Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 10, 1992 TAG: 9201090317
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SU CLAUSON
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
NEW RIVER CLUB HAS FIRST JAMBOREE
David Parks leans against the wall of the New River Valley Fairground gymnasium, chewing the inside of his lip and watching intently as two dozen or so dancers shuffle in front of the stage.As one of three judges for the New River Valley Banjo, Fiddle and Dance Club's first flatfooting contest, he is a having a rough time. While his main criteria are "variety and originality of movement," Parks is looking for something else - something he can't quite verbalize.
"See that fellow with the light-colored shoes? Watch his arms," he says. "When you're flatfooting, your upper body does nothing. Well, that young fellow's doing `nothing' in the right way."
Some folks on the dance floor are getting more of an aerobic workout than Mr. White Shoes. Some have fancier steps, but he seems all of one piece - the perfect gee haw whim diddy, a wooden toy whose arms swing forward rhythmically as his feet dance.
"It's more than being in step with the music," Parks concludes. "This guy has a sense of the music."
But White Shoes is not the only individual with a sense of the music. After looking over the tall guy from Floyd County with the fancy cross-over step; the bouncing, overalled grandmothers; the 4-year-old cleat queen; and a raft of other flatfooters, Parks and his cronies decide upon a spring-loaded 12-year-old.
As soon as emcee Charlie White jumps off the stage, he's back in the crowd, shaking hands, thanking people for coming out. After all, it's his party.
Two months ago, White, a New River Community College biology professor, began to organize this, the first jamboree of the New River Valley Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Club. The club is not a formal organization, but a loose-knit group of people who play and enjoy bluegrass, gospel and old-time music.
White sought support from the community and the community college for a regular event that would give families a chance to enjoy the mountain music without having to drive an hour to Cochram's Store in Floyd or the Roanoke Civic Center. Tonight he's checking out the membership.
"I see a lot of Pulaski County folks here," he says. "But there's a lot of people from Floyd and a fair number from even farther away - Lynchburg, Boones Mill, Hillsville, Cana and Hardy."
About 200 turned out to hear Pulaski County's Branching Out band, the Bolt Brothers of Floyd and Barbara Poole and Larry Sigmon, whom White found at the Ferrum Folklife Festival.
"It wasn't easy to get to them," he says. "I saw them playing at the Galax Fiddler's Convention, but when I went back to the parking lot to talk, they had about 100 people lined up to see them. When I saw them on the program at Ferrum, I decided to catch up with them if I had to wait all day."
Larry Sigmon, from Callaway, and Barbara Poole, from Low Gap, N.C., who make up the String Band, tried playing together for the first time in the parking lot of an Elk Creek festival while she was waiting her turn on stage.
"People started crowding around to hear us, and pretty soon there were so many I had a hard time getting on stage," she said.
Since then, they have made two tapes, "Unique Sounds" and "Unique Sounds II." They have been invited to play in Richmond festivals and at the Jim and Jesse Festival in Tennessee.
An old-time band, they draw much of their music from older local musicians such as Charlie Poole, who wrote "Frankie and Johnny" and "Sweet, Sunny South." Now they're on the road almost every weekend.
Money certainly isn't the lure, they say. "I'd say it's the attention we get," says Sigmon. "We like to stir people up - to touch them."
The Bolt Brothers are well-known performers at Cochram's. Local people will recognize the house band, Branching Out, as three former members of Pulaski County High School's Appal Kids, an Appalachian performance group.
Keith Webb, Jeanette Webb and Sam Leary have been playing bluegrass music and mountain ballads for almost six years. As their name implies, they are extending their talents into other areas, including Irish ballads and original songs. Next time, Leary says, he'll even tell a few tall tales.
The Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Club jamboree is open to the public - attendance makes you a member. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged to pay musicians' traveling expenses. The jamboree will be held monthly at the New River Valley Fairgrounds on Virginia 100.
In January, it's from 7-10 p.m. on Jan. 18. After that, it'll be held on the second Saturday of each month.