Authentic Unlimited at The Malpass Brothers Festival in Denton, NC (5/8/25) – photo © Sandy Hatley
The Malpass Brothers Bluegrass & Country Music Festival in Denton, NC is underway. Thursday, the first full day of the annual Mother’s Day weekend event at the Denton FarmPark, offered a surprise ending. Following a beautiful day with great performances by Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, the Gospel Plowboys, and Authentic Unlimited in the afternoon and evening, AU’s second set was cut short with the threat of approaching thunderstorms. Evening MC, Jeff Branch, interrupted the band just before newest member, Colton Baker, was to be featured on a solo number.
”Due to approaching storms, we’re going to have to shut the sound system down in order to protect the equipment,” he explained. “Malpass Brothers will go at 9 pm if the storm has passed.”
It was a good call from the festival’s sound man, Jackson Bethune, who was assisted by his former (now retired) employer, John Holder. Strong storms with heavy rains, loud thunder, bright flashes of lightning, including a brief burst of harsh hail hit the park a few minutes later.
Most of the large crowd huddled under the covered music hall to wait out the storm. However, there was no letting up. After 45 minutes, the rain continued to pound the metal roof and electrical flashes lit up the night sky. It appeared the host band would be unable to perform. Then the evening took a surprise turn.
Denton FarmPark employee, Doug Stuart, sprang into action setting up his small sound system, and the Malpass Brothers launched into an all-acoustic set with a couple mics featuring Chris on guitar, Taylor on mandolin, Jake Riggins on upright bass, Landon Smith on snare drums, and Adam Burrows on fiddle. Taking requests from the audience, the show that might not have been, turned into a quaint gathering between the hosts and audience while the storm still raged. Midway through their impromptu performance, their pedal steel player, Jesse Personeni, returned to the stage to set up using a small amplifier. A grateful audience responded with thunderous applause overpowering the storm outside.
The evening was to conclude with a jam on the stage and the Malpasses made sure that wasn’t washed away with the storm. Several talented youth, brothers from Pennsylvania and sisters from Alaska, joined the host band for a wonderful session featuring the next generation of bluegrass music. Earlier in the day, Alan Bibey had invited ten-year-old Leo Lindblom from Savannah, GA, a student at one of his mandolin camps, to pick a tune on stage. His rousing version of East Tennessee Blues made quite an impression on the large afternoon crowd, and the young energy continued to flow into the evening with the youth-driven jam session. Picking and singing, these children took over and put on an impressive show themselves. Jake Riggins even gave up his bass, lowering the end pin, for a petite Sunshine Sister (one of the four girls from Alaska).
Then Denton’s own Caroline Owens joined the Malpasses and the six young musicians for a rousing round of Will the Circle Be Unbroken. For a grand finale, Stacey Stuart led the ensemble and the crowd in a singalong of I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.
Taylor Malpass concluded, “Sorry for the rain. It’s supposed to be beautiful tomorrow. God just had to wash the ugly off today.”
With the rain still pouring down, the audience waded out into a dark wall of water happy and fully entertained. Thanks to Stuart, the Malpass Brothers and their band, plus the talented young pickers, the day’s final performance was a pleasant surprise and a good ending to what could have been a bad situation.
The festival continues today with performances by Kody Norris, the Cox Family, Mountain Highway, and concluding with a set by country legend, T Graham Brown. Saturday’s show features Caroline Owens & New Company, Deeper Shade of Blue, and Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, before ending with a performance by gospel greats, The Isaacs. And The Malpass Brothers will perform each day.
The Denton FarmPark is located at 1072 Cranford Road in Denton, NC. For more information, visit their website or call 336-859-2755.
