Eden's Charlie Poole Music Festival blends old, new styles

Charlie Poole would’ve been proud of the innovative performers at this year’s Charlie Poole Music Festival in Eden, according to Louise Price, president of the festival’s advisory board.

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Charlie Poole was a banjoist who worked in the Spray Cotton Mill in the 1920s. He invented the three-finger banjo style and helped popularize string band music. Like the musicians playing at this year’s festival in his honor, Poole had a variety of musical influences.

“You’ll get a little flavor of all the influences that Charlie had (at the festival). He had the mountain music background. He listed to vaudeville; he listened to blues; whatever he could get his hands on,” said Price. “Some describe his music as having a chamber quality. The mills provided a classical teacher for their workers and their children.”

In any case, Poole was a “totally modern man,” according to Price, and that’s why folks are still talking about him today.

Like Poole, one of the groups playing at this year’s festival, The Wiyos, have a style that is old yet new at the same time. The group from New York creates music that is an amalgamation of American music from different eras and genres.

“We have a very broad expanse of music that we’ve listened to, that’s sunk down into our subconscious,” said Parrish Ellis, who plays the guitar, banjo and ukulele and sings for The Wiyos. “I feel like (our music) is original while paying tribute to the many different styles that we’ve become interested in and studied.”

Ellis said some of The Wiyos’ musical influences are Piedmont and Delta blues, small Western swing bands from Texas and Oklahoma, popular rock music from the 1960s and ‘70s, including the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and string band music reminiscent of Charlie Poole’s North Carolina Ramblers.

“We’ve listened to a lot of rural string band music. That’s been a longstanding interest and a passion of ours,” said Ellis. He said The Wiyos plan to play several Charlie Poole songs Friday night at the festival, including “Leavin’ Home,” “Goodbye, Liza Jane” and “Milwaukee Blues.” Ellis said he admires the string band musician’s style because he was “unique and singular in the way that he interpreted songs.”

After playing at the Charlie Poole Music Festival, The Wiyos look forward to being the opening act for the Bob Dylan/ Willie Nelson/ John Mellencamp summer tour. Price said the Charlie Poole Music Festival prides itself on bringing high-quality acts to Eden.

“We bring the truly up and coming folks,” she said.

The Friday night audience will also have the privilege of hearing Dom Flemons, a return performer and member of the North Carolina-based African-American trio “Carolina Chocolate Drops.”

“He’s a one-man show,” said Price. “He’s one of our own — a national treasure and a state treasure.”

“I like to call myself a songster,” said Flemons. “It’s a very broad repertoire to reach a wide audience of people.”

Flemons plays some original songs, some old-time favorites, but mainly, he just plays what he likes. His music has elements of blues, old-time jazz, old-time country and string band. Some of the music is based on folklore, while some of it is based on “popular culture standards,” said Flemons.

One of the songs Flemons plans to perform at the is “Bye, Bye Policeman” by Jim Jackson. Flemons said the song tells the classic story of “civil disobedience” and the police reaction, which, he said, “sometimes can get out of hand.”

Flemons uses a wide range of musical instruments to make his music come alive — the banjo, the guitar, the harmonica, the quills and the bones, to name a few. There are two instruments which Flemons has yet to master — the fiddle and the accordion. It’s important to Flemons not only to entertain his audience, but also to present his music in a way that the audience can relate to. For that reason, Flemons tells stories about what his music means to him and shares tidbits of information, such as the African origin of the banjo.

Another group performing at the festival, the East River String Band, has shared the stage with Flemons. The East River String Band, a New York duo, performs old-time string music with a vaudeville feel to it. After sharing their music at the Charlie Poole Music Festival on Friday night, Flemons and the East River String Band will perform at the Chicago Blues Festival.

Also performing on Friday is Faster than Walking, an old-time string band from Charlottesville, Va. Before Friday night’s festival ends, Joe Thompson, a 90-year-old African-American old-time fiddler from Mebane, will receive a lifetime achievement award. Thompson’s repertoire includes playing in Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has been recognized by the North Carolina Legislature and received a National Heritage fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Thompson has also been a mentor to Flemons.

“He’s been a real source of inspiration to me,” said Flemons. He said Thompson is the last member of his family to play the fiddle and banjo music.

“This style of music in its various forms has been around in American culture for more than 100 years,” said Flemons. Price said Americana string band music has a worldwide following and visitors to the festival reflect the widespread popularity of the music.

“The visitors to the festival are from everywhere. We had a contestant last year from Japan,” she said.

The musical competitions will heat up the festival on Saturday. The winner of the old-time three-finger banjo competition will receive a grand prize of $500. The competitions will begin in the morning with the youth division. Musical performances by Kinney Rorrer’s New North Carolina Ramblers, the Carolina Roustabouts with George Underwood, and Pete Peterson and Kellie Allen will break up the competitions.

The weekend honoring the legacy of Charlie Poole will continue Sunday morning at 10:00, with a lesson about the modern banjo by musician and historical researcher Greg Adams, followed by a glimpse into the life and music of Charlie Poole by Hank Sapoznik, using examples from his anthology, “You Ain’t Talkin’ to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music.”

The festival will end with a 2 p.m. float down the Smith and Dan Rivers, beginning at the historic area of Spray where Poole’s legacy remains. The Dan River Basin Association and Three Rivers Outfitters are offering the two-hour canoe/ kayak trip. The cost is $35 per person.

“We’ve always wanted to develop some kind of connection with the river. It played a part in Charlie Poole’s life. He worked beside it,” said Marianne Aiken, treasurer of the advisory board for the Charlie Poole Music Festival.

If you go

• The Charlie Poole Music Festival will be held at the fairgrounds at 13970 N.C. Highway 87 North in Eden. Bring a lawn chair and enjoy the music for an evening, or camp on the grounds for the whole weekend.
• Tickets are $25 for the entire music festival, or $15 for Friday only or Saturday only. Children ages 12 and under will be admitted for free. Camping carries an extra charge of $10 per night, with a $20 maximum charge.
• Kitty Cohen of Cohen’s Tea Room is doing a fish fry for festival patrons on Friday evening and Saturday. Carnival-style foods will be available as well.
• For more information about the Charlie Poole Music Festival, visit http://www.charlie-poole.com.