2009 out among the stars bluegrass festival, held in benton pennsylvania each and every july 4th weekend, starting the thursday prior and concluding on the sunday, a great mid size, although growing, festival, great sound system, scenic area, friendly town
oatsfestival.com
a few of the potluck dinner that always kicks off oats on thursday night under the pavilion, the dinner crowd being entertained by the sounds of painted blue
jam/bluegrass band out of philadelphia, link below to their myspace
www.myspace.com/paintedbluegrass
pennsylvania based band, really improved in the 2 years since i saw them, a more polished sound now, link to the website below
www.remingtonryde.com
from west virginia, a crowd favorite again this year, not too be missed if anywhere near your location
www.thehillbillygypsies
a band as local to the oats festival as possible, most of the members live within 50 miles of benton, and some are on the oats board. i've enjoyed them each year, and it's another band i feel is getting better and better
www.stain…
another local pa band, based out of millersport, this one has been around a long time. link to band website below
www.lvbb.net
gospel duet from virginia, bill is also a master luthier of custom guitars and resophonic guitars, link to website
www.vintageacoustic.cc
jam/bluegrass band from wilkes-barre, scranton pa area, link to their site below
www.cabinetmusic.com
based out of new jersey, joined for a couple of numbers by the 2 sons of the fiddle player, link below to the band website
www.straight-drive.com
based out of nashville, tenn, real good smooth sound and great songwriters in this band. link below to website …
a hot band out of asheville, north carolina, sharp from a lot of touring and rehearsing, link to the website below …
local band from pa, link to website below
www.blueroots.info
this year for the first time, i took pictures of the vendors, trying to give them a little free publicity, maybe that will help some business tilt towards a sponsorship. if your business is at oats, you'll be guaranteed a mention …
the people, the grounds, the weather, just trying to put out a little of the feeling of being there
my first experience with this fine tradition, postponed from windgap, apparently due to some serious mud issues. mud would ruin this classy finery. there are some real sharp dressers here among the men, and the ladies, what can i …
david via, singer singwriter from virginia, and his band, including master of the resonator guitar, curtis burch
hot picking, straight up bluegrass, toe tapping foot stomping music, another not to be missed live band, out of salem virginia, link below to their site
www.thebluegrassbrothers.com
long time crowd favorite at oats, with good reason, nice old timey bluegrass sound, link below …
some more crowd shots from saturday, 7/4/09
i heard this on the radio last night while driving home from work, and it came to me that this is the perfect title for a gallery of parking lot picking, i tried to mostly concentrate on the hands, so lovingly cradling and playing…
young kids, learning to play bluegrass, many for the first time, i don't have a lot, the teachers didn't know me and mainly were concerned about safety, hopefully next year it'll be ok and i can get more of the lessons and rehears…
grammy nominated, winner of dove awards, what else can i say. this was smooth tight, great harmonies, and great picking, a real treat to be able to see them in the setting of oats …
and the volunteer serenade, with apologies to lana, next year i'll set up my tripod and do a real nice stage wide angle with the proper gear, and i'll bring a flash out and do some proper volunteer serenade photos
sunday morning gospel service under the tent, led by the reverend al lumpkin and his wife jeanne
local pa band, link to their myspace
www.myspace.com /smokehousebluegrass
band based in west chester, pa band site link below
www.masonporter.com