Oldham County Day Entertainment

Lineup to feature several
bluegrass bands

Lea, Chris Cockrell to play
bluegrass at the festival

By Helen E. McKinney
Contributing Writer

LA GRANGE, Ky. (July 2013) – Lea Cockrell and her husband, Chris, have had such success with Monday night Bluegrass Jams at their business, La Grange Coffee Roasters, that they were invited to bring the music to this year’s Oldham County Day entertainment lineup. Bluegrass is just part of the wide variety of music and activities planned to entertain the crowd this year on the third Saturday in July.

Cockrell, originally from Mt. Washington, Ky., grew up “playing bluegrass music. I came from a family of musicians.”
Every Monday night at her business, “We have an open jam session. Its lots of fun,” she said. The sessions have been taking place since October 2011.
Bluegrass is the music of choice and the Cockrells get “people from all over. It just keeps growing and new people are showing up all of the time.”
And it’s not just local people who come to perform. Cockrell has had people from New Jersey who were in town visiting relatives and an individual from Georgia show up who was in the area to attend the Renaissance Festival in Henry County. Once they found out about the Monday night jam sessions, they showed up to play. “That’s the way bluegrass musicians are. They love to play and have a good time,” said Cockrell.
“You can meet all kinds of people that play. The Monday night jam session has turned out better than I anticipated it would when it started.”
A Bluegrass Jam will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20, on the East Lawn of the Courthouse on Oldham County Day. Cockrell will be performing with the Coffee Jam band earlier that day at 11:30 a.m., also on the East Lawn. This latter band was formed through the Woodsongs sessions organized by Tim Curtis of Oldham County Parks and Recreation.
“The six of us met at Woodsongs,” said Cockrell. “It has grown from there.”
The musical entertainment lineup for the day includes Acappella Fellas, Loose Change, Rickey Morse, the Allen Lane Band, Barefoot Best Friends, Tom McShane and the Oldham County Community Band. Three stage locations – Second Street, the courthouse lawn Gazebo and the East Lawn – will be set up for ongoing entertainment from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“There are several groups that have not been here before,” said Paige Weeks, Entertainment Chairperson for the event. “We have a wide variety of music this year.”
Another very popular act is Six Guns Entertainment, said Weeks. This group will stage a Wild West dual at noon Saturday on the Courthouse Lawn.
The East Lawn stage is dedicated to bluegrass music, she said. This will be the second year for the Bluegrass Jam. “We want this to be a yearly thing,” said Weeks.
Certain Oldham County Day events are fun for all ages, such as the annual Tug-of-War between local police and firemen at 12:30 p.m. on the Courthouse Lawn. A new event scheduled for this year is a Cupcake Easting Contest.
Festivities actually begin the previous evening, July 19, with “Dancing in the Street.” This free concert, sponsored by the City of La Grange, will feature The Vinyl Kings from 5:30-11 p.m. The food court and several downtown eateries will be open during this time.
Oldham County Day kicks off at 7 a.m. with the Rotary Club sponsored all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast at City Hall. The annual parade will begin at 10 a.m. and afterward, the public is encouraged to shop the many vendors that will surround the Courthouse.
Following the parade at 10:30 a.m., Living Statues will entertain the crowd on the Courthouse Lawn until 1 p.m. They are a special act that draws people back year after year, keeping the crowd guessing as to whether they are wax figures or real human beings.
The day will wrap up with a second free “Dancing in the Street,” sponsored by the City of La Grange. The Allen Lane Band will perform from 5-11 p.m.
The nonprofit group, Project Guild of Oldham County, has sponsored Oldham County Day since 1971.

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