Bluegrass on Christmas Eve

Bluegrass musicians play the tunes of carols at Christmas at a Lutheran church established by German immigrants? Where and why does this happen, you ask.

A bluegrass service is held annually on Christmas Eve in Newton, NC.

The church is located in Newton, NC, a well-established city that received its charter in 1855. Almost a century earlier a group of German immigrants, mostly from Pennsylvania and sharing Lutheran and Reformed (now United Church of Christ) faiths, arrived in what was then the wilderness of North Carolina. About 1759 they organized the first church in the colony west of the Catawba River, and the congregation erected their first church, known as the Dutch Meeting House, after obtaining the deed to the property in 1771.

The Historic Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1818, a replacement two-story log weather-boarded church was built with a separate, now repurposed, slave gallery. It is still the oldest existing church in North Carolina west of the Catawba River and is now known as the Historic Church of Old St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, whose congregation now regularly meets in a nearby brick building built in 1952.

The award-winning Sigmon family fills the church with the sweet sounds of strings.

The initial congregation met without a pastor until 1776, when John Arndt, a veteran circuit rider, traveled from Lutheran settlements near Salisbury. In 1781, he became a full-time missionary to the region west of the Catawba and preached in the German language, the common speech of local families for several generations.

The language spoken initially at the Historic Church was German.

Much like the shift from German to English, the music of the service also changed and now includes bluegrass, known for having been born in the Appalachian South with roots in Irish, Scottish, and English music. Several times during the year (May, July, October), the congregation conducts bluegrass worship services at the historic church. On Christmas Eve, it has also conducted a bluegrass worship service since 2011.

The second level was a slave gallery before the end of the American Civil War.

The bluegrass services make the Historic Church come alive. The old structure is still as solid as the year when it was constructed. However, now the language spoken inside is English, and the sounds of banjo, fiddle, string bass, guitar, and mandolin accompany the voices of the carolers.

A bluegrass worship service has been held at the Historic Church since 2011.

Bluegrass Music in the Mountains

Want to hear authentic bluegrass music performed by an internationally known artist? Then travel the Music Trails of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area that take you to the opry house in Maggie Valley, NC. This performance venue is in Haywood County, where the banjo has played in unison with the fiddle for generations since the Scots-Irish began to settle the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains to make “mountain music.”

The banjo skills of Raymond Fairchild draw guests each night to the Maggie Valley Opry House.

When I visited, I enjoyed music by Raymond Fairchild and the Maggie Valley Boys that connected me to the traditional folklife of the mountains. Fairchild played his five-string banjo as if he were performing again at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville rather than the opry (“opera” in Southern dialect that sometimes pronounces a final “a” as a “y”) in Maggie Valley. Born in 1939, Fairchild has yet to slow down. He performs with his band nightly April through October (the months that the opry house is open).

With 300 seats, the opry house has plenty of room for guests. Banjos on sale and memorabilia on the wall greets visitors as they arrive.

Fairchild has received many awards and honors, including two gold records. Most significant is the Bluegrass Banjo of the Year Award five times from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America, which has also inducted him into its Hall of Greats.
     
 

Fairchild’s gold records and other awards are on display next to the stage.

Fairchild is often touted as the fastest five-string banjo player. When he plays an instrumental solo as part of a number with his band, his legendary dexterity is amazing. As Fairchild performs, the expression on his face is very solemn – almost a poker-face with no expression. A gifted musician for decades, he learned to play the guitar when he was 11, although he didn’t pick up a banjo until he was 18.

Fairchild performs nightly at the opry house with the Maggie Valley Boys.

Fairchild, who is proud of his Cherokee heritage, graciously shares the stage with the other musicians. Their rhythm guitar, bass, and harmonica combine in harmony with his guitar to produce music that makes you want to dance. In fact, during the performance, several visitors in the audience when to the elevated dance area and clogged to the tune being played. Fairchild also features his manager John Lucas as a vocalist in several selections. Lucas’ rendition of “Amazing Grace” in the Cherokee language is incredibly beautiful.

Singing “Amazing Grace” in the Cherokee language, John Lucas demonstrates his talented, rich voice as he is accompanied by Fairchild and the Maggie Valley Boys.

Although the evening was enjoyable, I would have enjoyed more music to demonstrate Fairchild’s elaborate, fast picking and skills to make the banjo mimic animal sounds such as those by mules in his performance of “Whoa Mule” (illustrated in this video recorded earlier in his career).

During intermission, band members “jam” with visitors.

The opry house has been operating continuously since 1988, even during earlier years when Fairchild was on the road for other performances. Although the music by Fairchild and the Maggie Valley Boys are the reason guests continue to attend the nightly shows, Fairchild gives credit during performances to his wife Shirley for the success of the opry house. In addition to managing the opry house and selling tickets before the performance, she multitasks during intermission by selling popcorn and soft drinks at the concession stand.

Fairchild (with display of moonshiner Popcorn Sutton in background) sells music and souvenirs during intermission as wife Shirley operates concession stand.

Maggie Valley is famous for several notable people, including Popcorn Sutton (legendary moonshiner), but Raymond Fairchild is clearly the hometown favorite and a beloved member of the community.

Maggie Valley proudly proclaims itself as the home of Raymond Fairchild.

