First Annual Beans and Banjos Farewell Celebration

Last February, the LINC Letter announced, “Beans and Banjos has been going for at least 14 years. (The earliest webpages promoting it go back that far, but we had a few dances before we had a webpage.) It won’t be going on any longer.”

We had one last Beans and Banjos and called it a career.

But the crowd was pretty good at that last one. And it was a lot of fun. So we’re doing it again. Just like the last last time, we’re inviting everyone who’s ever played or sung at Beans and Banjos to come out and jam. Certainly not all of them will make it, but some of us will.

The Indian Run String Band.

New River Bound is bound for Beans and Banjos.

John and Kathie Hollandsworth play and sing and teach traditional music.

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck

Matt and Mike on the Floyd Radio Show.

The father-and-son son duo American Roots is the featured band at October’s Beans and Banjos.

Mike and Cara Gangloff

Anna and Elizabeth

We’re inviting all of y’all to come out, too. If you’ve ever played, come on out. If you’ve every danced to a tune, come on out. If you’ve ever nodded along or patted your foot or come for beans and cornbread and then headed home, come on out. If you’ve never been to a Beans and Banjos, this is your chance.

We’ll have beans and cornbread and desserts and music begining at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27 in the Dr. George R. Smith Community Center inside Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Center. The address is 267 Alleghany Spring Road, at the corner of Alleghany Spring and U.S. 460.

Beans and Banjos raises money for the LINC Letter. We hope each person who comes will donate $5 or more.

Beans and Banjos still operates by granny rules: No drinking; no smoking; no cussing; no spitting on the floor.

Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot. One more time.

Beans and Banjos One Last Time

I can’t remember when we started, but I remember how we started. Dr. Smith — Bob Smith — had been reminding the Shawsville Ruritans about the square dances they used to have back when the Ruritans had club house over in Alleghany. A lot of folks said that was nice, but no one seemed as interested as Dr. Smith was in resurrecting the dances. So we just did it. I got together a band and Dr. Smith got some cloggers and a caller to come in and show people how dancing was supposed to be done.

We had a house band and we talked author Tom Angleberger into learning to call square dances. We rolled along like that for a while with beans and cornbread and dancing and all, but people seemed to be a little shy about dancing, so Beans and Banjos became more about listening to music than dancing to it. We got some good music, too. Some of it didn’t include banjos, but a lot of it did. We had bluegrass and blues and old time and ragtime and country and gospel and a singer-song writer or two. We had award-winning bands, local bands, bands that had toured Europe, bands that had played national radio shows, bands and players that won awards for their music and taught at the kind of music camps people wait a whole year to spend a week at. We had a couple of events connected to some Crooked Road events and people packed the Meadowbrook Community Center for those. We had way more than 100 people show up more than once.

But nothing lasts forever, not even Beans and Banjos. Last time out, I counted about 20 people. By my reckoning, all but three of them were directly connected to the LINC Letter or one of the bands. Interest, it seems has dwindled. March’s Beans and Banjos will be the last. Instead of having a couple of bands like we usually do, I’m inviting everyone who’s ever played or sung at Beans and Banjos to come out and jam. Certainly not all of them will make it, but some of us will. We’ll try to play Beans and Banjos out in style.

If you’ve ever played, come on out. If you’ve every danced to a tune, come on out. If you’ve ever nodded along or patted your foot or come for beans and cornbread and then headed home, come on out.

Beans and Banjos has been going for at least 14 years. (The earliest webpages promoting it go back that far, but we had a few dances before we had a webpage.) It won’t be going on any longer.

I want to thank everyone who’s ever been any part of Beans and Banjos — the folks who brought the food, collected money at the door set up chairs and tables, packed things away at the end of the night and especially all the musicians who donated their time, their talent and their work to make the thing work for so long.

Come on out and be part of the last one. It’ll be Saturday, March 25 at the Meadowbrook Community Center. The food and music start at 6 p.m.

The Indian Run String Band.

New River Bound

John and Kathie Hollandsworth.

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck

Muddy River plays bluegrass gospel at March’s Beans and Banjos.

Matt and Mike on the Floyd Radio Show.

Mike and Cara Gangloff

Chickenwings and Gravy

Anna and Elizabeth

Eight Point Star and a new Fort Vause Fiddler

A trio-version of Eight Point Star will be the featured band at January’s Beans and Banjos. Promotions for the group’s eponymous album call them a “Cosmic-Appalachian string band.” That album (Yes it’s on vinyl, but you can stream it and download it, too.) is all original music. The CD the band produced as a companion to Blue Ridge Public Television’s documentary, The Story of the New River, is a mix of old-time standards and originals. You can see and hear a trio version of the band online on Blue Ridge PBS’s Project Southwest, too.

