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Great weather and fond remembrances at 2024 Camp Springs Labor Day festival

Danny Paisley at the Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival – photo © Laura Tate Photography

Returning for the sixth time since its restoration, Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival and its promoters, Cody and Donna Johnson, are celebrating a successful event. Cody reported that the festival was home to the most campers ever since the festival’s revival in 2019.

“Once again, we can’t thank the people who came and the bands that performed enough for a great festival. I also want to thank Blue Ridge Sound for outstanding audio. We continue to see it grow every year. The good Lord looked after all weekend with the weather as it seemed to rain all around us, but not here. We hope to see everyone next year.”

The site had been home to one of the first bluegrass festivals in the United States, hosted and promoted by legendary bluegrass impresario Carlton Haney. Known as Camp Springs Bluegrass Park, it had fallen into disrepair for quite some time until the Johnsons bought the property, rehabilitated and upgraded the facilities, and relaunched the festivals.

Even with Russell Moore belting out Raining in LA on stage Sunday evening, only a very few water droplets fell from the night sky. Fans enjoyed a rain-free weekend cooled by cloud cover. Though there were severe storms in the area that worried members of Appalachian Road Show (with the Raleigh/Durham airport shut down for a time on Thursday) about making the trip to the park for their evening set, Camp Springs remained dry and ARS’ plane landed in time for them to deliver a high energy, crowd-pleasing show to wrap up the first day.

In addition to beautiful weather conditions, it was a time for many of the artists to reflect on the history of the first multi-day bluegrass festival held in North Carolina in 1969, and the site of the filming of the iconic movie, Bluegrass Country Soul, in 1971.

On Friday, Tim Graves praised the promoter and relayed a little heritage. “Cody has done a great job putting this all back to together. There’s a lot of Bluegrass DNA on this stage. We have a bloodline to the first pioneers. I am the nephew of Uncle Josh Graves. On banjo is Don Wayne Reno, youngest son of Don Reno. His dad played the first festival here.”

Joining Tim Graves & the Farm Hands on mandolin for their evening performance was another of Don Reno’s sons, Dale.

Dale recalled, “I spent a lot of years here and saw some amazing things. I saw the Osborne Brothers doing Ruby, and I watched John Duffey stand back stage and sing tenor with Bobby Osborne.”

More history was shared. “At Wheeling, WV, Dad [Don Reno] told Josh [Graves] to put a third pick on his finger for his rolls [on the dobro].”

Farm Hands bassist, Terry Eldridge, added his own blast from the past. “I got to play with the Osborne Brothers here when Carlton was alive. “

Also on Friday, the Country Gentlemen Show took to the stage to sing the songs that the award-winning band had performed on the same spot half a century ago.

Their banjoist, Lynwood Lunsford, noted, “I was here 50 years ago. Good to be back!”

The Show’s reso-guitarist, Darren Beachley, readily agreed. “This is the Holy Grail!”

On Saturday, festival MC, Cindy Baucom, noted the musical genealogy. “It’s good to see bluegrass passing from one generation to another.”

She was referencing the first band of the day, Buttermilk Creek. Three members of the Aldridge clan were on stage: father-Mike Aldridge on mandolin, son-Nathan on fiddle, and grandson (Brian’s son) Carson on guitar.

That afternoon, Tennessee Bluegrass Band brought more festival legacy. Banjo player, Lincoln Hensley, picked a Sonny Osborne Vega, the same model Osborne used in the 1971 movie.

“This is my first time to Camp Springs,” the young Hensley joyfully confessed. “My banjo teacher gave me the DVD of the 1971 festival, and I thought how cool it would be to play there – and now here we are!”

Hensley has forged friendships with several first generation bluegrass legends that recognized his love for musical heritage. During their Saturday shows, the banjoist used a capo presented to him by the late Sonny Osborne, and both Hensley and TBB fiddler, Michael Feagan, were adorned with Bill Monroe belt buckles. Faegan acquired his while touring with the Father of Bluegrass. Hensley’s was recently gifted to him by Bobby Hicks’ widow, Cathy.

Danny Paisley closed out the afternoon set with his own Camp Springs memories.

