Thursday was country (and bluegrass) music day at the Tall Stacks Music Arts Heritage Festival. There was royalty (Rosanne Cash), a living legend (Dr. Ralph Stanley), Grammy winners (the Del McCoury Band, Jerry Douglas), youngsters to watch (Sarah Borges and Abigail Washburn) and a headliner who has grown from a respected sideman into the leader of a cool, hard-rocking four-piece band (Rodney Crowell).
It was also a day for family ? blood relatives, musical partners and former mates. Two members of Stanley?
s Clinch Mountain Boys are his son, Ralph II, and grandson, Nathan. Two members of McCoury?s band are Del?
s sons Ronnie and Rob. People who have played on with each other over the years included Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Tim O?Brien and Douglas.
But the best pairing of the day was scheduling Crowell and Cash ?formerly husband and wife ? as the closers.
Cash started first, taking the Edyth and Carl Lindner stage 45 minutes before Crowell. She paid tribute to her late father with songs from her latest album, ?Black Cadillac.
? She bantered easily with the crowd, including a moment when she stopped a song in mid-verse, and explained that it was a ?hormonal moment.
? Her comment drew laughs, but earned more respect from fans familiar with her recent trials of losing both parents and her stepmother in a span of two years. Meanwhile, down at the Great American Insurance Group stage, Crowell continued his late-career resurgence with songs from his last two albums, ?
The Outsider? and ?Fate?
s Right Hand.? He made his feelings clear with ?
Don?t Get Me Started? and ?
Preaching to the Choir,? tunes that likely cause some consternation in red-state Tennessee. Crowell aside, it wasn?
t a day for politics, but for tradition. Stanley and McCoury lead two of the most successful traditional bluegrass bands in the land, neither disappointed. Stanley opened with ?
Man of Constant Sorrow,? the standard that became an unlikely hit in the movie ?O Brother Where Art Thou?
? The man from the mountains of Virginia, who is celebrating his 60th year in the music business as he approaches his 80th birthday, seems as sharp as when he started. McCoury also seems to be improving with age.
He has the high lonesome tenor required of successful bluegrass performers, and is surrounded by wonderful pickers that include his sons on mandolin and banjo. As for the new generation, bet on Borges over Washburn, at least for now. The Boston-based singer merged the alt-country style of Neko Case with the rock ?
n? roll sass of Chrissie Hynde for a delightful set of originals, and some easygoing back-and-forth with the early afternoon crowd. The banjo-playing Washburn was technically proficient, and the music was engaging in a ghostly, ethereal manner, but she seemed a bit too sincere (which is probably not that bad) in the spot following the lighthearted Borges.
Other highlights included Rowan and Rice?s set that featured the wildly funny story leading into ?Free Mexican Air Force,?
the instrumentals by Douglas, a Columbus native, that included an original composition that he said came about after having a dream where ?Charlie Parker met Fred Flintstone,? and the line of the day from guitarist Tim O?
Brien, who said he had been mistaken at least 10 times for Jerry Springer since arriving in town Thursday morning.
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