9th Annual Ocean Lakes Bluegrass Weekend – August 24 & 25, 2007!

Featuring Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Lost & Found, Nothin’ Fancy, The Bluegrass Strangers, The Grascals, Carolina Road and The Grass Cats!

2008 features Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and more!

Tickets and Reservations…
Wristbands include two outstanding days of bluegrass bands! The concert will began on Friday at 4 PM until 10 PM, and again on Saturday from 2 PM until 9 PM (please note the time changed this year to allow more time in the evening to “jam” before quiet hours).  It is held in the air-conditioned Recreation Building, and will feature several premier bands (see below).  Wristbands are $30 for both days in addition to your site fee ($10 for children 6-12, under 6 are free).  Many guests made reservations for Thursday, August 23rd (to participate in the fun) and departed on Sunday, August 26th, 2007.

Call Ocean Lakes, for campsite reservations dial toll free, 1-877-510-1413, for rental reservations dial 1-800-845-2229.  This show is exclusively for Ocean Lakes’ guests (campers, renters and Annual Lease holders) – there are no wristbands for the general public. Seating is limited.  When you call to make your reservation, let us know you are coming to hear bluegrass and we’ll take care of the rest!

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2007 Schedule

Friday, August 24, 2007 (Concert is 4 PM – 10 PM)

9:00 AM Mini-Golf Tournament 1:00 PM Golf Car Poker Run 4:00 PM-4:45 PM Lost & Found 4:45 PM-5:30 PM Grascals 5:30 PM-6:15 PM The Bluegrass Strangers 6:15 PM-7:00 PM Nothin’ Fancy 7:00 PM –   7:45 PM Lost & Found 7:45 PM –   8:30 PM Grascals 8:30 PM –   9:15 PM   The Bluegrass Strangers 9:15 PM – 10:00 PM Nothin’ Fancy (Back to the top of the page.)

Saturday, August 25th, 2007 – (Concert is 2 PM – 9 PM) Note: concert moved forward 1 hour for jamin’.

12:00 PM  Golf Car Poker Run 2:00 PM –   2:45 PM Carolina Road 2:45 PM –   3:30 PM The Bluegrass Strangers 3:30 PM –   4:15 PM The Grass Cats 4:15 PM –   5:00 PM    Rhonda Vincent & The Rage 5:00 PM –   6:00 PM    Dinner Break 6:00 PM –   6:45 PM  Carolina Road 6:45 PM – 7:30 PM The Bluegrass Strangers 7:30 PM – 8:15 PM The Grass Cats 8:15 PM – 9:00 PM Rhonda Vincent & The Rage    (Back to the top of the page.)

The Bands

Compiled bios from official band websites; band web links provided with bios below.

Rhonda Vincent & The Rage

Rhonda Vincent was raised on bluegrass, first taking the stage with her family’s band the Sally Mountain Show when she was barely five years old. She started learning mandolin at age eight, which was also when she released her first single – an exhilarating, driving arrangement of “Mule Skinner Blues” that Vincent still performs. Learning the nuances of harmony, arrangement, and stage presence by playing with the Sally Mountain Show throughout her childhood, Vincent grew into a formidable musician and a radiant, captivating lead singer able to deliver both overpowering up-tempo numbers and soulful, introspective ballads. Her early bluegrass solo albums led to a Nashville deal, and the experience of recording her two fine commercial country efforts taught her essential lessons about the inner workings of the music industry. Vincent triumphantly returned to bluegrass with her 2000 Rounder debut Back Home Again. That same year, the bluegrass community welcomed her back with Female Vocalist of the Year honors at that year’s International Bluegrass Music Association awards – her first of an unprecedented seven consecutive wins in that category. She received the coveted Entertainer of the Year award from IBMA the following year, concurrent with the release of her second Rounder album The Storm Still Rages. One Step Ahead followed in 2003, which included “You Can’t Take It With You When You Go,” a top-five video hit on CMT.

