Year in Review: Bluegrass swings into the school
The Bankester ladies in concert at the Shelter Island School in January.
The first big event to hit the Island in 2015 was the annual bluegrass concert, sponsored by the Town of Shelter Island and Sylvester Manor.
Bluegrass music rocked the Shelter Island School auditorium on January 16 and 17 as the family band, the Bankesters, laid down two toe-tapping performances that elicited hoots of joy and a standing ovation.
Saturday’s performance was produced by Tom Hashagen and co-sponsored by Sylvester Manor and the town.
As good as the Bankesters were on Saturday in front of a sold-out audience, their performance Friday afternoon for the entire student body was a joyous hoedown.
The workshop was made possible by a grant from the Shelter Island Educational Foundation and the International Bluegrass Music Association. Bandleader and bassist, Melissa, led an “ears on” tutorial on the elements of bluegrass music, with Emily on fiddle and clawhammer banjo, Alysha on mandolin, Phil on guitar and Doug Goldstein filling in for bandmember Kyle Triplett on his ‘Earl Scruggs’-style banjo.
The 11th grade boys led the kids, clapping in time to the music and shouting ‘More!’ at the end. As the students sang along, the musicians closed the show with ‘You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.’
We already do.
