Herb Applin, New England bluegrass pioneer from the 1960s, has died. He passed away quietly at Sunny Acres Nursing and Rehab in Chelmsford, MA on June 29, surrounded by his family. He was 86 years of age.
Born Henry Herbert Applin in Boston on April 10, 1938, he became involved in bluegrass shortly after starting to study violin in school. Known in bluegrass circles primarily as a mandolinist, he was a true multi-instrumentalist, also excelling on guitar and fiddle.
Herb was a member of the groundbreaking Massachusetts band The Berkshire Mountain Boys, alongside such northeastern luminaries as Joe Val, who was a close friend, Bea Lilly, Dick Bowden, and Paul Silvius. He appeared on their 1971 debut album, One Morning In May, on Rounder Records.
When Bill Keith and Jim Rooney recorded their seminal Livin’ on the Mountain album in 1963, Applin was on guitar.
He also performed regularly with Don Stover, and until fairly recently was a member of The Old Time Bluegrass Singers. His bandmate there, banjo player Dick Bowden, offered this remembrance of Herb’s importance to the New England bluegrass scene.
“Herb started as a fiddler, then adopted the Everett Lilly mandolin style, and also became a powerful rhythm guitar man. Herb’s tenor voice could only be described as ‘startling!’ Joe Val said Herb was a better tenor singer than himself.
He was also an early and enthusiastic fan of Norman Blake.
Herb was part of the large retinue of pickers and singers that rotated in and out of the Lilly Brothers’ circle of musical partners at various Boston venues. Herb often fiddled with the Lillys, and even took Everett’s mandolin part many times.
Everett Lilly nicknamed Herb ‘Jesse James,’ and remembered him by that name for over 50 years!”
Outside of music, Herb worked for many years as an Accounting Executive for Raytheon in Boston. He was also proud of his service in the Massachusetts National Guard.
He was named as a Bluegrass Pioneer by the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum some years ago.
A graveside service is scheduled for August 14 at 11:00 a.m. at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, ME.
Bluegrass lovers in the northeastern US have been mourning the demise of the big Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, held this past 15 years at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, MA. Managed by the Boston Bluegrass Union, and dedicated to the memory of the region’s premier bluegrass star, the festival has not been hosted since February 2020.
The Sheraton then started a major renovation, and while they planned to remain open throughout, the number of guest rooms that would be available was greatly reduced. So after COVID restrictions were lifted, BBU was without a home for the festival that could accommodate their needs. Even at full capacity, the Sheraton was booked full for every Joe Val event.
But good news may be on the horizon for grassers in the greater Boston region, and the northeastern states in general.
BBU has announced a new event in 2024 called JamVal, a three-day “non festival” to be held at the Framingham Sheraton over the President’s Day weekend, February 16-18. The focus will be on jamming, with no big stage show, but with plenty of workshops hosted by the members of Special Consensus and other professional players, plus the ever popular band scramble competition.
As before, only people with tickets to attend JamVal will be able to book rooms at the hotel that weekend, and there are discounted ticket prices for students and young people. Jamming and non-jamming areas will be clearly delineated, but most all of the public areas of the first floor will be wide open for non-stop, around-the-clock picking.
BBU is looking at this as not only a nice mid-winter break for grassers in need of a music fix, but also as a trial run for a possible return of the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in 2025!
The large Sheraton complex has new ownership, and they have split into three hotels, with the renovated Sheraton out front, and the other buildings now running as a Fairfield Inn and TownePlace Suites. It is expected that all refurbishing will be completed by 2025, and the three hotels together can offer the same number of rooms as before.
Boston grassers, you can jam in ’24, with a return of Joe Val (fingers crossed) in ’25.
If the calendar says it’s time for the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in the Boston suburbs, it’s usually safe to bet on snow.
This year, though, you would have lost that bet. Mother Nature provided the perfect backdrop for the 34th annual edition of the festival that many bluegrassers eagerly dream about on long, cold nights.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, not emerging from hibernation to make it to the festival in other years. A friend who goes every year promised “a direct IV of bluegrass,” and she was right. From the first notes Friday until the end of the Sunday night dance party, the hotel was wall to wall bluegrass, with one exception that I’ll mention below.
Here are some of the highlights:
John Miller and Jesse Brock are back in action.
Miller was away from bluegrass for a handful of years, going through cancer treatment, a band breakup and some family issues. Brock’s hiatus was shorter; his departure from the Gibson Brothers was announced a few months back.
They officially rejoined the bluegrass family Friday night when they strolled on stage with their new band, Mainline Express. Their well-received run through a set of bluegrass standards offered a few hints of what’s ahead and gave the crowd a jumpstart on the weekend.
“Oh, yeah, he can play the mandolin,” a guy in the row behind me gushed about Brock.
The band announced from the stage that their debut single will be out in early March, with a studio album to follow a few months later on Sound Biscuit Records. The single is a bluegrass arrangement by Miller of the old country song, Pass Me By, from Johnny Rodriguez.
Welcome home, guys.
Speaking of the Gibson Brothers, they pulled triple duty on Sunday, opening with a bluegrass set, which fans expect, then adding two desserts – a brother duo and a country set featuring material from their new project, Mockingbird.
