Bluegrass bandleader and business woman Lorraine Jordan, The Lady of Tradition, has a wonderful Christmas present for everyone who enjoys old school bluegrass. All of the live video from shows at her Lorraine’s Coffee & Cafe in Cary, North Carolina are available for viewing at no cost online.
OK… it’s not really a Christmas present. She has been offering these live videos all year long. But they are meant as a gift to the bluegrass community.
Every Friday night, the coffeehouse is converted into a concert hall, and Jordan hosts Live at Lorraine’s, bringing in top traditional bluegrass acts for a live, in-person performance. A multiple camera recording system has been installed, along with quality audio, and the resulting videos are shared online. A few standout songs have been excerpted as “singles,” while other videos include a complete, two-set show.
Jordan says that she has multiple goals in mind with Live at Lorraines.
“We are trying to broaden the bluegrass and country grass fan base by streaming our shows throughout the world for free. It seems to be working, as we are getting positive comments from all over the world – favorable accolades and thanks from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, etc.
Our viewer numbers are steadily growing and we are continually working to improve the quality of both the video stream and audio. Now that Station Inn has quit broadcasting, we are striving to be the go-to-spot for bluegrass, and a must see destination for people traveling though eastern North Carolina.
The Little Roy and Lizzy show recently played at the Coffee Shop, and the video has had 35,000 views. The single videos released over the next week or two added another 140,000 views. Those numbers continue to grow and should soon reach a total of more than 200,000 views.
Bands are asking to play at Lorraine’s that used to show little interest. Several have been thrilled with playing to a good, enthusiastic crowd, getting their music exposed to a broader audience online, and frequently getting a single video of their latest song to promote. One bandleader said, ‘this video is better than anything that has been produced for me.’
Another said, ‘I thought this was a little rinky-dinky-coffee shop … until I came here. This place is nice… great stage, and bigger than a lot of places we’ve been playing. We hope to come back soon.’
Live At Lorraine’s has a solid lineup booked for 2022. Watch for some upcoming, major announcements.”
Here’s an example from that Little Roy and Lizzy concert, a medley of rip-roarin’ numbers, Alabama Jubilee and Tear The Woodpile Down.
There are more than 500 videos archived at Lorraine’s Video Jukebox on Vimeo. All can be viewed on any internet-capable device, including smart TVs with a Vimeo app.
So spend some of your holiday time off this season enjoying some good, old fashioned bluegrass music online at no cost.