“TJ Lundy and I played Camp Springs with our dads [Ted Lundy and Bob Paisley] in the mid-70s.”

Danny’s son, Ryan, interjected, “Playing here is something that I can mark off my bluegrass bucket list!”

Closing out the Saturday program, Authentic Unlimited, up for nine nominations at World of Bluegrass, performed an extended set. Carrying on the family legacy theme, Stephen Burwell recognized his wife, Haley, and their seven-month-old daughter, Lydia, from the stage.

“It’s Lydia’s first bluegrass festival,” he shared.

Sunday’s show included more bluegrass relations with an afternoon set by Wood Family Tradition. Rebel Recording artist, AL Wood & the Smokey Mountain Boys, performed at Camp Springs in the ’70s. Wood appeared in a movie scene featuring the banjo ensemble which included such great masters of the five as Earl Scruggs, Sonny Osborne, Jimmy Arnold, and Little Roy Lewis, all picking Foggy Mountain Breakdown” Sunday, Wood’s sons, Mike and Bobby, performed along Mike’s son, Jason, and grandson, Carson. It was a special treat to hear Carson sing his great-grandfather’s original tune, The Hills of Home, in the same spot where the family patriarch had performed it 50 years prior.

During Carley Arrowood’s portion, her husband and guitarist, Daniel Thrailkill, expressed his gratitude. Gesturing to the original I-beam that loomed overhead on the reconstructed stage, he declared, “There’s been a lot of history under this beam.”

Closing out the festival, Wayne Benson, longtime mandolinist with IIIrd Tyme Out, acknowledged the iconic music park. “This is such a legacy place. I grew up listening to live cassette tapes of the Osborne Brothers playing here…so much edgy stuff and creativity.”

Off stage, High Fidelity’s Jeremy Stephens reflected…

“My Camp Springs story was in about 1997. Booked were Karl Shiflett & Big Country Show, Wade & Julia Mainer, and my band at the time. We were called Shallow Creek from Danville, VA. No one was here. It was like all of us that played and maybe five other people. Carlton still owes us $400!”

“I had seen Bluegrass Country Soul. Carlton would bring the VHS tapes that he had copied and sell them for $20. In the ’90s, that was a lot of money for a VHS tape. I was eat up with it. As a young teen, I would watch it over and over and over. To come here and be aware of that with the original stage still here, you came in the back, went up the stairs inside, and came to the top. It was just like it was ([n the movie], except a little more run down.

“I remember standing in the back stage area at the top of the steps where you turn sharp left to be in the middle behind stage and having Wade Mainer’s banjo in my hand. Getting to look at it and play Wade’s banjo is my biggest Camp Springs memory.”

A special attendee on Sunday was Allen Mills of Lost & Found. His genre-impacting group played Camp Springs Blue Grass Park in the mid-’70s, and Mills enjoyed a long relationship with the former park owner and Bluegrass Hall of Fame member, Carlton Haney.

Another festival attendee traveled across the country to attend the festival. Rayne Redman flew all the way from Utah.

“I knew about Bluegrass Country Soul, and I watched that movie over and over. It’s my favorite movie of all time. I had obviously heard of this festival and knew that it was up and going again. I had a chance to come out for IBMA and Monroe Mandolin Camp, which got pushed up to next week.

My friend, Betty Finney from VA, [suggested] ‘Why don’t you come a few days early so you could come to this festival?’ I thought, I’ve got to do this, but I’ve got a husband that is home, and thought I’m already leaving him almost a month. He said, ‘I want you to go and have fun. I’m fine with it. Go!’ So I called Betty back and booked my flight.”

Redman enjoyed the Labor Day festival so much that she is hoping to return to Camp Springs again next year.

“I’m hoping I can get back next year because they’ve moved IBMA to the middle of September. It gives me a chance to get back here (to Camp Springs). I am scheming and planning!”

Lincoln Hensley brings Sonny Osborne back to Camp Springs

The iconic Camp Springs Labor Day Festival at Blue Grass Park is slated to return this weekend, August 30-September 1. Carlton Haney started North Carolina’s first multi-day bluegrass festival on this rural site in the northwestern part of the state near Reidsville in 1969. Haney’s event became a blueprint for others, especially after the movie, Bluegrass Country Soul, was filmed there in 1971. The park closed in the 1980s once Carlton stopped hosting festivals there, and it fell into disrepair.

