Friday, August 31, 2012
Jerseyville Victorian Festival Cancelled
Well, it's official. Hurricane Isaac's rain, which was so badly needed here, has caused the Jerseyville Victorian Festival to be cancelled for all three days. The Chris Talley Trio plays at this event every year, and we so look forward to seeing everyone! It's almost like a family reunion, and it's always so much fun to tour the mansion and revisit all the exhibits and the flea market. We even look forward to the antique malls in downtown Jerseyville and eating together with the reinactors Saturday evening. So to all you Jerseyville friends and acquaintances, we will miss you this year and we look forward to seeing you next year!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Hee Haw Show & Jamboree!
Important Update for the Hee Haw Show! We have moved it to The Bull Pen so that we will have enough seating and parking available. The address is 101 N. Van Buren, which is the main road in New Athens. This location is only a couple of blocks from the previous location. When you turn at the stoplight from Hwy. 13 onto Van Buren, you will simply stay on Van Buren for about 5 blocks until you see The Bull Pen. You can turn on Kaskaskia and park in the back. Entrance through the back of the building where the HALL sign is. There will be signs posted.
The Hee Haw Show will be on Saturday, August 25, 2012. It is scheduled for 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., and is completely family-friendly entertainment. Don't miss seeing Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Patsy Montana and more!
There will be a break from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. which will allow everyone to stretch their legs and grab something to eat. You can eat right at The Bull Pen, or you can choose from several other nearby restaurants if you prefer.
From 6:30 - 10:00 p.m., we will be having top notch bands from as far away as Nashville, TN and Wisconsin, and also many local favorites! Bands include The Worthing10s (Sparta, IL), Dual Generation (Fayetteville, IL), The Red Haired Boys (Marine, IL), The Burie Family (Wisconsin), The Chris Talley Trio (New Athens), and The Farm Hands Quartet (Nashville, TN).
One price pays for it all! Click on the flyer below to enlarge it. If you still need more information, call The Bluegrass Shack at 618-475-3678.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Closed on Saturday, August 11, 2012
Just a note to let you know that The Bluegrass Shack will be closed on Saturday, August 11, 2012.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Lucas Receives a Stelling Banjo
When Earl and I opened The Bluegrass Shack six years ago in New Athens, one of the things we wanted to do was to make a difference in the community and a difference in peoples' lives. What we have found is that our customers want to make a difference, too! We have had a gifting program in place for deserving students since we opened here, and it's not just us that does the gifting.
It started with Emily. Emily was just 13 years old at the time, and she comes from a family of seven children. She had been participating in the beginning instructional jam sessions with the mandolin (and she was already incredible on the mandolin) when another student overheard her say she would love to learn the banjo. Well, this particular student had a number of banjos that weren't being played at the time and came to me to see if he could give one to Emily. We said, "Of course"! Several years later, when Emily had proven herself to be diligent and deserving, she was gifted a Stelling banjo by the same person. Emily is 17 years old now and plays with her family band, Charlie & the Girls, and also with The Chris Talley Trio. She is truly amazing.
Here is a video of Emily on her first banjo after only ONE YEAR of play:
We have had a number of deserving students come through the door since that time. Some receive free lessons, and others receive instruments. We have given away at least 7 guitars, 4 banjos and I don't know how many fiddles at this point.
Most recently, Lucas was given a Stelling banjo by one of our customers. Lucas comes from a family of 10 children. His family has their own band called The Worthing10s Family Bluegrass Band. This is actually Lucas' 2nd banjo that was given to him as well. (Both by different people.) Lucas is 14 years old right now and is also very diligent in his practice. He teaches himself almost entirely at this point. Here is a video of Lucas playing his Stelling banjo the day he received it:
What an honor to be able to gift deserving students with nice instruments that will last a lifetime. We could not do it without the help of others, and we certainly appreciate your generosity, as do the receiving students. Thank you!
It started with Emily. Emily was just 13 years old at the time, and she comes from a family of seven children. She had been participating in the beginning instructional jam sessions with the mandolin (and she was already incredible on the mandolin) when another student overheard her say she would love to learn the banjo. Well, this particular student had a number of banjos that weren't being played at the time and came to me to see if he could give one to Emily. We said, "Of course"! Several years later, when Emily had proven herself to be diligent and deserving, she was gifted a Stelling banjo by the same person. Emily is 17 years old now and plays with her family band, Charlie & the Girls, and also with The Chris Talley Trio. She is truly amazing.
Here is a video of Emily on her first banjo after only ONE YEAR of play:
We have had a number of deserving students come through the door since that time. Some receive free lessons, and others receive instruments. We have given away at least 7 guitars, 4 banjos and I don't know how many fiddles at this point.
