CD Release Party - yeah!

The CD Release Party for The Chris Talley Trio and The Pickin' Chicks was a wonderful success!  We had so much fun!  Nikki and Mallory decorated the stage area with CDs, which were hung from the ceiling and attached to the edge of the stage.  Several tables were set up at one side of the stage against the wall where the CDs were available for sale, along with business cards, stickers, t-shirts and several other items.

The evening started with great food downstairs and great bands performing upstairs.  Dual Generation hit the stage at 5:00 p.m. sharp.  Chelsea heads up this group, and for those of you who don't know, Chelsea has been a teacher at The Bluegrass Shack since we opened here in New Athens five years ago.  They did a great job and were a big hit with the crowd, too!  I especially loved "Walk That Lonesome Valley."  The rest of the band includes Dennis, a volunteer here at The Bluegrass Shack; and Fred and Kat, both students of Chelsea.

Charlie & the Girls performed on stage next.  Their harmonies are outstanding, and they have that wonderful blend that only family harmony has.  They are currently recording their first CD, so maybe you'll be attending their CD release party next!  Charlie and Emily both teach here at The Bluegrass Shack.

Next up was The Worthing10's.  What a joy it is to see this family perform!  They played four tunes, including "Georgia Piney Woods," and their choreography working the single mic was fantastic.   Lucas and Katarina sounded especially good together on their vocals.  Katarina teaches piano lessons at The Bluegrass Shack.

By this time, there were as many people upstairs listening as there were downstairs eating!  The Chris Talley Trio was taking to the stage, and Earl was manning the camera.  This was the Trio's first performance since Zane's 2nd triple bypass surgery just six weeks or so ago!  We performed every song on our new CD, entitled "Cold Frosty Morn."  It was so good to be on stage with Zane again!  We also performed the four songs that we are planning on playing in the Single Mic Competition at Silver Dollar City this month.  You can keep track of the Trio's performance schedule by visiting their website at http://www.chris-talley.com/.

Rounding out the performances that evening was The Pickin' Chicks.  They started their part of the show thanking many people who made this evening possible for them.  They also gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  Since this was their first CD release, I planned several fun things for their time on stage.  I think the part I enjoyed the most was asking questions about the individual band members.  This is how it worked.  I asked each of the girls to make 10 questions (and answers) about themselves that others might find interesting and might also be able to guess.  I took these lists on stage, and then asked if anyone in the audience thought they might be able to answer the questions.  First up were Paige's questions.  I ended up picking BOTH of her music teachers!  It was Chelsea (her fiddle & guitar teacher) up against Marilyn (her piano and vocal teacher).  Each contestant had a triangle and dinger.  I would ask a question, and the first person to ding was allowed to answer the question.  If the question was answered correctly, then a point was awarded.  If incorrect, then the other person got to try to answer the question.  It was close, but Chelsea won this one.

Next up was Mallory's questions.  It was Mallory's boyfriend pitted against her best friend.  As Mallory's boyfriend was working his way to the stage, Mallory's dad yelled, "You'd better not know too much!"  The funniest thing to happen was when I asked the question "What is Mallory's boyfriend's name?" and the best friend was able to beat him to the answer!

Millie's questions were answered by both of her grandpas.    I never knew that John Deere green was Millie's favorite color, but several farmers from the crowd were quite pleased to hear this!  In the end, the paternal grandpa pulled ahead to win a small, decorative fiddle in its own little case.

Nikki's questions were answered by a friend and a neighbor.  I think Nikki's questions were probably the toughest, and neither girl knew the answer to a good number of her questions.  By this time, the Chicks themselves were dying to answer the questions, and were giving hints that bordered on direct answers!  The most interesting bit of information about Nikki was that her banjo used to belong to Steve Martin.

The Pickin' Chicks also acknowledged Don Carroll and Rodney Schilling.  Don made the Pickin' Chicks logo, and Rodney had a sign made for the Pickin' Chicks with their logo on it.  Rodney and his wife, Tammy, presented the girls with their new sign at the beginning of their performance.  The logo appears on the inside of the new CD, on t-shirts, their business card and everything else that is Pickin' Chicks oriented!

The Pickin' Chicks played every song on their new CD in addition to the songs they plan on playing in the Silver Dollar City Youth in Bluegrass Competition.  The audience loved their performance and they received a standing ovation.  Make sure you check out their website at http://www.pickinchicks.com/ or their Facebook page for their upcoming performances.

After the last song by The Pickin' Chicks, Zane, Chris and Kabbie jumped back up on stage to play for the dancers.  We had 18 couples for The Virginia Reel, and did they ever dance!  Next up, we had a Hat Dance.  I thought this dance was the most fun to watch!  Each guy or girl that had the hat got to decide who to dance with.  It was up to the two that were to be picked from to make themselves desireable to the person with the hat.  You should have seen the flirting!  It was hysterical!  If anyone has pictures of this, please send them to me so I can post them.  Lastly, we had two squares for Nine Pin.  Lucas gladly called the dances for me while I played the fiddle.

I can't remember the last time I had such a fun time!  It made me especially happy to see people from the neighborhood, both old and young, having fun together.  Please take a look at The Bluegrass Shack Facebook page for pictures from the party.    Thank you to all who attended and also those who helped us out!  YOU are a blessing to us!