The following article was originally posted on the Courier Record website.
ENTERTAINING FELLOWSHIP
On the last three Thursday evenings every month at the Victoria Public Library, the band “Too Wet to Plow” gathers for a two-hour concert starting at seven.
Eight musicians and a singer usually play, and the instruments are anything from guitars, banjos, fiddle, and a steel guitar with the occasional autoharp or mandolin.
The musicians range from the elderly who have been doing this for decades to one of the pitchers for the Central High baseball team, Caleb “Lil Bit” Word, who plays either the banjo or guitar alongside his grandfather, Joe Word.
I asked Bobby Thompson, who used to be in the famous band “Appalachian Express,” what makes these concerts so special, and he replied, “The people. The people who enjoy what we are doing. Music is something that needs to be shared. By yourself it doesn’t mean much.”
J. T. Seamster started the group years ago when they used to perform at the Victoria Restaurant.
The band tends to play classic country, gospel, and bluegrass so you are going to hear the old singers like George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Mel Tillis.
All the musicians perform with Jeanette Tomlinson, who has won many awards for her singing, including the Queen of Country Music Award for Virginia in 1973 and 1977.
The band does take requests, and I recently asked for “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” and one fan asked for “Filipino Baby,” made famous by Ernest Tubbs. Towards the end of the night, a singer or two from the audience may come forward and perform.
On any given Thursday, you may hear anyone from Dolly Parton to The Oak Ridge Boys and last week the bass guitar player, Bryan Hood, sang “The Beverly Hillbillies” theme song.
Explained Glenn Hood, who performs with his sons Brent and Bryan (who are in the wonderful gospel band “First Go Round”), the people attending — most of them being regulars — are now “considered extended family” because we’ve “become close over the years.”
(The world of music can be one of kinship. Mrs. Tomlinson is Mr. Hood’s aunt, and her late husband was the brother of Lacy Tomlinson, the steel guitar player.)
When you glance at the audience and band, you think of all the stories, the histories, the lives lived well in spite of the challenges. As Mr. Hood pointed out, we are looking at “the fabric of America.”
Part of the enjoyment of the evening is not only the music, as we all tap our feet and clap our hands, with the bump of the bass guitar, the treble of the fiddle and the picking of the banjo in the background, but the camaraderie between not only the musicians but also the audience.
There is teasing and kidding around on stage and with the audience, newcomers are introduced, and birthdays and anniversaries are announced. It is a night of laughs and smiles.
And you can’t beat the price. Towards the end of the evening a bowl is passed, and we are asked to contribute a dollar towards the library’s utility bill.
When the musicians break into the song “Ya’ll Come” (made famous by singers like Bill Monroe and Porter Wagoner), the night has come to a close.
When you live in the country, everybody is your neighbor,
On this one thing you can rely;
They’ll all come to see you and never, ever leave you.
Saying, “Y’all come to see us by and by.”
So, we all say our goodbyes ‘til next time and head out into the summer twilight — songs of love, passion, heartbreak, and God still swirling in our minds.
This is small town living at its best.
