Picking and singing at the campground

Millie and I attended two musical venues recently here at the campground. They were both entertaining and both have interesting side stories about the bands.

The first group was called the George Durham Band. The bandleader and pretty much the whole band was George Durham, a tall articulate black man. In addition to the 30 instruments he had on stage which he played at various times, he was also a singer, the sound man, and music director. George was an engaging showman, during the bands break he even joined the audience members who where line dancing.  The lead singer was a barrel chested black man with dreadlocks, he looked like he belonged in a Reggae band, but he did an exceptional job on the classic love songs. The real kicker was the keyboard player; she was a white haired Caucasian lady who could have passed as the organist in church. Visually they were an odd mix but they made the music work.

At the George Durham show we sat with Wayne and MaryAnne Wingard so of course Wayne and I ended up talking about the Chrysler plant we retired from, who’s doing what now, who died, etc.

The second show we saw was the Weaver Believer Survival Revival Family Band. Yes that is their name, I didn’t make that up. Originally from Northeast Georgia the Weaver’s

and 7 of their 8 children live full time in two 40 foot tour buses. The children range in age from 12 to 25 and they are very talented, each of them plays an instrument and sings in the show. Their act consists of a lively mixture of bluegrass, southern gospel, and country music. They recently auditioned for Dollywood in Pigeon Forge Tennessee, so you may see them performing there in the future.

See you down the road,