Eight Point Star features Mike Gangloff and Matt Peyton. They do most of the songwriting. Mike, who has a new solo album out, plays fiddle and banjo and an eight-string, Norwegian Hardanger-style fiddle. Matt plays guitar, dulcimer and sometimes theremin. Tim Thornton plays bass, dulcimer and sometimes guitar. Isak Howell, who plays banjo, guitar and harmonica, won’t be at this show. Versions of the band has toured from Carolina to Maryland and in Europe. Mike and Isak have toured and recorded extensively with the old-time string band The Black Twig Pickers – who also brought out a new album in 2021.

It’ll be a humdinger of a show.

This month’s version of Fort Vause will feature the band’s new fiddler, Aran Garnett-Deakin. Aran plays in the Virginia Tech Philharmonic Orchestra and won a ribbon last summer fiddling with the Hot House Cucumbers, the first-place old time band at this year’s Hoppin’ John Fiddler’s Convention. Aran will be backed up by Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and Tim Thornton, who plays bass and sometimes guitar for the band and has recorded with the Black Twig Pickers and Eight Point Star.

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, be in the Dr. George R. Smith Community Room inside Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance and sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing.

Y’all come!

Nancy Smith’s Gospel Music at Beans and Banjos

Nancy Smith

Nancy Smith will be the featured performer at October’s Beans and Banjos. For years, Nancy performed her gospel music once a month at Hale’s restaurant. Now she’s back and performing at Hale’s twice a month. She’s performed at churches and events throughout the area and into West Virginia. She’s also recorded a dozen or more CDs featuring gospel standards as well as her own compositions. Nancy and her band were featured performers at a Mountains of Music Homecoming event, a Crooked Road festival of the music and culture of Southwest Virginia.

Fort Vause will open the musical portion of the evening with bluegrass and bluegrass flavored blues, ballads, gospel songs, novelty tunes and show tunes.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and Tim Thornton, who plays bass for the band and has recorded with the Black Twig Pickers and Eight Point Star. (You may have heard Eight Point Star on the Blue Ridge PBS documentary The Story of the New River.)

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Community Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot. There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing on paper and on line

Beans and Banjos and American Roots

The father-and-son son duo American Roots is the featured band at October’s Beans and Banjos.

September’s Beans and Banjos will feature the father-son duo American Roots. Fred and Jon Benfield play guitar and sing everything from The Carter Family to W.C. Handy to Hoagy Carmicheal. They’ve performed at venues all around the region, including the Floyd Country Store and Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out festival. This will be their first appearance at Beans and Banjos. The Steppin’ Out online directory describes American Roots’ set list as “Appalachian ballads, blues, swing, early country and ‘folkgrass.’”

An ecology professor at Virginia Tech, Fred Benfield told a writer for Virginia Tech’s website, “My favorite part of performing is the communication that occurs between us during gigs. We’ve played together for so long that we just somehow know where the other is going on tunes without saying anything or even looking at each other.”

They’ve performed together for at least a quarter-century.

Fort Vause will open the musical portion of the evening.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and Tim Thornton, who plays bass for the band and has recorded with the Black Twig Pickers and Eight Point Star. (You may have heard Eight Point Star on the recent Blue Ridge PBS documentary The Story of the New River.)

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Community Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing.

Y’all come!

American Roots at Beans & Banjos!

The father-and-son son duo American Roots is the featured band at October’s Beans and Banjos.

Beans and Banjos is back!

We’ll be getting together for Beans and Banjos on Saturday, April 30. The event will feature the father-son duo American Roots. Fred and Jon Benfield play guitar and sing everything from The Carter Family to W.C. Handy to Hoagy Carmicheal. They’ve performed at venues all around the region, including the Floyd Country Store and Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out festival. This will be their first appearance at Beans and Banjos. The Steppin’ Out online directory describes American Roots’ set list as “Appalachian ballads, blues, swing, early country and ‘folkgrass.’”

An ecology professor at Virginia Tech, Fred Benfield told a writer for Virginia Tech’s website, “My favorite part of performing is the communication that occurs between us during gigs. We’ve played together for so long that we just somehow know where the other is going on tunes without saying anything or even looking at each other.”

They’ve performed together for at least a quarter-century.

Fort Vause will open the musical portion of the evening.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and Tim Thornton, who plays bass for the band and has recorded with the Black Twig Pickers and Eight Point Star. (You may have heard Eight Point Star on the recent Blue Ridge PBS documentary The Story of the New River.)

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Community Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing.

Y’all come!

Eight Point Star at Beans and Banjos!

