This month’s Daytrippin’ in a trip to the Headin’ Home Fest in Swainsboro, GA. Swainsboro is located about 2 hours from Walterboro and is your typical small town with a beautiful business district, shops, antique stores, and a lovely area with a fountain to take a moment and relax.
One of the more unique places to visit is located within the Main Street Market Antique Mall. The Music Memories Museum is a great little museum collected by the store’s owner. It includes dozens of articles from musical groups and artists throughout the past 70 years. County, rock, or pop you will find it in the museum. Items include costumes, instruments, sound equipment, and even a motorcycle. The collection is free to tour.
About five minutes from downtown is the Georgia Sports Arena and home to the 3rd Annual Headin’ Home Fest. Bluegrass music has had a resurgence in the past 15 years with festivals popping up in the Southeast with groups like the Petersons, Nickel Creek, and the Avett Brothers introducing it to a new generation of listeners.
This festival was a four-day festival with multiple bands hosted by the Headin’ Home Band and the Headlining Band was The Little Roy and Lizzy Show.
Bluegrass has been around since the 1940’s after originating in Kentucky and typically uses a stand-up base, mandolin, banjo, and guitar. Artist like Arthur Smith, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt were some of the early artists of Bluegrass. Flat and Scruggs to Bluegrass to mainstream with the Beverly Hillbillies Theme Song and making numerous appearances in the television show.
Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the off-beat where notes are anticipated. This is in contrast to laid-back blues where notes are behind the beat; this creates the higher energy characteristic of bluegrass. In bluegrass, as in most forms of jazz, one or more instrumentalists take a turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment.
Festivals are located all over the country with MerleFest located in Wilkesboro, North Carolina being one of the largest. If you attend the Mayberry Days in Mount Airy, North Carolina you can hear the Dillard’s who played the Darling Boys on the Andy Griffith Show. Other festival includes the Jekyll Island Festival on New Year’s Weekend, Cherokee Bluegrass, and the South Carolina State Bluegrass Festival in Myrtle Beach. The events are very welcoming with camping and jam session around the properties and even include classes for aspiring musicians.
If you like good traditional county music, give one of these festivals a try. It’s a great way to spend a weekend.
