Alice Gerrard and the Piedmont Melody Makers took their music to the streets of downtown Raleigh at the 2016 Wide Open Bluegrass StreetFest. A mid afternoon slot on Friday the 30th of September saw the group performing on the Davie Street stage, an urban venue sandwiched between two office towers. Gerrard was supported by the Piedmont Melody Makers, fiddler and guitarist Chris Brashear, bassist Jim Watson and mandolinist Cliff Hale. The quartet were a relaxed contrast to the fast paced bluegrass tunes playing on the various stages throughout downtown. Well known as a pioneering woman in bluegrass, Gerrard’s “deepest love” is old time music, a passion that was evident during the 45 minute performance. Gerrard doesn’t define her music as any particular genre, but acknowledges the influences of bluegrass, country and old time in her sound, admitting that it most likely sits within “Americana” as it “honors a variety of acoustic traditions.” (bluegrass today)
Introduced as the “queen of old time music” by Brashear, Gerrard took the stage proclaiming “I got rid of my fancy shoes and put on my flip flops today,” which was met with laughter from crowd. As the only woman in the band, it was clear that most of the audience had come to see Gerrard, rather than the quartet as a whole judging by the raucous applause she received walking on stage. The…show more content… Brashear explained that that he comes to North Carolina for two reasons: “BBQ and Cliff Hale’s wife Denise’s oatmeal cookies...Oh and the music of course.” Food was easily accessible at StreetFest, with food trucks and stalls lining both sides of the street near the stage. Members of the audience were drinking beer, eating hot dogs and some had brought their own picnics, adding to the relaxed and stripped back feel of the
