Bluegrass music has come back to Hopewell, Virginia. Mark your calendars for November 6 and December 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Saucy’s Barbecue in Hopewell.

HOPEWELL, VA, USA, October 21, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Julie Childrey has brought Bluegrass music back to Hopewell, Virginia.

“Because of Covid, there was no music here, nowhere to have a meal and listen to music and have fellowship,” said Childrey. A long-time Bluegrass fan, she set out to create a Bluegrass festival in Hopewell.

Childrey has worked on this project as a volunteer for three years. She went to the Hopewell/Prince George Chamber for help and Chamber President Becky McDonough applied for a grant to fund a series of outdoor concerts. They approached local restauranteur Tom McCormack to host the concerts at his barbecue restaurant, Saucy’s. And the music was back.

“My goal was to get 100 people to show up,” said Childrey. “The count was 101!”

Area Bluegrass bands played on Saucy’s front lawn in October, November and December 2020 and started up again in June 2021 with six concerts. Two final concerts for 2021 will be on November 6 and December 4, 4 to 6 p.m. with an open jam from 6 to 8 p.m.

A traveling five-man group, The Rappahannock Crossing Bluegrass Band recently played at Saucy’s for an audience of family and friends, ranging in age from toddlers to grandparents. The Rappahannocks played from 4 to 6 p.m. and then there was an open jam for other Bluegrass wannabees, some experienced musicians and others just learning.

“That’s the way the music grows,” said Childrey.

Meanwhile McCormack and his crew served up craft beer along with traditional barbecue, brisket, ribs and the ‘South’s Best Butt,” according to Southern Living Magazine, as well as their special mashed sweet potato Q balls and vegetarian entrees such as tofu tacos and black beans and kale.

About Julie Childrey:
A native of rural Central Virginia, Julie Childrey became a lover of Bluegrass music from an early age, listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio with her parents, then attending bluegrass festivals in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Kentucky. In the early 1980s she was the Virginia Representative for the Bill Monroe Fan Club. Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass Music. She continues to attend bluegrass festivals, is a member of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America and attends the annual convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Childrey is happy to see local bluegrass bands have a chance to play for family and friends who get to enjoy it in a unique space at Saucy's BBQ in Hopewell, where everyone is welcome.

About Saucy’s:
Tom McCormack opened his first Saucy’s restaurant in 2018. This original Saucy’s is housed in a replica shipping container which McCormick built at 257 East Bank Street, Petersburg, Virginia. Opened in 2010, the Hopewell restaurant at 207 East City Point Road is housed in a 300-square-foot industrial building with open rafters and an orange bar front made to look like a cargo container.

McCormack said Saucy’s made it through the Covid pandemic by building an online ordering system and opening a drive-through window. “We may add more interior winter shows and possibly go year-round,” he said.

About Hopewell, Virginia:
Hopewell is a quaint city of 23,000 about 20 miles south of Virginia’s capital at Richmond. Located at the confluence of the James and Appomattox Rivers, Hopewell offers boating, water sports and other outdoor activities as well as a new River Walk.

Julie Childrey
Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America
+1 804-898-9646
childrey8010@gmail.com