Bluegrass music fills Veterans Memorial Park on Friday nights

Under towering shade trees, the California Bluegrass Association has begun weekly Friday night, free concerts at Clovis Memorial Park on Fifth Street between the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building and San Joaquin College of Law.

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Faye Magnone celebrated her 81st birthday listening to songs about Jesus and murder. In other words, she went to a bluegrass concert.

On a recent Friday evening, about 75 people listened to the Tollhouse Ramblers under the shade of towering elm trees at Clovis Memorial Park, just east of the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building. They spread blankets on the lawn and swayed to the banjo, mandolin, guitar and upright bass.

The concert was the second in a series of concerts planned through September by the local chapter of the California Bluegrass Association. Most Fridays from 6 to 9 p.m., local bluegrass bands will play in the grassy area between the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building and the San Joaquin College of Law.

At the recent concert, Magnone ate chocolate cupcakes and reminisced about her past when people would gather in the park for band music and picnics.

"It brings back memories," she said.

Other listeners danced, ate strawberries from the nearby Old Town Farmers Market and visited in lawn chairs.

"Bluegrass wouldn't be bluegrass without a murder song," guitarist and vocalist Doug Bremseth said.

After a song about shooting little Sadie down, he sang a gospel.

Drifting too far from the shore

You're drifting too far from the shore

Come to Jesus today, let him show you the way

You're drifting too far from the shore.

Bluegrass -- which has roots in the music of immigrants who settled in the Appalachian region -- is fast, bluesy country music. No electric instruments are used, and the most common instruments are the fiddle, banjo, mandolin, upright bass and guitar.

"The songs are about your life experiences, your hunting dog, whatever," said Kelly Broyles, a member of the California Bluegrass Association who organized the weekly concerts.

Broyles, a former saxophone player, never thought he'd play bluegrass.

After inheriting a banjo from his uncle, he joined a local bluegrass group. The music brought him back to his childhood when he would listen to relatives from Oklahoma and Texas play guitars and banjos during family gatherings.

"What I love about this music is it takes you back to your roots," Broyles said. "It's just home music. It makes you feel good. It makes you feel comfortable about where you come from."

Six months ago, the local chapter of the California Bluegrass Association began meeting at the Clovis Senior Center. The members noticed Clovis Memorial Park and thought it was perfect for community concerts.

"Back East in places like North Carolina, every Friday night at big hotels or town squares, there are free concerts," Broyles said. "It's more of a way of life back there. We thought boy that would be great if we could do that here."

The next concert is 6 to 9 p.m. June 20 and features The Grass Less Traveled, of Visalia. Concerts are planned after that for every Friday until Sept. 5 with the exception of July 4 . No alcohol or animals are allowed.

E-mail Gabriel Alexander at galexander@clovisindependent.com.