Graves' Mountain Festival of Music opens Thursday

Fiddles, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers and guitars are getting new strings in anticipation of one of the biggest weekends of the year for bluegrass music.

The 19th installment of Graves’ Mountain Festival of Music opens Thursday and runs through June 4 on the grounds of Graves’ Mountain Lodge near Syria. Thousands of fans who turn out in droves to listen to some of the biggest names in the genre look forward to the annual bluegrass festival.

There are perennial favorites like Seldom Scene, the Grascals, Lonesome Highway, the Lonesome River Band, Dailey and Vincent and Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. The festival also has earned a reputation for staying fresh and current by including acts that are creating a buzz in the bluegrass industry, or have never played this particular venue before.

Much of the credit can go to bluegrass musician and producer Mark Newton, who books the acts every year. He helped found the festival in 1993, along with Jimmy and Rachel Graves and Sonny Ludlam.

Newton always has his ears cocked for bluegrass talent, and he thinks he has something really special to offer this year.

“Carl Jackson and I coproduce an event here in Nashville called the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Fan Fest,” Newton said recently via telephone from his Nashville office. “This past year we had the Quebe Sisters Band perform, and they blew everybody away.

“They got three standing ovations. The group consists of three sisters, and they’re awesome. They’re from Texas and will be performing in the [Virginia] region for the first time.

“I think they’re going to be one of the big hits of the weekend. They’re scheduled to perform from 12:40 to 1:20 p.m. Saturday [June 4] and again that evening from 8:10 to 8:50 p.m.”

Opening the festival at 2 p.m. Thursday will be Virginia’s own Donna Ulisse and the Poor Mountain Boys. Ulisse hails from Hampton and made her musical debut when she was 3.

On that auspicious occasion, Ulisse wandered onto a stage where a bluegrass band was playing. She immediately won the audience over when she started singing “Take This Hammer.”

After moving to Nashville in 1984, Ulisse quickly became a sought-after singer for songwriters and music publishers who wanted her to sing on their demos. In 1999, when country music songwriter Glenn Sutton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, Ulisse was asked to sing some of his songs that Tammy Wynette and Lynn Anderson made into hits.

Ulisse was said to have “brought the house down” during that performance. She and her band are likely to do it again this coming Thursday afternoon.

The only difference is that Ulisse will be singing songs she wrote herself. Her songwriting talent was first showcased on her 2007 CD, “When I Look Back.”

The success of the first CD led to the 2008 album “Walk This Mountain Down.” Ulisse’s latest CD, “Holy Waters,” was released last year.

A highlight of last year’s festival was the live recording of Rural Rhythm Records,’ “All-Star Jam — Live at Graves’ Mountain.” The CD was released on Oct. 30, 2010, and was named one of the top 10 bluegrass albums of the year by Jim Moulton’s Country Reviews.

The CD will be available at the festival, and some of the performers on it will be on hand to meet and greet fans as well. Lou Reid will be available at the CD booth on Thursday, Sammy Shelor of the Lonesome River Band on Friday and Russell Moore with IIIrd Tyme Out on Saturday.

“The record has done extremely well since its release,” said Newton, who also appears on the record. “When you do a live recording like that, what you hope to capture is the magic and spontaneity that comes from just having fun with the music.

“And that’s what happened, and it can be heard on all 12 tracks on the record. A lot of times, when you’re with your own respective band, you get into your own routine.

“But on this recording I put people from different bands together, and that created a special spirit. And the audience just loved it.”

Graves’ Mountain Festival of Music will be held Thursday through June 4 at Graves’ Mountain Lodge near Syria. A three-day ticket is $90, $30 for Thursday, $35 for June 3 and $35 for June 4. Tickets and a full schedule of events are available at www.gravesmountain/bluegrass.htm.