In our second year of this pandemic, the live music industry continues to be in an uneasy stasis. Some glimmers of hope; some venues are doing outdoor shows, some festivals are planning late summer dates, and bands are starting to plan for tours again. But the virus news still is not that good, and I wonder how realistic we are being.

A big question for the Summer and Fall is how many people can come together in an outdoor venue to listen to music? Some of the big local and regional festivals have postponed their dates but are still planning to proceed. Hopefully, the virus allows it.

Watermelon Picker's Festival, one of the oldest bluegrass festivals, is planning on running along the Shenandoah River in Berryville on September 16-19. They are always presenting a killer lineup, including Bela Fleck's My Bluegrass Heart with Sierra Hull and Michael Cleveland, The Infamous Stringdusters, Keller and The Keels, Town Mountain, Furnace Mountain, The Plate-scrapers, and The Woodshedders, to name a few. More info at watermelonpickersfest.com.

DelFest has been postponed to September 23-26 at the Cumberland Fair Grounds in Maryland. The lineup includes The Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush, The Travelin' McCourys, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Mandolin Orange, Lil Smokies, Della Mae, and many more. I have said in the past that DelFest is Telluride Bluegrass's eastern sister, and this continues to be the case. Let's hope the fest happens.

LOCKN, the big jam band fest, is scheduled for October 1-3, with no lineup announced yet. Floydfest is sticking with their July 21-25 schedule, with a fantastic lineup including the Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Turkuaz w/ Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew playing the entire Talking Heads album REMAIN IN LIGHT.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

My plan to go to the year's most fantastic music festival has been pushed back another year. Planet Bluegrass, the promoters of Telluride Bluegrass, has announced the 2021 festival will be a hybrid event, with only 3,000 tickets instead of 12,000. We'll be waiting until 2022.

Loudoun has become the epicenter of late-COVID live music. There have been few bright lights in the live music business in the past year, and one of those is located in Round Hill. B-Chord brewery has become one of the go-to venues on the east coast for jamgrass music, drawing some of the top acts of the genre to this field on the shoulder of the Blue Ridge in Western Loudoun.

Last Fall, B-Chord treated a limited number of outdoor attendees to some great shows, including Sam Bush, Larry Keel, Jerry Douglas, Andy Falco, and Travis Book, Keller Williams, Cabinet, and Yonder Mountain String Band. The limited audience for these shows is spread across acres of lawn above the stage, with firepits scattered around. It's an incredible scene and an excellent adaptation to address the COVID restrictions.

B Chord tells its audience:
"Our outdoor stage is ideally situated at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains and our expansive lawn provides lots of room to social distance and still enjoy live music. All Public Health protocols will be strictly enforced, and we have implemented contactless practices to protect our guests and employees. Face mask or coverings will be required so don't forget to bring one with you."

The Infamous Stringdusters did a three-day run at B Chord in mid-April, their first live shows in some time. Travis Book exclaimed after playing John Hartford's Steam Powered Airplane-- "I have not been on a PA system this loud in a long, long time, cheers everybody!" All three shows sold out, and social media from the band members' postshow was super positive. I have recordings of all three shows, and it is the 'Dusters relieved to finally be on stage after a year of pandemic, playing a great range of their best music--their tunes, Grateful Dead, bluegrass standards, and even Steely Dan and Pink Floyd. People in the crowd were yelling, "Thank You!" You can download these fantastic shows at www.bt.etree.org, and I can't recommend them enough, pure musical joy.

B Chord has hosted Del McCoury in the past. Later in May, they will present "DelFest Lite," another three-day event with The Del McCoury Band, The Travelin' McCourys, The Seldom Scene, Sierra Farrell, The Gibson Brothers, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Fireside Collective, The Plate Scrapers, and Furnace Mountain, to name a few. With DelFest being postponed to the Fall, this run will give you a great taste of what to expect in Cumberland in September.

B Chord will present Railroad Earth on May 21-22. I'll also be looking forward to the return to B Chord of the Yonder Mountain String Band. Yonder will do a two-show run July 3-4. I can't believe that we are getting shows of this caliber a mere 20-minute drive from Middleburg--Kudos to B Chord for bringing these bands to us.

Let's hope that we'll continue to see more live music coming back as we go through the next several months. I'll be playing bluegrass with Hunt Lyman and Mark Maggiolo at Art in the Burg on Saturday, May 15, in the afternoon.

Steve Chase is practicing bluegrass tunes in Unison.