Day Trips: Fresh air, festive music for Mom this weekend
Tickets to Wednesday’s Primal Scream concert may not be the worst Mother’s Day gift to your mom, spouse or grandma. But she may enjoy a more laid-back and less tattoo-heavy musical experience – and there’s one happening this weekend, in the fresh spring air, just an hour from Charlotte.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver’s Bluegrass Music Festival, staged at Denton Farm Park, also features fantastic music, but with an old-time family atmosphere.
The site itself celebrates bygone times: The attraction holds more than a dozen restored buildings, including a general store, grist mill and blacksmith shop. There’s a full-size steam train that runs on a half-mile track, as well as campground.
Four major outdoor events are staged there every year, and this one, which began Thursday and wraps up Saturday, is a bring-your-lawnchair showcase of the best bluegrass and country gospel music around.
The band headed by Lawson – a stately, silver-haired vocalist and mandolin player – has garnered a slew of awards from the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame, including Vocal Group of the Year for seven consecutive years. He’s an IBMA Hall of Famer who cut his teeth playing with the legendary, bluegrass-shaping Country Gentlemen.
Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver tours extensively, but always returns to Denton, in Davidson County, for this spring event. This is the festival’s 35th year.
Each day brings live bluegrass from noon to about midnight – except for a 5 p.m. “supper break.”
Among the 14 Friday-Saturday headliners are up-and-comers Darin & Brooke Aldridge, a Cherryville-based husband-wife team; Flatt Lonesome, the 2014 IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year; and Ralph Stanley II (son of the same-name bluegrass pioneer and a star in his own right). Many acts will do two sets; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver will do an early-evening set both days.
The forecast calls for excellent picking and strong harmonies with occasional gospel.
There are food and craft vendors at the site, as well as camping options. It’s a rain-or-shine event, but there’s covered pavilion seating. The event is alcohol-free. Historic buildings at the Farm Park will largely be closed this weekend, but train rides will be offered from 11 a.m. to noon Saturday ($5; $4 for kids).
Admission is $40 for a full day of family-friendly tunes.
Moms will appreciate that admission is half-off for ages 15-17 at the gate, and that 14 and younger get in free. Gates open around 10 a.m.
Bordsen is the Observer’s travel editor.
Want to go?
Directions: N.C. 49 northeast, across the Yadkin River. Past N.C. 109, turn left on Gravel Hill Road, which becomes Cranford Road. Watch for Denton Farm Park signs. The physical address is 1072 Cranford Road, Denton.
Details (including performer lineup, camping info and multi-day passes): www.farmpark.com/doyle-lawson-bluegrass.
This story was originally published May 5, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Day Trips: Fresh air, festive music for Mom this weekend."