LONGWOOD: Bluegrass in the Conservatory

On Saturday night we headed to Longwood Gardens to hear bluegrass performer Rhonda Vincent and her band The Rage.
What a trouper Rhonda is. She explained that she'd been suffering an upper respiratory malady for weeks, so while playing the mandolin throughout she shared the singing duties during the two-hour show with the other members of the band. She was right when she said she has a deep bench to rely on.
Sharing the stage with her were her daughter Sally Berry on guitar (her "The Grass I Am Playing Is Really Blue" was wonderful); joyful fiddle player (and Sally's husband) Hunter Berry; Brent Burke on dobro; Mickey Harris on guitar and mandolin; Aaron McDaris on banjo; and Josh Williams on bass.
Rhonda ruefully said if we wanted to hear what she sounded like normally, we'd have to buy one of her CDs from the merch table.
I love going to shows in the conservatory no matter what the musical genre. It's magical sitting there in the warmth surrounded by the flowers and their fragrances, especially when you can see snow covering the waterlily ponds outside. As part of the special orchid display, behind the performers was a "curtain" of purple orchids, and overhead were magnificent orbs of purple and white orchids.