CAPITALISING ON LAST years' success, the March 2000 BBMA AGM and Concert was inthe same venue - the Heart of England Bluegrass Venue in Warwick. Kevin Garratt organised it again but was a little less timid and booked his ownband, Generation Gap, along with the Radio Cowboys and A Band Like Alice (ABLA) - providing a broad coverage of TradGrass and geographical origin.

The concert was opened by Generation Gap: Kevin Garratt (dobro, lead & tenor vocals), his son Neil (lead guitar, lead & harmony vocals) Pam Gray (double bass, lead & harmony vocals), Angie Gray (mandolin, lead & harmony vocals) and Bill Forster (banjo, baritone vocals). The band played well but their performance was marred slightly by Kevin's injured wrist (a skiing accident!) and, more seriously, by the sound system.

Niel Garratt, Angie Gray, Pam Gray, Kevin Garratt and Bill Forster

Generation Gap played a wide repertoire including Clinch Mountain Backstep, Everybody's Reaching Out For Someone, My Sweet Love Ain't Around (Nice one, that!) and High Lonesome Sound. The last had some tasty picking from Bill Forster. Neil Garret exercised his tonsils on I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby followed by Red Haired Boy with Neil on lead guitar. Here was some great flatpicking unfortunately spoiled by PA distortion. The Tim O'Brien song Got Youth On Their Side was well performed despite the sound problems, which took the shine of what should've been a great set. Generation Gap played and sang their socks off despite the difficulties.

Second spot featured ABLA - Richard Collins (banjo, lead & harmony vocals), Gary Payne (guitar, lead & harmony vocals), Alan Ward (mandolin) Bob Winquist (fiddle, harmony vocals) and Beth Holland (acoustic bass). If the sound isn't right it won't be Gary's fault. He's very keen on things being just so and didn't mind making us wait... and wait... and it was well worth it!! We'd been diverted during this time studying the band's waistcoats. Alan sported a natty leopard skin number for the sound check (see cover) but after it changed to the dazzling Technicolor one that Richard Collinsis wearing on the cover! For those old enough to remember, he's the 'Alma Cogan of Bluegrass'!

Rear: Bob Winquist, Beth Holland, Alan Ward
Front: Garry Payne, Richard Collins

The first number roared off with the drive and energy we've come to expect from this band and which theyalways deliver. Blistering breaks from all the instrumentalists with Beth Holland's rock-solid beefy bass underpinning the whole thing. Numbers included Flying High, Ralph Stanley's If I Lose, Cry, Cry, Darlin' and Blood From A Stone (written by founding mando player Brad Johnson).

Bob U Winquist fiddled his socks off as usual. Kissimee Kid, a virtuoso fiddle tune by Vassar Clements with lots of double stops etc, showcased his feeling for this music admirably but I feel he wasn't rewarded with the applause he deserved for some great breaks! This was followed by Pain In My Heart and I'll Break Out Again Tonight, featuring Richard Collins to great effect on lead vocals. Where You Gonna Find A Good Man Like Me showcased Gary's great tenor voice - cracking stuff! Richard Collins displayed his incredible banjo talents with a Jimmy Martin tune in ultra high gear. Lonesome Railroad Blues and Gary's own song Always finished a superb set. For a deserved encore they sang Del McCoury's High On A Mountain real high lonesome and a key change to even higher lonesome took the band out in fine style.

Topping the bill were The Radio Cowboys, formed in 1972 as the house band of The Grand Ole Opry, England. RC features Big John Holder (rhythm guitar / lead vocals) and Kenny Baker (whose banjo and high tenor vocals provide a major contribution to the band's sound and personality). Mike Nelson shares the vocals and provides some inventive touches on the mandolin while Greg Smith contributes his own brand of jazzy fiddle. Bassist Noel Johnson is the band's arranger. Anyone who has been around the music scene for a long time is sure to have heard of Pete Sayers who has been a tireless worker for Bluegrass music and was the originator of The GrandOle Opry, England. Pete plays dobro and guitar and contributes to the vocals.

Greg Smith, Mike Nelson, Big John Holder, Pete Sayer

The band appeared to be very mature people dressed in smart, dark jackets with shirts and bolo ties - real Bluegrass gentlemen! I took to their sound straight away - a kind of fifties old mountain-sounding Bluegrass performed around a single mic. Not only are they very competent musicians, they appear to be trained dancers also - the way they moved around the single mic was something to behold! Most contemporary bands could do worse than study the Radio Cowboys. Pete Sayers said "We are to Bluegrass what most builders are to building!" Work that one out.

Kenny Baker, John Holden,
Pete Sayer

I loved the mix of oldand new in their repertoire. Some Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe and Del McCoury amongst the instrumentals, including East Bound Freight Train, Come Back To Me, That's My Request, The Blackbirds And The Crows, The Fool, Cherokee Shuffle, Blackberry Blossom, No Place Like Home and Toy Heart. Their version of Hot Rize's Martha White's Self-Raising Flour raised a laugh (excuse the pun!) and when they introduced The Highway Of Pain, some wag in the crowd shouted "The M25?"

By now they were wellinto their stride, working around the single mic with a grace and precision that must have been choreographed - and for a big tall man, Big John Holder had a great sideways glide! Next Uncle Penn, started by a great machine gun run by Pete Sayers, featured some great fiddle from Greg Smith. As a well deserved encore we got Wheel Hoss to finish a superb evening in fine style.

The BBMA has a winning formula here - free for members, inexpensive for others, a great venue and a packed house.

23rd April 2000