All the while, Vincent was refining her supporting group, the Rage. When the lineup evolved to include guitarist/mandolinist Josh Williams, fiddler Hunter Berry, bassist Mickey Harris, and banjo player Kenny Ingram, Rhonda felt the time was right to document their storming live concerts as both a CD and DVD. Ragin’ Live was released in 2005, and boasted a well-chosen selection of prior favorites, instrumental and vocal features for members of the Rage, and several previously unrecorded songs that found Vincent working with a small string section in a more hushed, evocative style. The album was nominated for a 2005 Best Bluegrass Album Grammy® award. The reflection and preparation that went into the creation of Ragin’ Live helped set the stage for All American Bluegrass Girl. “I did intentionally want to make sure that this album had more of a classic sound,” she says, “since we ventured away from that style a little bit on Ragin’ Live. But I always hope to have a good balance of everything – from in-your-face bluegrass to softer acoustic country sounds. I approached this album like I do our live performances, and try to have something for everybody.”

Learn more at her website www.rhondavincent.com.

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Lost & Found

Virginia based bluegrass band since formed in 1973, with bass fiddler Allen Mills, banjo player Gene Parker, guitarist Roger Handy and and mandolin player Dempsey Young. The band became quite popular playing bluegrass festivals, with Mills’ exceptional songwriting contributing much to the group’s fame; “Love of the Mountains,” recorded by the original lineup, has become a contemporary bluegrass standard. By the mid-’90s, only Mills and Young had stayed, recruiting guitarist Ray Berrier and banjo player Lynwood Lunsford as replacements. Rebel Recording Artists.

Learn more at www.lostandfoundbluegrass.com.

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Nothin’ Fancy

Nothin’ Fancy was formed as a bluegrass band in September of 1994 with the purpose of competing in the East Coast Bluegrass Championship in Crimora, Virginia. Since their auspicious debut, they have grown in popularity, released 6 full length albums and one CD single, played the Ryman Theatre in Nashville, the Lincoln Center in New York City, the Birchmere in Alexandria VA, and have their own festival in Buena Vista, VA which is now in its fifth year. Nothin’ Fancy is signed to the North Carolina-based Pinecastle record label, and with them have released two recordings, “Once Upon A Road” and “Reflections” as well as a Chris Sexton solo project “Coffee at Midnight.”

Mike Andes, lead singer for the group, plays the mandolin and guitar and writes most of the band’s original material. Mike began playing music at age ten. He was influenced by several family members who played, including older brother Randy and his uncles, Curtis Jenkins and Ivan Lantz. He spent time with Jim Orange and the Orange Blossoms, and in 1986, he formed his own band called East Coast Bluegrass Band. In ’94 he became a founding member of Nothin’ Fancy. Mike considers the late Charlie Waller his bluegrass “hero.” His mandolin playing has been influenced by John Duffey, Jimmy Gandreau and Doyle Lawson.

Mitchell Davis is Nothin’ Fancy’s banjo man. He also plays guitar and fiddle, which he learned from an uncle, Joe Connor. He fell in love with the banjo after seeing Earl Scruggs and Don Reno on TV shows. Like many aspiring banjo players, he started with an Earl Scruggs Banjo Book. Mitchell is also an alumnus of the East Coast Bluegrass Band, as well as a country band. Mitchell cites The Country Gentlemen and the Seldom Scene as his influences, especially in their selection of songs. Mitchell was the primary producer of the band’s three self-released albums.

Gary Farris is the tenor voice and guitar player for the group. Like many singers, Gary started singing in church as a young boy. While attending Rockbridge High School, he honed his musical talents as a member of the glee club, eventually winning honors as a member of the All State Glee Club. After completing high school and a tour of duty with the Air Force, he sang in a local rock band. Unlike his band mates, Gary did not begin playing an instrument until he was almost 35. He had been injured at his job as a factory worker and was flat on his back and bored, when his friend, Mitchell Davis, brought him a guitar and showed him a few chords. Gary recalls: “I just laid in bed and picked.” He made up for the late start by playing in a country band and then with a local bluegrass band, “South River Boys.” Gary won high honors as The Best Male Bluegrass Vocalist in 1995, 1997, and 1999 at the East Coast Country and Bluegrass Talent Show.

