| Lorraine Jordan, middle, of Carolina Road entertains at the Wintergrass Bluegrass festival at the French Quarter in Perrysburg. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
PERRYSBURG – With the holidays over, bluegrass fans still had something to celebrate.They
gathered for 23rd Winterfest Bluegrass in Super Class festival at the Holiday Inn French Quarter over the
weekend to hear songs about faith, family. heartbreak and the flat out joy of picking.Larry Efaw has
produced the festival for five years, taking over following the death of founder Bob White.The 54-year-old
Efaw is a musician as well as a producer. He said he started playing when he was 7, learning from his father
Edward. He also picked up tips attending festivals like the Winterfest, just watching and listening to his
elders.That spirit remains at the festival, he said. In addition to the performances on stage, the amateurs
and pros have a chance to mix it up in a room set aside for jamming.The festival is devoted to traditional,
true-blue bluegrass. The fan base for that music remains strong. He said he and his band played for crowds
of thousands at a summer festival.The timing of Winterfest is right. "Right after the after the
holidays people are ready to get out and hear some music," Efaw said.Several hundred people were
already on hand to hear the early acts Friday afternoon.Among those was Efaw’s own band the Bluegrass
Mountaineers. For a Friday afternoon set he was joined by his father.The 82-year-old Edward Efaw has been
playing for over a half century. "I look forward to it and I always wish I could do more like I used
to," he said.The scene is about more than music, he said. "I have an awful lot of friends… very
good friends who if I’d hadn’t been in music If I never have known them, I’d have missed a lot in
life."Don "Wink" Winkle, who serves as master of ceremonies at a festival in Nova agreed it’s
the people that make the bluegrass scene so enjoyable.Once you meet someone once at a bluegrass show, he
said, they’ll always recognize you whenever you meet.He allowed that the warm weather events outside tend to
be looser and more freewheeling."It’s good for January," said Linda Frye, of Akron, said of the
festival she’s been attending for seven years..The musicians connection to their fans was evident from the
performances.Lorraine Gordon and Carolina Road honored a request for "Prayer Bells from Heaven"
even though they didn’t have the personnel they needed, including the singer who is featured on it.Still
Gordon used Google to find the lyrics, and they put together an arrangement.Banjo virtuoso Larry Gillis
played his band’s signature tune "Swampgrass" in honor of two girls who wrote him a Christmas card
to tell him they loved his music and that they would be in Perrysburg.The girls had even learned to sing
"Swampgrass" and were going to begin playing instruments.That, Gillis said, makes him proud.
