The Bluegrass Standard - August 2021 by The Bluegrass Standard

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OUR CHOICE

12 CONTENT OUR STAFF

THE REAL BOOT LIFE

ADELINE

DOYLE LAWSON

THE GET DOWN BOYS

HIGH & RISING

KASEY MOORE

ROSE ROCK DAUGHTERS

VIDEO CHART

FAN PHOTOS

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Our Staff

Keith Barnacastle • Publisher

The Bluegrass Standard is a life-long dream of Keith Barnacastle, who grew up in Meridian, Mississippi. For three years, Keith brought the Suits, Boots and Bluegrass Festival to Meridian. Now, with the Bluegrass Standard, Keith’s enthusiasm for the music, and his vision of its future, reaches a nationwide audience every month! Keith@TheBluegrassStandard.com

Richelle Putnam • Managing Journalist Editor

Richelle Putnam is a Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist/Roster Artist (Literary), a Mississippi Humanities Speaker, and a 2014 MAC Literary Arts Fellowship recipient. Her non-fiction books include Lauderdale County, Mississippi; a Brief History, Legendary Locals of Meridian, Mississippi and Mississippi and the Great Depression. Richelle@TheBluegrassStandard.com

Rebekah Speer • Creative Director

Rebekah Speer has nearly twenty years in the music industry in Nashville, TN. She creates a unique “look” for every issue of The Bluegrass Standard, and enjoys learning about each artist. In addition to her creative work with The Bluegrass Standard, Rebekah also provides graphic design and technical support to a variety of clients.

Shelby C. Berry • Journalist

Shelby Campbell is a writer and designer whose heart beats for creativity. A native of rural Livingston, AL, she found her passion in journalism and design at The University of West Alabama, where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Shelby also has her own photography business.

Susan Marquez • Journalist

Susan Marquez is a freelance writer based in Madison, Mississippi and a Mississippi Arts Commission Roster Artist. After a 20+ year career in advertising and marketing, she began a professional writing career in 2001. Since that time she has written over 2000 articles which have been published in magazines, newspapers, business journals, trade publications.

Stephen Pitalo • Journalist

Stephen Pitalo has been an entertainment journalist for more than 30 years, having interviewed everyone from Joey Ramone to Bill Plympton to John Landis. He is the world’s leading authority on the The Golden Age of Music Video (1976-1993), mining inside stories from interviews 70+ music video directors and countless artists of the pre-internet music era. GoldenAgeOfMusicVideo.com

Kara Martinez Bachman • Journalist

Kara Martinez Bachman is an author, editor and journalist. Her music and culture reporting has appeared in dozens of publications and she’s interviewed many performers over the years, from local musicians to well-known celebrities. She’s a native of New Orleans and lives just outside the city with her husband, two kids, and two silly mutts.

Emerald Butler • Journalist

Emerald Butler is a writer, songwriter, fiddler, and entertainer from Sale Creek, TN. She has worked and performed various occasions with artists such as Rhonda Vincent, Bobby Osborn, Becky Buller, Alison Brown, top 40 radio host Bob Kingsley, and country songwriter Roger Alan Wade. With a bachelor’s degree in Music Business and a minor in Marketing, Emerald uses her creative talent to share the love of music with others. Emerald@TheBluegrassStandard.com

EMERALD BUTLER

THE REAL BOOT LIFE: STORIES OF HEART & HARD WORK

From Walmart executives and Midwest ranchers to Nashville songwriters, The Real Boot Life from PFI Western store captures the everyday lives of hard-working Americans starting from their feet. The Store located in Springfield, Missouri was founded by owner/CEO Randy Little in 1975. A 30,000 square-foot retail center with state-of-the-art music and video technology, Little developed PFI into the largest western store in Missouri. Today, PFI doesn’t focus only on the product of their boots, but on the stories of the people that wear them. “The series was intended to show local people doing extraordinary things,” Little began. “It morphed into a web-based series. Then it was so good that we said we’ve got to put this into a TV format.” The series plays on RFD-TV, and PFI has been a sponsor of Larry’s Country Diner for 10 years. ‘The Real Boot Life’ began with rodeo broadcasting host Justin McKee and Missouri Governor Mike Parson. Each guest shares their thoughts on hard work and how boots are a part of that. Little shared that throughout the series they have never included a call to action (a marketing term used to encourage an immediate sell). “They’re feel-good stories. They’re all about how to make 8

