By Debbie Robinson
news@joplinglobe.com
CARTHAGE, Mo. — It cannot be manufactured, and it has to come from the soul.
Gary Shipley was talking about bluegrass music Saturday as he strummed his banjo in the shade of a tree on the courthouse square while preparing to perform in the Carthage Acoustic Music Festival.
“It’s not fabricated by anything; you gotta feel it,” said Shipley, who has been playing a variety of instruments for 37 years. He said he recorded his first album in 1984.
Free festival
Jim and Jan Watson of Webb City were among the 200 who brought their lawn chairs and turned out for the early hours of the free festival that went into the night in front of the historic Jasper County Courthouse.
“It’s excellent,” Jan Watson said. “We just love this music.”
The Alfred Packer Band, just one of a full lineup of groups that performed from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, sported their traditional buckskin outfits to the delight of the crowd, which organizers expected to swell to several hundred later in the day.
ArtCentral also participated this year with several artists displaying their work.
“I think this is wonderful,” said ArtCentral Director Sally Armstrong.
The organization, which offers a children’s art camp next month, assisted youth Saturday in creating picture frames.
“We’re always looking for new kids,” Armstrong said.
The youth on Saturday worked with beads, stars and other items to make picture frames.
Kristal Winters, 15, of Burleson, Texas, worked on creating a picture frame for her grandparents, who live in Carthage.
Bluegrass heaven
As for the music, Kristal said she enjoyed the variety of the bluegrass music.
“I kind of like the difference between the music and what I listen to,” she said.
As the Alfred Packer Band performed original songs, such as “Sally Smacked Me with a Flounder,” the Carthage Exchange Club sold its traditional hot dogs and hamburgers.
The organization hoped to raise between $500 and $700 to benefit organizations, such as Magic Moments Riding Therapy and groups that work to prevent child abuse, said Kathy Loyd.
