Roundup: 15th Annual Graves Mountain Festival of Music

by Rick Landers.

Rhonda Vincent at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music

Vincent was joined by a cool list of bluegrass celebrities that held their own in the 90 degree sweltering heat in the Piedmont area of the Shenandoah Mountains. The crowd fanned themselves, downed bottles of cold drinks and some took a dip in the nearby Robinson River.

Master banjoist and Grammy winner Carl Jackson and mandolin virtuoso Sierra Hull joined the Mark Newton Band for a set and came back later for a big bluegrass hug with an assortment of players, including Rhonda Vincent. Many readers may remember Carl as the banjo player on the ‘70s Glenn Campbell television show.

Both on and off stage, the 2005 IBMA award recipients for “Entertainers of the Year", the Cherryholmes family band were in great form as entertainers and friends to their many fans. Corraled by long bearded Jere “Pop” Cherryholmes on guitar, the group proved their worth as outstanding musicians and vocalists, keeping the crowd tapping their toes throughout the group's set.

Saturday the bluegrass fans watched and listened to Mountain Heart with the legendary Adam Steffey, the Mark Newton Band, the Isaacs, the Seldom Scene and ex-Country Gentleman mandolin player and guitarist Doyle Lawson with his group Quicksilver. Throughout the day the groups kept rotating on and off stage to keep things lively and cool down.

All performers mingled with the crowd between their times on stage, including radiant Rhonda Vincent who stuck it out while about 200 fans lined up for photographs, autographs and to thank her for her music.

Earlier in the three-day event, folks from all over drove to Grave's Mountain to enjoy the sounds of such bluegrass luminaries as Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys, the Biscuit Burners, the Grascals and a long list of great pickers and grinners.

Stationed nearby was the Martin Guitar Company road crew displaying some fine new Martin guitars. While in the next tent, a local shop called Picker’s Supply from Fredericksburg, Virginia showed off some fine Eastman mandolins, a group of vintage banjos, as well as a couple of sweet guitars for folks to pick and strum.

Photo Gallery

Rhonda Vincent and The Rage at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Cherryholmes at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Mountain Heart at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Sierra Hull, Carl Jackson, and John Wheat at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Carl Jackson at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Doyle Lawson at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Jim Van Cleve of Mountain Heart at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Jere (Pop) Cherryholmes at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Guitar Chair on display at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Eastman instruments on display at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Resonators on display at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Martin Guitar booth at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Limited Edition Martin Guitar Clarence White model on display at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Children find their own answer to the heat at the Graves Mountain 15th Annual Festival of Music. Photo by Rick Landers.

Related Links
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Carl Jackson
Cherryholmes
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Mountain Heart
Mark Newton Band
The Seldom Scene
The Isaacs
Adam Steffey
Martin Guitar Company
Picker's Supply
Grave's Mountain Resort