Pickin’ in the Park 2023 FREE Bluegrass Music Festival

Saturday,  May 20, 2023 – 10AM – 6PM

Hagan-Stone Park

5920 Hagan-Stone Park Road

Pleasant Garden NC 27313

High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association presents the 24th Annual Pickin’ in the Park Bluegrass Music Festival. There is no charge to attend and the public is invited to bring a chair or picnic blanket and come share with us a day of music. Please visit the Picking in the Park page for more details.

Featuring headliner:

Shelton & Williams

Shelton & Williams: The band’s material is a variety of styles including original, classic country, gospel, blues, traditional and progressive Bluegrass and Americana. All members are songwriters and seasoned vocalists. Their first project as Shelton & Williams, “So Much Time, So Much Love” was released in March 2022.

Members are:

Jeanette Williams (Danville VA) – Jeanette has become one of the most successful and celebrated women in Bluegrass music. Her list of awards, accolades, and career highlights continues to grow, as does her adoring fan base from coast to coast, and internationally, with her powerful songs, angelic voice, and warm, sincere personality. Touring, recording and industry awards have become a mainstay for Jeanette. She also plays bass with the band. With more than seventeen SPBGMA nominations thru 2021, and three wins for Female Vocalist of the Year (2009, 2012 and 2013), two IBMA awards (2006 and 2009 Recorded Event of the Year, with the Daughters Of Bluegrass) two songwriting awards (2007 Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest, 2008 IAMA Songwriting Contest) and over thirty-two years of performance experience in Bluegrass and Bluegrass Gospel, Jeanette is expanding her repertoire to include her early influences of Classic Country, Blues, Roots, and Rock n’ Roll.

Jay Shelton (Danville VA) – Jay was on the Bluegrass scene in the 70’s & 80’s as a lead singer and lead guitarist. He changed direction and became the front man for a rock band for many years. Afterwards he became a singer songwriter performing solo concerts. In 2019 he returned to the Bluegrass scene. An accomplished lead guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, he recorded his first project “Home” (including Jeanette & Johnny Williams) this past year.

Johnny Williams (Danville VA), plays guitar, shares vocals, and writes most of the band’s original material. An award winning singer and songwriter, he has been named Virginia State Champion Male Vocalist, PICABO Male Vocalist (twice), and PICABO Songwriter of the Year. He was the Bluegrass division winner of the prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at Merlefest in 1998 & 1999. He has also been a finalist for the SPBGMA Male Vocalist and Songwriter the past few years in Nashville TN.

Recently Johnny and his wife Jeanette were awarded “Lifetime Achievement Awards” by the city of Danville VA for their contributions to Bluegrass music for the past thirty years both nationally and internationally.

High Lonesome Strings Monthly Meeting

Saturday, April 22, 2023 @ 3 PM

Gate City Baptist Church

5250 Hilltop Road

Jamestown, NC

Featuring:

Southbound 77

The Southbound 77 Bluegrass band are five bluegrass pickin’ youth who bring you the highest level of energy and drive! They are rooted in the North Carolina Piedmont and promise to fill hearts all over the world with pure bluegrass joy. You might hear them perform anything from four part gospel harmony to a pre-civil war fiddle tune, to a Flatt & Scruggs bluegrass classic – – with little bit of Johnny, Waylon, and Dolly along the way!

Band members are:
Ettore Buzzini-15 years–Banjo, Vocals
Lyla Cherry-13 years–Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Lake Carver-13 years -Fiddle, Vocals
Ida Rose Buzzini-12 years–Mandolin, Vocals
Tae Childress-12 years–Guitar, Vocals

Look out for Rolo ‘Big T’ Lassiter who will be playing Bass with the band on the Youth Stage at Merlefest along with an appearance at a local school in Wilkesboro.

Please see the band at their Facebook page

High Lonesome Strings Monthly Meeting

Sunday, March 26, 2023 @ 2:30 PM

Stonefield Cellars Winery

8220 NC Highway 68

Stokesdale, NC

Featuring:

Paula Dellenback and Fox River

Paula Dellenback & Fox River is a group born from the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern Virginia. This band formed from a musically rich area, near the state’s heritage music trail “The Crooked Road”. With a style of their own, they bring a mixture of original material, traditional and progressive bluegrass, and Americana music. This group has appeared in numerous festivals and venues including Song of the Mountains, IBMA World of Bluegrass, Reeves Theater, Heartwood, Blackmon Amphitheater, and more.