you feel good about where you live. There’s nothing in them about selling. There’s nothing in them about anything other than to make you have an emotion about something.” One of the most emotional stories comes from Nashville songwriter and storyteller Rory Feek. His love story covers his marriage with his wife Joey, the music they made together, their daughter, and the legacy that

continues at their Tennessee farm. It’s hard not to be moved by Feek’s story of love and grief, but also his determination to move forward. “I’m reminded that what makes great stories great is conflict and difficulties. It’s not just going to be amazing and happy times where all your dreams come true. There are going to be some very difficult times and the harder and more difficult they are, the better chance for a great story,” Feek shared in ‘The Real Boot Life’. At the end of his episode, Feek

shares a song called ‘Boots’ that was recorded on Joey and Rory’s first album. Feek’s story fits PFI’s brand like a glove …or shall we say like a boot? Another featured story comes from our favorite Bluegrass queen, Rhonda Vincent, whose birthday happened to be on the day that we caught up with Randy Little. In this episode of ‘The Real Boot Life’, Rhonda shares the story of how she began playing music with her family in her little Missouri hometown, and how she feels like an ambassador for Bluegrass music and the honor and respect that comes with it. She talks about growing up in a musical family and the hard work that went into becoming a professional musician. “I learned one of the greatest lessons of my lifetime,” Rhonda shared, “that you always do your best because you don’t know who’s listening. I live the real boot life from growing up in a musical family in Northern Missouri in a very modest home that all we knew was that we had love. My boots and my music have taken me around the world.” Little said that they are about to merge with another company and do some feel goods every week. “It’s growing and making its own way. We just want to

do our part of making good country music more popular, the country values that we have, and to highlight people that have been part of our industry and showcasing some of our premier customers. Every pair of boots has a story to tell,” says Little.

RHONDA SHARED, “THAT YOU From muddy fields to the Grand Ole Opry, in worn-out boots or ALWAYS DO sparkling ones, PFI and ‘The Real Boot Life’ want to share these stories and their boots YOUR BEST with America. BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHO’S LISTENING.” 10

Adeline by Susan Marquez

Musicians feed off the energy of other musicians. It was difficult for John Showman, a fiddler and founding member of the Lonesome Ace Stringband, to be isolated from other musicians under a total lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. “In Canada, we weren’t allowed to gather. If we had been quarantined and tested, we were allowed to form a bubble.” Chris Coole, who plays banjo with the Lonesome Ace Stringband, got together with John in November to record some music. “We talked about how it would be great to get a bluegrass band together,” says John. “Chris suggested we put together an instrumental project, a la John Hartford.” Thinking it would be a hard sell to potential band members, both John and Chris were surprised that it wasn’t hard at all. “We were lucky that Mark Kilianski (Golden Shoals) was in Canada with his girlfriend, as he is 12

exceptionally good with the guitar. Adrian Gross (The Slocan Ramblers) was available to play mandolin, and Sam Allison (Sheesham & Lotus), who lives a couple of hours away, was available to play upright bass and bass harmonica.” Five musicians from four bands began communicating with one another via email on potential songs for the album they planned to record. After getting tested, the group gathered for three days in March in the 70-year-old cabin of John’s mother-in-law on the shores of Beaver Lake in the heart of the Kawartha Highlands of Ontario. “Adrian and I went the night before to prepare everything,” says John. “There is a 400foot driveway that had to be shoveled, then we had to carry the equipment to the cabin.”

vintage gear that helped us get the sound we were looking for. After each cut, I played it back and got feedback from the guys.” A professional engineer friend of John’s mastered the LP.

