Folks in middle Tennessee will have a new bluegrass event to enjoy with the debut next month of the S’more Bluegrass Festival in Bell Buckle, south of Nashville. They are combining a number of fun fall pastimes – homemade s’mores, Tennessee barbecue, and holiday shopping – with a female-centered lineup of bluegrass artists to raise money for the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee.
If you’ve been following bluegrass closely this past few years, you won’t be surprised to find Nancy Cardwell’s name associated with this new festival. After spending a good portion of her adult life with the International Bluegrass Music Association, including serving as its Executive Director, Nancy is now working with the Girl Scouts, an organization she has favored since she was a young girl herself.
In fact, she has managed to combine a number of her current passions into this event: her devotion to scouting, her efforts to keep the memory of Dixie Hall alive, and a desire to see women in bluegrass at the forefront.
And so Bell Buckle resident, Valerie Smith, will host the music on November 5, with her band, Liberty Pike. Festivities will run from 1:00-8:00 p.m., with proceeds from ticket sales and on-site concessions going to the scouts. Also appearing will be Deanie Richardson, Tina Adair and Beth Lawrence from Sister Sadie, The Dixie Trio—featuring Annette Kelley, Melissa Lawrence Buck and Nancy Cardwell performing music from the repertoire of Miss Dixie Hall, Ray Cardwell & Tennessee Moon, Mike Scott, The Scott Partridge Band, and Dulcimer Dance.
If you live near Bell Buckle, or pass through on occasion, you can pick up advance tickets for $12 at the Bell Buckle Café. At the gate admission is only $15 on the 5th. Funds raised at this event will go towards paying for membership fees and uniforms for girls in the area whose families require financial assistance for them to participate in scouting.
Sounds like a good time for a good cause.
