Despite Covid, the HVBA continues to find ways to spread the word about Bluegrass!
Richard Levine, HVBA member and member of The Harding Club, a venerable local service organization, recently contacted the association with a request for a presentation on bluegrass music at their January meeting. Last Wednesday, through the magic of Zoom, we fulfilled that request with a combination of information and live demonstration.
Andy Bing, with an extremely abbreviated version of the History of Bluegrass course that he conducted for Vassar College’s adult education program in 2019, provided background on the genre for a (remote) audience pf approximately fifty members of the Harding Club. He also served as emcee for a five-member group of musicians who performed several classic tunes and gave brief accounts of the roles of their particular instruments.
The music was provided by David Chernack, the newly-elected president of the HVBA, on fiddle, along with members John Amadjian (guitar), Bruno Bruzzese(banjo and fiddle), Frank Kara (mandolin), and Eric Marshall (bass). Andy separately provided a demonstration of the Dobro. The group, performing live from Lynn Lipton’s living room (or Ryman Auditorium East), went through five numbers illustrating both the range and evolution of bluegrass, interspersed with Andy’s commentary.
As we all know, the past two years have posed serious obstacles for an association that relies heavily on bringing live music to the public. Our thanks go out to Richard Levine and the members of the Harding Club for providing another opportunity to inform and entertain!
Love this! Great team and a wonderful way to share this music during a difficult time.