The Wooly Worm Festival Beattyville Kentucky

This weekend my family and I went over to Beattyville, Kentucky for the 23rd Annual Wooly Worm Festival. It was the first time I had ever been to the festival or even to Beattyville.

The Wooly Worm Festival was fairly big (compared to what I was expecting) and the streets were full of people having fun. There were wooly worm races, food and crafts vendors, a parade and of course live music.

The parade was probably the least of my favorite things about the festival. Actually it wouldn't have been bad had it not been for the fire trucks and emergency vehicles. There were quite a few of them and they were in very close proximity to the crowd and they kept blasting their horns and sirens. It was so loud that it actually hurt your ears and vibrated your head! I looked around and saw children and older people who were obviously in severe discomfort. I heard a lot of people complaining around me too. I swear I even saw a guy turning his hearing aid down or off. I thought it was excessive and also wondered what would have happened if there had been a fire or other emergency in Lee County at the time.

There were several different bands that performed on stage at the Wooly Worm Festival but of course my favorite thing was the live bluegrass music. In fact that was the main reason I decided to go to the Wooly Worm festival.

My wonderful wife and my two younger daughters as well as my oldest grandson enjoyed the festival with me. My grandson actually got out there and danced a bit when the bluegrass was on. I was both surprised and amazed at how well he seemed to do.

The Wooly Worm Festival has been going on during the third weekend of October since 1987 making this year number 23.

Mandolin Farm Weary Jammers

Gary Rose, Willie Jarrels, Keith Prater, Mike Wilson, Kyle Wilson and Mark Peyton

If you are a bluegrass music fan and you're on Facebook "Like" our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/IDigBluegrass

You can see videos of the performances at the Wooly Worm Festival and other live bluegrass at http://www.IDigBluegrass.com

Children Love Bluegrass Music

Children seem to love bluegrass music. Whenever I am at a festival or other place where they are playing live bluegrass music I always notice how the children love it. You often see them wanting to get up and dance long before the adults do.

My own daughter enjoys bluegrass music and depending upon when you ask her she will tell you that her favorite instrument is either the banjo or the mandolin. It really does my heart good to see her smiling and dancing and talking about "that banjo music". Naturally, I try to take her with me to hear live bluegrass music whenever I can. In the photo on the left my daughter is enjoying live bluegrass at Mandolin Farm near Flemingsburg, Kentucky.

The last time I went to a bluegrass show was at Rattlesnake Ridge. I took my middle daughter and my oldest grandson with me that evening. My grandson likes bluegrass music too but he tends to get a little impatient after awhile and says, "papaw, when are we leaving?" I think he gets a little 'stir crazy' and just doesn't like to sit still too long.

There are a lot of young people playing bluegrass music and I think that is really awesome. I mean it! It gives me more hope for the future of music when I see people like Chaston Carroll, only 16 years old at the time of this writing, playing so well. Chaston plays mandolin for David Carroll and New River Line and he does an excellent job at it. Chaston's father, David Carroll, told me that Chaston has been fascinated with bluegrass and the mandolin since he was very small and he put in a great deal of time with his practicing. That's what it takes; desire and dedication.

This past summer there were children as young as 8 years old competing in youth contests on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, etc. To me it is an amazing sight to see such young folk with so much talent and drive.

If you have a child who gets into music do everything you can to encourage them, you never know you could be the parent of the next "Bill Monroe"!

I’m Moving On ~ David Carroll and New River Line Brand New CD!

Early in October David Carroll and New River Line Brand released a new album with 12 awesome original tunes!

I bought myself a copy of the new CD when I was at Rattlesnake Ridge last weekend. It really is a great bunch of tunes with my favorite being Old Kentucky Farmers. Old Kentucky Farmers and 10 other songs were written by David Carroll. John Branham wrote the instrumental Roscoe P Coaltrain and Adam Collinsworth co-wrote Home.

This album was a long time coming. While in the middle of working on the recordings for the album New River Line lost a good friend and band member. Jerry Chaney, who was with the band since it started 8 years ago, was killed in an auto accident. The world of bluegrass music really lost something when Jerry left us. He will always be missed and remembered. In so many ways this album is a tribute to Jerry, a great dobro player, singer, family man and friend.

Tracks on David Carroll and New River Line’s I’m Moving On:

1. Long Haul Trucker’s Blues (David Carroll)
2. You Can’t Run From The Devil (David Carroll)
3. Broken Man (David Carroll)
4. Forever Till The End (David Carroll)
5. The Love We’d Once Known (David Carroll)
6. Home “The Soldier’s Song” (David Carroll and Adam Collinsworth)
7. Roscoe P. Coaltrain (John Branham)
8. I’m Rich Don’t You See (David Carroll)
9. I’m Thinking You Don’t Love Me Anymore (David Carroll)
10. It’s All Over Now But The Crying (David Carroll)
11. Old Kentucky Farmers (David Carroll)
12. I’m Moving On (David Carroll)

Available soon at www.NewRiverLineBluegrass.com or contact David Carroll at (606) 265-3632.

The CD was recorded at Jack’s Trax Studio Paintsville, Kentucky State of the Art Digital Recording (606) 793-1808

David Carroll and New River Line Facebook Fan Page www.facebook.com/DavidCarrollandNewRiverLine

Live Bluegrass Music Shows in Autumn

We are well into Autumn now and Halloween is quickly approaching. The nights are getting very cool but at least for now the days are mild. I reckon the warm weather will hang around for a few more days but that's just about it for the outdoor music festivals this year. Fortunately there are a few indoor venues where we can still catch some live bluegrass occasionally.

Rattlesnake Ridge in Carter County, Kentucky is one such place. They are having a show every other Saturday (mostly) beginning on October 02 all the way up through May of 2011! One show so far. I went over there last weekend and saw David Carroll and New River Line. On October 23 Scott Tackett and Kentucky Sunrise will be there. I saw those guys at the Elliott County Tobacco Heritage Festival a couple months back, great stuff! You can check out the schedule of bluegrass bands for Rattlesnake Ridge at Rattle Snake Ridge Live Bluegrass.

I recently learned about a place in Clay City, Kentucky called Meadowgreen Park where they play a lot of bluegrass music. I haven't visited Meadowgreen Park yet but I definitely plan to. The Glen Ritchie Band and Darrell Winkleman & Mountain Echoes are going to be playing there tomorrow and they have lots of other bands scheduled for future Saturdays.

Check out the current schedule by calling the number below

Meadowgreen Park
Bluegrass Ln
Clay City, KY 40312
(606) 663-9008

$10. Ages 12 and under get in free with adult admission