RenoFest brings crowd to Hartsville

HARTSVILLE - The 13th Annual RenoFest Bluegrass Festival held over the weekend in Hartsville drew people from as far away as Wyoming and Texas to compete and to enjoy a weekend infused with bluegrass music.

The festival began Friday afternoon with the band competition. Capturing the top prize of $1,500 in the S.C. Championship Bluegrass Band Contest was Lonesome Meadow band of Westerville, Ohio.
The band is a family band staring Mark Jackson and his three children, Anne Marie Jackson, 18, John Jackson, 15, and Gary Jackson, 14.
The group has been playing together for about five or six years and took third place in last year’s competition.

Mrs. Jackson said the group met Rob Jordan at an acoustic camp, and he encouraged them to send in an audition tape to compete in the 2009 competition. After doing so well in its first try, the band decided to come back this year. Winning the competition guarantees them a place on the Center Theater stage for RenoFest 2011.

The band formed after Anne Marie took up her instrument at school. Not to be outdone, the boys decided to try their hand as musicians and quickly a band was formed with their dad playing the bass.

Other finalists in the band competition were the Flowers Family of Mount Holly, N.C., and Flat Out Bluegrass of Peachland, N.C.
The banjo and guitar competitions were so close that a top six had to be chosen.

Earning first place in the guitar competition was Carl Miner of Nashville, Tenn. This was Miner’s first time entering the competition. He received a Wayne Henderson guitar as first prize. Other finalists were Zeb Snyder of Lexington, N.C second place; Bryan McDowell of Canton, N.C., third place; Matt Lindsey of Dunbar, W. Va., fourth place; Ben Cockman of Sherrills Ford, N.C., fifth place; and Allen Shadd of Lake Wylie, N.C., sixth place.

Billy Cockman of Sherrills Ford, N.C, took home first place in the banjo competition and the Terry Baucom Signature model banjo from the Deering Banjo Co. Other finalists were Corey Clark of Columbia, second place; Alana Flowers of Mt. Holly, N.C., third place; Cody McGuire of Galax, Va., fourth place; Mike Harvey of Concord, N.C., fifth place; and Jesse Groover of Franklinton, N.C., sixth place.

Drizzling rain most of the evening bogged down Friday night’s Downtown Hoe-down and BBQ and threatened to cut the event short. The musical night was a tribute to local bluegrass musician Rocky Springs who passed away at the age of 50 on the Center Theater stage last year while filling in as a performer with Slope Valley.

Slope Valley, Springs’ band Sounds of Grass, and other bands with which Springs performed dedicated their songs Friday night in his memory. Spring’s wife and children received a plaque, presented by Marty Driggers on behalf of RenoFest.

As the rain’s intensity increased Friday night, RenoFest volunteers began packing up the equipment a little early. In their midst were Jordan Schnoes of Yutan, Neb.; J.D. Martell of Alvin, Texas; and Seth Parsons of Philippe, W. Va. These three young men who were recruited to help out and had just arrived in town for the festival are all in the Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Va. For their help, the men said they received complimentary tickets to Saturday’s events.

Martell said they had a four-day pass and wanted to get out of town, so they Googled “South Carolina festivals” and Hartsville’s RenoFest came up.

The men said, when they told their buddies they were driving to South Carolina for the weekend, everyone wanted to know if they were going to Myrtle Beach or Charleston.

Schnoes said they told friends they were going to Hartsville. No one had ever heard of Hartsville, including them, but the festival had everything they were looking for: bluegrass music, barbecue and more bluegrass music.

They discovered an added bonus as their six-and-half hour journey was nearly over, and they were traveling down Harry Byrd Highway in Darlington. They spotted something to their left that at first glance they thought was a huge stadium. To their surprise, they were looking at Darlington Raceway.

It appeared they had hit the jackpot ¬¬- bluegrass music, barbecue and a NASCAR racetrack all in one weekend.

Friday night they also checked out the night life in Hartsville.

On Saturday morning, the three headed to the Darlington Raceway Museum after listening to a few contestants perform. Then they were coming back to Hartsville for more barbecue and bluegrass music in the afternoon.

“It has been awesome,” Parsons said.

They all agreed they would be back for another RenoFest and would tell all their friends about RenoFest and the great time they had on a four-day leave.

“I’m glad to see people come together in such a positive way,” Kevin Wykoff of Quinby said.

Wykoff was in town for the guitar competition. He was competing on a guitar made by local luthier Boot Arreola of Frets & Necks on Carolina. Arreola also donated one of his guitars to be given away at RenoFest.

Wykoff, who plays with the band Have Mercy, said he grew up on bluegrass music.

There was a healthy crowd of bluegrass fans at the Center Theater all day watching the competitions and listening to the concerts by the various bands.

During the evening concerts a tribute was paid to South Carolina Bluegrass Legend Don Reno who the festival honors.

The festival ended Sunday morning with a bluegrass gospel concert by Hagar’s Mountain Boys.