Carolina Detour at the 2025 Tony Rice Memorial Day MusicFest – photo © G. Nicholas Hancock
Camp Springs Blue Grass Park near Reidsville, NC, is the site of the third annual Tony Rice Memorial Day MusicFest.
The event kicked off Thursday, May 22, on the historic grounds where the first bluegrass festival ever in North Carolina was held in 1969. Promoters, Cody and Donna Johnson, purchased the property, restored it far beyond its original condition, and reopened it in 2019. Their first festival was held that Labor Day weekend, the same time original promoter and Bluegrass Hall of Fame member, Carlton Haney, held his event half a century before.
In 2023, the Johnsons added a second bluegrass event to honor Tony Rice, who got his professional start in the early ’70s at Camp Springs. Sadly, the groundbreaking guitarist passed away on Christmas Day 2020 at the age of 69. He died at his residence, which was only a few miles from the site of the Blue Grass Park. The Johnsons, with the blessings of the Rice family, started this festival in his memory.
The three-day event kicked off with festival MC Cindy Baucom, of Knee Deep in Bluegrass, singing the national anthem. The Johnsons’ pastor, Jason Simmons of Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, opened with prayer. The music began with the Carolina Kritters, a local band from Burlington, NC which featured Alex Cheek on guitar and lead vocals, Tim Rice (a distant relative of Tony’s) on guitar, Bradley Hudson on banjo, Daniel Aldridge on mandolin, and Austin Rigsby on bass.
“We are honored to kick this festival off. These young guys get it on,” stated Tim Rice.
Tim’s nephew, JoJo Rice, joined the band on stage to sing a rousing version of Big Spike Hammer to the audience’s delight.
Between bands, Baucom reflected on the park’s legacy.
“This is such a special place. For those of you that don’t know the history of this venue, I hope that you will research that. And you’re gonna hear a lot of it throughout the weekend as some of the artists talk about their first times to play here, and the people that they met here. In fact, it was right here where Tony Rice and Sam Bush met for the first time and they became longtime collaborators. This was the first stage where Tony Rice played with JD Crowe & the New South. Just so much history and we want to honor Tony’s memory this weekend with the music and the stories.”
Next, Carolina Detour, a group of young pickers from the foothills of North Carolina performed. The ensemble featured Lake Carver on fiddle, Tae Childress on guitar, Lyla Cherry on guitar, Cooper Eades on mandolin, and Bulman brothers, Malachi on banjo and Elijah on bass.
Elijah shared during their set, “Tony Rice was one of my greatest inspirations. We remember the music that he left us.”
Then as Lyla sang Ruby, she relayed, “I learned this from a video of the Osborne Brothers made at Camp Springs so that is pretty cool.”
The final act of the day featured rising star Presley Barker on guitar and lead vocals. The young entertainer was a former American Idol contestant when he was only a sophomore in high school. He was accompanied by award winning multi-instrumentalist Steve Lewis on banjo, Josh Scott on bass, and Presley’s younger brother, Luke, on the cajon and harmony vocals.
Prior to performing the Rice hit, Cold on the Shoulder, Barker conveyed, “I’d like to pay tribute to Tony Rice. This is one of my favorites.”
The music continues today with Ettore Buzzini, the Amanda Cook Band, and Volume 5, concluding with the Richard Bennett Band. Saturday features Clearwater Collective, Retro 78, and David Parmley, and the weekend of music ends with a performance by Balsam Range.
The excellent stage audio and lighting is managed by Jackson Bethune Music LLC.
For tickets and information, visit the Camp Springs web site. Camp Springs Blue Grass Park is located at 540 Boone Road in Elon, NC.