Then in 2019, Cody and Donna Johnson bought the park and brought the festival back. Each year has offered something that links Camp Springs and its music back to the early days. For 2024, Lincoln Hensley, banjoist with the Tennessee Bluegrass Band, will be picking his Vega Sonny Osborne model banjo on Saturday at the festival.

“That’s what he played at Camp Springs in 1971,” Hensley noted.

Lincoln has a special connection with the late Sonny Osborne, ever since his banjo mentor, Edison Wallin, gave the banjo boy the Bluegrass Country Soul movie as a Christmas present one year.

Hensley says it was a turning point in his life.

“I was sitting in my parents’ living room on Christmas morning, listening to that DVD, and the Osborne Brothers’ part came on. They did Ruby, and Sonny had that six-string banjo tuned down with that low string. I didn’t know anything about that extra string, but they were plugged in and had the drums. I thought, ‘Holy cow, what is this?’ I was glued to that TV until their spot was over.”

Starstruck, he began investigating Sonny Osborne and his unique style of banjo picking, which eventually led to a close friendship that lasted until Sonny’s passing in 2021. Now, Hensley will be standing under the same I-beam where Osborne stood 53 years ago, picking the same model banjo.

“I think his was probably a 1968 model. Mine is a 1968. There was less than 20 total produced.”

“Earl Scruggs [who also played at Camp Springs in 1971] took the banjo to his level. Sonny came along and picked it up, learned everything that Earl did, then to it to his level,” stressed Hensley.

To kick off the festival, Bluegrass Country Soul will be played on a giant screen on the stage Thursday evening, August 30, at 8:30 pm. Camp Springs Labor Day weekend includes Appalachian Road Show, the Country Gentlemen Tribute Band, Caroline Owens, Tim Graves and the Farm Hands, and Drive Time on Friday. In addition to TBB on Friday, Authentic Unlimited, Danny Paisley, Backline, and Buttermilk Creek will perform. Sunday features a morning worship service followed by the King James Boys, Wood Family Tradition, Carley Arrowood, High Fidelity, and Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out.

Cody says, “We are excited again this year! We keep growing every year, thanks to the fans and the bands. It doesn’t seem like this is the sixth year!”

Camp Springs Bluegrass Park is located at 540 Boone Road in Elon, NC. For more information, visit them online, or contact Johnson by phone at (336) 213-1944.

Final photos from ’24 Tony Rice Fest at Camp Springs

Lorraine Jordan at the 2024 Tony Rice Memorial Music Fest – photo © Laura Ridge

Laura Ridge was also in the campground over Memorial Day 2024 for the Tony Rice Memorial Music Fest, and shared these photos she captured in the park.

Many thanks to Cody Johnson and his staff for making our correspondents welcome at Camp Springs Music Park.

Ricky Skaggs returns to Camp Springs for Tony Rice Memorial Music Fest

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder at the Tony Rice Memorial Music Fest – photo © G. Nicholas Hancock

History repeated itself this Memorial Day weekend at Camp Springs Bluegrass Park near Reidsville, NC, as Ricky Skaggs took the stage for the second annual Tony Rice Memorial Music Fest on Saturday. Camp Springs was the first bluegrass festival that Skaggs ever played. While still a teenager, he had joined Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys alongside the late Keith Whitley and traveled to North Carolina to play the festival. That performance can be viewed on a segment of the Bluegrass Country Soul film recorded at the iconic park in 1971. Ricky also wrote about the experience in his 2013 autobiography, Kentucky Traveler: My Life in Music.

Cody Johnson, SPBGMA’s 2023 promoter of the year, and Camp Springs Blue Grass Park owner, shared, “It’s awesome that Ricky returned. I think it ties in really well with Tony since they played together.”

Skaggs performed with Rice in the powerhouse band, J.D. Crowe and the New South band, recording the landmark Rounder 0044 LP in 1975. The pair also recorded, Skaggs & Rice, a 1980 album for Sugar Hill that was reissued in 2012. The minimalistic project featured only Skaggs on mandolin, Rice on guitar, and their voices in duet harmonies. Both records are considered classics in bluegrass circles.