The bluegrass set featured a slightly altered lineup, with Justin Moses filling in on mandolin and resophonic guitar, and without fiddler Clayton Campbell. As always, Leigh and Eric were joined by unofficial Gibson Brother Mike Barber on bass. It offered everything we’ve come to expect: Tight harmonies, solidly crafted original songs about the way things used to be, and unceasing mom-loves-me-more brotherly banter.
The short set as a duo was actually a bridge to the country set, allowing the stage crew to bring out drums, pedal steel and Eric’s Fender Telecaster and giving Barber a chance to trade his upright bass for a four-string electric without a break that might have tempted some audience members to depart.
The electric mix was actually a subdued backdrop for Eric and Leigh’s trademark vocals and most of the crowd stayed until the end. It was a great way to introduce hardcore bluegrassers to what is, for now, their new sound.
Bluegrass supergroups come and go, but Sister Sadie keeps bringing it. Their Saturday evening set was the best I’ve heard them sound, and I’ve heard some powerful performances from them over the years.
Part of the beauty of Sister Sadie is that four powerful vocalists share the stage. Everyone expects great singing from Dale Ann Bradley. You don’t get to be IBMA’s female vocalist of the year five times by accident. But Tina Adair is just as good, and the bluesy growl that creeps into her voice at times is the perfect pairing with Bradley’s sweet sounds. And Gena Britt and Beth Lawrence are tremendous singers in their own right.
All four swapped lead singing duties Saturday night, and sang harmony in various alignments.
They were also on fire instrumentally at Joe Val. Adair’s travels along the mandolin fretboard were masterful. As for the only member of the band who didn’t sing Saturday night? Deannie Richardson merely lit up the crowd with fiddling that was hot enough to melt the snow, had there been any. How she isn’t among the nominees for IBMA fiddle player of the year every year is one of life’s great mysteries.
There’s one final element of a Sister Sadie show: Their banter. It’s well rehearsed, but it feels spontaneous. If you’re ever at a show and Bradley leans toward Adair and stage whispers, “I can’t find my capo,” prepare to laugh until your sides ache. No spoilers here. You need to see it, not read about it!
That’s it. Another Joe Val festival in the books. Let the spring and summer festival season begin.
Members of the IBMA Songwriters Committee will conduct a workshop next weekend during the 34th annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival in Framingham, MA.
Three members of the committee, Rick Lang, David Morris, and Dawn Kenney, will lead the workshop, which will will be held on Saturday, February 16 at 3:00 p.m. All three have had multiple songs recorded by bluegrass artists, and have enjoyed chart success on multiple occasions.
Rick tells us that they will both talk songwriting and go over what the IBMA offers to writers at their annual convention.
“We are all IBMA songwriters, current members of the IBMA Songwriter Committee, and very involved with the songwriting community. In addition to performing/discussing our individual approaches to writing songs, we will share some insight into our work on the IBMA Songwriter Committee, including the World Of Bluegrass Songwriter Track events and IBMA Songwriter Mentor Program.”
Like all Joe Val festival events, the IBMA Songwriters Workshop will be held at the Sheraton Framingham hotel. There is no additional fee to attend above the admission fee for the festival.
You can see a complete list of performers and other activities online.
Sunday of the Joe Val Festival had loads more great bands on the stages, plus workshops, and jams, but also is the big stage debut for the kids at the Joe Val Kids Academy. The kids and their teachers have been working on perfecting a few songs all weekend. Then Sunday at noon they take the stage singing, strumming, and taking their solos. There was the main Academy and the last few years there has also been the advanced group of the Kids Academy as well.
I think most people who came got to see some strong well known acts as well as discovering some new acts on stage. And I talked to many folks who had learned a lot to add to their own playing while at the festival.One couple had just come in for the day… but just couldn’t leave and ended up staying for two days. Most of the people that attend this event seem to like meeting others who also love the music, and the halls were often full of people reuniting with old buddies and/or jumping into a jam with folks they just met.
A big thank you to The Boston Bluegrass Union, and to all the sponsors, for putting on the Joe Val Festival annually, as well as their other events throughout the year that bring entertainment, fellowship, and inspiration to so many people. I am already looking forward to next year’s festival!
Saturday at the Joe Val Festival was jammed packed with hot bands on the stages, loads of workshops, and lots of pickin’ in all sorts of areas of the hotel.
Bands came from all over the country and one had come from Europe. Red Wine is a bluegrass band from Italy, and were a blast both on the stage and off. It is so great to see how bluegrass has become a globally-played and appreciated music. Looks like there are bluegrass buddies to be found all over the world these days.
I look forward to meeting some more of our international bluegrassers, and think it is a fun idea that we can now travel around the world to see and take part in bluegrass festivals in other countries. When I come to bluegrass events like Joe Val, it has been illustrated so many times how the music really does a beautiful job of bringing people together, and making the world a funner and friendlier place to be.
Here are some photos and a couple of videos so you can get a taste of the sights and sounds of the festival on Saturday.
