Play me some mountain music

Sunday, July 15, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

LENOIR -- Beneath a canopy of oak and pine trees, nestled in a Caldwell County mountain hollow, Glenn Bolick strums his guitar and sings a mellow, bluegrass tune about the things he knows.

"I'll cut timber, wherever I can," he sings. "My daddy's, daddy's daddy was a sawmills man."

Every Sunday from July to September for the past 12 years, Bolick -- a fourth-generation sawmiller -- and his wife, Lula, have hosted an informal jam session in their yard for folks wanting to pick a banjo, play the washboard or pluck the single, thick string attached to a metal washtub.

"We started this to get the young people with the old-timers," he said. "A lot of young folks get inspired by this."

Last week, about a dozen musicians -- from fiddlers to banjo players -- gathered beneath a covered ground-level stage and began playing. They played a few gospel tunes, some mountain music and, of course, bluegrass.

Lynn Feldman, 76, strummed at the washboard with metal tips covering her fingers, while her husband, Al, played the musical saw. Neither are professional musicians, but about 10 years ago, the couple -- who live in Florida and spend summers in Blowing Rock -- heard about the bluegrass jam and decided to see what it was all about.

Bolick, who jokes with his audience, tells stories and encourages them to play, held up the washboard on one of the Feldmans' first visits.

"He said, `Does anyone want to try this?' " Lynn Feldman recalled. "I raised my hand and said, `I will.' "

Now every Sunday, Lynn and Al Feldman, a retired pediatric radiologist who plays banjo and the musical saw, spend their day with Bolick's band.

"We jam around wherever we can," said Al Feldman, 78. "It's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon."

Last week, an audience of more than 60 people sat on benches formed from planks of wood resting on top of thick cinder blocks, swayed to the tunes or tapped their feet. Some, at Bolick's prodding, got up to dance.

"If you want to do some dancing, some flatfoot, you better get on up here," Bolick said, his guitar resting on his lap.

Here, in the leafy hollow filled with a half-dozen antique, wooden buildings, the Bolicks have preserved the tradition of the Appalachians.

"Music like this," said Lula Bolick, "there's not much of it that still goes on. This is something that doesn't happen a lot, and people like it. It's laid back."

And it hasn't gone unnoticed with bluegrass fans from across the state, who make the trek to southern Caldwell County to listen, watch and learn.

"It's getting harder and harder to find," said Chip Duncan of Charlotte. "We're losing a lot of our culture in this country, and we need to remember the roots."

Duncan and his wife, Jane, are natives of the South -- he's a Virginian and she's from South Carolina -- and spend their free time traveling state to state in search of traditional mountain music.

Bolick, they said, has it figured out.

"(The buildings and music) all add to the community he's trying to construct here," Duncan said. "It's great."

Want to Go?

Spend a summer afternoon with Glenn and Lula Bolick, listening to bluegrass, gospel and traditional mountain music at the 12th season of Mountain Music Jammin' near Lenoir.
The event, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays though September, is open to all musicians. Cloggers and two-steppers are welcome on the dance floor.

Seating is available, and lawn chairs are welcome. Picnic tables, restrooms and parking are also available. No alcoholic beverages allowed.

The event is at the family-owned Bolick and Traditions Pottery, about three miles south of Blowing Rock and 14 miles north of Lenoir off U.S. 321. Turn left onto Blackberry Road beside St. Mark's Lutheran Church on U.S. 321. Go one-half mile, then turn right at Bolick Road.

Details: www.traditionspottery.com/music.html

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