Grand Manan Trip - David Parmley and Continental Divide

Here is my report on the David Parmley & Continental Divide concert that was held at the Grand Manan Community School on July 3, 2007.

Before The Concert
The trip started with Tom Mason picking me up at my house at 8:45 AM. As expected, he was wound up tighter than a spring in a 7-day clock with excitement. If you know Tom, I'm sure you can picture his enthusiasm. Whenever someone mentions an opportunity to jam he's like a little kid with a new toy. Personally, I don't get it because I don't really care for jamming, and furthermore, I'm not sure I can even say I like Bluegrass music any longer. Truth be told, I'm not sure I ever did! I'm beginning to identify with what my son once said when I tried to lure him to a Bluegrass festival a few years ago. He asked "who wants to sit in a field with a bunch of old people listening to music that nobody likes?" I guess that puts it all into perspective doesn't it?

A group of 14 people from the Bluegrass Friends jam sessions met at the Blacks Harbour ferry terminal at 10:00 AM, one and a half hours earlier than the scheduled ferry departure. That's when and where the first jam started. You read it correctly - we were there early to get a parking lot jam going. Making sure we were in the lineup for the ferry was only of secondary importance.

In attendance for the parking lot jam there were also a few people that I've met over the last year or so from Blacks Harbour, as well as Esther Prosser and her husband Earl, from Moncton, and her sister Lynn Hutchinson from Sussex. I'm glad they made the trip again this year. If you'll recall, last year's trip to Grand Manan was for the Cherryholmes concert.

At 11:15 or so we boarded the ferry and of course, we jammed on the ferry all the way over to the island. The crew members seemed to enjoy it and none of the passengers complained, but I'm sure there must have been someone besides me that was wishing we would stop. Oh well, no one asked us to stop. It was just a big noisy racket to me.

Let me see, when we got on the other side (Grand Manan) we stopped to make a ferry reservation for the return trip. I learned from last year's trip that there seems to be a whole lot more people trying to leave the island than coming to visit, and that you just might not get to depart at your desired time without a reservation. From there, we checked in at the Surfside Motel, about one minute from the ferry terminal. The Surfside Motel is a nice little place with reasonable rates and friendly staff.

What now? Oh yeah, how could I forget? More jamming, of course! Stupid me. This time we're on the back lawn at the Surfside Motel. Of all the jamming we did, that was the worst! I couldn't keep my banjo in tune for more than 30 seconds at a time due to the heating and cooling effects of the sun and wind. First, the sun would heat the banjo up, so I'd have to tune. Then, moments later, the wind would cool it down. This went on for the entire duration of the jam and I was becoming agitated with the torment of it all. When I suggested we stand behind a van where the wind was greatly diminished, I was promptly told "we're not standing behind a van" by somebody that apparently had some kind of affliction with vans. Okay, fine - sorry I brought that idea up.

As the afternoon wore on people were beginning to show signs of hunger. This was indicated by people saying things like "we're not jamming behind no stinkin' van, okay?" and "I'm getting hungry." Well anyway, off to the Area 38 restaurant we went for a bite to eat.

We left the restaurant and headed straight to the Grand Manan Community School to arrive there at 6:00 PM sharp! Wouldn't want to be late for the show. Everyone wants to get a good seat and my goodness, we wouldn't want to get caught in a traffic jam in the big metropolis of Grand Manan! What is it with all of you people thinking you have to arrive so early to get a good seat at these small venues? The school's auditorium only holds 450 people! There are no bad seats! There are no traffic jams - it's Grand Manan, population - 2000! Someone mentioned jamming in the school parking lot but it never came to pass. Hallelujah! One of my prayers was answered!

So, now we're all standing in the school entrance for an hour waiting for the doors of the auditorium to be opened. Finally! We're allowed into the auditorium and since we were the first ones in line, we get to pick the seats of our choosing. Man, it's a good thing we were there early, that's all I can say!