Most recently, Lucas was given a Stelling banjo by one of our customers. Lucas comes from a family of 10 children. His family has their own band called The Worthing10s Family Bluegrass Band. This is actually Lucas' 2nd banjo that was given to him as well. (Both by different people.) Lucas is 14 years old right now and is also very diligent in his practice. He teaches himself almost entirely at this point. Here is a video of Lucas playing his Stelling banjo the day he received it:
What an honor to be able to gift deserving students with nice instruments that will last a lifetime. We could not do it without the help of others, and we certainly appreciate your generosity, as do the receiving students. Thank you!
The Burie Family's New CD
I received my copy of the Burie Family's new CD in the mail this week. What a nice surprise! This wonderful family band is just the children and a friend -- all 13 to 18 years of age. They were recently voted Wisconsin's Gospel Group of the Year, and it is easy to see why!
This is not your typical, hard-driving bluegrass gospel CD. With the exception of some well-done instrumentals, this is a thought-provoking, meditative CD. Many of the songs were written by the band members themselves, which speaks volumes about where they are at in their young lives. The girls' voices remind me somewhat of Alison Krauss, with clarity and diction that make it easy to understand every word.
You'll hear some fine picking on this CD as well. From the banjo to the fiddle to the guitar to the mandolin, every note is clear and precise. Banjo player, Neil Greenwald, has written the title cut to the CD, which is an instrumental called Rhine River Breakdown. Beautiful work! Bass player, Joe Burie, does a fine job on the bass, an instrument that is too often taken for granted but provides the solid foundation for everyone else to work from.
My favorite song on this CD is "Kind Words," written by Bethany Burie. In a world where freedom of speech, religion and tolerance are valued, this song rings out the reminder that what we say lasts a lifetime. This song sums up the whole CD as well. One entire panel of the 4-panel insert is acknowledgements and thank-yous.
To order a copy of this CD, visit their website ordering page at http://www.theburiefamily.com/pb/wp_20f7b6cd/wp_20f7b6cd.html.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Heat Doesn't Scare Away Crowd at Bellerive Park!
Last night was probably the hottest concert The Chris Talley Trio has ever played...and it wasn't just the music! When we arrived at 5:30 p.m., the temperature outside was 106 degrees. Thank goodness there was a nice breeze blowing from the river, up the banks, and through the pavillion!
This is a really neat venue to play for several reasons. First off, it is a beautiful setting up over the banks of the Mississippi River. You can watch barges and tugboats go up and down the river all day. There are also plenty of birds nearby, even though the park itself is fairly small. They have a great playground for kids, too! The most unusual part of playing at Bellerive Park is that the crowd ends up sitting on three sides of you. This makes setting up the sound system a challenge. It also makes you wonder which direction you should face when you are playing!
The river was the lowest I've ever seen it. The banks were exposed on the far side, and you could even see the hull of a sunken boat there. The barges were staying centered in the channel, but were still doing lots of travelling.
The concert started at 7:00 p.m., and even though it was a scorcher, the crowd was one of the largest we've had at this venue since we started playing it 6-7 years ago. We even had dancers! And the crowd stayed to the very end, even after we took a 15 minute break. What dedication! They hooted, hollered, clapped, sang, danced, and offered many song requests. It was really a wonderful feeling, especially when we were getting down to the end of the concert and we were simply worn out.
We want to thank all of our sponsors, the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation, Carolyn, Kelly and Leigh, and also all of YOU -- our fans! We love playing for you and hope to see you again soon!
This is a really neat venue to play for several reasons. First off, it is a beautiful setting up over the banks of the Mississippi River. You can watch barges and tugboats go up and down the river all day. There are also plenty of birds nearby, even though the park itself is fairly small. They have a great playground for kids, too! The most unusual part of playing at Bellerive Park is that the crowd ends up sitting on three sides of you. This makes setting up the sound system a challenge. It also makes you wonder which direction you should face when you are playing!
The river was the lowest I've ever seen it. The banks were exposed on the far side, and you could even see the hull of a sunken boat there. The barges were staying centered in the channel, but were still doing lots of travelling.
The concert started at 7:00 p.m., and even though it was a scorcher, the crowd was one of the largest we've had at this venue since we started playing it 6-7 years ago. We even had dancers! And the crowd stayed to the very end, even after we took a 15 minute break. What dedication! They hooted, hollered, clapped, sang, danced, and offered many song requests. It was really a wonderful feeling, especially when we were getting down to the end of the concert and we were simply worn out.
We want to thank all of our sponsors, the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation, Carolyn, Kelly and Leigh, and also all of YOU -- our fans! We love playing for you and hope to see you again soon!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
July 2012 Bluegrass Shack Fiddle Contest Results
We completed another very successful fiddle contest today! With a total of 32 contestants, we heard some fantastic fiddlin' today! If you weren't able to make it today, mark your calendars for Saturday, October 27, 2012 when we do it again. We had a standing room only crowd once the contest got underway. Here's a shot of the audience before we ran out of chairs!
