Special tribute band performs for Buddy Michaels at the 2024 Granite Quarry Fiddlers’ Convention
The 58th Granite Quarry Fiddlers’ Convention, held near Rockwell, NC, featured an evening of bluegrass music and memories last Saturday night. The convention, which is a direct spin-off of the World Championship Union Grove Fiddlers’ Convention of years past, included competition in both youth and adult categories, with a special recognition for bluegrass DJ/MC Buddy Michaels for his 50 years in the music business.
“Each year the Granite Quarry Civitans honors someone who has spent their life promoting bluegrass music,” Vivian Pennington Hopkins, Convention Coordinator, began during Michaels’ award presentation. “This gentleman is so dear to all of us in the bluegrass industry. I have known him for a lifetime.”
Then she questioned the honoree, “When are you going to retire?”
Michaels responded, “If you’ve never worked, then you can’t retire. What I’ve always done is go into a radio station, turn on a microphone, talk, and play music. Fortunately, a lot of those years, I got to play bluegrass music. That’s not a job…so how can you retire from it? I’m going to do it until I fall over.”
Then the man of the hour shared a little personal history.
“My dad had a collection of old 78 fiddle records. It was music that was magic. Then I saw Flatt & Scruggs on The Beverly Hillbillies and the Dillards on Andy Griffith. I went to the movie theater and heard Foggy Mountain Breakdown. I already liked bluegrass. I’d heard Bill Monroe on the Grand Ole Opry. I’d go to bed on Saturday nights with my transistor radio and a little earplug. I would listen to the Opry. I heard Monroe and he was totally different than anybody else on the Opry. Foggy Mountain Breakdown changed my life. I went out and bought the soundtrack for Bonnie and Clyde.
I decided at a young age, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to be on the radio.’ I went to work in Burlington, NC for WPCM. I did a country morning show during the week, and bluegrass on the weekends. I always wanted to do bluegrass. That bluegrass show took off more than anything else. Everywhere I went people thanked me for that show. I started to do MC work. I have met so many wonderful people: artists and fans. They are friends. It means the most to me, meeting the bluegrass family. I’m tickled to receive this award.
I thank God that he let me find bluegrass music, and I’ve never been the same. It just gets better and better.”
MC Big T Lassiter added, “Buddy Michaels is bluegrass to me. He can make you feel right there at home on the radio, and that’s why it’s called Hometown Festival. Thank you, Buddy.”
Vivian noted, “We have a special band that we’ve put together to do a tribute to you.”
The band consisted of musician friends that Buddy personally selected to perform a set of tunes that he had chosen as some of his all-time favorites. The tribute band included Jerry Stuart and Tom Isenhour on mandolins, Glen Alexander on fiddle, Pammy Lassiter on dobro, her husband, Big T, on bass, Gary Hatley on guitar, and his wife, yours truly, on banjo.
The rest of the evening was devoted to the competition.
Winners in the youth category were:
Bluegrass Band
- Terry Family Band
- Carolina Young Folk.
Bluegrass Gospel Band
- 4 Walls
Fiddle
- Isaiah Imperiale
- Lydia Walls
- Addie Webster
Banjo
- Cameron Edenfield
- Ford Terry
- David McGuirt
Guitar
- Gabriel Webster
- Parker Terry
- Corban Walls
Mandolin
- Caroline Terry
- Nicholas Allman
- Trey Pfaff
Bass
- Ford Terry
- Matthew Chaney
Vocal
- Chelsea Edenfield
- Simina Little
- Levi Smith
Livengood Memorial Outstanding Youth – Gabriel Webster
Winners in the adult category were:
Bluegrass Band
- Fairfield Bluegrass
- Hot Wax and the Splinters
- Wilkes Record Players
Bluegrass Gospel Band
- Crossroads Bluegrass
- Salvation Song
Fiddle
- Charlie Tolbert
- Gary Hatley
- Payton Brown
Banjo
- Jacob Johnson
- Danny Bowers
- Ronnie Hatley
Guitar
- Ryan Lambert
- Ethan Williams
- Jay Williams
Mandolin
- Jacob Little
- Gary Hatley
- Tim Clyde Lewis
Bass
- Travis Brady
- Ryan Dunn
- Jeremy Nash
Dobro
- Peden Williams
- Sandy Hatley
- Pammy Lassiter
Vocal
- Payton Brown
- Taylor Brown
- Daniel Schronce
Ralph Pennington Master Fiddle Award – Charlie Tolbert
Reflecting on the evening as a whole, Vivian reflected…
“We were pleased with the turnout, with bands and individuals from the foothills of the Blue Ridge to the eastern Piedmont regions. It was great to see so many competing in our youth categories. Rest assured, bluegrass is in good hands. We had kids competing from the Appalachian Jam Program, Carolina Folkworks, Ron’s Pickin’ Parlor, and more. My hat’s off to the instructors who are mentoring and passing on the traditional bluegrass music to the next generation!”
Well done all!