The Concert
Robert Dignard had warned me earlier in the week that David Parmley & Continental Divide can play some pretty "funky" stuff. It had better not be "funky" because I'm planning on hearing some good traditional Bluegrass music!

As it turned out, David Parmley & Continental Divide did not disappoint. They played traditional style Bluegrass music all night long with just two or three country tunes thrown in, which I'm not complaining about.

David Parmley is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Bluegrass Cardinals. He has a voice very well suited to country music but it also works very well as a lead voice for Bluegrass. David plays rhythm guitar for the group.

Mandolin player Randy Graham was the emcee for the band and very entertaining. He's got a great high tenor voice and can also sing lead very well.

The band's newest member, Jimmy Cameron has only been with Continental Divide for 8 months. He played bass for the band but is also a fine mandolin player in the tradition of his hero, Bill Monroe. Jimmy sang lead on a couple Monroe tunes that I'm sure Bill would be very proud of. He did 'em just like Bill did. Wow! What a voice!

That brings us to Dale Perry, the banjo player for the group. Actually, Dale is multitalented in that he plays finger-picked guitar, bass, banjo and who knows what else? Dale is also a very fine bass vocalist.

Billy Hurt, Junior is certainly no stranger to the fiddle and has been fiddling since the age of 10. I really enjoyed his style of fiddling. It is said that Billy plays what needs playing… no more, no less.

You can meet the entire band by visiting the David Parmley & Continental Divide web site.

The quality of the sound was very good at the concert, yet another talent of Dale Perry. It was crystal clear. Two microphone stands were used; one in the center of the stage and one off to the left. The one off to the left was mainly used for the fiddle, but was also used when Dale Perry sang bass on a song or two. The center mic stand had a condenser mic at the top for the lead singer. Midway up the mic stand was a cluster of three microphones for instruments. One pointed straight ahead and the other two pointed slightly to the left and right for whoever was doing a break. I believe all of the microphones used were condenser types. The guitar was not boomy at all. One more thing to note about the sound is how "hot" the mics were. Instruments were being picked up from several feet away without a hollow sound. I was very impressed with the quality.

The band was very good at working the microphones, knowing just when to step closer or back away. The mix was almost like that on a CD. The vocals blended very nicely and sounded very rich when harmony was added. Once again, I was impressed.

At the halfway point of the concert a 20 minute break was taken. When the concert resumed, 73 year-old Don Parmley, David's father and former member of the Bluegrass Cardinals joined the group for a Bluegrass Cardinals reunion. I'll tell you what. Don added the most wonderful Bluegrass harmony that you could ever ask for. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from his voice at the age of 73. It sounded like the voice of a 30 year-old to me. It really was incredible.

Don Parmley played banjo during the reunion while Dale Perry took over on bass. Jimmy Cameron, who was playing bass, stepped off the stage because he was not a part of the former Bluegrass Cardinals at any time in the past. Don did make a couple mistakes while playing the banjo, but he still did a fine job. I can only hope to get as good as he is. Did you know Don Parmley played all of the filler banjo music on the Beverly Hillbillies television show? Apparently so.

The very talented Ray Legere and Lee Alward (from New Brunswick) were in the audience. Before the night was over, they were both on stage performing with The Bluegrass Cardinals. Backed up by Ray and the Bluegrass Cardinals, Lee sang Father's Table Grace, a recital made popular by Lester Flatt. Ray went on to play two or three more tunes with the band.

After The Concert
Earlier in the day, Sheldon Frost had invited us (the group of Bluegrass Friends) back to his home where a lunch was prepared. David Parmley & Continental Divide were there as well, and I got to talk to all of the band members. I spent quite a bit of time with Dale Perry, who was playing a brand new Huber Kalamazoo banjo. I also spent some time with Don Parmley and we talked banjos as well. He was playing a 1927 Gibson RB3.

Lee Alward finally announced he was going to get his guitar, and in a few minutes the entire house full of guests were in Sheldon's garage enjoying a jam session with the band. I was paying close attention to the left hand movements of Dale Perry. The jam ended at 2:30 AM.