This is a printer friendly version of an article from www.thedailytimes.com
To print this article open the file menu and choose Print.
Article published Jun 8, 2007 The Last Waltz: Steve Kaufman's acoustic concerts to bring down the curtain on MC's Wilson Chapel
By Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times Staff
For years, it’s been the linchpin uniting the students and the public.
By decorous standards, it’s neither ornate nor lavish. It doesn’t have the flair of, say, downtown Knoxville’s Tennessee Theatre or the coziness of downtown Maryville’s Palace Theater.
It’s non-descript but functional; an aging maiden past her prime who’s come to the twilight of her years.
Starting Monday, she’ll host one last round of concerts — one final run of music and merriment and talent on display — before the wrecking ball comes through her walls later this summer.
She is the Wilson Chapel, on the campus of Maryville College. And while she may not be much in the shadow of the newly planned Civic Arts Center that will replace her, she still holds a fond place in the hearts of many of those who will perform there over the next two weeks.
Across campus, musicians will converge to teach and learn, part of the annual pilgrimage of roots musicians that make up Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps.
As in previous years, the chapel will be the site where the camp’s nightly concerts are held, the time when the doors are thrown open and the public is invited to partake of the wealth of talent brought to Blount County by three-time flatpick guitar champion and local businessman Steve Kaufman.
And once the curtain comes down on the last night — Saturday, June 23 — that’s it. A few other groups will make use of the chapel before it’s scheduled to be torn down, but Kaufman’s camp-goers will be the last ones to ever make music on its grand old stage.
“We’re so happy that the last night is going to be one of the most powerful nights at camp since Doc Watson was there,” Kaufman told The Daily Times this week. “All of the instructors playing a final performance along with (bluegrass band) Blue Highway — that’s going to be a powerful night. Just thinking about what the last song will be to ever be played in the Wilson Chapel — that’s powerful.
“It’ll be very emotional in that building. I’m sure I’ll have my Kleenex tucked into my sleeve when we wind down, and we all realize those will be the last notes that will ever be heard in there. I think the whole building is going to be emotional.”
Emotional and exhausted — especially Kaufman. Every summer, he and his wife, Donna Dixon, plan out the camps and the concert series. It’s grown from a handful of instructors teaching Kaufman’s favored flatpick style to a learning experience that draws budding and accomplished musicians the world over for two weeks of instruction in a range of styles and instruments — flatpicking, fingerpicking, dobro, fiddle, bass, old-time banjo, mandolin and bluegrass banjo.
And the instructors who come to teach are some of the most respected in the world on their particular instruments. As with every year, Kaufman has assembled a team of camp veterans — those teachers and players who have been there in previous years — and a number of newcomers teaching for the first time.
For those who are returning, knowing they won’t be playing on the Wilson Chapel stage again leaves them a little melancholy.
“This’ll be my fourth year there, and it still blows my mind because most of the people are far better quality of musicians than I am,” said Eddie Pennington — widely recognized as one of the greatest living thumbstyle guitarists in the United States and Europe. “I’m amazed I get to be up there with them, and whenever they choose to play one of my songs, that’s a big highlight for me.
“I always enjoyed playing in the Wilson Chapel. The way they set up the sound, and the way it’s great to interact with the audience, has always made it a great venue to play it. It wouldn’t bother me to see some wider seats, because I’m a big guy and I take a wider seat, but I always enjoyed playing there.”
Mandolin virtuoso Butch Baldassari — originally scheduled to teach and perform this year before he had to cancel because of health concerns — said the venue, combined with the eagerness of those in attendance at the nightly concerts, is what made playing there special.
“The main thing is that the audience is full of pickers and teachers,” he said. “It’s just a nice environment over there, and everybody’s there for the music.”
Two-time Winfield flatpick champion Roy Curry, returning this year for his second stint as a teacher and performer, remembers his first time on the Wilson stage as one of the highlights of his career.
“There were four or five of us in the same room with Doc Watson just before he went on stage,” Curry wrote to The Daily Times in an e-mail. “Just being around him while he was tuning and talking as a hoot. Of course, I was speechless and stood there like an idiot. Secondly, I played a Rockbridge guitar for the first time on stage there two years ago. It sounded soooo good I eventually got two of them and play them as my main guitars.”
Closing out a grand old run of shows at the Wilson Chapel won’t be the only thing on Kaufman’s mind this week, however. He’s got enough on his plate to keep him from getting too emotional, and he’s already started planning for next year. One of the changes this year, he said, is moving the band concerts to Saturday nights to give students an incentive to stay in town over the weekend. In addition, a friend who appraises instruments for the “Antiques Road Show” will be on campus to do free appraisals for students who play on instruments handed down through their families for generations. There are door prizes ($18,000 worth) to give away, jams to coordinate and more.
Inviting the public to attend the nightly concerts will give them a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes, he said — the key is persuading those who want to come that there’s no specific night that will be better than the rest.
“We always have a large crowd during the end of the week and small crowds earlier in the week, but there are nothing about those shows that make them any less entertaining or magnificent than the ones at the end of the week,” he said. “I tell people who ask me what the best night to attend is, that it doesn’t matter what night. They should come every night, because they’re going to get a phenomenal show every night.”
But while most of the details are planned out, the decision on the last song on the last night — the one to bring down the curtain on the Wilson Chapel — is still up in the air, he added.
“It’ll have to be an instrumental, because vocally, it may be a tear-jerker,” he said. “I’ve done many openings and closings, but when it comes to the Wilson Chapel coming down, it’s a big thing. It’s a rebirth thing, because we’re looking forward to the new facility, but it’s sad to see her go.”