It’s always a pleasure writing about my “home” festival and with this being the 30th year of Bluegrass produced by John & Fern Hutchinson and their family, well, the pleasure is even greater. Presented each 3rd weekend of May and August, the “Central Virginia Family Bluegrass Music Festival” is one of the best.
Keeping things in the family John & Fern’s only daughter “Sweet Brenda” and her husband Calvin Lawson are the emcees for the weekend as they present the best in Bluegrass.
Starting on Thursday are: The Sargent Family Bluegrass Band, Junior Sisk & Rambler’s Choice, Lawson Creek, Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass and The James King Band.
Friday promises another great day of Bluegrass featuring: Country Fried Grass, Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road, The Virginia Ramblers, New Found Road, Lonesome Will Mullins and Dailey & Vincent.
The Saturday morning Gospel sing gets underway with The Bluegrass Brothers followed by a group that took the recent showcases at Cabin Fever by a storm, The Church Sisters (Their only performance at the festival!). Then the regular Bluegrass gets underway with: Sky Line Express, Buck & Company, Ted Jones, The Appalachian Express, The Bluegrass Brothers and Rhonda Vincent & The Rage.
I feel I should mention especially that the show by The Appalachian Express is a very rare reunion concert and if you remember (Or even if you don’t!) this great group you should make every effort not to miss this special performance.
As usual, the Amelia Volunteer Fire Department will be serving up BBQ, burgers and fries as well as typical breakfast items all weekend.
Again, this is the 30th year of promoting festivals for John & Fern. They won promoters of the year in 2006 and 2008 at the prestigious SPBGMA awards in Nashville, Tennessee. Note this is a national award!
I can boast that I have been to every festival in all of those 30 years. I can hardly believe it’s been that long. I want to offer a special thank you to the entire Hutchinson Family for their hospitality throughout these many years.
Tickets are $50 in advance (Cut off May 5th!) which is a $10 savings over the at the gate price.
Camping is first come, first served, so plan to arrive early since space is limited. John has always offered camping “in the rough” free. This a rare thing,especially with today’s tight economy. Join me in Amelia for the Central Virginia Family Bluegrass Music Festival.
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