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The Herald-Dispatch
lavender@herald-dispatch.com
If it has strings and isn't nailed
to a wall, Huntington resident Bobby Maynard, can play it like it's
borrowed.
Maynard, the multi-instrumentalist
who toured the country for five years with Dry Branch Fire Squad,
brings his band Breakdown to today's bluegrass night at the Wayne
County Fair at the Huntington Police Recreational Farm on West
Virginia 152.
Gates open at 4 p.m. and the music
starts at 6 p.m. with Maynard and Breakdown, Down Tyme, Bottomline,
and bluegrass legend Melvin Goins and Windy Mountain.
Cost is $5 and free for children
12 and under.
A 1982 Fairland High School
graduate, Maynard, is a multi-instrumentalist who has played
professionally with a wide range of national country and bluegrass
acts including Dolly Parton, Lee Greenwood, Little Jimmy Dickens,
Johnny Russell, Jack Greene, Dry Branch Fire Squad and The Jordanaires.
Back home since he went off the
road with Dry Branch Fire Squad, Maynard has found a nice niche here
in the hills of home. In addition to starting a family, he and his
wife have a 2-year-old, Abby, and a little boy on the way in the fall,
Maynard has recorded three solo CDs that are still top sellers at
Tamarack, cutting his own musical path with his own band Breakdown, as
well as carrying the tradition to beginners of all ages.
Maynard, who took first place at
the 2000 bluegrass banjo contest at Vandalia Gathering, has been
teaching music lessons since age 15 on everything from banjo and
fiddle to mandolin and guitar.
Maynard, who has already had
Breakdown as south as Florida and as north as Michigan this summer,
said he's excited to play for a second year at the Wayne County
Fair.
"Last year was the first year and
we had a ball," said Maynard, who only lives a stone skip from the
fair. "We saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones."
Playing in Breakdown, which
recorded its first CD in 2004, is Carter Brickey, who plays mandolin
and guitar and upright bassist Tim Corbett.
They make a mountain of music for
three people as Maynard and Brickey trade off on instruments as
Maynard musically plows on banjo, fiddle, guitar and mandolin.
A traditional bluegrass band in
overdrive, Breakdown will also be unveiling some new originals that
Maynard and the boys will be recording this fall for a new CD that
will be out in early 2007.
At the Fair, they are going
to debut, "The Last Time That Miner Went Down," a song Maynard wrote
after the Sago mine tragedy.
The band, which plays a cancer
benefit on Friday at Soggy Bottom Campground in Greenup, Ky., will
also play another Maynard original, "Go Getter," a funny song that has
been getting airplay on WTCR-AM, 1420, a new Americana station being
broadcast 24-7 on the Web and locally on the radio.
Maynard, who has always made a
living playing music, said folks will see a little bit of everything
tonight from clawhammer and bluegrass banjo to old-time fiddle tunes
and new funny songs.
Everything, except dancing.
"They're probably not going to see
any of us dancing," Maynard said laughing. "We'll save that for the
indoor venues."
Bruce Finley, who booked the 25 or
so gospel and bluegrass groups at the Wayne County Fair, said
the music at the fair show off the deep well of talent in the
Tri-State region.
"In this area we have super good
talent," Finley said. "They are great people and they are good to work
with and that makes my job a lot easier."
Finley said it is nice to be able
to host bands with area ties, including Down Tyme, is a Wayne County
group that was formed up by Chuck and Alan Perry of Genoa.
Although bluegrass has been a
long-time tradition at the
the bulk of the fair
music is gospel which is close to his heart since he used to sing in a
quartet.
The fair has five gospel
groups on Friday and gospel music starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday with
five local groups, and then winds up with such national headliners as
The Narrow Way and the Primitive Quartet.
Finley said he wanted to thank all
the local companies that made donations so the fair could bring
in good entertainment and also keep the costs down.
"If it wasn't for them we couldn't
put on the caliber shows we do," Finley said. "We try to keep the gate
prices down to $5 so that everybody in the county can come. I look at
it like a big family reunion." |
