Spinney Brothers at Joe Val

Known for tight harmonies and high energy performances the duo of Allen Spinney and brother Rick Spinney won over the audience with the first tune of their set at the 27th Annual Joe Val Bluegrass Festival held at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel in Framingham, Mass. With their upbeat style and presentation the brothers performed traditional bluegrass as well as some original tunes that spoke about their Canadian heritage. Allen included some early country tunes as he likes to do during his portion of the set. Allen provides the rhythmn guitar and Rick handles the banjo quite well. They share the lead vocals and harmony. The Spinneys are backed by the fine playing of Gary Dalrymple on Banjo and Darryl Hebb on Bass. As a group they've won numerous awards for their instrumental skills by the Eastern Canada Bluegrass Music Association and are members of the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame. In the past they've opened shows for bluegrass greats Ricky Scaggs and Mac Wiseman. Friday nights audience loved them and screamed for more at the end of their set. The Spinneys will be back in the area in March at the Country Corner Coffeehouse in South Hadley, Mass.

Allen Spinney

Rick Spinney

Gary Dalrymple

Darryl Hebb

2012 Winter Concerts Series

The Killingly, CT. Grange began its 2012 Winter Concert Series on Saturday January 28 featuring the "Blackstone Valley BlueGrass Band" along with host band "Nick Anderson and Shady Creek." We arrived early and found a nearly packed house already enjoying the fresh sandwiches and soups made by the Grange crew. We had plenty of time to renew old friendships and find out what's new with the bands. Shady Creek has undergone some changes over the winter adding Dave Aston on bass and Dan Menzone on banjo as guests at least for this show and the returning Monty McLanahan on mandolin, harmony and lead vocals. Nick, of course, does much of the lead singing and plays rhythm guitar. Nick has a vast list of traditional bluegrass songs in his repertoire and sings them with high energy and just the right emotion, always enjoyable. The now packed house responded with loud applause and hoots and hollers after every number. This had to be the most energized and responsive audience I've ever witnessed at the Grange in the many years I've attended. The BVBGB got the same treatment, and you could see the sheer enjoyment of playing for this crowd on the faces of this fabulous band. BVBGB has not changed at all in the many years we've been following them. There's no particular leader as everyone takes a turn at lead singing and relating the history of the music they perform and each member displayed quick wit while taking friendly jabs at each other that got some good laughs from the audience. Both bands are packed with virtuoso pickers and fine singers. BVBGB has a new CD out titled "Soulshine" with many original compositions many of them were heard for the first time here at the Grange. Dan Menzone's newest release is called "Frostbite" also with many original Menzone tunes. Dan surrounded himself with some of the bluegrass worlds top instrumentalists on this release: Wyatt Rice, Adam Steffey, Rob Ickes, Rickie Simpkins, Don Rigsby, and Richard Bennett on vocals. Dan also performs with the Connecticut based band "TrueGrass."

The Blackstone Valley BlueGrass Band

Bob Dick

Dave Dick

Dan Nowlan

Ken Taylor

Blackstone Valley Bluegrass

Nick Anderson and Shady Creek

Nick Anderson

Monty McLanahan

Dan Menzone

Dave Aston

Bluegrass Sweethearts

The Darin and Brooke Aldridge Band

Darin and Brooke Aldridge

Finally got to see and hear the Darin and Brooke Aldridge Band. They were on the Folk Stage at Strawberry Park's Bluegrass Festival on Saturday and they were scheduled for the Bluegrass stage the next day. They were playing to a moderate crowd as most people were at the bluegrass stage just down the road. Their set sounded more bluegrass than folk and was really good listening. They are called the "Sweethearts of Bluegrass," because the love they have for each other is quite obvious and the music they make is full of love and hope for the world. Darin has played with the Country Gentlemen and other first rate bands. He's an accomplished songwriter too. Brooke possesses a powerfull voice and the two harmonize nicely. The overall band sound is really good. They'll be at the Jenny Brook FestivalJune 23 to 26 at the Tunbridge, VT Fairgrounds.

Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival Saturday

Saturday's weather was perfect in Preston CT as the music began and it stayed that way the whole day, what a blessing. The Claire Lynch Band kicked off the days festivities with a fine performance that set the tone for the day and all the following groups equaled the high standard set by CLB. The audience was sparse for the early sets but steadily increased to a full house by late afternoon. I enjoyed all the music of the day whether it was bluegrass, swing, country, blues or jazz. It was done well, sounded great, and the musicians were superb.

Claire Lynch

Jason Thomas

Mark Schatz

Matt Wingate

The Greencards

Dry Branch Fire Squad

Ron Thomason

Brian Aldridge

Dan Russell

The Grascals

Jamie Johnson

Terry Eldredge

Kristin Scott Benson

Danny Roberts

Jeremy Abshire

Terry Smith

The Gibson Brothers

Leigh Gibson

Eric Gibson

Leigh and Mike Barber

Clayton Campbell

Joe Walsh

Jim Beaver

The MC's for the day did thier usual fine job of introducing and highlighting the accomplishments of the days bands, the work was shared by three veterans of the bluegrass scene, Glenn Huffer who's been at the podium at Strawberry Park for decades, Kim Cyr who heads up the CT Bluegrass Music website and promotes concerts at the Salem, Ct. Barn and Jim Beaver, the knowledgeable DJ at WHUS,91.7, in Storrs, Ct.

Glenn Huffer

Kim Cyr

Spinney Brothers

The Spinney Brothers, an award winning band out of Canada, took the stage in Canterbury, CT. and quickly broke into song with high energy, broad smiles and exciting rhythm that instantly grabbed the large audience. They left no doubt this was going to be a great show. The band was impeccably dressed in bright blue shirts and ties with dark grey vests that was reminiscent of the early bluegrass bands that dressed to impress, and impress they did. The vocals by Allan and Rick were rich in tone and phrasing and strongly communicated emotion and the harmony blend was terrific, as good as I've ever heard. The instrumental solos were well done, highlighting the skills of each member and keeping in mind the melody of the piece they were doing. This group showed their confidence with the ease and lightness of their humor and certainly commanded the stage. I believe everyone in the hall went home a fan of this highly entertaining group of professionals who are sure to be a hit wherever they appear. The band members are: Allan Spinney on lead and harmony vocals and lead guitar, Rick Spinney on banjo and lead and harmony vocals, Gary Dalrymple on mandolin and harmony vocals, and Darryl Hebb on bass.

Allan Spinney

Rick Spinney

Gary Dalrymple

Gary and Allan

Darryl kept a steady back-beat for the guys and they spoke of how that is so important for their sound. The bass player is often overlooked but without that steady beat things can get sloppy.

Darryl Hebb

Amy Orlomoski, a popular DJ at WHUS's Bluegrass Cafe was the organizer of this event, she also served as MC. The event raised funds for the benefit of the Canterbury Historical Society.

Amy Orlomoski

Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band

On Saturday, the very popular Vanilla Bean Cafe in Pomfret CT. was host to a fundraiser for the CT. Audubon Society. The CAS has nearly completed its new Grasslands Education Center located in the middle of its 700 acre Nature Preserve on Day Road in Pomfret and as part of its effort to raise money for the project presented an evening of Bluegrass with the Blackstone Valley Bluegrass Band, a very talented group from Massachusetts lead by brothers Dave and Bob Dick with Ken Taylor on bass and Dan Nolan on mandolin. The band played bluegrass with a touch of country and folk and delivered some amazing three and four part harmony that was well received. The guitar, banjo, and mandolin breaks were superb, fast, yet not too far from the melody. The banter between the band members and the audience was funny and natural. For their encore they played and sang "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" while moving among the audience which proved to be a big hit. Folks I talked to thought it was a wonderful way to close out the evening.
The Vanilla Bean Cafe is known for great food and atmosphere and is on the New England Folk Music Circuit presenting some of the best in Folk Music and on occasion a Bluegrass group.

Dave Dick

Ken Taylor and Dan Nolan

Bob Dick, Dan Nolan and Dave Dick

Bob Dick

Dan and Ken