Chris Sexton debuted with the band on fiddle in 1998 at the Maury River Fiddler’s Convention, where the band won first prize in the bluegrass band competition. He appeared as a guest on the band’s second and third self-released albums and joined the band in the summer of 2000. Chris was introduced to bluegrass by his dad, “Buster” Sexton who played banjo in several bands in the 70’s and early 80’s. When Chris was seven, his dad discovered that his son had the gift of perfect pitch ? eventually making Chris one of the best bluegrass singers to hardly ever sing. Although his first instrument was a mandolin, Chris soon focused his energies on the violin. Throughout middle and high school, he grew as a violinist in symphony orchestras, the all state orchestra, and the National Youth Apprenticeship Program, while keeping his bluegrass roots. Chris attended Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance. Soon after, he found himself fiddling with the East Coast Bluegrass Band with his father, and Nothin’ Fancy shortly thereafter.

Tony Shorter sets the beat for the band on his S8 Kay upright bass. Tony was introduced to bluegrass music by his dad and uncle’s band. He was a teenager before he really developed an appreciation for the music. A Gibson mandolin, a high school graduation present from his parents, accompanied him to Virginia Tech, where as Tony admits, “I may have spent more time pickin’ than studying.” He was a charter member of the Virginia Tech Bluegrass Association and the Blacksburg area was rich in good pickers with lots of jamming. Tony started to play bass at college when he wasn’t switching off on guitar. For a few years after college, music took a back seat to his career with Farm Credit. He joined a local jazz group, and ended up playing electric bass in various groups as he puts it, “from reggae to rock.” “At one point I was playing bass with 5 different bands, which was fun learning to play different styles, as I love most all forms of music and just couldn’t say no, but it was a scheduling nightmare.” In ’94, he returned to his roots when he joined Mike, Gary and Mitchell to form Nothin’ Fancy.

Learn more at www.nothinfancybluegrass.com.

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The Bluegrass Strangers are a favorite every year according to concert goers and are back by popular demand for the 8th year!   The Bluegrass Strangers are one of the most exciting, straight ahead, traditional bands performing today!  They come to Myrtle Beach from Kentucky and Ohio.

Richard William Webb – Dick Webb formed The Bluegrass Strangers in 1976. The first band members were Dutch Lykins, Steve Parsons, Bob Myers and John Myers. Cliff Chapman and Chester Willis joined the band in 1979 replacing Bob and John Myers. When Cliff left the band in 1980, Jimmy Lykins stepped in to finish the schedule and has been with the band ever since. Their traditional sounds are just as popular today as they were 30 years ago. Dick was born in Portsmouth, Ohio and doesn’t have to take a back seat to anyone when it comes to playing straight-ahead five string banjo. He’s also a superb claw-hammering style player, which is also used in their show. He sings baritone and low tenor in the trios and bass in the quartet. He lives with his wife, Wendy in Powellsville, Ohio. Wendy also runs sound for the band. Dick is the proud father of three sons, Richard, Jason and Aaron and the proud grandfather of Wyatt born February 27, 2006. When he isn’t on the road with the band, he enjoys indian arrow head hunting, deer hunting and fishing. He’s an expert at wood working and always makes time to take care of his baby, the band’s 40-foot MCI. Dick doesn’t have to take a backseat to anyone when it comes to playing a traditional five-string banjo.  He also does a fantastic job playing old style claw hammer.  Dick also sings baritone and low tenor in the trios and bass in the quartet. Dick and Jim’s sound system, known as Pine Creek Audio, is a favorite at Bluegrass Festivals.

