Fountain Express

[Fountain, NC] High Ground Bluegrass, a quartet of veteran pickers from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, headlines a 4-day run of music at Fountain General Store this week. Their Saturday night concert of original and classic bluegrass music features the stellar mandolin playing of Jimmy Almarode, one of the best pickers in the state of Virginia.

Also playing in Fountain this week are Jarvis Street Bluegrass on Thursday night, west coast bluesman Andy Coats on Friday night, and a couple of traveling troubadours, Joe Wilson and Forever in Motion, on Sunday night.

High Ground, based out of the little Shenandoah Valley community of Mt. Sydney, was formed only a couple of years ago although its individual members have been playing bluegrass music collectively for over a hundred years. The band originated as a vehicle for two old friends, Larry Taylor and Rick Altis, to record a CD they'd wanted for years to make.

The critically-acclaimed result, Old Friends, was released in 2004. The band's newest recording, A Game That I Can't Win, consists of all original material. It was released just last month.

High Ground was named Artist of the Month on bluegrassradio.org in October 2005. Bluegrass Now magazine noted in its May 2006 issue that High Ground is "fast on the rise in the bluegrass music industry."

Taylor grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains near where his father had been displaced by the U.S. government in the 1930s for the formation of the Shenandoah National Park. A former member of the popular bluegrass band Virginia Run, he plays bass.

Altis, the band's guitarist, writes much of their original material. He performed for 14 years with the Cabin Fever Band, which released two recordings in the 1980s.

Almarode has been one of the best-known mandolin players in the Shenandoah Valley for over 20 years. He first worked with Altis while with the Cabin Fever Band, and he has also played with Heather Berry and the Berry Pickers. When not picking on one of his two handmade mandolins, Almarode is the baseball coach at Stuart's Draft High School.

Bryan Plemmons, who plays banjo, is a native of Greensboro, NC but grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He met Almarode while playing with Heather Berry, but before that he was for 10 years playing with Halls of Grass. He plays a 1929 Gibson Mastertone.

"We're delighted to have a band of this caliber coming to Fountain," said Alex Albright, Fountain General Store proprietor. "And we hope to give them a fine eastern Carolina welcoming."

High Ground Bluegrass performs at 8 p.m. on June 24. General admission is $7.

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Jarvis Street Bluegrass is a Greenville-based quartet of pickers who formed out of a friendship forged in an English class at ECU.

Jesse Iaquinto, from Elmira, NY and Mark Romano, of Charlotte, developed a history of bluegrass music for Olivia Murray's English 1200 class, and out of that experience, they began hosting jams and then performing in public.

Iaquinto, a senior philosophy major, plays mandolin; Romano, who plays banjo, is a junior majoring in science and math education. Also in the band is Chad Cowan, from Elmira, NY, who plays guitar, and English major Charlie McCanless, who plays bass. All four share singing duties.

Jarvis Street plays a variety of traditional bluegrass mixed with modern day favorites and originals. They also play bluegrass versions of Nirvana and Johnny Cash, and they enjoy extended jams on many of their songs, pushing them up to 12 minutes in length.

Jarvis Street Bluegrass performs at 8:00 on June 22. Admission is $3.

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West coast bluesman Andy Coats grew up in Raleigh but he established his blues credentials while living in southern California for the last 7 years. His third CD, That's What They Call the Blues, was released earlier this year.

Coats began playing music in rock cover bands as a teenager in the Raleigh area. It wasn't until he started graduate studies in philosophy at the University of California, Riverside that he began paying attention to the power of blues musicians such as Robert Johnson.

"They had a great weekend blues show on the campus radio station at San Diego State," he said, "and I have fond memories of listening all day, picking up my guitar, and jamming along."

Coats credits the blues with helping him through the difficult years of school: "As a grad student I made almost no money, and I felt my career prospects were pretty bleak -- there were very few teaching jobs available, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy is not exactly the most marketable degree. I came to identify with the blues, although I'll be the first to admit that the kind of problems I had were nowhere near as immediate and urgent as those of the classic blues singers."

