COUNTRY OAKS B-n-B

CALLING ME!  

MOUNTAIN VIEW, AR  

March 15-16, 2019  

 

Country Oaks B-n-B in the spring, Mountain View, AR

      AH! SPRING! (AH! CHOO!) Your sinuses have probably contacted you already! Mother Nature is putting on her finery and your nose knows it. On the more pleasant side of things, the season is lovely and we await the e-mail that PARLOR PICKIN' at COUNTRY OAKS B-n-B in Mountain View, AR, is set for Saturday, March 16, 2019. Perfect! I'm all in!

       For several years, the owners of Country Oaks, Jerry and Carole Weber, have provided a wonderful opportunity to see and hear fine musicians from the Mountain View area in what has become known as Parlor Pickin'. Guests spend two nights in luxurious accommodations with a hearty breakfast each morning. Those guests are free to roam around during the day and explore all that Mountain View has to offer, which is a lot of great scenery, shopping, jammin' on the town square, and food. On Saturday night, things get down to business, and the musicians and guests begin to arrive in the parlor of the lovely inn.

       The musicians for the Saturday night concert are as follows: Gary Rounds (guitar, vocals), Pam Setser (lap dulcimer, spoons, vocals), Brad Apple (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Tim Crouch (mandolin and two fiddles, one once owned by the late Randy Howard), and Irl Hees (upright bass, vocals). Those are top-notch performers, and we are always blessed to hear them in the parlor setting. The songs they performed are: Set 1: These Ozark Hills, North Carolina Moon (Jon Randall), Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane, Careless Love, Arkansas Traveler (Tim on fiddle), Give Yourself to Love (Kate Wolf, by Pam), Hard Country (Poco), Old Ebenezer Scrooge (mandolin tune by Brad), Petticoat Junction (Irl on bass), Faded Love (Bob Wills tune by Tim), Sweet Dreams (Patsy Cline, by Pam), Bridge Over Troubled Water, Dawson's Dream, Red-Haired Boy, Darcy Farrow (Irl on Bass). Pause for break with tasty refreshments.  Set 2: Every Highway (Gordon Lightfoot, by Gary), Stuck in Lodi (Credence Clearwater Revival), Eight More Miles to Louisville, Propane (Irl on bass), Watch the Fields Behind the Plow (Irl), Milk Cow Blues (Tim), After the Goldrush (Neil Young), Summertime, Crooked Ridge (Pam on dulcimer), Drink That Mash and Talk That Trash, Amazing Grace (Irl on bass), Back Up and Push (Tim on Fiddle), The Spanish Steps (Guy Clark), Help Me Make It Through the Night (Pam), Liberty (Brad and Tim mando duet), House Carpenter, Draggin' the Bow (Tim), Beulah Land (dedicated to Steve Lee), Watermelon (Pam, spoons), Red Mountain Wine, These Boots Are Made for Walkin', Magnolia Wind, Walkaway Joe (Pam), and Daybreak in Dixie. I counted them for you . . . They performed 39 songs for almost four hours! It was amazing!

 

For more information:

Mountain View, AR  http://www.yourplaceinthemountains.com or 870.269.8068

Country Oaks B-n-B  https://countryoaksbb.com or 870.269.2704

Stone County Quilt Trail: www.arkansasquilttrails.com See #1-06 "Music Warms the Heart" below

More about Quilt Squares, West Jefferson, NC: http://ilovebarnquilts.com or 336.385.0196

 

     Here are some photos from our favorite spots around town and at the Parlor Pickin'. Click on each picture to get a better view.

 

View of birdbath and lake in early spring at Country Oaks B-n-B

 

Wall décor in Grandma's Room, our favorite room at Country Oaks --

Hats, gloves, and small purses were the order of the day

 

Country Oaks, good times ahead

 

Mountain View Music Store (owners Scott and Cheryl (Shay) Pool) --

impromptu jammin' nearly all the time

 

Impromptu jam at the music store--gent in brown shirt is a fine singer

 

Music Store blackboard with announcements

 

What's not to love about the Rainbow Café?

 

#1-06 Quilt Square wooden sign "Music Warms the Heart" on building

near the Square in Mountain View

Quilt Square Owner Hannah Dyke - Painted by Glenda Osten

 

Gary Rounds on guitar and vocals

 

Brad Apple on guitar and vocals

 

Irl Hees on vocals, bass, and toothpick

 

Tim Crouch on fiddle, Irl Hees on bass

 

Brad Apple on guitar, Pam Setser on vocals, Gary Rounds on

guitar and vocals

 

Tim Crouch on the former Randy Howard fiddle

Irl Hees at back on bass

 

Irl Hees and friend on vocals

 

Pam Setser on lap dulcimer

Brad Apple at her right and Gary Rounds at her left

 

Tim Crouch on mandolin, Irl Hees on bass, Brad Apple on mandolin

 

Pam Setser on spoons --

Her hands move so fast that my camera cannot capture them 

 

Dear friends, Bonnie and Bill Dumas of Mountain View, AR,

formerly of Memphis, TN

 

Capturing one more memory as we leave Mountain View to return home --

What a fine time it was!

 

            

 

PROCLAMATION!  BLUEGRASS MUSIC

HONORED IN COLLIERVILLE, TN

Monday, March 25, 2019

(Updated to include a photo of the Proclamation) 

Town Square Gazebo in Springtime--We can't wait to get back out there!