The 12 & Under age group was our largest division. The competition was tough, and we had many first time contestants in this division as well. I believe we had our youngest winner ever in this division today. Seven-year old Audrey won 1st place with Dreamer's Waltz, Old Joe Clark and Cajun Fiddle. This was the first time she has won 1st place in a competition. She was closely followed by several others, though, so everyone will have to keep working hard! The youngest fiddler in today's competition was 6-year old Jenna. Her brother, Dustin, won the Most Entertaining in this age division. I was so proud of every one of these contestants!
Here are the contest results:
Junior III - 12 & Under
1st - Audrey Neel
2nd - Patrick Garner
3rd - Nolan Neumeyer
4th - Alex Rausch
5th - Lindsey Martin
Youngest - Jenna Ahlers
Most Entertaining - Dustin Ahlers
Junior II - 13 to 15 Years Old
1st - Rosemary Hall
2nd - Emma Neumeyer
3rd - Justin Heinen
4th - Caroline Stewart
Most Entertaining - Emma Neumeyer
Junior I - 16 to 18 Years Old
1st - Angela Winkeler
2nd - Aubrie Spinka
Most Entertaining - Aubrie Spinka
Open/Senior
1st - Chelsea Bergmann
1st - Zane Prosser (Senior)
2nd - Ann White
2nd - Fred Pringle (Senior)
3rd - Earl Armstrong
4th - Charlie Hall
5th - Dennis Huebner
Most Entertaining - Ann White
Oldest - Zane Prosser
Many thanks to our judges and scorekeeper, Iggie Tiemann, Marc Renard and Carla Steinkoetter. We couldn't have a contest with you!
Special thanks to Dual Generation for taking care of all the food and beverages. That is always a big help! Thanks to Earl for taking all the pictures, and to Dennis for his help at the door and with cleanup. Zachery was our light fixture guy, replacing a few burned out bulbs before we even got started. Liz and Carla helped with the raffles and registration. Many of you helped with cleanup -- I'm sure I don't even know everyone who helped us out today, but it is much appreciated. Also many thanks to you, the audience, for coming to cheer everyone on and support us! We hope to see you again soon!
The 12 & Under age group was our largest division. The competition was tough, and we had many first time contestants in this division as well. I believe we had our youngest winner ever in this division today. Seven-year old Audrey won 1st place with Dreamer's Waltz, Old Joe Clark and Cajun Fiddle. This was the first time she has won 1st place in a competition. She was closely followed by several others, though, so everyone will have to keep working hard! The youngest fiddler in today's competition was 6-year old Jenna. Her brother, Dustin, won the Most Entertaining in this age division. I was so proud of every one of these contestants!
We had two other youth divisions and also an open and a senior division. I was very proud to be on stage with my husband, Earl, who fiddled his way to 3rd place in the Open Division. He was quite surprised. We have blind panel judging, so none of the judges know who is performing. We also had two first time contest players in the open division: Brad & Kevin. They both did remarkably well! It is tough to get up there no matter what your age, but I think it is harder for adults than it is for children. Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!
Junior III - 12 & Under
1st - Audrey Neel
2nd - Patrick Garner
3rd - Nolan Neumeyer
4th - Alex Rausch
5th - Lindsey Martin
Youngest - Jenna Ahlers
Most Entertaining - Dustin Ahlers
Junior II - 13 to 15 Years Old
1st - Rosemary Hall
2nd - Emma Neumeyer
3rd - Justin Heinen
4th - Caroline Stewart
Most Entertaining - Emma Neumeyer
Junior I - 16 to 18 Years Old
1st - Angela Winkeler
2nd - Aubrie Spinka
Most Entertaining - Aubrie Spinka
Open/Senior
1st - Chelsea Bergmann
1st - Zane Prosser (Senior)
2nd - Ann White
2nd - Fred Pringle (Senior)
3rd - Earl Armstrong
4th - Charlie Hall
5th - Dennis Huebner
Most Entertaining - Ann White
Oldest - Zane Prosser
Many thanks to our judges and scorekeeper, Iggie Tiemann, Marc Renard and Carla Steinkoetter. We couldn't have a contest with you!
Special thanks to Dual Generation for taking care of all the food and beverages. That is always a big help! Thanks to Earl for taking all the pictures, and to Dennis for his help at the door and with cleanup. Zachery was our light fixture guy, replacing a few burned out bulbs before we even got started. Liz and Carla helped with the raffles and registration. Many of you helped with cleanup -- I'm sure I don't even know everyone who helped us out today, but it is much appreciated. Also many thanks to you, the audience, for coming to cheer everyone on and support us! We hope to see you again soon!
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