Charles Haney, a noted bluegrass promoter in the 1960s, died on Sunday, July 24. He had been ill for some time and was 85 years of age when he passed.
Charles was the brother of Carlton Haney, who worked as an agent and promoter for Bill Monroe in the 1950s. The two Haney brothers also worked together promoting shows in Virginia and North Carolina, leading up to Carlton’s crowning achievement, the introduction of the three-day, outdoor, weekend bluegrass festival in 1965 in Fincastle, Virginia.
Following the success in Fincastle, the two were involved in a number of other bluegrass festivals, with Carlton eventually settling on promoting an annual event in Camp Springs, on a piece of property Charles had owned not far from where the two were raised in Reidsville, NC.
The brothers also organized and promoted package shows with country and bluegrass acts along the east coast of the United States. And they did all the work themselves long before computers and cell phones made the many communications required much simpler.
You can read many of his recollections about the early days of bluegrass in a piece written by Becky Johnson last fall following a visit to his home. Becky is involved with the Camp Springs Music Foundation, a group seeking to return the Camp Springs festival to operation in it’s original home.
Charles worked as an electrician much of his life, though he also dabbled in real estate.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday (July 27) at 11:00 a.m. at Citty Funeral Home Chapel in Reidsville, followed by internment at Roselyn Memorial Gardens. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to Hospice of Rockingham County.
Charles’ family will receive friends on Tuesday from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the funeral home.
R.I.P., Charles Haney.