“Playing back on this stage brings backs lot of memories,” Skaggs shared. “We want to remember our dear friend, Tony Rice. I loved him so much and loved singing with him.”

Following his set, Skaggs returned to the stage for an encore that included Bury Me Beneath the Willow from the Skaggs & Rice project, and ended with a rousing version of Monroe’s Rawhide.

A special guest in Saturday’s audience was Skaggs’ former band mate, Wes Golding. Golding first appeared on the Camp Springs stage in the ’70s as a teenager with the Shenandoah Cut-Ups, which included the late Hershel Sizemore, Clarence “Tater” Tate, John Palmer, and Billy Edwards. He returned several years later to perform with Skaggs, Terry Baucom, Jerry Douglas, and Steve Bryant in the ground-breaking group, Boone Creek.

“I remember there was some great music come through this park,” Golding, a prolific songwriter who penned such familiar tunes as Raining in LA, One Way Track, and Mississippi Queen, shared when invited to the stage. “It’s the first time that I’ve been back since the mid-’70s. Just to come back and share memories and music of the past, it’s a blessing to be here.”

Other bluegrass celebs were present, too. Barry Abernathy and Josh Berry came in support of Appalachian Road Show’s Zeb Snyder, who was filling in with Kentucky Thunder while Jake Workman was home helping tend his new baby. Zeb’s sister, Samantha (formerly of Darin & Brooke Aldridge), and his mother were both present to hear him perform with Skaggs. Other musicians, Ben James (Oak Ridge Boys) and Nathan Aldridge (IIIrd Tyme Out), were also in the audience, along with well-known promoter and IBMA founding member, Milton Harkey.

Looking across the covered hillside following Skaggs’ performance, a pleased Johnson stated, “This looks like the old days.”

The promoter worked closely with the Rice family to remember Rice’s legacy. Both Tony’s wife, Pam, and daughter, India, were present for the event.

“This is a celebration of his life! His professional career began here at Camp Springs,” Johnson stressed.

Prior to Skaggs’ set, Southern Legacy was on hand on Saturday to play homage to the late Tony Rice. Members are: Mike Anglin, Ron Block, Don Rigsby, Steve Thomas, and Josh Williams. The powerhouse quintet’s set featured many tunes from 0044, including Summer Wages, Some Old Day, Rock, Salt, & Nails, Home Sweet Home Revisited, and Old Home Place.

Rigsby referenced Rice and his work from the stage. “Tony Rice was one of the greatest musicians to ever walk the planet. If I was going to be on a dessert island and could only take one record, 0044 would probably be it.”

Williams and Thomas also appeared on Sunday afternoon as Williams played in order the entire 1983 Sugar Hill album, Church Street Blues, accompanied by his band mate on rhythm. The original recording featured Rice on guitar and vocals along with his younger brother, Wyatt, picking the six-string alongside him.

Williams made the decision to present his version. “I’ve been playing this record the last two weeks. I didn’t even listen to anything else.”

Josh also shared his compassion for the late guitar master. “He was my hero. He’s the whole reason I’m holding this guitar. He completely changed the way that I played.”

He concluded his Sunday set by saying, “There’s only one Tony Rice and they’ll never be another. I miss him. Long live the music of Tony Rice.”

Other acts that appeared on the three-day festival (Friday-Sunday) included the Lonesome River Band, Shelton & Williams, Lorraine Jordan & Country Grass, Exile, New Primitive, and many more.

Festival MC, Cindy Baucom, invited Johnson to the stage. “This is great!” He shared, “Come back!”

The next bluegrass festival at Camp Springs is slated for Labor Day weekend. The holiday event kicks off with the showing of the 1971 movie, Bluegrass Country Soul, shown on the spot where it was originally filmed on Thursday evening, August 29. Then Friday through Sunday a host of bands will be appearing, including Authentic Unlimited, Appalachian Road Show, Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, Tennessee Bluegrass Band, and Caroline Owens, to name a few. Camp Springs Bluegrass Park is located in Elon, NC. For more information on camping and to order tickets, visit them online or contact Johnson at (336) 213-1944.