Jimmy Lykins, from Garrison, Kentucky is lead singer with songs straight from the heart with soul and feeling like no one else.  He also plays a strong rhythm guitar.  Jimmy was born in Petersville, Lewis County, Kentucky. When it comes to a traditional vocalist, Jimmy is one of the best. He sings straight from the heart with soul and feeling like no one else. He also plays a strong rhythm guitar in the band. Jimmy owns and operates The Little Quincy Opry and is co-owner of the Quincy Grocery Store in Quincy, Kentucky.. He is the proud father of James, Robert, Jena Faye, Connie and Jennifer. Jimmy also has seven grandchildren. Jimmy joined The Bluegrass Strangers in 1980. When he’s not on the road with the band, he loves listening to bluegrass and gospel music.

Bryan Wayne Tackett is the newest member of our band and is usually called Big Bubba by band members. He was born in Lewis County, Kentucky and makes his home in Quincy, Kentucky with his wife, Rebecca and their two daughters, McKenzie, 3 and Mackayla, 3 months. Rebecca is an L.P.N. at Hillview Retirement Center in Portsmouth, Ohio. Bryan’s life has always been around music with his dad, Walt playing guitar and bass and his mother, Vicki playing piano. His high lonesome soulful bluegrass voice allows for perfect harmony with Jimmy’s traditional sound of bluegrass. When he’s not on the road with the band, he’s employed by Adelphia Cable and enjoys hunting and basketball.

Jamie Brooks Shannon is an outstanding mandolin player and shouldn’t be overlooked. His playing is tasteful, exciting and full of energy and also sings lead vocal for the band. He also plays guitar, banjo and bass. He was recently married to Wendy Lemaster on his father and stepmother’s, Bill and Linda Shannon, farm. Jamie and Wendy are making their home in Louisa, Kentucky. When he’s not on the road with the band, he works as an owner/operator for Admiral Merchants Motor Freight. Jamie just finished making his first mandolin.

K. Dean Whitaker is a great asset to the band with his rock solid timing on the upright bass. He also provides bass and baritone vocals to the band along with filling in as sound technician at festivals. Dean and his wife, Pam live in Ashland, Kentucky. They have two sons, Mark and Jason and three grandchildren. He loves fishing and when he’s not on the road with the band, he’s an owner/operator for Admiral Merchants Motor Freight.

Wendy Webb gives fans of The Bluegrass Strangers a great bluegrass experience with great sound mixing, micing and equalization of the sounds fans expect. She also runs sounds for numerous bands at numerous festivals giving all of them the almost sacred sounds of bluegrass on the Behringer soundboard. Wendy is married to Dick Webb and also plays banjo, guitar and bass. When traveling she helps drive the bus and helps with setup as part of Pine Creek Audio. When she isn’t on the road with the band, she loves riding 4 wheelers, an avid hunter and writes poetry for The Strangers Newsletter and The Strangers web site. Her latest passion is Chun Kuk Do. She just achieved her yellow belt making her closer to the coveted black belt. Wendy and Dick are the owners of Pine Creek Records and Pine Creek Entertainment.

Dick Webb and his wife Wendy will also handle the sound for the Ocean Lakes’ Premier Bluegrass Weekend.

Archie Duncan has joined The Strangers as their backup sound technician. Archie resides in Vanceburg, Kentucky with his wife Gloria. They are the parents of Serena and Brian and have 2 grandchildren. Archie is a retired auto mechanic and also plays guitar. When he’s not on the road with The Strangers, he loves playing and listening to bluegrass music and fishing.

See more at www.bluegrass-strangers.com.

