. My deep gratitude to all the artists involved; to Tim Stafford and Larry Gorley for all their hard work; to Greg Wallace from Zen Tree Video and his very capable staff. There's no business like show business. John Lawless, Roanoke, Virginia, USA Read follow-up developments Contact John: AcuTab Publications [ Write to | Web site ] PO Box 21061 Roanoke, VA 24018-0108, USA. [voice] 540-776-6822 [fax] 540-776-6827
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By John Lawless.