John served as the sound engineer for the project. He set up mics around the room. “It was a very simple set-up. We had six channels, with an extra mic on the bass. A friend lent me some

The group wanted to record an oldtime album a la Jimmy Hartford’s “Windows System.” John explains that the rhythm stays consistent, and instruments that are not playing solos

Each member of the group had songs they wanted to record. “We decided on our list of tunes about three months out. We started with a list of 30 tunes, and we probably recorded about 20 to 25 of those.” In the end, 14 songs made the LP. “I didn’t know some of them, so I ended up learning new tunes I had never played before,” recalls John. “I practiced the heck out of them before heading to the cabin. The good thing about this album is that everyone had a say. It was all very democratic.”

are in the background, playing the melody. “For example, the fiddle or banjo plays the tune straight down the middle, changing what they are playing every eight to sixteen bars, so the backup is constantly shifting. The first track on the album is a Bill Monroe tune, “Evening Prayer Blues,” which shifts like crazy. Playing it was like standing in musical quicksand! Everyone had a good sense of rhythm, but you can hear the pent-up energy as well.” (To read more about Jimmy Hartford’s “Windows System,” click HERE.) While they were organized going into the project, there were a few glitches that proved to be fortuitous. While recording the “Evening Prayer Blues” track, John says “a lot of weird stuff was happening. We must have done six or seven takes. We recorded the last take around 2:00 in the morning. When we played it back, we heard sounds like chair squeaks, and yawns that sounded like notes on a bass.

But in the end, it really added to the music.” Another glitch was the loss of power caused by a bitter storm. “It was -18 degrees on day three of recording,” recalls John. “The power went out and we were worried it would end the session for us.” They lit candles and picked tunes in weird tunings while drinking beer. “We decided at one time to go outside on the frozen lake, and we took a selfie. It turned out great!” The power was restored after six hours, and the recording continued. For some of the members of the group, it was the first time they’d met one another, let alone played together. “It was such an exciting and unique experience,” says John. “We kept it very fluid. Mark had great ideas that didn’t interfere with the melody but kept the beat so well. Adrian just picks things up so quickly. Both just jump out of the speakers. Sam is such a great singer and so good on rhythm. Of course,

Chris and I are in the same band and are used to each other’s playing style.” They all went into it knowing the album would be a one-off. “We aren’t going to tour it. We just all like playing fiddle tunes and it was a fun project to put together.” The album gets its title from the last track, “Adeline.” “It was my idea to put the title track last,” laughs John. “The idea is to get people to listen to the whole album so they can get to the last, or title track. To me, it’s the best track on the album!”

Doyle Lawson A Time For Rest & Relaxation by Susan Marquez After a decades-long career of performing for tens of thousands of fans, bluegrass legend Doyle Lawson will be retiring from touring at the end of next year, but he certainly won’t be retiring from bluegrass. “I can’t avoid the fact that I’ve been around so long and I’m as old as I am,” he muses from his home in Bristol, Tennessee, about 20 miles away from where he grew up. “There has been a lot of country music in this area, including the first recordings of the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. It’s been a springboard for many artists.” Lawson announced his plans to quit touring now so that his band, Quicksilver, will have time to regroup. “I’m sure they’ll press on, but under a different name. As a matter of fact, I have encouraged them to get a new name for the band so there won’t be any comparisons.”

Born in 1944 in Ford Town, near Kingsport in Sullivan

County, Tennessee, Lawson had two brothers and a sister. Lawson’s mother, father, and sister sang gospel music at area churches and revivals. “I listened to the Grand Old Opry on the radio,” he says. “I loved Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys. I think his music was more intense.” When he was 12 years old, his father borrowed a mandolin from one of the members of his quartet, Willis Byrd, so that young Lawson could learn to play. Self-taught by listening to records, radio, and television, Lawson went on to become an icon of the industry, playing American traditional bluegrass and Southern Gospel music. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2012 and has won multiple Grammy ® awards, Dove® awards, and other prestigious awards for his music. Through his years as a professional bluegrass artist, Lawson has seen many changes in the industry.

“Sadly, some of the early recordings suffered in quality,” he says. “I like that we have better recording facilities today.” Lawson says that more often than not, change occurs without us being aware of it. “There is an old saying that progress is good, but it has a price. I think you have to consider if you are giving up more than you are going to get in the name of progress.” Lawson started playing professionally before the big bluegrass festivals came along. “When I started, radio stations played musical genres in rotation. When it was time for bluegrass, they’d play artists like Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, Webb Pierce, and Loretta Lynn. I think the bluegrass festivals were a great thing. Bluegrass was always a branch of country music, and the festivals widened the gap between country and bluegrass. The festivals also gave bluegrass artists a lot of work that helped blaze trails to other venues.”

Staying true to the roots of bluegrass music is important to Lawson. “Today’s country music isn’t the same as when I was a young man. I think we must figure out how to present music so people will like it, so they’ll buy tickets, and download our music. It’s important to stay relevant in a changing world.” When asked what he listens to in his car, Lawson laughs. “I love Gospel, but I listen to all kinds of music. I also love to listen to some of the old radio shows, like the Jack Benny Radio Show. There is no telling what you’ll hear in my car!” Looking back on his career,

Lawson says that his music has opened many doors and allowed him the opportunity to travel. “I’ve been around the world, to over 40 countries, and all 50 states. I did a South American tour in the late 1980s that was incredible. Everywhere we went, the people loved our music!” Being a touring musician isn’t all fun, and Lawson says he won’t miss the responsibilities of keeping a bus on the road, and eight people busy. “It is a lot of responsibility to keep people busy, and not povertystricken! The truth is, we all play for the love of music, but money is a necessity of life.” Like other musicians, the COVID-19

pandemic was a challenge, but Lawson says they played a festival on Mother’s Day weekend to a record crowd. “I expect we’ll have good crowds from now until the tour ends at the end of 2022.” After his touring days are over, Lawson says he will still have his hand in music to a degree. “I really enjoy producing others. I’m heading into the studio soon with Donna Ulisse. And I’ll be producing a second album for the Malpass Brothers. If you haven’t heard them, you need to. They are a neo-traditional, pure country band. They grew up listening to their grandfather’s records, and that informs their music.”

Being a touring musician isn’t all fun, and Lawson says he won’t miss the responsibilities of keeping a bus on the road, and eight people busy. “It is a lot of responsibility to keep people busy, and not povertystricken! The truth is, we all play for the love of music, but money is a necessity of life.” Like other musicians, the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge, but Lawson says they played a festival on Mother’s Day weekend to a record crowd. “I expect we’ll have good crowds from now until the tour ends at the end of 2022.” After his touring days are over, Lawson says he will still have his hand in music to a degree. “I really enjoy producing others. I’m heading into the studio soon with Donna Ulisse. And I’ll be producing a second album for the Malpass Brothers. If you haven’t heard them, you need to. They are a neo-traditional, pure country band. They grew up listening to their grandfather’s records, and that informs their music.” Whatever he decides to do, Lawson says he’ll be doing it “at his leisure.” He is looking forward to spending more time with family and enjoying life. “I’ve had a blessed career and life. I look forward to the next chapter!”

Kara M Bachmann

For over a decade now, the “boys” of The Get Down Boys have been pleasing audiences with traditional California Bluegrass. Based in the L.A. area, the band has seen its share of lineup changes and has rolled with the punches brought by COVID-19. According to banjo player Mark Cassidy, however, the band is firing up and getting ready to blaze new trails. Hopefully, they’ll pick up where they left off after winning second place in the Telluride band competition a few 20

years ago, just before COVID-19 caused a semi-hiatus for most in the music biz. During the lockdowns, where performing live was all but impossible, Cassidy said they spent time writing new material and appearing at the occasional wedding or private party. Their first post-pandemic public gig was in June, and he said the return to the stage -- in his hometown of Huntington Beach -- was an absolute blast.

“It was really well-received,” Cassidy said, explaining how different -- and in this case, rewarding -- a public event stage is compared to a private venue. “Everyone was kind of into it and knew the words to the songs... it was just really cool, really rewarding.” The banjo itself has been quite rewarding for Cassidy. It was an unlikely instrument considering his background, but it has taken him far. Even having any exposure at all to the kind

of music he plays today was a stretch back when he was a teenager. “There’s no banjo around Huntington Beach,” Cassidy explained. He first heard a good banjo when a high school substitute teacher had conversations with him about music. According to Cassidy, “he totally changed my life.” “I was a big rap fan,” Cassidy recalled. “That’s where my head was at.” On the second and last day, the substitute teacher (who Cassidy has not been able to locate again to this day) brought a bluegrass CD to school and gave it to young Cassidy. A new awareness of the genre resulted in a request

his parents thought a bit strange. “I told my mom and dad I wanted a banjo. They thought I was messing with them,” he reminisced. They got him a banjo as a high school graduation present, and according to Cassidy, “I wound up being really good at it.”

“We want to get something else in the works,” he said, “so we’re hitting the ground running again. We hope to try to hit the studio soon.”

Although the band has seen some lineup changes since it formed in 2009, Cassidy said the other versions of The Get Down Boys often contained members who weren’t “into” bluegrass as He won first place in a banjo their favorite -- or primary -competition there in California and was hooked. Not long after, musical genre. He said now there is something purer about the he moved to Texas with the current lineup because all three express purpose of studying members of the group have been under Alan Munde at South Plains College, who he described playing bluegrass “for a long time.” as a “renowned teacher.” Cassidy eventually became part of The Get Down Boys, which has already recorded one EP and Cassidy said the band hopes to put out more music soon.

“The Get Down Boys has had different sounds and different iterations,” he said, “but this is my favorite version of the band.”

EMERALD BUTLER

HIGH & RISING

WISCONSIN HAS BEEN GROWING ITS UNIQUE JAM-BAND STYLE OF BLUEGRASS. ONE OF THOSE UNIQUELY STYLED BANDS IS HIGH AND RISING. Wisconsin has been growing its unique jam-band style of Bluegrass. One of those uniquely styled bands is High and Rising. The trio is made up of Jim and Laura Farley on guitar, bass, and vocals, and their friend Ben Rohde on percussion. High and Rising

describes their sound as Groovy Grass. “We are pretty bluegrassy but a little bit more groovy,” bassist Laura Farley explains. “We kind of coined that term 22

Laura shared. “It’s kind of been an evolution.” The couple first met through friends in college but didn’t reconnect until years later through those same friends. They’ve been playing music together ever since. Jim and Laura have 4 boys who they bring along with them on several of their musical adventures. Laura shared that although the boys aren’t playing instruments with their parents full time right now, they still help out with setting up and manning the merch table. The couple had another group for 9 years called The Merry Weathers, which all three of the musicians were a part of before springing into High & Rising. The Farley’s live on the Western side of Wisconsin and their drummer Ben lives a couple of hours south along the Mississippi River. The trio does quite a bit of traveling for their music. “In the midwest, there’s just a ton of really great things going on,” Laura said. “I think there are a lot of emerging artists in the root’s genre too that is creating an The band officially formed at awesome vibe and a really the end of 2019 but has been cool scene.” coming together through years of friendship and “It could be taken many ways,” companionship. “My husband Laura admitted after being and I have been playing music asked how the band got its together for over 10 years,” name. The inspiration for the to help describe our sound. It’s not totally your traditional bluegrass. We’ve got a lot of original music that weaves in and out of bluegrass and incorporates some blues and maybe even a little bit of jazz components.”

band’s name came while Jim and Laura were traveling out west. We’ve taken lots of road trips out west into lots of mountain regions. Of course, elevation and being high and rising was part of it.” Laura also told of how the couple was listening to a Johnny Cash album while

Laura added. The album is produced by Kenny Leiser who Laura said has a bit of a traveling studio. The group started the album around the beginning of the pandemic. “It’s been a pretty long time coming,” she said, “at least it feels that way to us.” Laura said they wrote a lot of

from cancer a few years ago. “My siblings and I called each other wolf when we were kids. We always acted like we were a wolf pack, so the song is about that—about losing one of the pack. It’s a pretty emotional song. I think one of the things we go for as a songwriter is to write something that people can relate with. For people to actually grab on to that and feel something, I feel like it’s kind of success as a songwriter.”

the songs on the album during the pandemic, but they’ve been holding on to some of the songs for about two years. The tentative title for the album is “Howl” which is one of the tracks on the album. “Howl is probably High and Rising will be releasing the most powerful song on the their debut album on September album.” Laura wrote the song 24th. The trio gathered several for her sister who passed away bigger-name musicians from the mid-west area to be on their album including Adam Greuel and Davy Lynch from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, Ernie Brusubardis IV and Ryan Ogburn from Chicken Wire Empire, Augie Dougherty from Armchair Boogie, and more. traveling. On the album was Cash’s 1959 single release of Five Feet High and Rising. “It’s kind of a combination of those things how the name came together,” Laura answered.

“We are really excited about the songs that we’ve written for it. It’s been a work in progress throughout the pandemic,” 23

Kasey Moore A Drive For Bluegrass Shelby C. Berry

“My grandfather gave me my first mandolin and really encouraged me in bluegrass music,” said Tennessee native Kasey Moore. “He and my hometown were both big influences on me in my music with bluegrass jams.” With her grandfather’s influence on her life and her music, Kasey hasn’t stopped playing bluegrass.

in my hometown is really welcoming,” said Kasey.

Kasey’s family had moved to Knoxville, Tenn. when four-yearold Kasey started learning to play an instrument while they traveled. “We couldn’t drive a piano back and forth to Ohio, and a fiddle would fit in the trunk!” said Kasey’s mom, Jennifer Moore.

“During the week, I wake up early, grab an instrument and just start playing. I have school lessons throughout the day off and on, but I play music throughout the day as well. Occasionally, I get to do performances on the weekend, too!” said Kasey.

Classically trained on the violin, Kasey performed first shows at violin recitals. At age ten, Kasey played mandolin in a bluegrass jam and transitioned to bluegrass music. “The bluegrass community

For inspiration, Kasey looks to multi-instrumentalist and awardwinning songwriter Molly Tuttle and the indie-folk duo The Milk Carton Kids.

As a home-schooled student, Kasey, now age 16, has the flexibility every day to explore her music and other instruments like guitar, banjo, and upright bass. She incorporates learning, growing, and getting better in every aspect of who she is.

“Molly is very diverse and explores different genres, and she explores the idea that you can take a bluegrass instrument and mix it with a pop song. The Milk Carton Kids guitar player Kenneth Pattengale plays a lot like Dave Rawlings, and it fascinates me. I find The Milk Carton Kids to be very different,” Kasey said. Kasey brings classically trained techniques to her bluegrass music. Her teachers encouraged her to discover where she wanted to go with her music. “I grew up with classical music and got into bluegrass, jazz, blues, and folk music, so my style has changed as I am inspired by other genres,” said Kasey. “My sound will change forever. I love having a folky sound and relying on bluegrass influences with my music. I hope to continue to explore new sounds and put

of different people. Be inspired by them. Listen, and learn.” Kasey knows it’s more difficult to be successful in the music industry as a woman, but she is determined to make music her career. “Music has always been there, and it’s always been interesting. There are so many things to explore,” said Kasey. “I really love just how many different genres and concepts there are, and I love the aspect of performing. You can learn so much, and you never get to a point where you feel like you have learned it all. You play one genre for a while, and then you can explore others. You can take new ideas and concepts from other genres and apply that to bluegrass.” “I want to be a solo artist. I want to play. I want to write songs, to make my own sound. I want to collaborate and do things with other musicians,” Kasey explained with a passion and drive in her voice that is rare to hear from someone so young. “I just want to play music as much as I possibly can.” together what makes sense for me.” Kasey is a member of the East Tennessee Bluegrass Association and Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars. “My bluegrass community in my area doesn’t have a lot of young people. With Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars, I am able to connect with a lot of young people and jam with them,” said Kasey. Kasey remembered her last SPBGMA when Tomorrow’s Bluegrass Stars president Larry Smith was setting up for TBS kids. He encouraged them to be more outgoing, and he organized jam sessions. “Before SPBGMA, Larry had seen some of my Facebook videos and my music. The support from him and the other TBS leaders has allowed me to have such a strong connection with them,” said Kasey.

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“If I had advice for any new musician joining us in TBS, I would tell them just to play as much as you possibly can. Jam with people. Put yourself out there. I was always shy and struggled to put myself in those opportunities. Jam, learn, play, and listen to all kinds 25

FROM THE NURSERY TO THE OPRY by Shelby C. Berry

very challenging, and I was a perfectionist,” said Kallie. “I cried longer than I actually practiced every time we sat down at the piano. My vocal coach encouraged my mom not to let me give up. We pushed through, and after the third year, I really started loving it.” But when Kaycie got to first grade, she didn’t want to be like her big sister. She wanted to blaze her trail, so she chose to play the fiddle “like Pa on Little House on the Prairie.” Raised from the red dirt of Weatherford, Oklahoma, the Swaim sisters’ lives changed forever when their church nursery worker struggling with lung cancer was put on hospice in her home, recalled Kallie. “We would dance and sing to cheer her up and put on shows for her. When she passed, her daughter asked if we would sing at the memorial service. After that, someone else at our church asked if we would sing

at a wedding anniversary. Our mom panicked and started praying. The Lord placed our kindergarten teacher on her mind, and she started teaching us music.”

“I pretty much just didn’t want to do what my sister was doing,” said Kaycie. “I saw Pa playing the fiddle, and I thought it would be the coolest thing to play in my living room, have my sisters dance, and hoedown. I fell in love with classic violin, Irish music, and, of course, the bluegrass fiddle as well. It all blends.”

Their piano had been passed down from their great, greatgrandmother and that became the first instrument for Kallie, By the time Kambrie hit who was entering first grade. first grade, she knew what instrument she wanted to play “The first few years were the mandolin. She had thought

about it a lot and kept changing her mind, but all it took was an awe-inspiring concert by The Issacs to make her fall in love with the sound of this new instrument. “After I watched Sonya Isaacs play the mandolin, I knew that was the instrument for me. Mama didn’t even try to talk me out of it. She just started praying and asking the Lord for a mandolin instructor,” laughed Kambrie.

my mandolin,” said Kambrie. I fell in love, and the guitar brought out another side of me. It brought out a more serious side. And with that, we started doing more bluegrass music.”

Their sound turned into a musical melting pot and the girls prepared to record an EP. But they needed a band name. Rose Rock Daughters originates from Oklahoma’s legendary rock that looks like a rose and the rose of Sharon mentioned in scripture. Therefore, Rose Rock Their local music minister John Daughters represents more than Gerber gave them the flyer on a band—it portrays hometown the Fine Arts Summer Academy roots and faith. flyer put on by the Annie Moses Band in Tennessee. This camp “Our faith is why we do what introduced Kallie, Kaycie, and we do,” said Kallie. “Without Kambrie to Americana and Him, we wouldn’t have the became a major turning point in message to share. It’s an honor their musical career. and privilege to serve God with our music. Our heart really is “The camp had all instruments that we would be able to share a in one place,” explained Kallie. message of truth in a world that “There was nothing like it in is searching for truth. Our goal Oklahoma. They were two is to proclaim the message of weeks of the hardest part of our truth and beauty. A lot of music journey. We were overwhelmed, is just noise, and our goal isn’t to and we came home saying we be a part of that movement. We were never going back. But want to inspire. Our gift is an there was nowhere else that honor, and we want to display you can get this kind of music that the best way that we can.” education.” With one foot in Nashville music“We ended up going to that making and another planted camp for 9 years,” said Kallie. in the red dirt of their beloved “It helped us grow as a group, Oklahoma, the Rose Rock and we had a great relationship Daughters first made waves in with the Annie Moses Band music city performing at the because of it. They really helped Country Music Hall of Fame us record and brand ourselves as and the Cannery Ballroom and a band in the beginning years.” recording their EP and albums with the Annie Moses Band With these connections in there as well. Nashville, the Swaim sisters After four years of attending The added the harp and the guitar to Fine Arts Summer Academy, the round out their spirited, soulful Rose Rock Daughters got the sound. opportunity to sing in the camp’s gala at the Grand Ole Opry. “I got started on the guitar out of convenience to help me with “Our PawPaw loves old country 28

like Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson. He would have us listening to them in his truck,” said Kaycie. “And we were getting to perform on the same stage as those great musicians. This was the first year that we got to do our own songs for our band at the Opry. Our PawPaw was so excited that he got a plane ticket and came down. He had never come to Nashville to watch us before. It was so surreal.” When COVID hit last spring, it birthed new creativity for the daughters who began arranging their songs and co-producing a Christmas album in the studio. The marriage of new and old styles was eclectic. “We have a new passion for arranging music,” said Kaycie. “It’s quite humbling to see God work through you. Arranging the music brings more passion to it, and you can see that when we perform.” While COVID prevented the Rose Rock Daughters from touring along with their Christmas album release last year, they are excited to hit the road to perform the music from their album in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Carolina. They will also release songs from their Christmas album on streaming platforms in September. As they move into this new tour, the Rose Rock Daughters want to “be able to speak truth into people and speak beauty into them,” said Kallie. “We want to inspire the younger generation. We want to encourage families to work and play together. Our goal is to inspire younger generations to use their gifts to honor Christ.”

FAN PHOTOS