Fans Get a Shakin’ Howdy and Satisfying Farewell at Durango Acoustic Corner
(contributed by Jodee Hammond)
The sounds of banjo, and guitar and high harmonies flowed out of the Durango Acoustic Corner on Sunday, June 13. The afternoon lineup featured an array of bluegrass, Celtic, folk and downright Country music that brought in a huge crowd that filled up the room.
Cherryholmes’ Jere Skaggs greeted the listeners with an exclamation of “shakin’ howdy!” Known for their hard-driving instrumental virtuosity and explosive vocal harmonies, the group played a 30-minute set of their original songs.
Giving the audience a good laugh, Eddie Stubbs, historian and on-air personality at WSM Nashville-650 AM, accidentally cut their performance short. He then insisted the group play one more song. Cherryholmes wrapped up with a two-minute instrumental, which wowed the audience.
Next was Balsam Range, a group selected from the thousands of entries in WSM’s Sonicbids competition. Sonicbids is a marketing tool for independent musicians to use to market their brands.
“We’re honored to be here,” said Buddy Melton, 41, on the fiddle. “It’s great to be a part of the WSM portion of it because we’ve all been fans of the Grand Ole Opry and Eddie Stubbs, and that’s the heart of the music we play.”
Based in Haywood County, N.C., the five friends began playing collectively three years ago. Guitarists Caleb Smith, 32, and Marc Pruett, who described himself as “way past 40,” joined mandolin player Darren Nicholson, 26, bassist Tim Surrett, 46, and Melton in introducing the audience to their Appalachian-inspired songs from their latest album Last Train to Kitty Hawk.
The mood shifted with Sean Patrick McGraw’s rock-rooted Country, who sang his newest single titled “My So Called Life.” “No, I’m not related to Tim,” he said to assure the audience recognized the hard work it took for him to climb his way toward the top.
The sassy Chelsea Field showed her passion for Country Music as she performed songs including “Things I Should’ve Said,” that recently started to receive air time. Field said she was “screaming like a crazy lady” the first time she saw her video on CMT.
This wide variety of Sunday’s performances enabled Durango Acoustic Corner to end its Festival run on a good note.
