August 15, 2021 at The Pines Theater at Look Memorial Park Florence, MA
Del McCoury Band, Sierra Hull & Justin Moses, Tony Trischka with Michael Daves & Bruce Molsky, Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Brennen Leigh & Noel Mckay, Nora Brown, Rose & The Bros
Mamma’s Marmalade
The First Annual Back Porch Bluegrass festival appeared to be a successful start for the Signature Sounds team. While some may complain that you cannot call the first event an “annual” one, it certainly displays the intention of the promoters. Given their successes with other festivals they have run for multi years, it looks good for the future of this one too. (Green River Fest Back Porch Festival)
The festival started at noon with local favorites Mamma’s Marmalade, we arrived in time to catch some of the Po’ Ramblin Boys set. As always they delivered a solid set of traditional bluegrass music. The next act up was the trio of Tony Trischka, Bruce Molsky, and Michael Daves. These 3 bring immense talent and joy to the audience they perform for, always offering a bit of a history lesson with the music. I have seen each of them in different configurations and solo, but this group was perfect for this event. They performed a mix of traditional and original songs. This one was stunning as Daves and Molsky sang a Dillard Chandler tune while Trischka stepped off the stage.
Next up was Sierra Hull and Justin Moses, the married couple are touring together, with Geoff Saunders on bass. I’ve seen Moses play a wider variety of instruments than he did this set, but this is the first time I’ve seen him perform his thoughtful originals.
The last act of the day was The Del McCoury Band. The set was unique for 2 reasons, first the absence of their bass player due to travel issues, and that the band used individual microphones. Del mentioned they were using separate mics to be cautious given the ongoing pandemic. The single mic style they usually use for vocals brings with it a sort of choreography, and highlights their collective skills and cohesiveness.
The audience did not seem to mind as the band performed many favorites, and the crowd was delighted by every one of them. The show closed out with the “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” written by Richard Thompson, made a bluegrass classic by Del McCoury, see a snippet in the following clip.