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The Grascals

For those who know them, the quick emergence of the group came as no surprise, for these are musicians whose roots and crossed paths reach back over more than two decades in bluegrass ensembles like the Osborne Brothers, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, the Sidemen and New Tradition.  They trace, too, to Nashville’s larger musical community, where the Grascals have been able to draw on legends like Bobby Osborne, George Jones, the Jordanaires, Lloyd Green, Paul Craft and more for songs and for performances in the studio and on stage.  Thanks to those experiences and those friendships, The Grascals embody a profound grasp of and familiarity with country and bluegrass tradition that made them a natural choice for Dolly Parton to turn to for recording and tour support not long after the group was created.

Terry Eldredge‘s soulful vocals and easygoing stage presence have earned him not only the loyalty of bluegrass fans and the appreciation of fellow bluegrass musicians, but the admiration of a stunningly wide variety of entertainers who have witnessed him fronting the Sidemen at Nashville’s world-famous Station Inn.  The Indiana native began his career with first-hand experience of the music of an earlier generation of country stars, playing bass with durable Opry stars Lonzo and Oscar.  He joined the Osborne Brothers in 1988, soon switching to guitar and adding a powerful lead and low tenor voice to the Brothers’ legendary trios.  At almost the same time, he and other young Nashville bandmembers created the Sidemen, establishing a regular Tuesday night gig at the Station Inn that continues to draw newcomers and stars alike.  Eldredge took up the bass again when he joined Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time at the end of the 1990s, earning a 2003 IBMA nomination for Bass Player of the Year and contributing mightily to the ensemble’s success with dynamic tenor and lead vocals.  During a hiatus from Lonesome Standard Time, he recorded and performed as a member of Dolly Parton’s Blue-niques.  In addition to two solo albums for Pinecastle Records and albums by the Osborne Brothers, Cordle, Parton and the Sidemen, Terry’s recording credits include appearances on CDs by IBMA Hall of Honor members Benny Martin, Josh Graves and Chubby Wise, as well as young country star Dierks Bentley.

Few fiddle players have been seen – or heard – by more people than Jimmy Mattingly, thanks to a widely aired Dr Pepper commercial that featured him accompanying his long-time employer, country superstar Garth Brooks.  A member of Brooks’ band from 1995 until his retirement from the road, Mattingly played before millions and appeared on three of Brooks’ multi-platinum albums – but despite his success as a country player, his first love has long been bluegrass music.  Raised in Leitchfield, KY, Mattingly played in numerous fiddle contests as a youngster, culminating in a 1981 U.S. Grand Masters victory, then joined progressive bluegrass pioneers Spectrum in 1981, remaining with the group until its dissolution in the middle of the decade.  After stints with the Forrester Sisters and Steve Wariner (with whom he recently recorded), he joined Dolly Parton’s band in 1989, recording and touring with the Country Music Hall of Famer until 1993.  It was during a break in Parton’s touring schedule that he joined the Osborne Brothers, where he became friends with Terry Smith and with Terry Eldredge, who would join him again in Parton’s Blue-niques in 2002 (Jimmy’s fiddle playing is featured on her Live And Well CD and DVD as well as six other Parton albums).  His smooth, expressive style and his facility in both country and bluegrass contexts made him a favorite fill-in with the Sidemen and a natural for The Grascals.

Shared Indiana roots and a love for the Osborne Brothers’ harmonies first sparked a friendship between Eldredge and Jamie Johnson, but when the latter moved to Nashville at the end of the 1990s, the two quickly discovered a vocal blend that rivals bluegrass’s greatest sibling harmonies.  Though he helped to found the Wildwood Valley Boys at the beginning of the decade, Jamie first drew attention to his soaring tenor voice as a member of the Boys From Indiana, with whom he performed in the mid-1990s.  Stints with local bluegrass and country bands followed before he returned to the Wildwood Valley Boys, making his recording debut on their I’m A Believer (2000).  Following his move to Nashville, he began to find success as a songwriter – he co-wrote the title cut of Bobby Osborne’s Where I Come From (2002) – and as a singer, making his Opry debut as a member of Gail Davies’ band, joining the Sidemen in 2001, and contributing leads and harmonies to Bluegrass – The Little Grasscals: Nashville’s Superpickers.  He has recorded with alternative country singer Trent Summar (on the Davies-produced Caught In The Webb), Ricky Van Shelton and hit songwriter Jerry Salley, and has enjoyed further songwriting success with cuts by The Grascals (including the title track to Long List of Heartaches), the Lonesome River Band and bluegrass-country singer/songwriter Ronnie Bowman.