John Cox is from Greensboro NC and now lives in Randleman with his wife Stephanie. John and Stephanie were married just last year. John has a beautiful talent on the mandolin and guitar. He considers himself as “playing for fun”, but his skill is one of professional quality. John has played in many bands, participated in festivals, and along with his musicianship, offers lead and harmony vocals.

Paula Dellenback is a lead vocalist and an award winning songwriter. Along with others this past year, Paula was recognized from her county at the IBMA’s “Women of Bluegrass” showcase. Paula has two projects available, “The Crooked Road” and “Never Known” and both are played on radio stations around the world. She and band members Charlie Milliron and Steve Farmer also have a band named The Dell Iron Project where they play a mix of acoustic rock, country, bluegrass covers and their own original songs.

Steve Farmer is a lifelong resident of Floyd County Virginia and currently lives there with his wife of thirty seven years, Barbara Farmer. He grew up learning music from his mother who played guitar and his sister who played piano. Steve sings harmony and plays guitar and the doghouse bass. He likes all kinds of music and enjoys going to festivals and jamming with other musicians. He has played at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival, Floyd Store, Autumn Leaves Festival, Primland Resort, Wineries and more. Steve has been in several bands and is a joy to be around.

Charlie Milliron was born and raised in the “moonshine capital of the world”, Franklin County, Virginia. He has been in numerous bands, has beautiful lead skill on guitar, and is an award winning dobro player. He sings lead and harmony and is a great songwriter with numerous songs in the making at all times. He has performed with bands at the Harvester Performance Center, the Early Inn, the Grand Oak Pavilion, Primland Resort, and festivals to name a few. Charlie enjoys helping young folks learn how to play music. Many of them are skillful rising musicians because of his efforts.

Glenn Paschal was raised in Reidsville NC by Rogers and Shelby Paschall who are a very well known musician and singer in the area. He is married to Mylinda and they live in Surf City NC. They recently bought a home in the Virginia mountains. Glenn is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist on the banjo, guitar and doghouse bass. He has played in many configurations of bands throughout the years and is a fill-in player when needed easily fitting in where needed. He enjoys many styles of music, including bluegrass, traditional old-time, and rock-n-roll.

High Lonesome Strings Monthly Meeting

Sunday, February 26, 2023 – 2:30 PM

Stonefield Cellars Winery
8220 NC Highway 68 N
Stokesdale, NC

Featuring:

Cornbread Revival

Cornbread Revival was born out of a group of bluegrass musicians picking in Grandma’s garage about 21 years ago. The name is to pay homage to Flatt & Scruggs and their connection to The Martha White Flour radio and TV shows from years past. Through the years there has been about eight different members of the group. The band has played many private functions with appearances at DeweyFest and Lil Johns bluegrass festivals. As the saying goes, Bluegrass Forever!

Mike Aldridge is well known in the bluegrass world. He started his career at the early age of 12 with “The Country Boys” near Chapel Hill. He has over 50 years of performances with AL Wood, Al Batten, Bass Mtn. Boys ,Tommy Edwards and various other bands. His ability on mandolin , stage presence and blending with lead, harmony or tenor gives any group a great sound.

Mike McCollum first encountered bluegrass in 1972 at the Camp Springs Festival in Caswell county. From that point on bluegrass was the only music in his world. Now after many appearances ,jam sessions and festivals the desire to continue learning, playing guitar, and singing has never wavered .