All photos by G. Nicholas Hancock

Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival continues to grow

Junior Sisk at the 2023 Camp Springs Labor Day festival – photo © Laura Tate Photography

“This was our fifth year,” Camp Springs promoter, Cody Johnson, shared on Sunday night at the close of the Labor Day weekend festival. “It continues to grow. We had our largest attendance yet.”

The three-day music event, site of the first bluegrass festival held in North Carolina in 1969, had a winning combination of perfect weather, the beautifully restored historic Blue Grass Park, and a line-up of great music. The sunny skies and seasonal temperatures were a welcome sight for the promoter, the performers, and the attendees after the cold, wet Tony Rice Memorial Musicfest everyone endured this past May.

A star-studded schedule included Larry Sparks, the Dukes of Drive, Drive Time, Roxboro Connection, and Just Cauz on Friday. Saturday’s line-up featured the Grascals, the Tennessee Plow Cleaners, Starlett & Big John, Buttermilk Creek, and an extended evening show by Junior Sisk. Sunday’s schedule began with a worship service at 11:00 a.m., followed by performances by the Gospel Plowboys, Deeper Shade of Blue, the Edgar Loudermilk Band, Kenny & Amanda Smith, and concluded with a high-energy two-hour set by Little Roy & Lizzy.

Johnson gave special attention to the iconic festival linking the present with the past. The Grascals’ bassist Terry Smith and the Plow Cleaners’ guitarist/lead singer Billy Smith returned to their old stomping grounds where the brothers played decades ago.

“We played the first festival in 1969 with the Camp Springs Bluegrass Band,” Billy recalled. “Later, we changed the name to Camp Springs Newgrass after seeing the Newgrass Revival (perform there). The original band was my dad, Patrick Smith, Alan O’Brant, and brother, Terry. Later we had Mike (Aldridge) on mandolin and Johnny Ridge on fiddle. Then we formed Blue Haze with Alan, Terry, and J.B. Prince. We played with the Shinbone Alley Allstars, I believe it was late ’70s or early ’80s.”

A highlight of Saturday’s show occurred when Billy joined his brother on stage with the Grascals. He was accompanied by David Talbot and Shad Cobb, Plow Cleaners’ banjoist and fiddler, respectively. Talbot was a founding member of the Grascals and Cobb had filled in with the band on several occasions. The merged bands did a rousing version of Little Girl of Mine in Tennessee to the audience’s delight.

Another past connection was Deeper Shade of Blue dobroist, Frank Poindexter, who attended early festival years with his nephew, Tony Rice, who first played Camp Springs as part of Bluegrass Alliance with Sam Bush (pre-New Grass Revival), then with JD Crowe & the New South.

Sunday’s finale featured Little Roy Lewis who had played Camp Springs for then promoter Carlton Haney many years with his kinfolk, The Lewis Family. He even recalled an incident when a clothes-less streaker ran across the front of the stage while they were singing gospel songs.

Present all three-days was retiring Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em, Terry Baucom, who sat beside the Dukes of Drive merchandise table greeting fans, swapping stories, and posing for photographs. His wife of 20 years, and radio personality, Cindy Baucom of Knee Deep in Bluegrass, served all three days as the festival’s MC.

Throughout the multi-day event, superb audio was provided by Blue Ridge Sound with Jackson Bethune running the board for BRS CEO John Holder, who was away teaching a sound workshop.

At the close of the Saturday show, Johnson took the stage to invite attendees to return for 2024 Memorial Day and the second annual Tony Rice Musicfest, with the sixth annual Labor Day Bluegrass Festival to follow in September. Make plans now to be part of these epic events.

’23 Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival kicks off

Cindy and Terry Baucom/Ronald Smith at the ’23 Labor Day Bluegrass Festival – photo © Gary Hatley

Today marks day one of Camp Springs three-day Labor Day bluegrass festival. Cody and Donna Johnson purchased the park, site of the first bluegrass festival in North Carolina back in 1969, and re-opened the grounds (after extensive renovations) on its 50^th anniversary in 2019. The outdoor music event is celebrating its fifth year since the park’s restoration with cooler, drier weather, a perfect forecast for attendees, performers, and the promoters.

