Little Roy Lewis and Hunter Berry at the 2025 Bluegrass in the Blue Ridge festival – photo © Bill Warren
This year’s edition of Bluegrass in the Blue Ridge in Kingsport, TN is complete. Lorraine Jordan, Allen Dyer, and their crew are to be congratulated for a fine festival. Doug Whitley and Tim White shared the MC duties while Troy Pope handled the sound. Susanna Langdon and Molly Moore made sure everything was smooth at the entrance.
Let’s talk about Lorraine first. Most folks do not see what she does behind the scenes. Let’s go back over 20 years. She brought her band to the Milan Bluegrass Festival in Michigan. A youngster (maybe 8 or 9) proudly showed her his mandolin. It wasn’t in the best of shape. Lorraine took him to the music supplier and got a new bridge, new strings, and a strap. That youngster spent the rest of the weekend showing everyone what Lorraine had done for him. That generosity to youngsters continues to this day. She brought seven-year-old Ren Fulcher to the stage twice, once with Larry Efaw and once with her band. She also brought youngsters from the guitar and mandolin workshops on stage to play with her band. We all can learn from this kind of mentoring.
Shelton and Williams opened the Friday show. Johnny Williams is one of the best songwriters in the business. He, Jeanette, and Jay Shelton bring those songs to life.
Larry Efaw and the Bluegrass Mountaineers then brought the mountain sounds of the Stanley Brothers to the stage.
Special C is doing their 50th anniversary tour. See this show anytime you can.
Lorraine put on two shows Friday. One with the Country Grass configuration and one with Carolina Road.
Little Roy and Lizzy closed out the day. At 83 Roy, has the energy of a 23-year-old!!
Tim White and Troublesome Hollow kicked of the Saturday show. Yours truly was part of the kazoo back up group for a number honoring Arnold the pig!
Hillbilly Fever traveled the farthest to be part of the show. Two of the members are from Texas. Two are from Utah. One is from Arizona. And one from Tennessee. Lorraine brought them on board after seeing them in California.
The Wilson Banjo Company is the brainchild of Steve Wilson, well known banjo luthier. It is a high energy show that needs to be seen.
Carolina Road did their final set of the weekend. Scott Napier joined Lorraine for a couple tunes. Scott did a mandolin workshop in the afternoon.
The Becky Buller Band closed out the weekend. Becky also did a workshop for fiddle players, while Ned Luberecki did one for banjo.
Wayne Morris and JonPaul Sepulveda also offered a guitar workshop.
The festival conflicted with the NASCAR race in Bristol, so next year’s event will be held on March 20 and 21. Mark your calendars!
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