The March edition of the Newell Lodge Bluegrass Festival in Folkston, GA kicked off Thursday evening with an open stage which featured Clint Wilson and Brandon Bostic. The evening’s show was given by two popular local bands – The King Family and Big Cypress Bluegrass. Harvin Carter, owner of Newell Lodge, has provided a tent for audience convenience.
Friday morning saw a few showers in the Newell Lodge area, but they had departed by show time. Big Cypress Bluegrass opened the show to an appreciative crowd. Relatively new Georgia band Blue Road performed next. They presented a mixture of original and standard bluegrass tunes that keep the audience clapping.
Mountain Faith is one of the young bands on the bluegrass circuit. They may be young, but are all experienced performers. They bring a lot of original Gospel and secular bluegrass to the stage, and are rapidly becoming one of the “must see” bands in contemporary bluegrass.
There are few superlatives left to describe the Gary Waldrep Band. The powerful singing of Mindy Rakestraw, the wonderful claw hammer work of Gary Waldrep, and the antics of Mickey Boles leaves a happy audience asking for more. Saturday will bring the Amanda Cook Band and the Lonesome River Band to the Newell stage in addition to some of today’s bands.