“I’ve been praying since Memorial Day,” Cody confessed after enduring rain during his first annual Tony Rice Memorial Musicfest earlier this year in May.

The festival kicked off the afternoon with performances by local favorites Drive Time, Just Cauz, and Roxboro Connection, followed by the final Camp Springs performance of The Dukes of Drive, band of retiring banjo boss, Terry Baucom. Tonight’s show closes with an extended set by Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers.

The festival’s emcee Cindy Baucom, wife of the retiring banjoist, shared a little history from the stage.

“He played here on the Labor Day festival with Boone Creek in 1977. Terry was on the stage with Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Wes Golding, and Steve Bryant. He went on to help form Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lou Reid, Terry Baucom & Carolina, Blueridge, and in 2013, he formed his own band the Dukes of Drive. We have Jason Burleson from Blue Highway joining us. (Referencing Terry) The boss man is over there watching you.”

“It’s such an honor filling in for my hero,” stated Burleson. “There were three albums that really made me want to play banjo and Terry was on two of them.”

Dukes bassist, Joe Hannabach, added, “I’ve been with him the last ten years. I’ve never played with someone with his timing, tone, and drive.”

Saturday’s line-up features the Grascals, the Tennessee Plow Cleaners, Starlett & Big John, and an extended evening show by Junior Sisk. Sunday’s schedule begins with a worship service at 11:00 a.m., followed by performances by the Gospel Plowboys, Deeper Shade of Blue, the Edgar Lowdermilk Band, Kenny & Amanda Smith, concluding with a two-hour set by Little Roy & Lizzy.

“Come out and support the amazing people that put this historic festival on every year. We are so thankful to get to be a part of it, and we give God the glory for it all! We hope to see you there!” stated Michael Jenkins of the Gospel Plowboys.

Camp Springs Blue Grass Park is located at 540 Boone Road, Elon, NC. For tickets and more information, visit the festival web site, or call Cody Johnson (336-213-1944).

Cindy concluded…

“When Cody Johnson first told me his plans for restoration of Camp Springs, knowing its history, and to be invited to be its MC that first year, and to come back year after year, is really an honor. Cody said from the beginning that he wanted to continue making improvements each year, and he’s kept his word. Every time that I come back to Camp Springs, it just gets more beautiful and it’s making it better for the bands and the audience. I’m really honored to be a small part of it.”

Will Clark, Dukes of Drive mandolinist, echoed a similar sentiment. “So grateful to be here where all my heroes played.”

Photos from Friday at the 2023 Tony Rice Memorial Day Musicfest

The Church Sisters with Caroline Owens at Camp Springs (5/26/23) – photo © Jeromie Stephens

Jeromie Stephens braved the rain this past weekend for the Tony Rice Memorial Day Musicfest at Camp Springs in North Carolina. He shared a good many terrific photos, the first batch of which appear here.

As usual, Jeromie finds gems from both the stage show and the various scenes around the festival. Many thanks for these, which include shots from the set up day on Thursday, and the first day of the festival on Friday.

Debut Tony Rice Memorial Day Musicfest survives the rains

The cool dizzily weather failed to dampen the spirits of the artists and attendees at Camp Springs Bluegrass Park near Reidsville, NC, this weekend for the first annual Tony Rice Memorial Day Musicfest. Promoters, Cody and Donna Johnson, labored arduously to make everyone comfortable by transporting performers from hospitality tent to the stage on UTVs, and setting up a large tent for the audience to assemble comfortably from the elements.

Kody Norris joked as rains fell during his performance. “I feel a strange disconnect [referencing the long distance between the stage and the tent where the audience was seated]. I guess it’s good to have grass between us at a bluegrass festival. Y’all are high and dry back there.”

During their show, several ducks waddled throughout the audience. “They paid for front row seats,” he teased.

Later in the day, Don Rigsby recognized a couple huddled under an umbrella close to the stage. “That’s hardcore right there!”

The two-day event featured tributes and ties to the late master of the guitar. Pam Rice, Tony’s widow, was present both days. Also in attendance was their daughter, India.

Pam talked about how Tony cherished the Camp Springs Bluegrass Park.

