Bluegrass in the cove
Grammy-nominee and Japanese bluegrass acts slated to headline the Forever Bluegrass festival
Bobby Osborne has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry for 54 years, is a Grammy Award nominee, was inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Honor with the Osborne Brothers in 1994 and again in 2009 with the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers.
As a child, he studied the nuances of mandolin players, becoming a master musician known for being able to play any fiddle solo from any Flatt & Scruggs record on his mandolin.
The legendary bluegrass musician, joined by the Rocky Top Express, is one of this weekend’s headliners at the Fall Forever Bluegrass Festival in Walker County, Georgia.
Bluegrass fans from across the Southeast will travel to scenic Mountain Cove Farms for three days of music, rain or shine, today-Saturday, Nov. 1-3. The festival creates an idyllic weekend: music by day, camping at night, all in crisp fall weather with the beautiful backdrop of vivid shades of color splashing the trees in McLemore Cove.
The spring and fall Forever Bluegrass festivals are hosted by sisters Cindy Pinion, Ruth Pinion and Inez Pinion Castleberry in memory of their parents. Their father, Boxcar Pinion, was a bluegrass musician who lost his life to cancer in 1990. The sisters’ family and friends band together to put on this popular weekend of bluegrass.
This year’s event is notable for its inclusion of Hiroki & Hiroshi Japanese bluegrass act.
The sisters rent Mountain Cove Farms’ show barn, campgrounds and cabins — just 30 miles from downtown Chattanooga — for the event. Concerts are held in the show barn, so weather is not a factor.
Mountain Cove Farms offers amenities such as camping, Frisbee golf, picnic tables, fire rings, camp store and all sorts of outdoor recreation for families. Visitors will also find dozens of jam sessions around the campsite at all hours.
A variety of campsites and RV sites are available, with and without electricity. All camping reservations require a three-day ticket and three-night minimum camping. Children ages 15 and under camp free with a paying adult. No open fires are allowed in any campground; campers must have a fire ring.
All space is available on a reservation basis. Any remaining campsites will be booked on a first come, first-served basis. Call 706-820-2228 to reserve a site in the camping areas.