Eight Point Star will be the featured band at October’s Beans and Banjos. Promotions for the album released last summer call them a “Cosmic-Appalachian string band.” That album (Yes it’s on vinyl, but you can stream it and download it, too.) is all original music. The band’s CD that should be out before Beans and Banjos is a mix of old-time standards and originals produced as a soundtrack and companion to Blue Ridge Public Television’s new documentary, The Story of the New River, which airs this Thursday at 7 p.m.

Eight Point Star features Mike Gangloff and Matt Peyton. They do the songwriting. Mike plays fiddle and banjo and an eight-string, Norwegian Hardanger-style fiddle. Matt plays guitar, dulcimer and sometimes theremin. Isak Howell plays banjo, guitar and harmonica. Tim Thornton plays bass, dulcimer and sometimes guitar. This version of the band has toured from Carolina to Maryland but Mike and Matt have taken Eight Point Star’s music to Europe. Mike and Isak have toured and recorded extensively with the old-time string band The Black Twig Pickers – who also brought a new album out last summer.

It’ll be a humdinger of a show.

Fort Vause will open that show with bluegrass and bluegrass flavored blues, ballads, gospel, novelty tunes and show tunes.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a professor emeritus and doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and virtuoso guitarist Steven Paul, who came to Fort Vause from a Gypsy jazz band and is front man for the electric alt-country band Electric Road. Tim Thornton plays bass and sometimes other things. Everybody sings, sometimes all at once.

Along with the music, we’ll have beans, cornbread and desserts – dinner and a show Shawsville style.

This is the last Beans and Banjos until January, so you don’t want to miss it. Supper and music begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 23. If covid conditions allow, the event will be in the Dr. George R. Smith Community Center inside Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Center. If the weather’s warm enough, it will be in the courtyard just outside the community center. Either way, the address is 267 Alleghany Spring Road, at the corner of Alleghany Spring and U.S. 460.

This Evening of Beans and Banjos raises money for the LINC Letter and its webpage, lincletter.com. We hope each person who comes will donate $5 or more.

As always, Beans and Banjos operates by granny rules: No drinking; no smoking; no cussing; no spitting on the floor.

Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

https://vhfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/eight-point-star

https://www.blueridgepbs.org/local-productions/documentaries/new-river/

Beans and Banjos and the Lunch Truck

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck are coming back to Beans and Banjos! The group’s Facebook page describes Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck as a “newgrass/bluegrass band that draws musical inspiration from jazz, rock, country, blues and more. It is all good.”

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck plays classics such as Blackberry Blossom and Red Haired Boy, bluegrass standards such as White Freightliner, and jazzier numbers including Sweet Georgia Brown. They do it with guitars, banjos, bass and a percussion section that includes bodhran (that Celtic drum  you’ll often see in Irish sessions).

You may have heard the band at the Palisades, at Rising Silo, or at the Fatback Soul Shack. You can hear more of their music on Facebook and on YouTube.

This is how the band’s Facebook page describes Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck’s origin story:

“Bud, Jeff, Aaron, Beth, Tom, Jeff and Anthony each hungered for a band that would both pay homage to tradition and to interpret that tradition in new ways that were respectful of the past with an eye to the future. One day they somehow all ended up in line together at the lunch truck. The rest is history.
“Each member comes to the band from a different musical genre – rock, blues, funk, folk, bluegrass and more come together along with years of experience drawn from playing in bands in all genres. Just like soup, or chili – when you add in all those tasty ingredients, you end up with something much more than a sum of its parts. Johnny Cake & the Lunch Truck satisfies.”

Fort Vause will open the show with bluegrass and bluegrass flavored blues, ballads, gospel, novelty and show tunes.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; and the newest member of the band, virtuoso guitarist Steven Paul, who came to Fort Vause from a Gypsy jazz band and is front man for the electric alt-country band Electric Road. Tim Thornton, who slipped onto a Black Twig Pickers recording once, plays bass and sometimes other things. Everybody sings, sometimes all at once.

Along with the music, we’ll have beans, cornbread and desserts – dinner and a show Shawsville style.

Supper and music begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, in the Dr. George R. Smith Community Center inside Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Center. It’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road, at the corner of Alleghany Spring and U.S. 460.

This Evening of Beans and Banjos raises money for the LINC Letter and its LINC webpage. We hope each person who comes will donate $5 or more.

It’s the first Saturday after Valentine’s Day, so it’s a good time to show your Valentine you don’t need a holiday to have a good time.

As always, Beans and Banjos operates by granny rules: No drinking; no smoking; no cussing; no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

Johnny Cake and the Lunch Truck plays February’s Beans and Banjos.

Indian Run Stringband at Beans and Banjos

 

The Indian Run String Band.