First up, Red Wine does a bluegrass versions of Merle Haggard’s Somewhere Between…
…followed Bluegrass Collusion with their original number, John Wesley Hardin.
The 33rd annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival took place this last weekend in Framingham, Massachussetts. It still reigns as one of the biggest bluegrass events of the year in the northeastern US. The festival is organized by the Boston Bluegrass Union, which has been working hard for 42 years organizing events, as well as providing educational opportunities of many kinds for people to learn about bluegrass music. If folks might be interested in some of their other events and projects as well as a list of radio programs and associations in the New England area supporting bluegrass, one can check out their website which has a great list of all sorts of bluegrass related resources.
The Joe Val Festival has loads of great bands on the stages and with over 50 workshops, screenings of documentaries, and a Kids Academy in full swing every year, they do a great job of providing a huge element of music education at the Joe Val Festival as well as providing entertainment and a place for friends to meet and jamming and merriments to be had.
Sunday is still a rockin’ day at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival with some great bluegrass legends taking the Main Stage, and fresh new faces and regional faces being spotlighted on the Showcase Stage. Workshops and jams, of course, continue pulling people in and the Kids Academy takes over the stage letting folks see the next crop of up-and-coming bluegrass stars. The Academy has a team of devoted teachers who spend the weekend working with kids of varying ages and levels, culminating with their main stage show in the middle of the day on Sunday. They took the stage between The Surly Gentlemen and Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass.
The Kids Academy instructors rotate some of the kids up to the front of the stage as the advanced group is showcased, then the larger academy takes the spotlight with kids working their way up to the mics for their big solos. Soundman Al Garvin along with the whole sound crew team did a great job all weekend with great sound. They didn’t even flinch as the horde of youngsters took over the entire stage for their set. The Kids who do the Kids Academies at Joe Val, or at some of the other festivals throughout the year, tend to really get excited about the music, and inspired to work hard to become better musicians. Anyone who knows some young people who might be interested in learning to play music might want to consider one of these great opportunities offered at some of the bluegrass festivals like Joe Val.
The last show on the Main Stage was an extended set of the Earls of Leicester to a packed house of excited fans. Then the evening ended with a dance on the lower level called the “Wind-Up Hoe-Down” attended by fans, teachers, students, and performers, all relaxing and having one last hurrah before final goodbyes.
The Joe Val festival really breeds a sense of friendliness and community as it welcomes the fans, pickers, and performers every year. One sees smiles, hugs, handshakes, and excitement in the hallways, the audience areas, and all around the hotel. There is no mistaking why The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival is a highlight on the bluegrass calendar for the northeast region every year. Hope to see lots of you there next year!
Saturday was a really big day at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, packed full with all sorts of great workshops, monitored slow jams, spontaneous jam sessions throughout the hotel rooms and lobbies, and of course great musical acts on the Showcase Stage and Main Stage. They even had a slot on the main stage titled “Don’t Miss This Band!” The surprise band turned out to be Della Mae who had the advanced group of the Kids Academy sit in with them at the end of their set. The stages had performances with a great blend of fresh new faces, local favorites, and true bluegrass legends.
The Boston Bluegrass Union also presents Heritage awards each year to honor people who have made substantial contributions to furthering bluegrass in the New England region. The late Mike Kropp received the Artist and Industry Award for his many years as a performer and work in various roles of the music business throughout his life. The Industry Award went to Candi Sawyer from Vermont who has presented many concert series and the popular Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival among other musical activities and projects over the years.
The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival is definitely one of the main events of the bluegrass calendar for pickers, students, and fans of bluegrass anywhere in the northeast region of the US. Folks come in from all over to see favorite bands, plus new bands on the scene, to take one of the over 50 workshops offered, and of course to jam and meet friends and make new ones every year.
Everything takes place at a Sheraton hotel in Framingham, MA and is organized by the Boston Bluegrass Union (BBU) which has been hosting shows, events, and educational opportunities for pickers since 1976. BBU was awarded a Distinguished Achievement Award by the International Bluegrass Music Association just last year for its many contributions to bluegrass music over the years.
The Joe Val Bluegrass Festival began in 1985 as a benefit for Joe Val, who was a bluegrass legend from the region who had been having serious health problems. Joe Val, the person, passed away, but his name lives on through the festival and the great times and sweet bluegrass it brings to so many people.
The fun starts even as one drives up to the hotel that is taken over by bluegrassers every year, since it is designed to look like a castle. (It used to be known as the Tara Castle.) Once inside the building, you never knows where you might stumble upon jams in the hallways, lobbies, and hotel rooms that people at any age and skill level are having. Then there are the designated workshop rooms, the Showcase Stage, and the Main Stage with three days full of entertainment listed in their schedules. This festival has been going strong ever since its inception in ’85, and will hopefully continue on for many more years to come.
Here are some videos and photos so you can get a taste for yourself.
First Joe Mullins and Jason Barie perform a fiddle tune called The Woodstock Hornpipe on the Main Stage Friday…
Don Rigsby and Richard Bennett sing The Old Crossroads…
Jeremy Middleton sings Yukon River with Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen…
