It’s a weekend of great music on the Outer Banks. The headline show, of course, is the Outer Banks Bluegrass Festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park in Manteo.
It’s great to have the show back after being forced to take a year off because of COVID-19, and the show has come back stronger than every.
Last night (Firday) the headliner was Rhonda Vincent & The Rage. Yes…they’re bluegrass, but anytime they take the stage be ready to have all preconceived notions of what bluegrass music is set on its ear.
Vincent herself is a gifted vocalist and one heck of a good mandolin player, but what makes the band really standout is the overall musicianship of everyone in the band. They all play a number of different instruments and play them really well, and as musicians they are perfectly willing to take the music into unexpected places.
Tonight, if there is such a thing as a bluegrass supergroup, it has got to be Appalachian Road Show. Like Vincent & The Rage, great individual musicians, but as a band what really seems to set them apart, is where they are taking their music.
On their CDs and YouTube videos, because of the power of their vocal skills blended with their instruments, they can take their music to new levels. Hopefully they’ll play “I Wish the Wars Were all Over,” a beautifully performed lament with a Celtic or Irish feel to it. And then there’s a cover “Broken Bones” by the Icelandic band that has a distinctive bluesy feel to it.
But there’s a real dilemma on our hands for tonight. Ocracoke’s supergroup, Molasses Creek, will be in performance tonight at First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills courtesy of the Bryan Cultural Series. They’re worth checking out.l
So much to do on the Outer Banks, even in what is supposed to be the shoulder season. Stay with us at Brindley Beach Vacations for a while and see what it’s all about.