O.A.T.S. Bluegrass Festival

the 2009 Version

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The following paragraphs show what appeared in the Benton News as it happened.

May 6, 2009.

“Out Among the Stars” – A Festival That Wouldn’t Die              
The OATS (“Out Among the Stars”) Bluegrass Festival began its life as the “Jerseytown Bluegrass Festival” in the Pennsylvania village of that name. During the 1990s, Danville’s Walt Laubach founded a family festival where folks camped on a beautiful hillside and listened to many of the most popular and prominent performers in bluegrass music: Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, Jim and Jesse McReynolds. Walt knew all these musicians, and he brought them to our back yard in central Pennsylvania. Booking, planning and arrangements required to create such an event are daunting, but Walt made it seem effortless.

When Walt Laubach announced there’d be no festival in 1999, many people were terribly disappointed. A group of bluegrass fans who had enjoyed the stage performances and the around-the-clock “field picking” at Jerseytown decided to have their own Independence Day celebration. The location was the Danville farm of Dr. Mary Hermann. The "Grillbillies” joined in. This informally-organized group of bluegrass enthusiasts attend bluegrass festivals throughout the summer to listen and create elaborate feasts. That gathering convinced a core group of bluegrass fans to revive the festival for 2000.

The decision wasn’t terribly difficult. Folks decided to invest time and finances. The festival was revived as the OATS (“Out Among the Stars”) Bluegrass Festival. That first festival in 2000 took enormous work. “We needed volunteers willing to work hard,” says Mark Doncheski, the OATS vice-president, who plays banjo in Stained Grass Window. “It was more complicated than it seemed.”“One of the challenges,” says OATS Secretary Mark Barone, “is the fact that we’re not close to large urban center, so we have to work hard to get the word out about the festival.”In 2002, OATS moved from the Jerseytown hillside to the Benton rodeo grounds. Benton has a spacious location and is nestled in a beautiful valley alongside Fishingcreek. On a warm summer day, folks can even wade into West Creek and listen to the music. The rodeo grounds provides an ideal location for people to bring campers and tents to stay for a long weekend of great music. Many people look forward to preparing their meals at their campsites, while others enjoy the offerings of the food venders.

“People like the festival, so now we’re doing our tenth year, but it really hasn’t been easy,” says OATS president Matt McBriarty, a New Jersey contractor. “You always take a chance on the weather. 2006 brought heavy flooding, and many of the crowd who’re always here didn’t think they could get through. Most years we have a solid crowd of people who come each year. We’re working hard to spread the word to keep this great festival alive.” OATS is a federally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of this traditional form of American music.

The 2009 lineup includes 19 different groups, some from our area and some national bands. Blue Highway has been performing its very lively music for 14 years, with eight very popular albums. Dan Paisley and the Southern Grass play a powerful and intense brand of traditional bluegrass music. The Steep Canyon Rangers, the IBMA “Emerging Artist” for 2006, appears regularly on the Grand Ole Opry and festivals in Sweden, Ireland, Germany and Canada. The Bluegrass Brothers has been an OATS favorite act, and to call them a “high energy act” would be an understatement. Williams and Clark Expedition could be described as a relatively new band consisting of performers with impressive musical credentials. David Via and Corn Tornado teams up with two-time Grammy winner Curtis Burch to highlight his original songs. Burch played resophonic guitar for “New Grass Revival” for a decade.  The Hillbilly Gypsies is a West Virginia band that combines old time music with both traditional and contemporary bluegrass. This year’s lineup also features a number of area and regional bands.Jim Cram, a Danville contractor who serves on the OATS Board, attends the IBMA each year to listen to performances of many different groups. “It’s not just the national bands people like to hear,” he says “Local and regional bands have people who follow their music, and many of them come to the festival.” Stained Grass Window appears at OATS each year as a kind of unofficial host band. The 2009 festival will also present Straight Drive, Remington Ryde, Smokehouse, Blue Roots, Painted Blue, Lykens Valley Boys, Cabinet, Mason Porter, and Some Assembly Required.

Sunday morning features “The Music of the Spirit,” as the Rev.Al and Jean Lumpkin and Friends present some of the spiritual music that has always had an important place in bluegrass.

The festival features numerous workshops about playing various bluegrass instruments and singing this music. This year’s festival will continue “The Kids Bluegrass Academy.” Young people attending the festival with an adult-ticket holder and have a bluegrass instrument are invited to participate.Stage performances are only the beginning of OATS festivities. “Parking lot” jams continue late into the night. There are many locations where groups of musicians play and sing familiar songs. People come from far and near to camp out at this remarkable festival. “We set aside a quiet area for those who want to settle in early,” remarks Jodie Fishbein. “There’s music going on all night, and often the stage performers sit in on the campsite jams.” Matt McBriarty also organizes  “Grillbillie Hall” at each festival. “We want people to feel the hospitality that’s here, so we’ll begin the festival on Thursday with a potluck dinner for everybody.”