     IT GIVES US GREAT JOY to listen to bluegrass music with families and friends all around me in a park like the Collierville Historic Town Square, or a church (particularly the Collierville United Methodist Church Common Cup Coffee Shop) , or even in an impromptu setting in the carport. On this particular evening the Collierville Town Board of Mayor and Aldermen presented me (but really ALL OF US) with a proclamation for bringing bluegrass music to the entire community and surrounding states and towns. We are more than happy to share the music we love with others. Two jam enthusiasts, Christine Donhardt and Clay Caver noticed that the Collierville Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Jam is nearing its 20th season, and they thought it called for a celebration. Thanks, y'all! What a celebration it was!

 

L to R: Christine Donhardt, Betty Westmoreland,

Mayor Stan Joyner, Clay Caver

At back: Alderman Fraser and Alderman Allen

     A cousin recently gave us a saying that we thought was T-shirt worthy:  Bluegrass Music Is Sown In The Soul . . . And Hand-Picked! Thanks, Bill! We like that notion. We have the T-shirt. Bluegrass is the people's music which has roots all over Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Canada, France, Germany, and wherever people gathered for hundreds of years to play music and sing. They still gather to play and sing. The descendants of those early musicians brought the music to America and added their own flavor. Voila! Bluegrass and other forms of traditional music!

     We shall share some photos of that wonderful evening at Collierville Town Hall, when Mayor Stan Joyner, with the backing of the Town Board of Aldermen, paused in their busy activities to say 'Thanks for 20 years of bluegrass music at our local churches and the Historic Town Square'. You're quite welcome, Mayor Joyner and Board members! Join us anytime! We are ready to take on the next 20 years!

 

     Collierville Town Board of Mayor and Aldermen:  Stan Joyner, Mayor; Maureen Fraser, Alderman; Tom Allen, Alderman; John Worley, Alderman; Billy Patton, Alderman; and John Stamps, Alderman

 

Further information about Collierville:  www.collierville.com

 

Further information about the Collierville Jam:  bwestmoreland9@hotmail.com 

 

 

L to R: Christine Donhardt, Betty Westmoreland

Mayor Stan Joyner reading Proclamation

 

Betty as usual offering comments about the jam

Waiting with Clay Caver for the Board meeting to start

 

 

Board Agenda for March 25, 2019

L to R: Christine Donhardt, Betty,

Mayor Stan Joyner, Clay Caver

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

A recent article referred to Betty as "the instigator of the organized chaos". Guilty as charged! She has the T-shirt to prove it. Thanks for the idea, Jan!

L to R: Patrick Cupples, Betty, Kevin Wright

Patrick and Kevin are 2/5 of the bluegrass band NO TIME FLATT

Betty is an admitted FLATTHEAD!





And the star of the event:  The Proclamation!

 

THE DALE ANN BRADLEY BAND 

THRILLS FANS AT  

CITY WINERY NASHVILLE, TN   

March 2, 2019  

 

Dale Ann Bradley Signboard at City Winery Nashville, TN

     When the Dale Ann Bradley Band is in the house, you want to be there! She's like your neighbor talking to you over the garden gate. Or maybe she's visiting with you on the front porch over a glass of sweet tea. While we had not heard Dale Ann perform 'live before, we had admired her and her work for a long time. So, here she is at the fabulous  Lafayette Street City Winery Nashville in the lounge. Perfect! Not an ounce of pretense anywhere. She steps up to the mic with her band all around her, and they lay it down. We mean 'big-time lay it down!' Her Kentucky roots run deep and it shows in her speech and her songs. She has plenty of albums and songs. The songs will get you right where you live. There are some songs that this writer can hardly get through without tears. Ex: "Good Enough"

 

Matt, Ethan, Dale Ann

Kim, Steve

Ethan and Dale Ann

     Before we get too far off into the weeds, we need to focus here and tell you who the band is:

Chance, Matt, Ethan, Dale Ann

Dale Ann Bradley (guitar, vocals), Chance Leadbetter (mandolin, guitar), Steve Wilson (banjo), Ethan Burkhardt (bass), Matt Leadbetter (Dobro[r], vocals), and Kim Fox (guitar, vocals). A quick explanation may be needed: Matt Leadbetter is Dobro(r) artist Phil Leadbetter's son. Phil's brother is Kent Leadbetter; Chance is Kent's son.

Chance, Matt, Ethan, Dale Ann

 

We like to tell our readers what we heard when we attended shows, and here is what we heard from the Dale Ann Bradley Band:  Hard Way Every Time (by Jim Croce), Never Seen the Likes of You (by Randall Hylton), Pretty Dark-Hearted Emma Brown (by Dale Ann Bradley), The Redbird River (by Carla Gover), Southern Memories (by Dale Ann Bradley), Because He Loved Me (by Morris Stancil), One Good Wiper Blade (by Warm Women of the North), Clinch Mountain Backstep (by Ralph Stanley), Goin' Back to Kentucky (by Dale Ann Bradley), The Stranger (by Dolly Parton), Ode to Billie Joe (by Bobbie Gentry), This Is My Year for Mexico (by Vince Matthews), and Run Rufus Run (by Dale Ann Bradley).

    

 It was a dandy show by Dale Ann Bradley, Chance Leadbetter, Steve Wilson, Ethan Burkhardt, Matt Leadbetter, and Kim Fox. We highly recommend the band. Dale Ann's newest album is "The Hard Way" from Pinecastle Recording Company. We hope the band will return to our area soon.

 

Note:  Catch the Dale Ann Bradley Band locally again on May 3, 2019. This time at the Station Inn in Nashville, 402 12th Ave., S., in what has become known as "The Gulch". 

 

Chance, the Loar, and Matt

For more information:

Dale Ann Bradley   www.DaleAnn.com

Pinecastle Recording Company   www.pinecastlemusic.com

Wilson Pickins Promotions (Melanie Wilson)   wilsonpickins@gmail.com 864.359.7999