Now there are many of opportunities to catch just any old concert. How many opportunities do you have to see a legend? I had one last night at The Barns at Wolf Trap when I saw Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Let me tell you it was exciting from the very moment those six gentlemen walked out on stage. The legendary Dr Ralph Stanley himself was standing there with his bright white cowboy hat ready to sing. I was in for a real treat.

Of the rest of the band they included, Nathan Stanley (guitar, vocals), Dewy Brown (fiddle, vocals), Jimmy Cameron (bass, vocals, and bus driver), James Alan Shelton (guitar, vocals), Mitchell Van Dyke (banjo). They sounded as good as good could sound. Nathan Stanley would pause and say “now Mitchell I know you can play faster than that, why don’t you play at 100 miles per hour” and Mitchell Van Dyke would start plucking that banjo as quick as could be. It just made you want to stomp and clap maybe let out a little shout. Now what I would call the most special moment of the evening, the Clinch Mountain Boys left the stage. The lights dimmed and it was just Dr Ralph Stanley by his lonesome. He performed “O Death” in cappella. His voice is so distinct and unique; you could feel the lyrics pulling you in. It actually sounded like a melodious plea for life. This song was featured in the motion picture soundtrack O Brother, Where art Thou? This won Ralph Stanley a 2002 Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Another great song was “Orange Blossom Special”; Dewy Brown took the spot light in this one. He would start off by making his violin sound like a train. He would then have at it, playing ridiculously fast violin solos. It was great; I clapped several times before the song was even over. Every song was great; they played so many of them I can’t even go through them all (my revue would be ten pages long). Some of them included “Angel Song”, “Good Old Mountain Dew”, “Katie Daley” a whole bunch. It was interesting they didn’t have any type of set list so they pretty much just took request for the majority of the evening. That was a lot of fun.

This was an amazing performance with extraordinary musicians. All of them, I didn’t even get a chance to mention how good James Alan Shelton’s guitar playing was. Some of the best I ever heard, honestly (and I have heard a lot). It’s like there a cast of all star musicians put together to form a super group. They played for a good bit too; the whole show was almost three hours long. This was to behold, I knew I had just experienced Americana at its finest.

TRR Concert Review and Photography by Alan J. Duckworth

About The Author

Dean Rogers

Editor-in-Chief/Entertainment Reporter

I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!

My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.

Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.

As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.

All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.

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