This bluegrass festival is quite a bargain. OATS is a family event with something for just about everyone. Rough camping comes free with a four-day ticket. Children under 12 are admitted without charge. The OATS Festival is held at the Benton rodeo grounds from Thursday, July 2, through Sunday, July 5. Benton is 18 miles north of Bloomsburg on Route 487. In Benton, follow the “bluegrass festival” signs. Tickets are available at the gate for all four days or for individual days. For more information, consult http://www.oatsfestival.com/

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June 29, 2009.

Quote of the Day:

"Good on good!"

--O.A.T.S. organizer Matt McBriarty, talking about both Brian Bower and the outstanding condition of the Benton Rodeo grounds for the 2009 bluegrass festival which begins Thursday. Mel Parks was an important player in getting the grounds in good shape, too.

 

The 2009 O.A.T.S. lineup includes 19 different groups, both from our area and from national venues.  Blue Highway has been performing its very lively music for 14 years, with eight very popular albums. Dan Paisley and the Southern Grass play a powerful and intense brand of traditional bluegrass music. The Steep Canyon Rangers, the IBMA “Emerging Artist” for 2006, appeared Saturday night on the Grand Ole Opry and appear frequently at festivals in Sweden, Ireland, Germany and Canada. The Bluegrass Brothers has been an O.A.T.S. favorite act, and to call them a “high energy act” would be an understatement. Williams and Clark Expedition could be described as a relatively new band consisting of performers with impressive musical credentials. David Via and Corn Tornado teams up with two-time Grammy winner Curtis Burch to highlight his original songs. Burch played resophonic guitar for “New Grass Revival” for a decade.  The Hillbilly Gypsies is a West Virginia band that combines old time music with both traditional and contemporary bluegrass. This year’s lineup also features a number of area and regional bands.

The O.A.T.S. bluegrass academy for kids is a free three-day learning experience held Friday through Sunday during the O.A.T.S. festival, July 2 through 5, Back Home in Benton, PA. Students ages 8 to 15 attending the festival with an adult weekend ticket holder are welcome to participate. Each student must have his or her own bluegrass instrument.  During the classes, students will learn how to play, sing and perform bluegrass music. Classes will be held Friday and Saturday of this week from 12 until 2. The Sunday performance will be on the main stage at a time to be announced. If you know of a child interested in participating, come to the bluegrass festival and register your child there!

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Thursday, July 2, 2009. It is going to be a mixed blessing Saturday and Sunday. The weather should be perfect Benton summer weather, following showers today and Friday, meaning that the farmers are going to have to make hay on the weekend when others are enjoying the Fourth of July festivities and the O.A.T.S. bluegrass festival.

Speaking of the O.A.T.S. bluegrass festival--and you knew that we would--it begins today with a gigantic picnic with genuine bluegrass food. For those who have purchased a four-day pass, the picnic begins at 3 PM with tons of food and bluegrass bands--Sav Sankarin and String Theory with Painted Blue and Some Assembly Required thrown in for good measure. It takes a lot of energy to tap your toe, play the fiddle, hold the dobro, strum the banjo or whatever it is that you do when you hear bluegrass music, so we expect that eating will continue until almost six.

 

That takes the afternoon to the evening performance when Painter Blue takes the stage. Remington Ryde is up at 7, followed by the Hillbilly Gypsies at 8 and Stained Grass Window at 9. At 10, the Lykens Valley Bluegrass Boys head up the steps to the stage and the Hillbilly Gypsies round off the evening with a 11 PM performance of old-time music combined with both traditional- and contemporary bluegrass.

 

This is the time of the night when the afterburners kick in and everyone gets down to serious music. I have conveniently parked adjacent to Danny Stewart's jam tent, where rain or shine the music continues nearly 24 hours a day. The nicest people in the world simply walk up and take their instruments from their carrying cases, shake and howdy with the person next to them, and join in whatever tune is being played by ten to fifteen enthusiastic people. This is the place where you'll hear songs you never heard before--songs like Honey Babe Blues, Wayfaring Stranger, Columbus Stockade Blues, and Sittin' Alone in the Moonlight --and you won't be strangers with either the music or the person playing next to you for more than a couple of minutes.

 

We'll take some pictures to share with you. We'll combine the few pictures we took Wednesday with those we take today, and make them available to you in tomorrow's edition. Friday and Saturday will have their own pictures, but we'll tell you about that in tomorrow's edition. If you have the time, take a look.

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Friday, July 3, 2009.

The O.A.T.S. bluegrass festival continues through Sunday with 19 groups, good food, crafts, autographs and much more.  It takes place at the Benton Rodeo Grounds. You can look at some of what went on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, by heading here.

Fans of bluegrass with a local zip code who come after the dinner break for the evening shows tonight and Saturday will be admitted with the twilight fee of $10 per person. This is a concession to local residents, and it probably makes those evenings among the greatest bargains in the universe. The O.A.T.S. organizers have had a challenge getting people in the Benton Area to support the event. Let's turn that around this year.

A temporary low-wattage radio station has been set up at the OATS Festival so that all stage activities are broadcast. Everyone within a mile of the festival will be able to listen at FM frequency 89.5. Better yet, come out and support the event.

