By Ana Diaz —
Each month, Miami Regionals celebrates Appalachian culture by offering performances by local and regional bluegrass bands. On Tuesday evening, a couple dozen bluegrass enthusiasts gathered in a small room in the Robinson-Schwenn building in downtown Hamilton to hear the Great Miami Bluegrass Band perform.
The group plays traditional bluegrass music, and found an enthusiastic and receptive audience at Miami Downtown Hamilton. The band’s lead guitarist opened up by talking about his childhood growing up around bluegrass music. His family was poor, he said, and they didn’t have a radio, so he spent many evenings listening to his parents play bluegrass in the living room. “No radio, what else was there to do?” he joked, and the crowd laughed along in recognition.
As soon as the music started, there was foot-tapping, clapping, and head-bobbing as the crowd was charmed by the music. The Great Miami Bluegrass Band features guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and double bass, a classic combination of string instruments that are capable of producing that energetic, distinctive down-home sound. After each song, and often after each instrument solo, the crowd couldn’t help but break out into applause.
In one delightful classic composition called “Whiskey Before Breakfast,” the fiddle was the star, which the band’s sixteen-year-old fiddle player, Tim, played skillfully. After the song, the crowd broke into passionate applause for Tim’s performance. Tim smiled sheepishly from the stage, clutched his fiddle in his grip, and continued playing with the band.
With a brief intermission, the Great Miami Bluegrass Band played until about 8:30. Next month, Miami is celebrating Appalachian culture again by hosting Forest Hills Bluegrass and Gospel Band at Miami Hamilton Downtown on Tuesday, Nov. 7.