Ms Nannie Omega “Miggie” Lewis passed away on Tuesday, December 26, 2017, at the Select Specialty Hospital in Augusta, Georgia. For many years she sang with her sisters, brother, and parents as the Lewis Family, perhaps the most beloved bluegrass Gospel group of all time.
Born on May 22, 1926, Augusta, Georgia, the eldest child of Pop and Mom Lewis, she was 91 years old.
The old maid of the family, Miggie was a favorite of everyone in the family and with fans everywhere.
This past Saturday, June 20, The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame honored its 2015 class of inductees at the Stone Center for the Performing Arts in North Wilkesboro, NC. They are housed in the Wilkes County Heritage Museum, an historic building there in town.
Since 2008 they have honored a Hall of Fame class of musicians and industry people from the greater Blue Ridge area, encompassing the mountainous regions from northern Georgia to northern Virginia. The class is chosen each year by a 15 person committee of scholars
Chosen for 2015 were:
Ronnie Milsap – Nationally Known Artist
Lulu Belle and Scotty Wiseman– Pioneer Artist
Terry Baucom– Sideman and Regional Musician
The Lewis Family – Gospel
Si Kahn – Songwriter
Bobby Patterson – Recording Industry
All but Milsap have strong connections to bluegrass music. Lulu Belle & Scotty player on the National Barn Dance radio show from Chicago in the 1930s and ’40s, he on banjo and she on guitar. Terry Baucom remains an active performer and has been featured on banjo in some of our music’s most iconic groups, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Boone Creek, and many others.
Bobby Patterson was inducted as an engineer, but has performed in bluegrass and old time bands for years. He runs Heritage Records in Woodlawn, VA. You can’t have attended more than a few bluegrass events from the ’50s through the early 21st century without seeing The Lewis Family, one of the most visible and hard-charging bluegrass Gospel shows ever presented. And Si Kahn has written many songs recorded and performed in bluegrass
Cindy Baucom, Terry’s wife, was in attendance and performed with Terry and his band, The Dukes of Drive, and she sent along some photos from the event.
Bauc share a few words about the Hall of Fame as well…
“I was, of course, honored and humbled with the recognition and was happy for my fellow inductees. It was a wonderful night celebrating the accomplishments of each one. This, along with the number 1 song on the Bluegrass Today Chart for the past three weeks and six weeks in the top 3 is gratifying to say the least. I really do appreciate it.”
Those who grew up in rural areas know the importance that the local school played in the community. In many cases it had the only auditorium of any size, and would typically host civic meetings, entertainment offerings, and even political events for local residents.
Sandy Ridge High School in Stokes County, NC was just such a school, one that has also served as the site for what must surely be the longest running bluegrass concert series in history. Though the shows are now held at the elementary school on the same site, they have held bluegrass shows there every year since 1948.
It all got started when Cleo Lemons first learned that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs had left Bill Monroe’s band and started their own act. He wrote to the band asking if they would come play at Sandy Ridge, and before long arrangements were made for a concert date that was repeated annually for the next 20 years.
In fact, people in town still talk about “the show that didn’t happen,” on March 7, 1969. It would have been the 21st annual Flatt & Scruggs show at Sandy Ridge, but when townsfolk showed up, they found The Osborne Brothers on the stage, as Lester and Earl had split up after their Opry performance the previous weekend. News didn’t travel quite so fast back then.
The Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville still offers a show poster from that ill-fated concert, though they identify it as from 1958.
Lemons tells stories about seeing Flatt & Scruggs pull in for their first show driving a ’39 Ford, with the sound gear and instruments in the back, and the bass tied to the roof. They had borrowed the car from Jim Eanes to make the show, and had Jim Shumate, Howard Watts and Mac Wiseman with them. They continued to return every year, and by the end had a shiny new bus parked out front of the school to advertise the shows.
Earl Scruggs had told a number of people that he thinks they played at Sandy Ridge High School as many time as they played anywhere else, other than the Grand Ole Opry.
Cleo Lemons continued to promote these concerts, with appearances from The Osborne Brothers, Jim & Jesse, Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Reno & Smiley, and The Lewis Family. Initially they were sponsored by The American Legion, but over the years served as benefits for the local fire department, Ruritan Club, and other civic organizations. In many years, a second concert was held in the Fall as the shows were extremely popular.
The concerts continued, but Cleo couldn’t. Now in his mid 90s, he still attends each year, but the organizational and promotional work has been picked up by Jay Adams, banjo player with Rich In Tradition, who will perform along with The Churchmen on next weekend’s 57th annual show. Jay has been taking care of this event for the past five years, and plans on keeping it going as long as he can.
The annual bluegrass shows now benefit the Sandy Ridge Elementary School. Jay says he remembers attending many of the shows at the old high school, and getting his love of bluegrass from seeing so many epic bands live. He said that it was an old building, built in the ’20s, when auditoria were designed to carry sound efficiently from the stage to the audience.
In fact, it is said that Lester Flatt tried to buy the old auditorium when it was scheduled to be demolished, but the town wouldn’t sell. Flatt ended up taking over the park at nearby Pilot Mountain instead.
The 2015 Sandy Ridge show will be held on March 21. Tickets and details are available online.
We have mentioned a few times this past month that CMT had visited The Lewis Family in the studio while they were recording their recently released CD, Flying High.
That feature is scheduled to be a part of CMT’s Insider program today (7/22) at 1:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show will re-air on Sunday (7/23) at 11:00 a.m. and again on Monday (7/24) at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
Mountain Home Records has just announced the release of a new Lewis Family project, Flyin’ High. This new CD includes a song list gathered from some of today’s best songwriters, and features all the energy and excitement you’ve come to expect from the First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music.
The street date for this release is set for July 18th, 2006.
In conjunction with this release, CMT filmed the band while they were in Nashville recording the tracks for their new project. The program CMT Insider will feature The Lewis Family on Saturday, July 22, with repeats on Sunday, July 23 and Monday, July 24.
When we first announced the imminent release of The Lewis Family’s new CD, Flying High, we mentioned that CMT had filmed some of the recording sessions for an upcoming edition of their CMT Insider program.
The show has been scheduled to air on Saturday, July 22, just following the official release date for Flying High, which is on 7/18. Look for the show at 1:30 p.m. on 7/22, with encore presentations the following Sunday (11:00 a.m.) and Monday (both 2:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.).
The next release from bluegrass gospel heavyweights, The Lewis Family, is expected to be delivered in time for their annual festival, held the first weekend in May. The CD, Flying High, will also be the subject of an upcoming edition of CMT’s Insider program. No broadcast date has been announced at this time.
