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Tks crcr Ciss est tebs the kst dys of t!& CrowcrZIe festlnJ.
The dxUss cf tfs "CM FiMIsxs' Con
test" at Diownv2Is and the sadden riss of
Uon?2 IOw at Peru Ststc CoIIc is net a
cbicd epic of great proportions.
It does give an excuse, though, to reflect
on the redirection and subsequent burial of
country and tluegrass music in the wake of
its discovery by the public.
Although the attempt to creat a blue
grass festival at Peru represents a-worth
while concert opportunity Tor a new gener
ation of performers, it is out of respect
that the CrownviUle festival be laid to rest
with muted dignity.
The Brownvde festival started as a historical-cultural
experience. Initially, the
audience numbered in the hundreds,
and was dominated by a traditional type
of bluegrass-fiddle competition
The annual event caught on. Older peo
ple mixed with the young. There was a
nice cooperative atmosphere as there was
an influx of young talent and music. There
seemed to be little of the generation gap
that papers talked about.
The final year of the festival was a
realization of the Woodstock nightmare.
The crowds over-flowed into the thou
sands. People parked on ErcwcvIHe citi
zens front lawns.
The drunkenness of much of the .rowd.
served to sharply divide the crowd, driving'
many of the older patrons into their own
secluded area. There were open hostilities,
and a good deal of the tradition and good
feelings disappeared from the stage and the
crowd.
The county commissioners' office,
because of the complaints of the Brown
vle citizens or the impossibility of provid
ing sanitary facilities for the mob, did not
grant a permit for the competition this
year.
. There have been token attempts to re
locate the festival, but for the most part
this year's competition on the Dalle of
BrownviHe riverboat lacked the sponta
neity and atmosphere of the previous fesr
rivals.
Enter Peru's Boogie HUl.
This festival, which will last from noon
until sunset this Saturday, will have an
atmosphere similar to that which killed
BrownvSIe.
There wi3 bs no lack cf talent at the
festival. It features Lincoln's Sandy Creek
Pickers, last yean winners at Brownv;
and former Ehiegrsss Crusade members
Steve ILmson on banjo and Gary Hcwe on
mandolin, both ErownviHe veterans, and
Peter Bkke&e, a professional smgrr-dobro
player. A dobro is a steel-bodied guitar.
:&0h vv. - 4 J E!u3grss six feet under
,, " ;,; ,;Sl; BWMi&t-.', .foSoiving Brownville .dsaih
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There wd be a V2Ie Nelson look-alike
contest and a dinner that night.
I don't think the early atmosphere and
the simplicity of CrownvHIe can ever be
created again. It's sad to try. The musk can
always be better; Peru's line-up is outstand
ing, and it will likely be a fine, modern
bluegrass concert.
I'm reminded of a Daily Nebraskan in
terview with Steve Hansen last year when
he was mulling over the demise of the Blue
grass Crusade.
He indicated that the break-up of the
group was partially caused by fie necessity
of doing more commercial bluegrass musk.
He said, Td like to do a more tra
ditional type of bluegrass, but I've got to
think about making a living, too.
I'd like to think that somewhere on
some isolated, back porch, there's an old
man, and a fiddle, and an audience of one.
....
Recital is Sundsy--.
Quentin Faulkner, UNL School of
Music instructor, wl perform the Orgzt
Msss ofNkkm de Gritty on the Miskell
Memorial Organ at 4 pjn. Sunday in Kim
baH Recital HalL
The organ mass was a musical form em
ployed in European churches from the
15th to the 18th centuries, in which organ
music alternated with choir chants. .
Assisting will be members of the School
of Music Madrigal Singers, under the dir
ection of John Moran, School of Music
director.
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