Rhonda Vincent & The Rage at the 2025 Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival – photo © Bill Warren
The 2025 Remington Ryde Festival is complete. Mother Nature threw a couple curveballs, but everyone soldiered on. Thursday was HOT! Friday never got out of the 60s. Saturday was once again hot with a quick thunderstorm just before Rhonda Vincent’s first set.
Friday kicked off with the open stage. J-Tyme, the Horst family band, played a short set. All the family members have first names starting with J. A duo of Don and Peggy followed.
Host band, Larry Efaw & the Bluegrass Mountaineers kicked off the stage show. The Mountaineers give homage to the Ralph Stanley type of mountain bluegrass.
Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road brought their show to Pennsylvania. The band did a veteran’s tribute as part of the second set. Five veterans displayed service flags as each service song was played. The veterans got a well-deserved standing ovation at the end.
The David Parmley Band is always a crowd favorite. Bluegrass Today’s own John Goad is the bass player, a big personality that adds hilarity to the show. David honored the late Randall Hylton with several songs. David said, “I never heard a Randall Hylton song that I didn’t like.” That sums up his songwriting ability.
Authentic Unlimited played with Darrell Webb filling in for Eli Johnston, who was dealing with a family health issue. Darrell did a great job.
The Malpass Brothers closed the day with a single set. They take the audience back to the days when bluegrass and country music were close kin.
Saturday is always special at this festival because of the kid’s show that starts the day. R.B. Powell is the instructor for the youth showcase. J.R. Keister plays back up guitar and assists the kids. This year featured Gianna Tran on fiddle, Mason Tran on bass, Elijah Tran on harmonica, Bryson High on mandolin, Caleb High on guitar, Jerry Ankney on banjo, and Jena Horst on dobro. The Tran youngsters played a couple tunes with their grandmother – thus “Pickin’ with Grandma.” Jerry Ankney picked up the bass for a couple tunes.
Cutter and Cash followed the kids program. They are also youngsters; Cash is 15 and Cutter is 18. Their style compares well to Jim and Jesse McReynolds.
The U.S. Navy Band Country Current has become a Saturday staple here. I have watched five of the members of the band grow from teenagers to adults with families of their own. They are all highly accomplished musicians who end their set with stirring renditions of the military service songs.
Rhonda Vincent and Junior Sisk swapped set times for a couple reasons. The first was that Junior’s bus broke down in Kentucky. Rhonda played his original slot. Junior slid in just in time to get out of the car and on stage. They didn’t have time to change into stage clothes before their first set. Banjo player Tony Mabe said it was the first time he had ever been on stage in his pajamas! They are true professionals and put on a great show. Junior closed out the show so Rhonda could get on the road to Vermont for an early afternoon appearance.
Rhonda and Heather sang a duet – unrehearsed and together for the first time. WOW!
All-in-all it was a great weekend that everyone enjoyed.
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