FLEMINGSBURG | If you know Paula Hinton, you know how much she loves Bluegrass music.
Paula and her husband, Frank, called “Buddy” by Paula, are such avid fans of bluegrass music, they spend their summer months traveling the festival circuit to hear their favorite artists.
The trips have taken them from Kentucky to Missouri, and they have developed a group of friends who also make the festival circuit each year.
One of her favorite artists is SPBGMA Male Volcalist of the Year James King, whom she’s seen at a variety of shows. Being a regular on the festival circuit, she said you get to know the musicians on a first name basis.
Being familiar with the schedule the bands keep from May to September, Paula said she’s invited several bands to her home for dinner when they are in the area between shows.
She invited King and his band to her home for dinner, which he accepted.
The next time she saw King, he asked Paula when she was going to have him over for dinner again, and she replied with her own question: When was he going to come to Flemingsburg for a concert?
That conversation was the beginning of the Years of Farming Bluegrass Show series, which is now in its fifth year.
So how does someone get big name Bluegrass artists to play concerts in Fleming County?
For Paula, the answer has been to stage concerts during the winter.
“We couldn’t afford to have these shows in the summer when they are working the festivals,” she said.
The first year started in January 2011 with just four concerts.
Some big names in the world of Bluegrass have played at the Years of Farming Bluegrass Shows over the years: James King, David and Vincent, Tony Holt, Larry Stephenson, Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, The Grascals and the Spinney Brothers from Nova Scotia.
This Sunday, Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out play in Flemingsburg for the fifth time since the series began. Paula said each time the band plays, the attendance seems to increase as the group generates new fans and interest.
One thing about Bluegrass that Paula will tell you: today’s Bluegrass music is not the music of our grandparent’s generation.
“I want people to like Bluegrass music, to get exposed to it. If someone will give it a chance, they’ll like it,” she said.
Those attending the concerts, which are held at the Double S Entertainment complex in town, range in age from young teens to an older audience.
She said such groups as the Grascals have developed a following of younger people and the band Flat Lonesome, who will play in January, is comprised of band members ages 18 to 25. The group has performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and has been named as an emerging artist of the year by SPBGMA.
Paula said members of her team that help with the concerts that once said they didn’t like Bluegrass music, now love it after hearing and learning more about it.
“Bluegrass musicians are talented; they are accomplished musicians who can play anything,” she said. “I wish more local people would come out and see what they’re missing…I think it’s good family entertainment.”