Tim Mendenhall grew up learning to play guitar at age 11 with his twin brother Tom in Siler City, NC taking lessons from Eugene Craven. After a couple years, he started taking banjo lessons from Jerry Stuart, who also taught his brother mandolin at the same time. Tim then moved to taking lessons from Gary Williamson to learn Scruggs style playing. As they progressed, they started their first band called “The Balsam Gap Boys” playing churches, fiddler’s conventions, retirement homes, early Bass Mountain and Camp Springs Bluegrass festivals and local outings. They teamed up with Jerry’s son, Doug Stuart which eventually led to them getting an audition for Bill Monroe at “The Big O Jamboree” in Graham, NC, where they were invited by Bill to perform at The Grand Ole Opry. In November of 1979, they performed during a matinee bluegrass show at the Opry with Bill Monroe, Jim & Jesse, Bluegrass Cardinals, and others.  Over the years while attending college, Tim and his brother Tom formed the band Hickory Wind with Vernon Allred, Mike Cochran, and Paul Kiteck while attending college. They were fortunate to win the Pizza Hut Band Competition at the Denton Bluegrass Festival. The prize for winning was to perform the next year as paid performers at the Denton Bluegrass Festival in ’82. (the same year The Bluegrass Album band made its debut with Tony Rice). Over the years Tim has played banjo with the original configuration of Nu-Blu (out of Siler City) and a year with Fisher & Co along with buddy Wayne Joyce. Over the last 20 years, Tim has played on and off with “Sassafrass” Bluegrass band out of Wilkesboro, NC with Wes Tuttle and Randy Gamble and locally with “Cornbread Revival” in the last 10-12 years with Mike McCollum and the late Dave Osborne (and now with Mike Aldridge on mandolin). Tim enjoys listening to bluegrass as much as he does performing, and is re-visiting collecting old bluegrass vinyl LP’s like he did as a teenager. Tim’s early heroes on banjo were Earl Scruggs, JD Crowe, and Terry Baucom along with many newer heroes in the banjo world.

Jeff Rumsey’s Grandmother started him out on the piano at a young age. He played music in school bands through his senior year in high school. After graduating, he attended Bluegrass festivals, and like many Bluegrass fans, he started playing banjo and guitar. In 2000, he was at a local jam that had plenty of banjo and guitar talent but no bass player, so he played the house bass that night and has been playing upright bass ever since. He found out quickly that good upright bass players are hard to come by and in high demand. He has played at most North Carolina Bluegrass festivals including Merlefest and the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh. Currently he is playing with two local bluegrass bands doing around 45 shows a year and filling in with others whenever the opportunity arises.

 

High Lonesome Strings Christmas Party

Saturday, December 3, 2022 – 6 PM

Mt Hope United Church of Christ
2400 Mt Hope Church Road
Whitsett, NC

Featuring:

The Mark Templeton Band is a “High Energy” Bluegrass & Bluegrass Gospel group that are known for their harmony, musicianship and knowing how to entertain an audience.

Mark Templeton put this group together in 1990. Even though the members have changed some through the years Mark always makes sure that each member is a seasoned musician and singer in bluegrass and Gospel music.

MTB performs 40-50 dates a year in NC, VA, SC, GA, PA, MD, TN, OH, KY, DE. Some of the places we have performed Graves Mountain, Amelia BG, Preddyfest, SPBGMA, IBMA, Mr. B’s BG, Myrtle Beach BG, Christmas In The Smokies, Poppy Mountain, Arcadia BG, Stoney Creek BG, Melfest BG, Mineral BG, Grottoes BG, Bass Mountain BG and many, many more! Plus 100’s of Churches and Concert Halls…

Recently appeared on PBS SONG OF THE MOUNTAINS….

MTB has performed with Seldom Scene, Rhonda Vincent, Daily & Vincent, Lonesome River Band, Country Gentlemen, Blue Highway, Balsam Range, Little Roy & Lizzy, Ralph Stanley, Doyle Lawson, Paul Williams, Bobby Osborne, Third Time Out and the list goes on and on….

MTB has won or been nominated for many awards including:

• 2014 ACMA Entertainers Of The Year
• 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 SPBGMA Bluegrass Gospel Group Of The Year (Nominees)
• 2014 SPBGMA Mark Templeton Banjo Player Of The Year (Nominee)

Current Band Members:

• Mark Templeton – banjo, guitar, mandolin, vocals
• Karen Webb – mandolin, vocals
• Tony Hensley – Dobro, vocals
• Jim Eanes – guitar, vocals