Three-day bluegrass festival concludes with That Dalton Gang, Fiddler's Frolic

The final day of the 12th annual Bootheel Bluegrass Festival welcomed That Dalton Gang, The Bakers, Riverbend, Bull Harman & Bull’s Eye, Herbie Johnston and acoustic stringed instruments of all kinds to the Bavarian Halle in Jackson.

Before taking the stage Saturday, members of That Dalton Gang — Wyatt Harman, Jimmy Meyer, Cheyenne Dalton and Mason Ruble — talked with the Southeast Missourian.

“Unfortunately, [The Family Sowell’s] grandmother passed away, so we filled in for them yesterday, and we’re playing in our normal time slots today,” said Harman, bass and guitar player for the band.

Even though That Dalton Gang does have some original songs, they don’t usually perform them at shows, they said.

“We’ll listen to other people’s music, we take a song that we really like,” Harman said. “We don’t want to play exactly like them because the song that they produced is their sound.”

Mike Harman of Alton, Illinois, performs with members of his family Friday during the Bootheel Bluegrass Festival at the Bavarian Halle in Fruitland.Jacob Wiegand

That Dalton Gang aims to produce its own, unique sound, with a distinctive arrangement, he said.

Harman began playing at the age 16 — mainly upright bass — and performed with a bluegrass family band for a while, he said.

Because of his performing alongside bands from St. Louis, he has been able to travel with That Dalton Gang for a little over a year.

“I’m the oldest, but still young,” joked 21-year-old Harman.

According to Harman, the name “Dalton Gang” directly links leader of the band Cheyenne Dalton to the original Dalton Gang, a group of outlaws, “from back in the day.”

Carina Baker, 17, of Birch Tree, Missouri, performs with her mother and brothers Friday during the Bootheel Bluegrass Festival at the Bavarian Halle in Fruitland.Jacob Wiegand

All the band members sing, Dalton said, but she prefers to focus on performing with her fiddle or mandolin.

“I started playing classical violin when I was 4 years old,” she said. “Then I switched to fiddle music.”

At the age of 10, Dalton began playing the mandolin for access into the band, she said. She’s had the band for roughly eight years. She also is a competitive shooter.

Meyer — from a family of 10 musicians — plays bass, guitar, piano and mandolin for That Dalton Gang, and started his career early, at 8 years old.

“I played in my siblings band for six or seven years, then we all went our separate ways,” Meyer said. “Then I switched to guitar, which is what I play now. I’ve been playing guitar for six years.”

Sixteen-year-old Ruble plays banjo, bass and sometimes dobro, he said. He also has performed on the “Little Big Shots” television show hosted by Steve Harvey.

Since the age of approximately 5 he has played banjo.

“I’ve been with the Daltons for about six months,” he said. “I played with another band for about six years before that.”

One of his favorite songs to perform on stage is “Kentucky Borderline” because it’s groovy, he said, and also because he’s “a groovy person.”

“Our newest album, ‘Begin Again,’ was up for a SPBGMA (Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America) Album of the Year,” Harman said. “We didn’t bring home the gold on that one. Mason was up for banjo player. I won bass player.”

That Dalton Gang does quite a bit of traveling, with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee, planned for next weekend, and trips to North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa and Texas coming up, they said.

“One of our biggest events is Silver Dollar City in Branson. We’re playing that in May and in June,” Harman said.

Dalton added, “I love the people that are here. It’s a fun environment. It’s fun to go to festivals where there are other bands that you know.”

Herbie Johnston & Fiddler’s Frolic

Also in attendance Saturday was Herbie Johnston of Norwood, Missouri. He leads the annual — and popular — Fiddler’s Frolic, a special time during the show that encourages on-stage crowd participation.

“Anybody that plays the fiddle, I have them play about to tunes apiece, of their choice. It doesn’t matter, any kind of tune or song that they play,” Johnston said. “And we’ve got a backup band. ... At the end, we find a tune that everybody can play, all at the same time on the stage, like a grand finale.”

The youngest participant was 5 years old, he said, adding the event draws a lot of young people. It allows them a good chance to get some stage time, he said.

“One guy, from Oran, that’s all he came for,” Johnston said. “It makes his day and it makes our day.”

Johnston has played the fiddle since 1974, he said. He’s part of the bluegrass group Possum Trot, of Ozark, Missouri.

Last weekend, Possum Trot played at a bluegrass festival in California, he said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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