On October 11th, ThorpeWood will be hosting our second annual Barn Dance. Last year was our first year for this event, which the wonderful Julie Parlaman thought up as a real toss back to days gone by in our Thurmont community. The turnout was spectacular and a fantastic time was had by all. In fact, we thought it was so nice, that we had to do it twice – and, October 11th is the date to mark on your calendar! Tickets are on sale now – $20 per person, and $10 per person if those people are under 15. There will be light snacks and apple cider, and you are welcome to BYOB. The Barn Dance will be held in our bank barn, which will be decorated in all of its Fall finery, but the highlight of the evening – in addition to seeing all of you dancing – will be the fantastic music which will be provided by the Speakeasy Boys.
The Speakeasy Boys are a favorite of ThorpeWood. According to their publicity materials, the Speakeasy Boys started out as a group of local musicians who simply like to get together and play music. Every Sunday, they would meet up and play bluegrass along the banks of the Potomac River near Packhorse Ford, located outside of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and at a nearby house dubbed “the Speakeasy;” hence their name.
The Speakeasy Boys play traditional and non-traditional acoustic, bluegrass and old-time music, in their own unique zesty hobo jugband style. The band consists of two guitars, mandolin, banjo, washtub bass, fiddle, harmonica, washboard and saw, although – according to their band materials – they frequently feature other instruments including a homemade tin-can contraption (affectionately named Jeb Junior) that is played with a pair of spoons, the nose-flute, kazu, and electric lapsteel guitar. In addition to bluegrass and old-time, they also play country, gypsy swing, blues, folk, celtic and have been known to play rock, reggae, and other styles on occasion.
Does this description not make you want to send off a check and order yourself up some tickets? Can’t you just hear the music and imagine the do-si-doeing and swinging of partners that will be occurring? Our toes are tapping just working on this blog post! Oh, and don’t worry if you don’t have all of the latest dance moves committed to memory – we will have a caller to call out the dances to the crowd. We know that this Barn Dance on October 11th will be such a great time! To purchase tickets, call Beryl at 301-271-2823, or email her at [email protected]. We sure hope to see you there!