The Grascals at the 30th annual Bluegrass First Class (2/15/25) – photo © Sandy Hatley
For three decades, Milton Harkey and MRH Bluegrass Productions have continued to crank out top-notch entertainment at his annual mid-February Bluegrass First Class festival, held in Asheville, NC. Each year he tends to raise the bar, and this year, he proved to do just that.
Harkey’s musical event has survived and thrived even with Hurricane Helene hitting the Asheville area hard last fall. The event center at the Crowe Plaza Resort, thankfully, was spared much of the devastation.
The 30th year drew an overflowing crowd, requiring Harkey’s staff to bring out additional chairs to allow for adequate seating for guests. The hotel was sold out of rooms.
The indoor festival featured several surprise treats throughout the weekend. During Lonesome River Band’s Friday night set, they performed the entire Carrying the Tradition album from 1991.
LRB banjoist, Sammy Shelor, explained its significance.
“This album was released in 1991. It was the first album I did with the Lonesome River Band after I joined. I think it was January 1992, Bluegrass Unlimited came out with the first album charts. This was the first number one album. It stayed number one for five months. Then it dropped to number two in June and then it went back to number one in July. So we had six months at the number one album with this album. It kind of put Lonesome River on the map and got us noticed. Thirty-four years later, we’re still out here kicking.”
During IIIrd Tyme Out’s second set, Russell Moore praised Harkey who has booked the band all thirty years.
“Milton was an enabler. He enabled us to play this music.”
Then during Southern Legacy’s tribute to JD Crowe’s Rounder 0044 album (which will be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame this spring), Rhonda Vincent and Adam Haynes joined Steve Thomas and Don RIgsby for a quartet of fiddles on Summer Wages. At the close of the tune, RIgsby referred to them as “The Nashville Strings.” That was followed by Southern Legacy launching into a rousing version of Wheel Hoss with The Rage’s Adam Haynes on fiddle and Zack Arnold on mandolin adding to the mix.
On Saturday, Olivia Jo kicked off the second full day of music with a strong set of songs. Next in the Saturday rotation came the Grascals, who are celebrating their 21st year as a band, and seemed to be enjoying their newest member, fiddler Jamie Harper. Their powerful performances were rewarded when the audience demanded double encores at the end of their second set.
Following the Grascals came The Malpass Brothers with their classic country and comedy, then Darin & Brooke Aldridge sharing some of their most iconic numbers. Closing out the afternoon and evening sets were high energy performances by Little Roy & Lizzy, making their first appearance at Bluegrass First Class. It is inconceivable that Little Roy turns 83 this month. Little Roy & Lizzy were a last minute addition, filling in for Authentic Unlimited who were experiencing seasonal health issues.
Dale Morris served as the festival’s MC, and GBS provided audio. In the hotel lobby, the showcase stage featured up and coming artists throughout Friday and Saturday. Some of the bands performing included Backline, Cotton Pickin’ Kids, Ashleigh Graham & Appalachian Highway, Creekwater Collective, One Achord, and numerous others.
Surveying the festival with a three-decade perspective, Harkey shared…
“We work on Bluegrass First Class steadily 11 months out of the year, and for the 30th annual we wanted it to be just a little bit MORE to mark this milestone. I very much think we achieved our goal for those in attendance!
As I walked through the hotel and into the lobby, it was obvious that the festival was thriving. The rooms were filled with musicians jamming and people standing around listening. The showcase stage brings the lobby area alive, and we had some really great talent on that stage this year. As far as the main stage entertainment, it was outstanding! We had a full house in there!
We are already thinking about 2026 and can’t wait to bring another weekend of fun, making memories, and great bluegrass music to the people.”
