High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association

High Lonesome Strings (HLS), the central North Carolina-based bluegrass club, has been in existence for almost 27 years. Pammy Davis Lassiter founded the musical organization in July 1997. It has been going strong and growing ever since with a current enrollment of 202 members.

Board member Lassiter, who still handles membership, the G Run Newsletter, and their eBluegrass Calendar (an email that lists all bluegrass related events and news in the region), shared some of the club’s early history. “I was part of the founding group for the Charlotte Folk Music Society in 1985 where I discovered many new friends who had a passion for playing music just like I did. But bluegrass was what I loved the most so after moving to the Greensboro area, meeting more bluegrass pickers and being encouraged by them, I started the High Lonesome Stings Bluegrass Association. Membership includes monthly meetings featuring a band followed by jamming. We also have a camp and pick one or two times a year along with a yearly free bluegrass festival. Our first festival was held in 1998. It was a two-day event held at Hagan-Stone Park and continued for four years featuring bands who had played for our monthly meetings. In the winter of 2002, Doc and Richard Watson played for the club followed by Dan Crary and Beppe Gambetta in the fall at venues in Greensboro. In 2003, the first band we ever paid at the festival was the Steep Canyon Rangers.”  Big T Lassiter, Pammy’s husband, remarked. “She was the first to ever pay them $1000. They were scared to ask her for that amount.”

High Lonesome Strings helped build a permanent stage at the park located just outside of Greensboro in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina. The stage was dedicated to Lassiter’s late husband, Clyde Davis, who had done the sound at the festival for several years. The bluegrass organization continues to host Pickin’ in the Park each May. Big T serves as the festival’s emcee.

T noted, “In the early years, the headliner bands were The Jeanette Williams Band, Gena Britt Band, Kruger Brothers, Kenny & Amanda Smith, Big Country Bluegrass, Circuit Riders and Constant Change. In recent years, we had Junior Sisk & Ramblers Choice, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, Mountain Faith, Sideline, Danny Paisley & Southern Grass, Williamson Branch, Dewey & Leslie Brown and The Carolina Gentlemen, Shelton & Williams, and many more. All these bands are like a lineup for the best four-day bluegrass festival in the world. This year we are having Starlett & Big John. We typically have four of our club bands perform. For about the last five or six years, we have featured our scholarship winners. We have had solos, duets and youth bands like Southbound 77. We rotate the youth in between our older bands.  

“We had over 600 attendees last year with a number of vendors. In past years, the club sold BBQ, hotdogs and ice cream. Recently, we have had a food truck plus the club sells drinks, snacks, and ice cream.  Many wonderful members of the club have promoted us through the years such as Al Batten, Lorraine Jordan, The Wood Family and Kickin’ Grass.”

HLS is very supportive of young and upcoming musicians. The organization gives scholarships for youth (through age 18) to take lessons or attend music camps.  Pammy stressed, “We have awarded a total of 70 scholarships since we started the program in 2017. We do not have a limit on how many scholarships we offer per year. A youth can apply annually until they pass the cutoff age.”  Awards are given up to $500 per youth. Some of the past scholarship winners include Jake Goforth, Tae Childress, Ettore Buzzini, Macy Henson, Grace Bemus, Jessica Lang, Noah & Kayleigh Stills, Malachi Freeman, Amelia Freeman, JonPaul Sepulveda and Elliot King to name a few.

HLS president Elizabeth Greeson praised their support. “High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass was the first organization to invite our son (Daniel Greeson) to showcase as a young bluegrass fiddler. They have always encouraged the youth wanting to learn the music and continue to offer ways to introduce them to the traditions that have kept bluegrass at the forefront in our region. I have felt a close connection to the membership and want other youth to be introduced to these same possibilities.

“I remember the first time as a family when we visited HLS. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Hagan-Stone Park for a monthly meeting. We all enjoyed the great band and then we stayed to let our young son jam with other musicians. That was when someone said to him, ‘Hey kid, what you got in that case?’ HLS was the first that invited Daniel to join in to play with others. Today, I look back and think, what a blessing this organization was to our son. I want to make sure other families have that chance.”

Big T noted, “We helped a lot of pros who were looking for income during the pandemic. We played at IBMA on the street for nine years of its eleven years. One year we were sponsored by the mayor of Raleigh and got to play on one of the ‘big stages.’ During that time, we not only ran our own stage, but booked as many as four bars during the week of IBMA. On our street stage we were showcasing as many as ten bands a day for two days.”

The tall bassist did the math. “Taking the conservative side: 8 bands, times 2 days, times 9 years would be 8x2x9=144 performances, not to mention all of the bar shows. Pammy and I have showcased youth and youth bands for the last six or seven years. We have had Nathan Aldridge, Ben Watlington, Waverly Leonard Malachi and Amelia Freeman, Lake Carver, Peden Williams, The Ferranti brothers, Liam Purcell and many others.  We sponsor four monthly jams and hold a monthly meeting where one of our bands performs or we hold a big jam. We also give all youth a free first-time yearly membership.”

Their website states: High Lonesome Strings is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting those who want to discover and share bluegrass and other forms of traditional music. High Lonesome Strings is supported by memberships and by your generous donations.  High Lonesome Strings is a 501(c) corporation, so donations and dues are tax deductible. We welcome everyone who plays, promotes or just enjoys listening to bluegrass and traditional music.

Membership to High Lonesome Strings includes: The G Run (their monthly newsletter), monthly meetings which showcase a local bluegrass band followed by jam sessions for all levels of musicians, HLS free bluegrass festival, HLS bluegrass jam sessions, HLS Member Band Referral List, and youth scholarships. 

For more information on High Lonesome Strings, their festival, their meetings, and their scholarships, visit their website: highlonesomestrings.wordpress.com or their Facebook page.