The Indian Run Stringband, a fixture at square dances and other events around the New River Valley, will make its first Beans and Banjos appearance in January. Fiddler Paul Herling and banjoist Ginger Wagner are the heart of the band. Herling began playing fiddle during the old-time revival of the ’70s, and learned firsthand from masters including Tommy Jarrell, Albert Hash and Marion Sumner. He has performed for many years at festivals, dances, schools and concerts and has won a pile of awards. Ginger took up clawhammer banjo in the late ’70s, learning from traditional players including Dwight Diller and Mac Traynham, and has played at many dances and festivals. She performed for several years with the Blacksburg Hoorah Cloogers and is an experienced dance caller.

In 2010, the band started out as Ginger’s simple idea: she loved Paul’s fiddling and wanted everyone in the world to enjoy it, too. First they drew bass player Kristie Dorfler into the fold, then added guitar player Mark Barbour. Dorfler grew up playing in classical symphonies and quartets beginning at 11 years old. Barbour has been playing in old-time bands for more than 30 years. His guitar style has been greatly influenced by Riley Puckett of the Skillet Lickers and Roy Harvey (Charlie Poole’s guitar player). That’s the usual line-up, but other local players also fill in the rhythm section from time to time.

The reviews have been good. Kinney Rorrer the long-time host of Back to the Blue Ridge on WVTF, said, “The Indian Run Stringband brings a fresh new sound to old-time music. It is a sound that is both exciting and fun. It will move both your foot and your soul. They play a variety of styles which is one of the strong points of old-time music. Each musician is talented in their own right and they blend that talent to produce a superb sound. I highly recommend them.

Fiddler and writer Ralph Berrier said, “Indian Run Stringband plays old-time music the way it ought to be played – as a living, breathing art form that is still as vibrant and relevant in the 21st century as it was a century ago. Indian Run doesn’t play music meant for museum preservation, this four-piece band from Blacksburg, Va., plays old-time in new ways. They sing and swing, fiddle and flatfoot, harmonize and howl. … From dance tunes to the blues, the Indian Run Stringband plays with love and abandon. They make old-time music fresh and new.”

Fort Vause will open the musical portion of the evening.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; Tim Thornton, who slipped onto a Black Twig Pickers album once, plays bass; and the newest member of the band, virtuoso guitarist Steven Paul. When Paul’s not playing with Fort Vause, he leads an eclectic electric country-ish trio called Electric Road.

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. We’ll also have LINC Letter cookbooks and The Best of Beans and Banjos, vol. 1 CDs you can take home for a small price. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Community Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing on paper and on line.

 

Beans and Banjos and American Roots: The Last B&B of the Season

The father-and-son son duo American Roots is the featured band at October’s Beans and Banjos.

October’s Beans and Banjos will feature the father-and-son duo American Roots. Fred and Jon Benfield play guitar and sing everything from The Carter Family to W.C. Handy to Hoagy Carmicheal. They’ve performed at venues all around the region, including the Floyd Country Store and Blacksburg’s Steppin’ Out festival. They’ve become very popular regulars at Beans and Banjos. The Steppin’ Out online directory describes American Roots’ set list as “Appalachian ballads, blues, swing, early country and ‘folkgrass.’”

An retired ecology professor at Virginia Tech, Fred Benfield told a writer for Virginia Tech’s website, “My favorite part of performing is the communication that occurs between us during gigs. We’ve played together for so long that we just somehow know where the other is going on tunes without saying anything or even looking at each other.”

They’ve performed together for at least a quarter-century.

Fort Vause will open the musical portion of the evening.

Fort Vause features George Smith, who played banjo in the Appalachian Music Masters concert series and on recordings with Jack Hinshelwood and Buddy Pendleton; Jeff Wilcke, a doctor of veterinary medicine and rhythm guitar who also plays mandolin; Tim Thornton, who plays bass for the band, and the newest member of the band, virtuoso guitarist Steven Paul. When Paul’s not playing with Fort Vause, he’s been known to lead an eclectic electric country-ish trio called Electric Road.

In addition to all that music, the evening will feature beans and cornbread and dessert. We’ll also have LINC Letter cookbooks and The Best of Beans and Banjos, vol. 1 CDs you can take home for a small price. Supper and music start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Shawsville’s Meadowbrook Community Center. That’s at 267 Alleghany Spring Road in Shawsville.

This will be the last Beans and Banjos until January, so you don’t want to miss it.

As always, we operate on granny rules: no drinking, no smoking, no cussing, no spitting on the floor. Y’all come on out for supper. Stay to dance or sing along – or just sit there and pat your foot.

There’s no admission fee, but the LINC Letter hopes everybody who attends will chip in at least a $5 donation to help the LINC Letter keep publishing on paper and on line.