Danny Roberts began playing guitar to back up his friend Jimmy Mattingly when the two were growing up on adjacent farms in Leitchfield, KY.  Soon he was winning contests on his own as a guitarist and, eventually, mandolin player.  In 1982 he co-founded the New Tradition, a dynamic, ground-breaking bluegrass/gospel group that toured the country for close to 20 years (the last ten on a full-time basis), recorded ten CDs, made “Seed Of Love,” the first bluegrass video to feature the banjo – it reached #1 on the TNN channel – appeared on the Grand Ole Opry, and helped to bring the bluegrass sound and gospel message to a new generation of fans.  When the group dissolved in 2000, Danny went to work for Gibson Musical Instruments, where he rose to the position of plant manager at the company’s Original Acoustic Instruments luthiery.  Still, he kept his hand in as a musician, giving workshops with mandolin colleagues like Sam Bush, Chris Thile and Bobby Osborne, making guest appearances with artists such as Marty Raybon, Larry Cordle and Melonie Cannon, and touring and recording with bluegrass/country veteran Ronnie Reno as a member of his band, the Reno Tradition, before reuniting with Mattingly in The Grascals in 2004.  His solo recording, Mandolin Orchard, received extensive airplay and was touted by the Chicago Tribune as one of the Top 10 bluegrass releases of 2004.  Roberts was also honored with the 2006 SPBGMA Award for Mandolin Performer of the Year.

Another veteran of the Osborne Brothers’ band, bassist Terry Smith grew up in North Carolina before moving to Nashville in his early teens.  Beginning in a family band with his brother, Billy, and his parents – Hazel Smith, Terry’s mom, is a songwriter and renowned country music journalist – he graduated swiftly to stints with bluegrass and country legends Jimmy Martin, Wilma Lee Cooper and the Osborne Brothers.  He also found time to pursue a separate career with his brother, recording a 1990 album for CBS that generated an early #1 video on CMT, following it with 1992’s Grass Section disc (made with friends and colleagues like Ronnie McCoury and Glen Duncan) and a 1996 Bill Monroe Tribute that included some of the Father Of Bluegrass’s last recorded appearances.  In 1999, the brothers issued Voices Of The Mountain, with original songs that found a place in the repertoire of bluegrass favorites like the Del McCoury Band and the Lonesome River Band.  Terry has worked as a staff songwriter for EMI and Major Bob Music, and recorded with Marty Raybon, Vern Gosdin, IBMA Hall of Honor member Kenny Baker and more.  After a long tour of duty with Grand Ole Opry member Mike Snider, Terry joined The Grascals in 2004.

Aaron McDaris, who joined the group at the end of 2006, may have a briefer resume than his colleagues—moving from home state Missouri’s Second Exit, he joined Roberts in New Tradition in 1997, then went on to a six year stint with the Larry Stephenson Band—but his grasp of bluegrass greatness is no less profound.  His playing has rarely been absent from the airwaves over the past decade, and his “stellar” (Bluegrass Unlimited) solo album, First Time Around (2005), prompted the Nashville Scene to call him one of the most “under-rated” banjo players on the circuit.  In late 2006, McDaris joined with other young players, including Jim Van Cleve (Mountain Heart), to form the Mashville Brigade, a new generation counterpart to the Sidemen that has quickly won acclaim from knowledgeable Music City fans.

Learn more at www.grascals.com.

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The Grass Cats

Learn more at www.grasscats.com.

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Ocean Lakes Premier Bluegrass Weekends:

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