Pickin’ up support

At “Bluegrass, Blue Jeans and Barbecue,” the music festival taking place at a local farm on Saturday, the up-and-coming local band High Ground will perform the same mix of traditional bluegrass and original songs that has endeared the band to audiences around the Southeast.
However, the music will have a special meaning for the group this weekend.
“We’re excited to have a chance to play in our own community,” said Rick Altis, bass and guitar player for High Ground. “That’s why we’re excited about the Wayne Theatre.”
To Altis, “Bluegrass, Blue Jeans and Barbecue” represents a unique opportunity to share the stage with other standouts in the local bluegrass scene — and to support the possibility of a venue for similar events in the future. The bluegrass concert, which will take place from 1-8 p.m. at Laurick Farms in Waynesboro, brings together seven bluegrass, roots and old-time groups to support the Wayne Theatre Alliance.
“We are glad to promote it, because we think that our area needs something not only for bluegrass bands but all kinds of music and other events,” Altis said. “We really are excited. The other bands that are involved, we know those people and we don’t get the opportunity to play with them on the same stage very often. We don’t have things in this area like this very often. We’re excited about playing with our local friends.”
Saturday’s fundraiser is the final happening scheduled for the WTA’s “Parade of Events,” a series of art and entertainment activities over the course of the last four months that included a play (“Greater Tuna”), a children’s parade and a viewing party for the Kentucky Derby. The events helped raise funds — and, according to event chairwoman Carole Hill, community awareness — for the WTA’s efforts to renovate downtown’s Wayne Theatre building.
“It’s not necessarily about fundraising,” Hill said. “Getting people interested, that has been the goal of the whole parade, and we’re really looking forward to this bluegrass event.”
According to WTA board member Hill, the Alliance envisions the revitalized Wayne Theatre as a community arts and entertainment center, a venue for everything from local music groups to classic movies. The WTA intends the Parade of Events, including Saturday’s “Bluegrass, Blue Jeans and Barbecue” concert, as a preview of what is to come for the theater if the group succeeds in its efforts.
“We feel like bluegrass is a big part of Augusta County,” Hill said. “It’s very prominent in our area. Saturday’s event, it’s a way to have a nice group of people get together and enjoy a family-type event. It’s a nice casual way of enjoying a day. This is going to be for everyone, just like the Theatre. We will have bluegrass programs at the Wayne — why wouldn’t we? It’s about community, and that is music that is in our community. They just need a venue and a place to play.”
Saturday’s festival will offer up seven full hours of entertainment for music fans. Area bluegrass and old-time groups Wednesday Night Regulars, 100 Proof, FlatBroke, Troublesome Creek, Maury River, Blue Mountain Sunrise and High Ground will share the stage, each band playing a roughly hourlong set. Also contributing to the festivities will be Shukri’s Barbecue of downtown Waynesboro, as well as other food and beverage vendors.
“I think musicians need venues and different kinds of venues,” said Dick Harrington, guitar player and vocalist for Troublesome Creek and member of the organizing committee for Saturday’s event. “Having a venue like the Wayne would make it possible for a lot of local musicians to perform in a theater atmosphere, and I think that’s great.”
Adding to the excitement, renowned Afton-based banjo maker Stelling Banjos donated a Bellflower model banjo to the WTA, to be raffled off at this weekend’s festival. Business owner and founder Geoff Stelling donated the banjo at the request of a friend, who asked him to help support the Wayne. It’s one of only 200 or so banjos that Stelling produces a year. “We just so happened to have a banjo on the production schedule that hadn’t been purchased,” Stelling said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”
Tickets for the banjo raffle are $10 each, and available from the Wayne Theatre office or by calling 943-9999.
The festival, taking place rain or shine, will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday and last until around 8 p.m. Laurick Farms is at 1620 Barren Ridge Road off Va. 254 in Waynesboro. No outside food or beverages will be allowed at the event. No pets will be allowed. Sponsors for the event include Bushman Dreyfus Architects; First Bank & Trust; Tailgate Grill; BB&T Insurance; Franklin, Denney, Ward & Lawson; and Wal-Mart.
Advance tickets for “Bluegrass, Blue Jeans and Barbecue,” $20 each, are available at the WTA office, Stone Soup Books, Music City, the Bookstack or Draft Feed and Supply, or by calling 943-9999. Tickets will be $25 at the door.
Call the WTA office at 943-9999 for further information or directions.