Latest DCBU Newsletter is Here (Fall-Winter 2014)!

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DCBU
Newsletter of the D.C. Bluegrass Union
Fall/Winter 2014
!
DC Bluegrass Festival!
February 27- 28, 2015
Sheraton Tysons Corner
Jerry Douglas and the Earls of Leicester,
Seldom Scene, Tim O’Brien, Blue Highway,
Sierra Hull, The Bankesters, Grass Cats, Gold
Heart, Bluestone and much more!
Tickets
and info: www.dcbluegrassfest.org
!
!
Honoring Hazel Dickens
Hazel Dickens was a mainstay of the DC bluegrass
scene until her passing in
2011. For both urban and
rural aficionados of the music, Hazel was inarguably
the real deal.
Blue Prints Fall/Winter 2014
From hardscrabble beginnings in West Virginia coal
country in 1935, Hazel
moved to Baltimore, MD, as
a young woman to find factory work. She quickly connected with local musicians.
Dickens started performing
throughout the Baltimore/
Washington region and was
soon recognized for her singular mountain singing style
and her gift with a lyric.
Hazel wrote of coal miners,
unionization, hard times,
feminism and much more.
She recorded several albums
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with duo partner Alice Gerrard in the 1960s and 1970s
and went on to release four
records as a solo artist.
Among her best known
songs are Won’t You Come
and Sing for Me, West Virginia My Home, A Few Old
Memories and Mama’s
Hand. Hazel was awarded a
National Heritage Fellowship in 2001 from the National Endowment for the
Arts.
Dickens also received the
Washington Monument
award from the DC Bluegrass Union shortly before
her death. The laurel celebrates the contributions of
DC musicians to bluegrass
music regionally and nationally.
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her in a funeral scene
singing Hills of Galilee in
the 1987 movie Matewan
about labor troubles in an
Appalachian coal-mining
town. Dickens also appeared
in the 2000 film, Songcatcher.
Hazel was a protest singer in
the finest folk tradition. Her
songs Black Lung, about the
loss of her brother to the
disease, and the feminist
Don’t Put Her Down, You
Put Her There, place her
among the best of her generation. Everything about
Hazel’s music was unvarnished. Her delivery ranged
from a moan to a holler. It
was pure mountain soul
with no apologies.
Folk musician extraordinaire and musicologist Mike
Seeger heard Dickens and
introduced her to his then
wife, Alice Gerrard. The two
quickly formed a musical
bond and began performing
as a duo on the bluegrass
festival circuit in 1965.
They sang in the lead/tenor
style that typifies the music
and unwittingly became
trailblazers for women in
the male-dominated bluegrass industry of the time.
Dickens’ spirited version of
the union anthem They’ll
Never Keep Us Down
graced the documentary film
Harlan County, USA in
1976. John Sayles included
Dickens told No Depression
magazine in a 1999 interview, “I’m not sure if they
looked at us as a novelty, or
if they took us seriously,”
she said of the male musi-
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cians in the business. “There
were a lot of them, especially down through the years,
that gave us respect.”
Dickens and Gerrard parted
ways in 1976 and Hazel’s
music became markedly
more political. She recorded
three solo albums for
Rounder Records, Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit
People (1981), By the Sweat
of My Brow (1984), and It's
Hard to Tell the Singer
From the Song (1986).
Rounder released a compilation of Dickens’ music, A
Few Old Memories, in 1987.
During her lifetime, Dickens
became a guiding light for
such musical luminaries as
Dolly Parton, Emmylou
Harris and Alison Krauss,
all of whom recorded her
songs. She was considered
both a songwriting lodestone and a direct female
link to the tough, rural roots
of the music.
Hazel’s life came to a close
at age 75 due to complications from pneumonia. She
left behind unforgettable
music for future generations
to discover and many appreciative fans and friends.
The DC Bluegrass Union
has launched the Hazel
Dickens Song Contest to
honor her life and musical
legacy. Entries are due by
January 1, 2015. Cash
prizes! First-place winner
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will play his or her song at
the 2015 DC Bluegrass Festival. Find more information
at www.dcbu.org/songcontest.htm.
Randy Barrett
Wine Tasting Fundraiser
Come enjoy wine pairings
with some great cheeses and
appetizers at the Curious
Grape on January 17, 2015.
