Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion festival

[Doctor Jeff]

My family is from the Bristol area, so when the opportunity came to come to Bristol for the BRARR festival, and hook up with Dad and bros, I couldn’t resist. Glad I decided to do it, though it broke my vow of no more traveling for the rest of the year. (Busy summer.)

Here are some observations, then some pics. Love, love, love the area. Beautiful. And Bristol is a cool little town. Much nicer than just a few years ago, with quite a few decent restaurants and bars, as well as the Birthplace of Country Music Museum (a cousin is a manager there). Every bar had a live band. A new Hard Rock Casino and concert stage is being built and will be a big draw. And of course the racetrack.

But the music was incredible. I probably saw 10 great acts over 3 days. The weather was iffy—rain delays Saturday and Sunday, but no drenching rains except for during the drive from Nashville. But it was a pleasant 70-75 degrees each day. The standouts for me were Marty Stuart, Nickel Creek and Sierra Hull.

I have never seen Marty, though he plays at a club within walking distance of my house frequently. I am sorry I’ve waited so long. He is the real deal—played with Lester Flatt at age 12, then in Johnny Cash’s band, Johnny’s son-in-law, and the closest thing to country royalty still playing. He is “only” 64, so quite a ways to go. He combines the best of real old rock-n-roll—rockabilly, surf, honky-tonk, Bob Wills, etc. And he can play. He could be THE lead guitarist for any band in Nashville, and is also a bang-up mandolin player. He was playing Clarence White’s old B-bender Tele crafted by fellow Byrd-mate Gene Parsons. And of course he was complemented by Kenny Vaughn, the hottest guitar-picker in Nashville. Other band members were Earl Scrugg’s grandson Chris on bass and Harry Stinson on drums.

They all got to sing several songs, and demonstrated why they are a crowd favorite everywhere they play. Superlative musicianship and showmanship. You haven’t seen real country til you’ve see Marty Stuart and his band.



Sierra Hull was a standout and a real surprise to me. Of course her playing and singing are great, but what a band. Shaun Richardson on guitar was a thrill—very reminiscent of Tony Rice.



Nickel Creek was excellent as always. Only complaint, and this is minor, is they talked too much. Their funny stories weren’t as entertaining as the music, which was wonderful. Never skip a chance to see Nickel Creek or Punch Brothers if they’re in your area.



The other acts we saw were 49 Winchester (local boys), Maverick (excellent Tex-Mex music via Miami), Alison Russell, Margo Price, and Bruce Hornsby. Unfortunately we couldn’t see Larkin Poe due to a conflict with Nickel Creek.

We capped off the weekend with a lake excursion on a cousin’s (huge) houseboat on Lake Watauga. I lived in the TN/VA area for decades and never knew about this beautiful lake in the Cherokee National Forest.

All in all a great weekend. If the lineup is anywhere near as good next year, expect me to be there.

[Christian Miller]

I saw the punch brothers three years ago. Most ridiculous display of musicianship I’ve ever seen

[alltunes]

I saw the punch brothers three years ago. Most ridiculous display of musicianship I’ve ever seen

I saw Marty Stuart and Co. last year and had the same response. The Fabulous Superlatives play it all! Hardcore country, blues grass, surf, jam band you name it. But they are also amazing showmen. His guitar player Kenny Vaughn deserves a shout out too.

[Doctor Jeff]

I saw Marty Stuart and Co. last year and had the same response. The Fabulous Superlatives play it all! Hardcore country, blues grass, surf, jam band you name it. But they are also amazing showmen. His guitar player Kenny Vaughn deserves a shout out too.

Most people I like to hear play without the theatrics, but every so often some performer or band comes along that shows how entertaining they can be when they ham it up, like Marty Stuart or Old Crow Medicine Show (or James Brown or Prince). It does require having some chops first, of course.

A couple of interesting observations: Marty was dressed in black fringed leather, with his customary scarf. (The rest of the band was in Nudie suits.) If he cut his hair and dyed it black, he'd look 20 years younger, but his mane is his secret weapon I imagine. The ladies do love him.

Kenny Vaughn played primarily a white sparkle Tele with a B-bender, but he did switch to a Gretsch or Danilectro 12-string for some songs (leading to a more than superficial resemblance to the Byrds, with Clarence's B-bender being played by Marty), as well as acoustic. He sang a rockabilly song and wasn't a bad singer--reminiscent of Junior Brown. Of course his licks were "superlative"--I am not sure there are many who can match him in Nashville, which is why he has been one of the most in-demand session guitarists there.

Harry Stinson got a portable snare and sang Pretty Boy Floyd. He held the opening note for what seemed like 2 minutes. As he finished and the crowd applauded, Marty said, "Hey Harry, that lady in the middle there didn't hear you. She wants you to sing it again." And he complied. He has a very good high tenor voice. And bassist Chris Scruggs sang a song and played lead (on bass) on "Wipeout", with a bass solo that was quite impressive.

I am already planning to see them in Council Bluffs in January. Don't pass up a chance to see them live.

[Doctor Jeff]

From the Bristol show (not my video)--check out the twangin':

[Doctor Jeff]

And here's a slightly older performance of Wipeout showing their versatility: