| MARCH 6, 2010 -- There's nothing like live, local music to shake off Cabin Fever. The Killingly Grange Hall was full on Feb. 27 for a bluegrass show featuring Amy Gallatin, Roger Williams and Stillwaters, along with Nick Anderson and Shady Creek.
Plainfield resident Nick Anderson has been organizing the winter bluegrass concert series for the past 10 years. The concerts are held at the Killingly Grange Hall on the fourth Saturday of the month from October through March. "It's a family venue," said Anderson , of the Grange Hall. At the recent concert, people of all ages were tapping their toes and bobbing their heads to the music.
Anderson is the leader of the Shady Creek band, which includes Monty Mc-Clanihan from Sterling on mandolin, William Trickett of Mansfield on banjo, Mark Doyle of Plainfield on bass, and Elise LaFlamme of Providence on fiddle . Anderson plays guitar and sings lead vocal on most songs.
Fifteen-year-old Trickett has been playing banjo for five years and has been with Nick Anderson and Shady Glenn for one year. In explaining how he manages to play with the band, Trickett said, "The whole family has been very supportive and has really gotten into bluegrass."
Doyle has been with the band eight months. He took up bass four years ago, learning on his own after getting the basics of guitar from his father. LaFlamme, with three months in the group, is the newest member of the band. She took up the fiddle 11 years ago after she got one for Christmas and taught herself to play from a video. Bluegrass is the only type of music she plays. "It's what I love," she said.
As part of "Kids on Stage," 9-year-old Sarah from Burriville, R.I., performed four songs on guitar. After she finished three flat-picking songs, the audience encouraged her to play one more song. She added a fourth song in the Chicago blues style, which was a mix of strumming and flat-picking . Sarah said, "I always wanted to play guitar since I was 2." Her father gave her lessons for her fifth birthday and she has not stopped since.
The featured band was Amy Gallatin, Roger Williams and Stillwaters, playing in a slower, more open style than the up-tempo bluegrass of Nick Anderson and Shady Creek. Gallatin and Williams live in Glastonbury, they both sing, and play guitar and Dobro-style guitar, respectively. About playing at the Grange Hall, Gallatin said, "I love the vibe of the room, and the ladies in the kitchen."
John Urbanik of Salem, Conn., played bass, and William's son, J.D. Williams of East Hampton, played mandolin.
For more information about Amy Gallatin, Roger Williams and Stillwaters, visit the Web site amygallatin.com.
Next month's concert will take place on March 27 and will feature Kip Hemingway and Crooked River. Nick Anderson and Shady Creek will also perform, along with any kids who would like to participate in "Kids on Stage." The doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. The Killingly Grange Hall is located on the corner of Dog Hill Road and Route 101 in Killingly. For more information, call Nick Anderson at 860-564-1018 or e-mail jamerson19@hotmail.com.
The Killingly Grange makes the food that is sold throughout the night of the Bluegrass Concert. Events such as the bluegrass concert help to defray the costs of basic utilities for the Grange Hall and also to collect funds to help the community.
The Grange started as a farmers' organization to help form a collective insurance group. It is now a community service organization providing holiday food baskets and bike helmets for children. Membership is open to all with meetings on the first Monday of the month.
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