On The Go With Gary and Jo: February 2006

Monday, February 27, 2006

Quartzsite Bluegrass Festival

We spent a week in Quartzsite dry camping at Rice Ranch and attending the Bluegrass Festival. We enjoyed the following Bluegrass bands, Bost Family Tradition, Virtual Strangers, Flinthill Special, Copper River, Lost Highway, Chris Stuart & Backcountry, Hurricane Creek, Soutwest Ramblers, Grassbackwards, Whistlestop, Ingalls Family, and Snowbird Express. The weather was great, though at times it was quite warm. We were able to attend four jams. The last two nights, we had jams at our place and were able to jam with people who play in Bluegrass bands. That was a treat!!!! We jammed with people who played dobro, mandolin, stand-up bass, guitar, and banjo. Quite a variety of music from country to bluegrass to Everly Brothers. We also got to see some great sunsets.

Camping at Rice Ranch, Bluegrass Festival

Sunset at Quartzsite

Jeff Bost, John, Ron, Wilma, and Wilma's hubby jamming at Quartzsite

Connie, Less, Gary and Jo, jamming at Quartzsite

Les, Gary, Jo Ella, Jeff Bost, John, jamming at Quartzsite

Bost Family Tradition

A favorite among the people attending the Quartzsite Bluegrass Festival was the Bost Family Tradition. Great entertainment!!!!! Jeff and Pamela have 7 lovely children, all of whom are very talented. Even Will, at age 11 months, knows the purpose of a microphone. He gets to appear on stage with Pam while she plays the bass. Will even got in a few notes as the family was singing and playing. Liberty has a wonderful singing voice and does most of the vocals. Micah is beginning to use his wonderful bass voice and plays a hot mandolin. Faith plays fiddle and sings harmony for Liberty. Felicity usually has a joke to tell and always wants to sing "Jingle Bells". Charity also likes to sing. Brookly picks the guitar and plays rhythm for the group plus singing a few songs. Pamuela (mom) plays bass with Will in front. Jeff (dad) plays banjo and sings with the group. This is a must group to see. They do have dates in Ca. You can follow them at www.bostfamilytraditions.com. For those who like gospel, they provide a gospel show in churches. The last two nights we were in Quartzsite, Jeff came to our camp and jammed with us. For now, they all travel in a 26' motorhome.

Bost Family Tradition, Jeff on banjo, Brooklyn(17) on guitar

Micah (13), Pamela(mama(?),Will(11 months), Faith(11) Bost

Liberty (9), Felicity (5), and Charity (3) Bost, signing "Crawdad Pole"

Chris Stuart and Backcountry

Great group. Chris Stuart is a great songwriter. They sang many of his songs. A song they sang which his friend wrote is titled "Twenty Naked Pentecostals in a Pontiac". Apparently the song was written after his friend read about 20 naked Pentecostals getting pulled over by a policeman. Great song!!! The fiddle player, Christian Ward, is only 13 years old. They played a tune that he had written. Janet Beazley currently has a hit song "Julia Belle", written by Chris Stuart, on the blue grass hit list. Eric Uglam currently has a song out called "Shenandoah Wind", written by Chris Stuart and has Allison Krauss singing harmony. This group is from California. Eric Uglam is also a member of Lost Highway. If you get a chance to see them, go!!!!!

Chris Stuart, Eric Uglam, Christian Ward, age 13 on fiddle, Backcountry

Janet Beazley,banjo, bass player, Chris Stuart on guitar, Backcountry

fiddle player and Eric Uglam on guitar, members of Lost Highway

Ken Orick on guitar, bass player, banjo player, members of Lost Highway

Hurricane Creek

This band is based in Alabama. They were great-received many standing ovations. They performed 3 times-each time, the leader, Stan Nelson, wore a different colored suit. The other solid color of suits was red and green. This was the first time they had played in Arizona.

Hurrican Creek

Cactus growing by streambed where footprint can be found.

Footprint in rock. Noone knows how this came to be, but this print is in solid rock, which at one time was at the bottom of a stream outside of Quart

Cactus growing on side of mountain

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Wickenburg, Arizona

We have now been in Wickenburg, Arizona for one week. We will be here until Feb. 20. Wickenburg is celebrating their Gold Rush Days. They have a very small carnival, Senior Rodeo, 4th largest parade in Arizona, entertainment by the Sons of the San Joaquin, dinner with music by Daughters of the Purple Sage, and a western shootout on Frontier street. The Escapee park we are staying at is wonderfull. They have a wonderful cactus garden and lots of activities to keep us busy. We were very impressed with the parade. They had two groups of pom pom girls from Sun City, Arizona. One group included ages 65-69 and the other 70+. After seeing one of the 70+ ladies perform the splits, I think Sun City might be the place to retire if one wanted to stay young. I really am enjoying my new camera. It has allowed me to take wonderful pictures. We were sitting at least 50 yards away from the chutes but the pictures came out just great. You can see more photos by clicking on our travel photos link at the right. Enjoy.