Hey guys,
A funny thing happened yesterday at the Blue Plate. My notebook with all my notes from this week got knocked back behind a counter, in between the wall, never to be seen again most likely. So this week's blog may be a little sparse on the details!
One thing I certainly do know is that we've had another full plate all week long! Monday we started off with Justin Gordon, a singer/songwriter from Oregon who is currently out on the road with the Avett Brothers. You can check out more about Gordon and his songs at myspace.com/justingordonmusic. Following that we had the Cumberland Gap Connection, a traditional bluegrass band who stopped by in transit to their showcase at the International Bluegrass Music Association conference in Nashville. They sent everyone home with their feet tapping and to check them out online at cumberlandgapconnection.com.
Tuesday we had Leslie Dysinger, also up from Nashville, in to perform some of her songs from her album Cause and Effect, followed by Arlo Finch, who once again wowed the crowd with his songs about biscuits and getting busted by the cops. You can find out more about Dysinger at myspace.com/lesliedysingersingersongwriter.com and Arlo Finch at arlofinch.com/
Wednesday was the highlight of the week for me, with Ian Thomas playing the first half of the show. With his Bob Dylan type songwriting with a much smoother and lyrical voice, he's definitely one to catch the next time he's in town. For a look at his schedule go to ianthomasmusic.com. The second half of the show played host to The Two Man Gentlemen Band, a crazy and fun banjo/bass duo complete with harmonizing kazoos and percussion. They're great about getting the crowd participating in the show. For a chance to participate in their next show, check them out at thetwogentlemen.com.
Thursday we had extremely popular songwriter Craig Brickhardt starting off a triple bill. Brickhardt has had songs recorded by artists such as Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Alison Krauss, and Tony Rice. For a complete list of all his hits, go to craigbrickhardt.com and see his very long list of songs he's sold! Following Brickhardt we had the Reel Band with Dr. Mac Snodderly playing. Dr. Snodderly is dentist/fiddler, or maybe fiddler/dentist from the sounds of him! After winning numerous fiddle contests throughout his career, Dr. Snodderly is still going strong and fiddling away! He's going to be playing at some fall festivals coming up around town so keep an eye out for him. We finished off the day with the Sons of Ralph, a family group who's dad Ralph was home recuperating from a fall. They played some good traditional bluegrass for us. You can find out more about them at sonsofralph.com.
And that brings us to today, by far the most busy Blue Plate since I started working there. Jodie Manross opened up the extra long, extra good BPS today, followed up by Bob Livingston, a singer/songwriter who got us all going with some great country music. Following Livingston was the Emmitt-Nershi band, fronted of course by Leftover Salmon's Drew Emmitt and String Cheese Incident's Bill Nershi. They were fabulous and will be playing at the Bijou Theatre tonight. Closing out our show today was HuDost, a diverse band with a wide range of styles and percussion instruments. They'll be at the World Grotto tonight along with some dancers, so go check them out!
Wow, this is a really long blog. Hope everyone has a great weekend... see you at the Blue Plate next week!

Milly