Well… it sure is nice to be writing about live bluegrass music again!
A familiar face is returning to the bluegrass world. Long time grasser, Darren Beachley, is set to begin performing with Linda Lay & Springfield Exit as soon as the states reopen following COVID19 restrictions. He will play reso-guitar, and some lap steel and guitar, plus singing with Linda and David Lay, two of the finest bluegrass vocalists working today.
Darren says that he has been away from the music too long, after having toured with Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver for four years before forming his own group, Darren Beachley & The Legends of the Potomac. Then in 2011, his career in medical administration took precedence over touring, and he stepped aside.
But now, even though his work as Environmental Services Director for Crothall Healthcare at INOVA Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, VA has been keeping him extremely busy, Beachley just missed the music too much to stay away. Back before everything shut down, he did a show with Springfield Exit, and said “BOOM… there it was.”
And he is glad to return to his first bluegrass love, the reso-guitar.
“I’m pretty excited about playing Dobro again. I really had stopped playing back in 2004 when I focused on singing and playing guitar, but the Dobro is so vocal and phrases so well. Most don’t realize it that I was a Dobro player with Bill Harrell and it actually was my primary instrument growing up, until one day I found my voice, and someone shoved a guitar in my hands.”
Here’s a live video of Darren with Springfield Exit back in January on an Osborne Brothers classic.
So there’s one more reason to look forward to live music returning in the near future.
