Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Allegheny Echoes week is a good time to play the license plate game in Marlinton. The one-of-a-kind old-time and bluegrass music “camp” attracts musicians of all skill levels from all over the country. They converge on Marlinton and fill the town with tunes as old as the mountains.
They claim to only know how to sing Boil That Cabbage Down, but tend to leave the camp with a close relationship to Old Joe Clark, Old Susanna and Liza Jane.
After just four days of class, the students of Allegheny Echoes take the stage for the student concert. This year was the 28th year of performances; and the first year the concert was held at the Discovery Junction.
Beginners, intermediate and advanced musicians plucked and picked at their guitars, banjos, fiddles and upright basses as they played the songs that define Appalachian music. They lifted their voices, as well, singing the words of old-time pioneers.
Also taking the stage were several members of the creative writing class who read poems they penned during the week.
While there are a lot of out-of-staters taking part in the week-long camp, there are many familiar faces who make Allegheny Echoes a family affair.
Three generations of the Burt-Kinderman family – matriarch Susan Burt, her daughters, Joanna Burt-Kinderman and Sarah Riley, and her grandchildren, Ramona and Willa Hardy and Hazel and Silas Riley, were all honing their skills on their respective instruments.
Sisters Katie Broce and Jessica Oxier were in guitar class together while Broce’s son Garrett was in beginner guitar.
Brothers Silas and Victor Dean were also students, with one taking guitar and the other fiddle.
John Perry was in a mandolin class while his niece, Kaya Eves, played fiddle.
There were many more couples, siblings and all kinds of families taking part in the celebration of music and Appalachian creativity. Even if you came alone, by the time you left, you were part of a larger family.
That family includes the phenomenally talented instructors who continue to the pass down the music. Guitar – Doug Hepler, Robin Kessinger, Dustin Benson, Danny Arthur and Kenny Smith. Banjo – Stephen Casto, Chance McCoy and Tim Bing. Fiddle – Ben Davis, Dave Bing, Jake Krack and Tessa McCoy. Mandolin – Scott Rucker and Brandon Shuping. Bass – Tim Corbett. Vocals – Amanda Smith, Dan Wilson, Bob Leving and Pete Kosky.
The concert came to a close with the vocal class singing “I’ll Fly Away,” dedicated to the memory of Homer Hunter who was a well-known – and well-loved – local musician and beloved member of the Allegheny Echoes family.
Allegheny Echoes offers scholarships to those who want to attend the classes, and, this year, 70 individuals received scholarships.
For more information about the program and scholarships, visit alleghenyechoes.com
