The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS — The 17th annual Bath Bluegrass Jamboree will be held on Saturday, April 6, in the Bath County High School auditorium, beginning at 6 p.m.
Doors open for this event at 5:00 p.m. Refreshments will be available at 4:30 p.m.
Admission is $12 for adults, $5 for children ages 13-18, and $1 for children ages 12 and under.
The annual Bluegrass Jamboree serves as a major fundraiser for Allegheny Mountain Radio.
“Bluegrass music is American music,” said “D.J. Willie” Smith, who has organized the festival since its inception. “I’m excited.”
This year’s acts include David Parmley and Cardinal Tradition, Southern Rail Express and Mountain Highway.
David Parmley began his musical career at age 15, and by the time he turned 17, he began his full-time career as a member of the Bluegrass Cardinals. That band featured his father, Don Parmley, and three Los Angeles musicians.
In 1975, they made their way to the Washington D.C., area and began performing several nights a week for several years.
David’s lead and baritone voice were the backbone to the Cardinal sound. Dozens of musicians have worked with David and Don over the years but the sound remained constant.
The Bluegrass Cardinals recorded dozens of projects during their 25-year run. The material is considered the finest to come out of the ’70s and ’80s Bluegrass era.
David left the Bluegrass Cardinals in the ’90s to pursue a solo career featuring a more modern approach to Bluegrass music.
David Parmley and Continental Divide topped the Bluegrass Charts throughout the ’90s. He took time off the road around 2008, but now in 2016, David is returning to Bluegrass music with a new renewed spirit. Cardinal Tradition is an exciting new adventure and one that everyone has been awaiting.
David Parmley and Cardinal Tradition features Dale Perry on banjo, Steve Day on fiddle, Ron Spears on bass and Shayne Bartley on mandolin.
Southern Rail Express Bluegrass Band is based out of Bath County. The band first formed in May 2010 to perform for the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge.
Since then, Southern Rail Express has played for many private and public events in the area including The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs.
Members of Southern Rail Express include Willie Smith on bass, Jim Alma-rode on mandolin, Kenny Lowry on banjo, Jerry Wood on fiddle and David Cannaday on guitar.
“Kenny and I joke,” Smith said. “We started this festival when we were 12 years old.”
Mountain Highway is a young family band that thrills audiences with classic traditional bluegrass songs they sing in crisp, family harmony.
With music originally performed by Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley and others, Mountain Highway assures audiences the bluegrass music they love will live on for at least another generation.
The four sibling singers, age 12 to 17, play banjo, fiddle, mandolin and guitar, while their father plays upright bass.
“Uncle Norris” Long and “D.J. Willie” will serve as masters of ceremonies for the Bath Bluegrass Jamboree. Uncle Norris has hosted “Bluegrass Reflections” on Allegheny Mountain Radio. He and “D.J. Willie” co-host TGIF Blue-grass Fridays on Allegheny Mountain Radio.
Willie said the longevity of this popular event continues to amaze him.
“It’s remarkable to keep something going that long,” he said. “I hope to keep it going for a long time to come.”
Smith concluded by recognized the some 25 sponsors who make the Bath Bluegrass Jamboree a success each year.
“That’s what makes it happen,” he said.
For more information please visit www.alleghanymountainradio.org or on Facebook at https://www. facebook.com/events/1811661938960064/, call the radio station at (540) 839-5400 or (540) 839-2060, or email at richard@amrmail.com.
(Photo Courtesy Allegheny Mountain Radio)
