LOCALadk Magazine
Issue link: https://localadkmagazine.uberflip.com/i/653169
Spring 2016 LOCALadk Magazine 31 LOCALadk stage.' I had them perform a sound check, explain their instru- ments and introduce each other. All the students blossomed." Eric Gibson credits Venne with helping the students shine. "Tom has a lot of energy. He has an infectious personality and added a spark to the program." "To see how the kids responded to our music was an amazing feeling," said Faith Gaddis. "It causes me to feel that even if we get just a few children in the audience to go home and tell their parents "Guess what awesome music I heard today!" it makes it all worth it." "Seeing the kids faces and hearing them tell their teachers that they want to play guitar or bass makes me smile. It is definitely as much fun watching them as it is playing," added Nicholas Schumacher. "Tom and Eric have been great mentors, helping us open up on stage and bringing our own personali- ties into the music. The program wouldn't be what it is without them," added Emily Mero. Bluegrass purists abound, they are traditionalists who hold a tight grip on the Bluegrass of the Forties and Fifties. They are afraid change may create a risk of losing the traditional Blue- grass sound over time. Venne advises the students to not get too locked in to that approach to the genre. "Know where the music came from and use it as a starting point," Venne advises. Even Flatt and Scruggs left Bill Monroe behind to pursue their own brand of bluegrass. While Eric Gibson and his brother Leigh wear the suits and ties commonly associated with the gentleman pickers and traditional roots of bluegrass, they have been inno- vative with their musical style. The last song Kelley Gibson calls out at the jam, 'Home Across the Blue Ridge Mountains', bodes well for the life span of a blue- grass tune. From the first recording by the Carter family, to the Doc Watson version during the folk and bluegrass "revival" of the sixties, to modern day banjo wiz Bela Fleck's take, the bluegrass core of the plaintive song remains true over time. The Cardinal Pickers, at home in the Adirondacks, put their own spin on the tune about the beloved Blue Ridge Mountains. It will be one that they will perform in the hope of keeping it alive for yet another generation.