The event is limited to 50
people so make your reservations today by contacting
Regina Derzon at
703-915-2271. Tickets are
$65 and the restaurant is located at 2900 S. Quincy St
in Arlington, VA. All proceeds benefit the DC Bluegrass Union.
End-of-Year Giving
While we’re banging the
drum, we hope you will
keep DCBU in mind for
your 2014 year-end charitable giving. All donations are
tax deductible. Your gift
helps us keep the many activities of the organization
funded in our mission to
promote bluegrass music in
the greater Washington, DC
area. You can make a donation online at www.dcbu.org/donate.htm. We also
welcome old-fashioned
checks. Please sent to
DCBU, 1429 Martha Custis
Drive, Alexandria, VA
22302. Thank you!
Wishing All the Best to
Terry Wittenberg
Terry Wittenberg has
stepped off the DCBU board
after five years of excellent
work as our festival manager. Terry was a tremendous
asset to the organization and
we will miss having him on
the team.
***
Renew your membership today at
www.dcbu.org
***
Bluegrass DJ Ray Davis
Dies at 81
We were saddened to hear
of the death of the legendary
former WAMU DJ Ray
Davis on December 3, 2014.
Ray’s career spanned more
than 60 years. His Ray
Davis Show was a mainstay
of the Washington bluegrass
scene. Ray was also a promoter and record producer.
We send our condolences to
his family.
passes and a hotel room for
Friday and Saturday night!).
Individual tickets are also
available for purchase at the
member rate of $85 for the
full festival. Visit www.dcbluegrassfest.org for more
information.
Bluegrass Calendar
December 19, 2014 - Friday
Patuxent Partners
American Legion Post No. 268
11225 Fern Street, Wheaton MD
20902
Time: 8:00
Saturday December 20
Bluegrass Christmas Jamboree
Lucketts Old Schoolhouse
42361 Lucketts Rd., Leesburg, VA
20176
Time: doors 6, show 7, Tickets: $15
door
Bud's Collective
Phone: 540-671-9828, Email: [email protected]
Bright Box Theatre
Loudoun Street, WInchester, VA
Time: 8:00p, Tickets: $15, $10 advance, $15 at door
December 26, 2014 - Friday
Give the Holiday Gift of
Festival!
2015 DC Bluegrass Festival
tickets make the perfect holiday present. We’re offering
outstanding package deals
(only $310 for two festival
Jordan Tice & Friends, Mike Munford, Patrick Mcavinue, Mark Schatz
49 West Coffee House
49 West St, Annapolis, Md Time: 8
&10PM, Tickets: 15$
Fall/Winter 2014
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January 8, 2015 - Thursday
Blue Moon Rising
December 27, 2014 - Saturday
Harpeth Rising
Bud's Collective
Uptown Concerts at Baldwin Station
Seven Mountains Bluegrass Assoc.
Music Series
Phone: 540-671-9828, Email: [email protected]
Sykesville, MD
Clementine
Contact: 410-795-1041 reservations
Time: 8:00PM, ,Tickets: $15.00
Goodwill Fire Dept., 2318 South
Queen St., York, PA
Time: 5:30 doors, 7:00
Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA
Time: 8pm, Tickets: $5
January 10, 2015 -
January 3, 2015 -
Danny Paisley & The Southern
Grass
Larry Stephenson Band
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Lucketts Old Schoolhouse
1090 Sterling Road, Herndon, VA
42361 Lucketts Rd., Leesburg, VA
20176
Time: 7:30 pm, Tickets: $15
Time: doors 6, show 7, Tickets: $15
door
DCBU
1429 Martha Custis Drive
Alexandria, VA 22302
Doors open at 6:30 pm, barrier free
and smoke free facility, light snack
service, children 12 and younger
admitted free,
5th DC Bluegrass Festival!
Feb 27/28, 2015
Sheraton Tysons Hotel
Vienna, VA.
Jerry Douglas and Earls of
Leicester, Seldom Scene, Tim
O’Brien, Blue Highway, Sierra
Hull, The Bankesters, Grass
Cats, Gold Heart, Bluestone,
more!
Info: www. dcbluegrassfest.org