Playmore Beach Campground, located in Lenoir NC, was once a great place to camp and have a great time. It had rides like an amusement park, and the Johns River is running at the edge of the campgound. In the Years of its “hey-day” Playmore Beach had a fishcamp as well, and many of the great Bluegrass Artist from the past played in the fishcamp like Jimmy Martin, Bill Monore and many more. Why do you ask did these bands play there, because it was and still is today one of the areas running between Charlotte, NC and Asheville, NC off I-40, and right near Hwy 181 and Hwy 18 running from either side of Morganton, NC up to Boone, NC and a great “halfway” stop for any band.
Over the years it was left to get rundown and get full of weeds and the trees have grown very large (that means shade). The floor of the old fishcamp fell in and things really looked bad for the camp. Today things are looking great now that its under new management. The management is wanting to open its doors once again (the rides are gone and the fishcamp will not be open this year). The camping is going to be great and the Bluegrass Music will be running once again, but this time the smaller bands will carry the load. These great local bluegrass bands are coming from all over the state of North Carolina to play in a legendary place and in a few years we hope to once again become one of the stopping places for the big bands.
Below is the list of bands and show times and more informantion about how to contact the campground and the person who is doing the bookings of the bands.
Playmore Beach Concert Series will begin May 1 & 2 with just bands playing about every hour starting about 6pm on the 1st and ending near 11pm then on the 2nd we will carnk things up around noon and go until 11pm (or until the cops show up).
May 9 (opening band TBA) but Attila’s Honey from Concord NC will be the headlineing band
May 16 Lawrence and Fred from Asheville NC will be opening for Julia Ann & Luarel Ridge from Weaversville NC
May 30 (opening band TBA) then a group who have been together for over 30 years and have recorded over 165 songs the Good Ol Boys from Morganton NC will be the headling band.
May 30 (opening band TBA) and headlinging for the evening will be a group from Hickory NC whos name is kinda like bluegrass music Kudzu (the stuff you cant kill) will be taking the stage to finsh up the night.
June 6 (opening band TBA) then a great great group with sweet sounds will be taking the stage Dry Run Bluegrass from Moorsville NC
June 13 (opening band TBA) and a group with great the traditional bluegrass sound Ted Jones & Tarheel Boys from Smithfield NC will finish out the night.
June 20 we have a great young group going to open the night from Bryson City NC its the Rye Holler Boys then to close the night a group whos name says it all and they will fire up the night as well from Flat Rock NC its Appalachian Fire Bluegrass Band.
June 27 (opening Band TBA) then a group who I like the name and the sounds from the band are great too Marshall Gray and the String Machine from Hillsborough NC will keep you going as long as they can.
July 4 is a great a wonderful time to have a big show and we do but its not going to be at the campground instead its in the City of Morganton and its the Red White & Bluegrass Festival. So we are not having shows this weekend but campers are welcome and pickers too.
July 11 (opening band TBA) then another strange named group, but dont worry they are a great band from Boone NC The Roland Jones Orchestra will be jammin’ the night away playing bluegrass music … what else.
July 18 the opeing band for the night is The Far City Boys a great gospel group from Taylorsville NC and then a young family whos banjo player won first place at MerleFest in 2008 the group called Walkin’ Home from Valdese NC will make you see what the next generation is going to be like (they are called walkin’ home cause when they started they were to young to drive).
July 25 (opening band TBA) then we have another band from the great mountains CreekSide Grass from Banner Elk NC will finish up the night.
August 1 we have some of the bands returning like Julia Ann & Laurel Ridge to open for Kudzu
August 8 is an all Gospel Bluegrass night with Crossties From Morganton NC and Revonda Roberts & Harvest Wind two great bluegrass gospel bands all night long
August 15 (opening band TBA) then returning once again to the stage is The Good Ol Boys
August 22 a bands who name you can question because the the name of the band dont really fit the sound of the band First Time Around from Cherryville NC will take the stage to kick the night off and we’ll finish up the night with a band from a town not to far away from them and a very special bluegrass town at that Flint Hill Band from Shelby NC
August 29 (opening band TBA) and another group that could climb the ladder very fast The Hager Mountain Boys from Roxboro NC will finish the night.
If you are a band or know of a band in the great state of NC and think they would like to be an opening band for one of these shows please feel free to contact me (KT) at bluegrassindixie@gmail.com and keep looking at www.myspace.com/bluegrassindixie for updates to the show.
The campground information and address is 2165 Playmore Beach Rd Lenoir NC 28645 (you will need that for a map) and the phone number there is 828-758-2395.
I hope that if you are in the area that you would come to hear these great bands play. Most of these bands are looking to advance and move up the great ladder of success.