“Tony planted long leaf pines here. This place was very special to him.”

It was on those grounds that he played his last show with Bluegrass Alliance, and his first show with J.D. Crowe on the same Labor Day weekend in 1971.

Rigsby stressed, “We’re pleased to be on the same property where that stuff happened.”

On Friday, during the Church Sisters’ evening set, Savannah Church Alvis, recalled meeting Rice at MACC in Ohio. “We were about 12 and he made us feel like our music was important. We are all influenced by Tony’s music.”

Camp Springs has long been known for its impromptu collaborations on stage. In that same vein, the twins invited rising songstress, Caroline Owens, to join in on a great trio song, Those Memories of You (originally recorded by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt in 1987).

Also on Friday, Tim Stafford, co-author of the biography, Still Inside, The Tony Rice Story, and founding member of Blue Highway, shared, “It’s a wonderful event. Cody and the Rice family just knocked it out of the park with it. We’re so glad to be involved.”

During Blue Highway’s final show, Stafford dedicated their a cappella gospel song, Some Day to the memory of Rice.

Darin & Brooke Aldridge closed out the Friday night. Darin said, “It’s good to play for the Rice family. Tony always knew the right music to play.”

On Saturday, Southern Legacy (Josh Williams, Don Rigsby, Mike Anglin, Ron Stewart, and Jim VanCleve) took the stage and basically reincarnated the 1975 version of The New South that had performed there. VanCleve channeled Bobby Hicks on several Album Band tunes, including Big Spike Hammer. After Williams’ hot Rice-driven guitar break, one attendee pointed skyward, as if to say, “Tony, your legacy lives on.”

Stewart was hammering out Crowe licks to the delight of the audience. After a powerful version of Nashville Skyline Rag, Williams noted, “They love you in the back, Ron.”

During their rendition of Summer Wages, Williams was bending the strings just like the master.

“It’s one of my favorites,” he admitted.

There were lighter moments, too. Williams told about a 20 hour ride back from Colorado with Rice, and a moment during that trip following one coffee/gas pit stop. “We got out to the entrance ramp (at the interstate), and then he just stopped, and I was afraid something was wrong. I was like, ‘hey man, is everything alright?’, and all at once he mashed down on the gas and threw me back in the seat and scared the ever-loving crap out of me. And, oh my gosh, the truck fish-tailed and all kinds of stuff, then he looked over at me and he said, ‘You know, every once in a while you got to get that fuel line clean.’ I said, ‘Well, we better stop up here so I can get me my underwear clean.’ So, that was better than any ride Opryland ever had. I can tell you that.”

When Southern Legacy played Your Love is Like a Flower, Rigsby noted, “Tony took a guitar break with the Album Band that would the peel the paint off any wall.”

During the band’s second set, several tunes such as Blue Ridge Mountain Home, She’s Gone, Gone, Gone, and Rounder 0044’s Old Home Place, became a sing-along under the tent as audience members joined in remembering Rice, Crowe, and their trademark tunes.

Williams did a touching solo rendition of Rice’s epic Church Street Blues.

Following Southern Legacy’s performance, Bluegrass First Class promoter, Milton Harkey, admitted, “They brought me to tears.”

The last act of the festival was the Seldom Scene. The original band backed Rice on his California Autumn project released in 1975.

Plans are already underway for next year.

Kody Norris praised the promoter of this inaugural festival in this beloved historic place. “We appreciate all the work Cody and his wife have done to carve this place out of the wilderness.”

“We want to thank everyone who came out and helped made this amazing event happen,” concluded Johnson. “The bands were great and we can’t wait until next year.”

Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest coming to Camp Springs

Cody Johnson, SPBGMA’s newly-named Promoter of the Year, is adding a new festival to honor the legendary Tony Rice, at Camp Springs Blue Grass Park in North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend.

Johnson said, “We are excited to announce that we will be adding a new festival in 2023. The Tony Rice Memorial Day Music Fest will be May 26-27.”

The lineup for the two-day event includes Blue Highway, Seldom Scene, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Southern Legacy (Josh Williams, Don Rigsby, Scott Vestal, Aubrey Haynie, and Mike Anglin), The Kody Norris Show, The Church Sisters, Back Porch Orchestra, Caroline Owens, Franklin Station, and The Megan Doss Band.

