The 32nd Everglades Bluegrass Festival

The weather was windy and turned cold after a heavy thunderstorm driving most of the tent campers home. The normally packed Saturday night show was rather sparse as performers did their best to keep their hands warm and flexible. By Sunday the weather had cleared and warmed up nicely and the crowd was dancing to the tunes of The Oldtimejammers closing out the festival.

Gene Christian was one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass boys. He was instrumental in developing bluegrass in South Florida and did regular gigs for the Black Angus Restaurant chain for over 20 years along with being a South Florida Bluegrass Association member and performing without compensation for many of their events.

Gene was friends with Johnny Cash and Ervin Rouse, composer of the Orange Blossom Special. Cash invited them on one of his shows, took the song and made it a big hit. At one time the State of Florida was considering changing the State Song to "The Orange Blossom Special."

This link is to a memorable performance and information spanning over 60 years and the 40 years of the existence of the South Florida Bluegrass Association.
Gene Christian and The SFBA Reunion Band

The video is too dark, the stage lights were aimed too far towards the back of the top of the tent. When I tried to lighten up the video it would not render in .avi nor .mp4 format. I did not take the footage, I had to take a five hour A+ Final Exam and crammed for it all night. I got to the festival at the end of the set. Fortunately a banjo player from Canada I knew, shot the video on a JVC hard-drive recorder. I spent a day finding software to convert the JVC .mod file so I could edit it in Premier Pro and then trying in vain to lighten the video before I ran out of time. If any of you all know a solution to this I surely would appreciate it.