Bluegrass Jam: In Memory of Past Tunes and Passed Musicians

The cars and trucks parked outside an old, tattered wood-frame store that appears abandoned are the first hints that a bluegrass jam is about to begin. The sign by the side of the road with an adjacent post holding the oval frame for a missing Esso sign confirms the date. Stopping for an hour or more to connect to the spirit of tunes and musicians still revered can rejuvenate the soul.

The sign by the road tells the
date of the next bluegrass jam.

The oval frame for a missing sign
confirms that life is a-changing.

The jam sessions are held twice a month in a shady area behind the store, which has been a music scene in Chatham County since 1999. The musicians seem more interested in enjoying their own company and collaboration than in entertaining guests in front of their stage. These musicians meet in memory of Reno C. Sharpe who passed in 2009, and they perpetuate the values and memories of an era being smothered by the hustle and bustle of impersonal modern life where a person is more likely to send a text message than speak to a neighbor.

A short path from the store leads to
the area where the jam is held

My wife and I arrived only a few minutes after the session had started. The musicians outnumbered the audience. Nine musicians were on stage with only five people in the audience. She quickly observed that she was initially the only woman present, but soon other women arrived as well as young girls with older men who appeared to be their grandfathers. About an hour in the session, a female guitarist joined the musicians who warmly received her and then were delighted when she picked “Tennessee Waltz,” popular since the 1940s, for them to play when it was her turn to select a song. “It’s in C, y’all,” she coached the others for the right key before starting the tune. She also sang alone except for brief sections when a few of the men joined in. In other songs, her female voice combined eloquently with the lower male voices to create a beautiful harmony.

Photos are taken frequently, even by
young members of the audience.

Almost everyone had parked in the driveway in front of the store except three cars that had parked next to the bandstand. One musician, who seemed to be the oldest in the group, arrived late and left early, and he was one of the drivers who unquestionably had next-to-stage parking. The elevated stand, covered by a rusting sheet metal roof, even has a handicapped-accessible ramp for aging musicians who need a little help as he did and can no longer climb steps easily. The chatter among the musicians after a tune had ended indicated that the sheltered stage had been built in 2010.

The Eagle Scout project
improves the area where
the jam is held.

Twelve benches, all named in honor or memory of community members, enclose the stage in semi-circle patterns in an unmowed grassy area underneath huge, leafy trees that provide welcoming shade in summer months. A marker indicates that the benches were part of an Eagle Scout project by Jason Buchanan of Troop 900 in spring 2012. When I was there on a July morning, the audience changed seats and moved among the twelve benches — to stay out of the direct sunrays — as the temperature began to rise. A musician even commented, “It’s hot – just saw a dog chase a cat, and both were walking.”

The house rules specify that only acoustic instruments can be played. After an hour into the jam session, the group peaked with 14 musicians and instruments – nine guitars, one fiddle, two mandolins, one banjo, and one bass guitar. A bass fiddle also leaned against the rear wall behind the musicians, but no one ever played it. By the time the session ended, the number of musicians had dropped to 11.

The music was harmonious, even when nearby cows joined in with their own vocal parts. “I think the cows liked that one,” one guitar player said as a song ended to acknowledge the accompaniment of the bellowing bovines. When the next song ended, another musician remarked, “The cows want more.” Then as the group played and sang “Take These Chains from My Heart,” the last of Hank Williams’ number-one hits, the cows were quiet, perhaps in respect to the memories that the song and the musicians were evoking.

Jam members play by the rules.

As informal as the jam session is, it has etiquette rules and adheres to other expectations of a bluegrass jam. A newcomer in the audience observes how politely one musician is offered to “take the lead.” Before “Why Don’t You Tell Me So?” by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs can begin, the lead announces, “G chord.” Sometimes a musician asks, “Which way are you going?” Another time a musician is reminded that it’s his turn: “That’s yours, Mac.” At one point, “Whose turn is it next?” is answered with “It’s Paul’s turn, ain’t it?” When the lead singer for a song appears to forget some lyrics, a group member says encouragingly, “Just make one up.” When another song ends, “Y’all make me feel so good,” is heard from the stage. An occasional “Good job” is also heard before the next tune begins.

The audience moves occasionally
to find seats in the shade.

The next song was “Crying My Heart Over You,” a hit written in 1982 by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, Carl Butler, and Earl Sherry. The group moved seamlessly between songs with lyrics and others played as only instrumental tunes. As the sun continued to rise, the chords of “Down Yonder” rang out. The sweet blend of instrumental sounds makes it seem like the musicians play together much more frequently than twice a month — jam sessions at the Reno Sharpe Store are held on only the first and third Saturdays of each month, beginning at 10 a.m. In addition, a special annual celebration is held each August. (A video of a bluegrass jam inside the store with Mr. Sharpe — in the background by the window — uploaded in 2009 also helps to preserve these memories.)

The store maintains its ambiance
even though it is officially closed.

The store, built in the 1880s, was moved in 1920 to its current location. Reno C. Sharpe owned and operated the store with his brother after taking control from their grandfather in the 1940s, but it officially closed in 2003, only six years before Sharpe died. However, its history is another story – best told by the family themselves.

My morning was well spent — a time to observe a close-knit community come together and share cherished memories with their music. My only discomfort was the apparent rule that no song could end with applause from the audience. The musicians clearly deserved that usual tribute of appreciation, but perhaps at this place just showing up is all the appreciation that they need.

After the jam, the community continues to preserve memories by adopting a highway.