Some Eastern Tradition returns to L’il Margaret’s

Friday, Aug. 1, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Mike Phipps, left, Tom Gray, Jay Armsworthy and Mike Bolen comprise Jay Armsworthy & Eastern Tradition, which will play Aug. 7 at L’il Margaret’s Bluegrass Festival. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

California native Jay Armsworthy will play at what he calls his hometown bluegrass festival for the first time in nine years.

Meanwhile, the three-day lineup at the 20th annual L’il Margaret’s Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival will feature Goldwing Express, Bluegrass Brothers, Larkins Family, Jack Tippet Band, Dan Paisley & the Southern Grass, Carroll County Ramblers, Deeprun Bluegrass Gospel, Ken Cox and Sunnyside Gospel, Charley Thompson & Bottom County Bluegrass, Joey Tippett and the California Ramblers, Mark Templeton and Pocket Change, and Beth Stevens & Edge.

Known for hard-driving and traditional bluegrass, Jay Armsworthy & Eastern Tradition consists of Armsworthy (guitar and vocals), Mike Phipps (mandolin), Mark Bolen (banjo, dobro) and Tom Gray (bass), a member of the Country Gentlemen from 1960-64 and an original member of The Seldom Scene.

Armsworthy, 40, recalls hearing his parents’ picking parties go late into the night. He said as soon as he was old enough to drive he began attending regular jams at a bluegrass record store in Hollywood.

In the early years he teamed up with Keith Arneson and Charlie Labrie to form Backyard Bluegrass Boys, which won the talent competition at Great Mills High School with renditions of ‘‘Dueling Banjos” and ‘‘Rocky Top.”

For a brief period, Armsworthy tried to plug in. ‘‘That wasn’t for me,” he said, shaking his head.

Instead, he began to book gigs as Jay Armsworthy and Friends. An old bandmate of his came up with the name, Eastern Tradition. When he moved back to California (the state), however, he allowed Armsworthy to continue with it.

There’s not a whole lot to it. ‘‘We play traditional bluegrass and we are on the Eastern United States,” Armsworthy said, ‘‘So, Eastern Tradition.”

While musicians have certainly come and gone from Eastern Tradition in the past 20 years, Armsworthy keeps plugging away. He is wholly committed to bluegrass.

He books festivals, community events and various gigs for his band, produces bluegrass radio programs and also hosts a bluegrass concert series at the American Legion in Hughesville.

In the winter months, Armsworthy drives a school bus.

His tastes are decidedly traditional, and when it comes time to make a record or make a new setlist, he and his bandmates will scour the Internet, radio and old record collections for obscure material. Perhaps they take an old country tune and give it a more modern bluegrass sound.

‘‘It’s more of the acoustic country, honky-tonk sound,” Armsworthy said. ‘‘Most of the songs are about love or love gone bad. This is the traditional country sound of the ’50s and ’60s: Web Pierce, Buck Owens, Hank Williams, Jim Reeves. ... The older I get the more I appreciate getting back to the original roots: Flat and Scruggs, Monroe, Jimmy Martin, Reno and Smiley.”

His recordings include ‘‘Just Lookin For Fun,” ‘‘Still Havin’ Fun” and ‘‘Making Memories.”

‘‘It wasn’t intended to be a trend,” Armsworthy said. ‘‘We were just looking for fun and then having fun. And now we’re making memories.”

Armsworthy hopes to eventually make a gospel record. He is also working on a project involving Reno and Smiley.