The Grass is Always Bluer
By Mike Kilgore - The Daily Mountain Eagle
Squinting into the late afternoon sun, George Deavours looks out across the landscape that belongs to him -- a sea of gras sloping toward the long, uneven line of pines and water oaks, dense clumps of cowcumbers and fragrant mountain laurels hugging Blackwater Creek in the distance.
From the top end of his prime 85 acres above Blackwater Park, the Jasper certified public accountant and bluegrass music-lover can envision a full parking lot, with upwards of 2000 people relaxing in lawn chairs and on quilts on the hillside above the farmhouse-style stage, clapping and hooting to the high-lonesome sounds of bluegrass. He can see them strolling down the pea gravel lane past the campers lining the shady creek, seeing old friends, making new ones, watching the children play and savoring the smell of ribs, chicken and burgers on grill after grill.
In six years, Deavours' semi-annual Blackwater Bluegrass Festival hasn't taken off as he had hoped. He has high hopes for festival number 12 this Friday and Saturday, headlined by former Shenandoah frontman Marty Raybon.
Attendance-wise, the number to beat is 800. That's how many were at Deavours' best festival weekend several years ago with the Country Gentlemen and the late Charlie Waller atop the card.
"I've wanted it to be a happening every time we have a festival," said Deavours. "I just don't know if I've done a very good job of putting the word out."
He also feels many people who like the music haven't truly "experienced" a bluegrass festival.
Before building Blackwater Park, Deavours had been to bluegrass events around the country, including Bill Monroe's Bean Blossom Fest in Indiana, and helped found the Brushy Creek Festival at Smith Lake several years ago. A festival is more than a concert, he says. "It's like Alabama football is a lot more than going to a game," he said. "It's tailgating, seeing people, then the game and eating out.

"A bluegrass festival is the music, atmosphere, camping, cooking, talking to friends you might not have seen since this time last year. And with bluegrass you get to talk to the musicians themselves. If all you want is to hear the music, you could just buy a CD."
A festival-goer also learns to appreciate "parking-lot picking" -- or in the case of Deavours' festival, creek-bank picking."
Anyone who picks or sings is always invited to bring his instrument, tune-up and join the spontaneous get-togethes. They take place around campers and campfires both during the stage show and late-night afterward.
Bluegrass itself is American music. "It's roots are in folk, blues, Celtic, Old-time country and gospel. It features acoustic stringed instruments including mandolin, banjo, guitar, fiddle, bass and resophonic guitar (that's Dobro, city slickers). Vocally, there's a bit of soul and sincerity about bluegrass with its multi-part harmony and Acappella gospel numbers.

Rascal Flatts lead vocalist Gary LeVox called Rabon, who was with Shenandoah when it was an award-winning country group, "the greatest singer on the planet to this day." Music historian Robert K. Oerman said Raybon's voice i"is truly one of Nashville's greatest treasures."
After recording several No.1 hits and being named the Academy of Country Music's Top Vocal Group for 1990, Shenandoah parted ways in 1997. Raybon branched out into bluegrass.
He'll be joined this weekend at Blackwater Park by two more big-name bluegrassers, the Al Wood Band and Dave Evans & RiverBend. Also appearing are a pair of Tuscaloosa groups, Crossing the Gap and Speed's Mill, and Jasper favorite Clear Blue Sky (formerly Out of the Bleu).
"We've got a real good line-up, with three performers that are nationally known, Marty Rabon, Al Wood and Dave Evans. And the others are really quality locals," said Deavours. "Somebody told me thy remember seeing Dave Evans playing back in the '60s. He's been around a long time."
Rabon and Shenandoah's No. 1 singles include "The Church on Cumberland road," "Sunday in the South," "Two Dozen Roses," "ext to you, Next to me" and "If Bubba Can Dance (I can Too."
Rabon has since recorded several albums, including one with brother Tim in 1997 which featured the Grammy- winning "Butterfly Kisses." In 2003 he released Full Circle, then in 2006 returned with two albums, the bluegrass The Grass I grew Up on and country When the Sand Runs Out.
Dave Evans -- sorry kids, that's the banjo picker, not U2's The Edge, whose real name is Dave Evans -- has led his own band for most of his career. Earlier, he played banjo with Earl Taylor and the Stoney Mountain Boys and sang tenor with Larry Sparks and the Lonesome Ramblers in the '70s.
Al Wood has toured the traditional bluegrass circuit extensively alongside legends like Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Seldom Scene. He was the first guitar player for the BlueGrass Alliance, which went on to become Newgrass Revival.
Clear Blue Sky continues to make a name for itself in bluegrass circles. The band - Ray benson, Jerry Wells, Chuck Tucker and Josh Hickey of Jasper and Gathel Runnels of Birmingham - Played to a packed house at Cafe Bill's earlier this month. They will also be performing at City Stages in Birmingham in June.