 

The lineup for today begins this morning at 11 with the group known as Some Assembly Required, Take a sample listen by heading clicking here. Some Assembly Required  first got together in the summer of 2006. Lead singer Lynn Stephens is the 2006 & 2008 Virginia State Champion female vocalist. Lynn plays rhythm guitar and sings lead and harmony and we hear she makes great "clams and linguini white."  Leo Szydlowski won the Song Writer’s competition in 2008 at the Dream Acre’s Music Festival. The winning song, “Just Like Candy,” is a true story about his first tobacco-chewing experience. Leo plays guitar, mandolin and sings lead and harmony. Ernie Freeby contributes vocals and plays bass. Doug Cherrington plays guitar, mandolin and banjo and is a vocalist.

 

At noon and 6 PM, Bill and Maggie Anderson perform as an old-time duet with guitar and dobro singing story songs, bluegrass, gospel and mountain music spiced with humor. They have years of experience ranging from the New York State Fair, PBS television, and a monthly PBS radio and webcast show for WCNY Syracuse.  In May 2005, Bill and Maggie performed in a 23-day tour at the European World of Bluegrass. They have also appeared at the Birthplace of Country Music Pickin Porch in Bristol, VA, at the Carter Fold, and on the PBS broadcasted "Song of the Mountains" at the Lincoln Theater in Virginia.  They also play regularly at the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

The six-man bluegrass group Cabinet comes on at 1 PM playing music for fun and for dancing. The group also creates sounds more closely associated with folk, Americana and straight-ahead rock ’n’ roll. For more information on Cabinet, including additional live dates or to hear their music, click here.

At 2 and 7 PM, Straight Drive mounts the stage. At 3 and 7, it is the Williams and Clark Expedition. The Steep Canyon Rangers are up at 4 and 9. Blue Roots are up at 5. Stained Grass Window, one of the star attractions from Thursday night, comes on at 10 PM, and the scheduled performances end at 11 with Cabinet for their second appearance of the day.

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Saturday, July 4, 2009.

At the O.A.T.S. bluegrass festival, things kick off at 11 AM with Sav Sankarin and String Theory. The Lykens Valley Bluegrass Boys are up next. At 1 in the afternoon, the popular Remington Ryde hits the stage. A perennial favorite, Dan Paisley and Southern Grass, is up at 2 and 6. At 3 is David Via and Corn Tornado. The show at 4 and 10 will be special with the Bluegrass Brothers. The popular Grillbillies group with local roots, Stained Grass Window, comes next at 5. David Via and Corn Tornado is up at 7. At 8 and 11:50 is Blue Highway, with raffle drawings at 9:45. Ten minutes before midnight, the O.A.T.S. chorus will put on a performance on the main stage.

Pictures taken Friday at the festival are available for viewing here.

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Sunday, July 5, 2009.

If you see Mel Parks or Brian Bower of the Rodeo Association or Monte Hittle of the airport, tell them what a super job they did of preparing the festival grounds this year. The rodeo grounds and the airport never looked better. I know, I know, these three had help and I am not acknowledging them, but thank these three. They will make sure that those who helped get their share of the thanks.

 

Church services will be held at the O.A.T.S. festival this morning at 9:30 with the Reverend Al Lumpkin and friends. Those who wish to attend these services will be admitted free to the festival this morning and may remain at the festival until noon without paying. The group Smokehouse takes the stage at 11 and 3:15 and will play some of your favorite gospel music. Take a listen by clicking here.

 

The afternoon at O.A.T.S. shapes up like this. At noon, Mason Porter takes the stage. You can preview the group here. Mason Porter combines harmonies with hand clapping sing-alongs and the emotion of a rock band. This group began sharing songs and singing together in West Chester, PA,  with Tim Celfo on upright bass, Joe D’Amico on mandolin, Paul Wilkinson on guitar and Jesse Weber on dobro.

Bluegrass Academy is up at 1, the Lykens Valley Bluegrass Boys are back at 1:15 and the popular Remington Ryde takes over at 2:15.

A few of the pictures taken Saturday at the O.A.T.S. festival are available for viewing here. The gizzie on the laptop broke when I tried to copy the pictures hurriedly from the camera to the laptop. I need a trip to BestBuy before I can upload the rest of them. 

As we leave the O.A.T.S. festival at the end of today, it would be good to take a look at the 2007 and 2008 O.A.T.S. festival as viewed through the eyes of Gary Faucon, a Long Island photographer with a remarkable ability to capture the mood of the subject and display it in a photo album. His O.A.T.S. 2007 and 2008 albums are here and here.

 

.Monday, July 6, 2009.

 If there ever was a hit at the O.A.T.S. bluegrass festival it was in the form of Joe Feola who took a group of untrained kids and taught them to play bluegrass. It was part of the Bluegrass Academy for Kids. Want to see their performance? Click here.

 

There will be more O.A.T.S. pictures when the gizzie on my computer is fixed, but a few pictures are available for viewing here.

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