Coats tried the life of an academic nomad but the blues he'd grown to love and the allure of southern California took him back to the west coast, where he established a solid reputation as a performer and guitar teacher. Before moving back to Raleigh last year, he had been named one of the top 12 blues performers in the region by the Southern Californian Blues Society. He recently returned there for a gig at the B.B. King Blues Club in Los Angeles.

Andy Coats' June 23 concert begins at 8:00. Admission is $3.

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Two solo acts hit Fountain for a free Sunday night concert of original acoustic music. Joe Wilson of Brooklyn, NY has released several CDs, and during a 6-week tour in June and July he will perform over 25 gigs ranging from Vermont to Florida to Michigan. He was formerly with the indie band Feeling Left Out.

Forever in Motion is the musical project of Vermont native Brendon Thomas, who is performing as part of a twin-bill with Wilson on each of the tour dates. His second CD, The Beautiful Unknown, was released just last week.

Wilson and Thomas are two more in an increasing number of "mySpace cadets," independent singer-songwriters who use the internet and mySpace to promote their tours and merchandise. "They've developed their own kind of underground, outside traditional media," said Albright. "Most of the ones coming through Fountain are college students who put together a tour with a friend or two for their summer vacation, and they always put on interesting shows."

Joe Wilson and Forever in Motion's June 25 concert begins at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Both artists will be selling copies of their CDs, t-shirts, hats, and other merchandise.

R.A. Fountain, General Store and Internet Cafe, is located in historic downtown Fountain, at the intersection of US 258 and NC 222. Its family atmosphere is smoke- and alcohol-free.

Reserved seats are available for all shows at an additional charge. Prices are always posted on our up-coming events page. For further information, phone 252-749-3228.

July Music in Fountain

16 shows in July!

Saturday, July 1 -- Roby Huffman & the Bluegrass Cutups
8:00 -- $7
The godfather of eastern Carolina bluegrass returns

Friday, July 7 -- Jennifer Licko
8:00 -- $5
Celtic and Irish folk and ballads

Saturday, July 8 -- Alice Zincone & Haywire
8:00 -- $5
Greenville native Zincone teams with Canadian banjo picker Rick Lafleur for dynamic original and classic bluegrass

Sunday, July 9 -- Marlboro Boys
3:00 -- FREE -- 2-for-1 homemade ice cream special
Great bluegrass gospel from Farmville

Thursday, July 13 -- Farm & Home
7:30 -- $3
Shorty Mooring and the Gaddis Brothers play original and classic bluegrass

Friday, July 14 -- Rod McDonald
8:00 -- $5
Classic Irish and original Americana from this Florida-based recording artist who's released 9 critically-acclaimed CDs

Saturday, July 15 -- Carolina Junction
8:00 -- $5
Triangle-based bluegrass band makes their Fountain debut

Sunday, July 16 -- Melody Brown
3:00 -- FREE -- 2-for-1 homemade ice cream special
Folk and Christian ballads, many of them original compositions

Thursday, July 20 -- Bluegrass jam, with Greenville-based picker Jack Wrzesinski
7:30 -- FREE
You never know who'll show up to pick at this monthly event that's attracting more musicians than fans. May's was the best we've staged in a year.

Friday, July 21 -- Nancy & Tammy Dail & the Country Roads Band
7:30  -- $8
A Branson-style show from eastern Carolina's most popular country band

Saturday, July 22 -- Natty Boh Duo
8:00 -- $5
The latest old time/ bluegrass project from the founders of the immensely popular Triangle-based Candlewyck.

Sunday, July 23 -- Take "2" Ramblin' Rose
3:00 -- FREE -- 2-for-1 homemade ice cream special
Bluegrass gospel from northeastern NC

Thursday, July 27 -- Darren Michaels
7:30 -- FREE
A solo bass concert from Atlanta-based recording artist

Friday, July 28 -- Jerry Jolley with Steve Creech Sextet
8:00 -- $5
Jolley belts out the standards in a Robert Goulet style; Creech's band is always hot.

Saturday, July 29 -- Homegrown String Band
8:00 -- $5
This real family band from upstate New York specializes in old-time music and a good-time evening

Sunday, July 30 -- Flat Mountain Dulcimers
3:00 -- FREE -- 2-for-1 homemade ice cream special
One of Fountain's most popular attractions returns for an afternoon of soothing dulcimer sounds

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