Pamela Rice, Tony’s widow, shared, “I am so deeply grateful to Cody and Donna Johnson, for joining India and me to establish a firm foundation to honor Tony and his musical legacy the way I always dreamed of. Best of all, to gather at the already historically hallowed ground at Camp Springs in Caswell County where it all originated.”

Johnson says, “We are excited to announce a new festival this year to honor Tony Rice. It has been a joy to work with Pam and India (Tony’s daughter) on this, also. Thanks for the continued support from everyone, and see you in May!”

Visit the Camp Springs web site for tickets and schedule information.

More from the 2022 Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival

Seth Mulder & Midnight Run at the 2022 Camp Springs Bluegrass Festival – photo by Laura Tate Photography

Labor Day weekend marked the fourth year since Cody and Donna Johnson reopened Bluegrass Park in Camp Springs, NC, site of the first bluegrass festival in the state back in 1969. Originally started by the late Carlton Haney, the park closed in the mid-’80s and fell into disarray. The Johnsons purchased the property, and built a new, larger stage on the same spot as the original, retaining the first stage’s original I-beam, a symbol of its iconic past.

The greats in early bluegrass: Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, Ralph Stanley, The Osborne Brothers, and the Lewis Family played Camp Springs in the ’70s. On that stage, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley appeared as part of Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. Tony Rice played his first show with J.D. Crowe. The movie, Bluegrass Country Soul, was filmed there in 1971. Last year, the Johnsons invited the movie’s producer and director, Albert Ihde and Ellen Pasternack of California, to return for the showing of the movie on its 50^th anniversary at the exact spot where it was filmed. That special night has been nominated for IBMA’s 2022 Industry Award for Event of the Year.

The Johnsons continue the musical legacy of Camp Springs by booking bands and musicians who have performed or attended the original festivals 50 years ago. This year, Mike Hartgrove (who once fiddled with the Bluegrass Cardinals at Camp Springs) played with his group, the Lonesome River Band, as well as in a special reunion show with the surviving members of the original IIIrd Tyme Out (formed in 1991).

During the reunion set, Mike fiddled a Joe Greene tune. Greene played Camp Springs in the 70s and appeared in Bluegrass Country Soul.

Hartgrove stated after his Sunday performance, “It was a dream come true to get to play Joe Greene’s fiddle tune, Big Joe, at Camp Springs! When I was a kid, I used to look at Joe Greene’s County Record and dream about what it would be like to play fiddle in the fashion of his bluegrass fiddle style! I never thought that I would get to play his original fiddle tune at Camp Springs! This made my summer.”

Another link to the past was Wood Family Tradition, part of Friday’s line-up. Descendants of A.L. Wood, another Camp Springs/Bluegrass Country Soul performer and former Rebel Recording artist, took to the stage singing and playing the songs of Mike and Bobby’s dad and Jason’s grandfather. They sang A.L. originals such as Hills of Home and picked his banjo tunes like Hombre.

Throughout Bluegrass Park, jam sessions formed with old and new friends. As Carlton Haney stated in the movie, “They have a common interest in the music.”

Eddie Gill (Big Country Bluegrass) joined William Britt (Gena’s nephew), Gary Hatley of the Hatley Family, Tom Cecil (banjo extraordinaire), and others for an impromptu jam that resulted in a salute to the Osborne Brothers.

The festival also included young performers, Mountain Highway, and guest appearances by JB Layne, son of Franklin Station’s banjo picker, Josh Layne. The five-year-old sang Molly Rose with his dad’s band, then joined The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys to sing the Smokey and Bandit movie theme song, East Bound and Down.

Two-time IBMA Mandolin Player of Year, Alan Bibey, summed it up, “I so love this place.”

The Johnsons’ hard work of restoring Bluegrass Park paid off. Each year, the crowd has grown. 2022 marked Camp Springs Labor Day Bluegrass Festival’s largest attendance. Plans are already underway to add a second annual festival on Memorial Day Weekend, beginning in 2023.

Photos from Gary Hatley and Laura Ridge.