The Villages - June 2017 - 26

{ For The

Love

oF MUSIC }

Bluegrass Performance Club
Brings Front-Porch Sound to SeaBreeze
Story By rica LewiS | Photo By roB wiLKerSoN

They have a hometown sound. Their upbeat,
Appalachian mountain music lifts spectators out of their
chairs in joyful, spontaneous waves. Soon the crowd
is clapping, singing and tapping their feet in time with
the beat.
It started in 2004, said Village of Piedmont resident
Ken Alhona, who started the Bluegrass Performance
Group shortly after moving to the community.
Popular bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent came to
visit her publicist here in The Villages, Alhona said.
She was looking for a bluegrass event but there weren't
any. Alhona urged her to come back, vowing she'd find
bluegrass here the next time around. From there, an
acoustic army was formed. Several musicians enlisted,
bringing their talents to the stage with a fiddle, mandolin,
bass, guitar and banjo. These core players make up the
host band, "Still Kickin." And they, along with a gleeful

26

JUNE 2017

gang of musicians Alhona calls the "bluegrass orchestra,"
complete the sound.
"It's a jam session," Alhona said. "We were just
playing in a circle then, and we decided to open it up and
let other people in. The word got around and soon we had
people lining up to listen. We ended up moving to a larger
venue to accommodate the audience."
The club welcomed anyone who was interested
in singing or playing, and the invitation did not go
unnoticed. What was, in the early days, a small gathering
of toe-tappers has become a throng of devoted listeners,
many of whom arrive early to score front-row seats.
"A few weeks ago, we had 455 people show up,"
Alhona said. "We usually see around 250 people, many
are regulars who say they look forward to the music
throughout the week. They sing along, learn new songs,
and it's so much fun to see the response."



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - June 2017

Contents
The Villages - June 2017 - Cover1
The Villages - June 2017 - Contents
The Villages - June 2017 - 1
The Villages - June 2017 - 2
The Villages - June 2017 - 3
The Villages - June 2017 - 4
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