MRL To Host One-Man Show
July 02, 2018
Carter Stanley Tribute Mixes Music, Stories
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 6/30/18
HARRISONBURG — After owning a record label for 30 years, Gary Reid decided it was time to move on.
“When the internet came along and people stopped buying music, I realized I needed to do something else,” Reid said.
Along with his passion for producing music, Reid also had a love of bluegrass, specifically Carter Stanley. So Reid shifted his focus and created a one man show titled “A Life of Sorrow: The Life and Times of Carter Stanley.”
Reid will bring his 70- minute performance to Massanutten Regional Library’s Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg at 6:30 p. m. Monday.
“It’s one of our programs, in conjunction with the adult summer reading program we do,” said reference librarian Kristin Noell. “We get the theme from the state because they choose what they want to go with. This year’s theme was ‘Libraries Rock,’ so we were trying to do music- related things. “We know this type of music is popular around here, and Carter Stanley is such an interesting figure, so this really appealed to us.”
Reid discovered Stanley’s music as a 17- year- old in 1973. Since that time, Reid said, he became obsessed with the performer’s music and life, even publishing a book titled “The Music of the Stanley Brothers.”
In 2009, Reid decided to put together the one- man show, in which he becomes Stanley while mixing music with storytelling.
“I play guitar and sing about 10 different songs that were associated with Carter Stanley,” he said. “hey are performed throughout the program as they relate to things Carter is talking about. I talk about his childhood days growing up during the [ Great] Depression, the influence his parents and church had on his musical development. His struggles with alcohol addiction, the list goes on and on.”
The show launched in 2014, and since then, Reid has performed it 76 times across 15 states with stops in Canada scheduled for later this summer.
Reid’s show is one of two music events going on at Massanutten Regional Library this summer. On Aug. 6, JMUkes will be at the library with a dozen ukuleles to teach guests how to play. A jam session will follow. All events are free and open to the public.
“We’re hoping to have quite a few people,” Noell said. “We’ve already been getting calls asking, ‘Should I come ahead?’ ‘How much room do you have?’ We’ve had a lot of positive reaction to it so far.”
We know this type of music is popular around here, and Carter Stanley is such an interesting figure, so this really appealed to us.
-Kristin Noell, reference librarian for Massanutten Regional Library
Gary Reid, who created a one-man show titled “A Life of Sorrow: The Life and Times of Carter Stanley,” will bring his 70-minute performance to Massanutten Regional Library’s Central Library in Harrisonburg at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 6/30/18
HARRISONBURG — After owning a record label for 30 years, Gary Reid decided it was time to move on.
“When the internet came along and people stopped buying music, I realized I needed to do something else,” Reid said.
Along with his passion for producing music, Reid also had a love of bluegrass, specifically Carter Stanley. So Reid shifted his focus and created a one man show titled “A Life of Sorrow: The Life and Times of Carter Stanley.”
Reid will bring his 70- minute performance to Massanutten Regional Library’s Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg at 6:30 p. m. Monday.
“It’s one of our programs, in conjunction with the adult summer reading program we do,” said reference librarian Kristin Noell. “We get the theme from the state because they choose what they want to go with. This year’s theme was ‘Libraries Rock,’ so we were trying to do music- related things. “We know this type of music is popular around here, and Carter Stanley is such an interesting figure, so this really appealed to us.”
Reid discovered Stanley’s music as a 17- year- old in 1973. Since that time, Reid said, he became obsessed with the performer’s music and life, even publishing a book titled “The Music of the Stanley Brothers.”
In 2009, Reid decided to put together the one- man show, in which he becomes Stanley while mixing music with storytelling.
“I play guitar and sing about 10 different songs that were associated with Carter Stanley,” he said. “hey are performed throughout the program as they relate to things Carter is talking about. I talk about his childhood days growing up during the [ Great] Depression, the influence his parents and church had on his musical development. His struggles with alcohol addiction, the list goes on and on.”
The show launched in 2014, and since then, Reid has performed it 76 times across 15 states with stops in Canada scheduled for later this summer.
Reid’s show is one of two music events going on at Massanutten Regional Library this summer. On Aug. 6, JMUkes will be at the library with a dozen ukuleles to teach guests how to play. A jam session will follow. All events are free and open to the public.
“We’re hoping to have quite a few people,” Noell said. “We’ve already been getting calls asking, ‘Should I come ahead?’ ‘How much room do you have?’ We’ve had a lot of positive reaction to it so far.”
We know this type of music is popular around here, and Carter Stanley is such an interesting figure, so this really appealed to us.
-Kristin Noell, reference librarian for Massanutten Regional Library
Gary Reid, who created a one-man show titled “A Life of Sorrow: The Life and Times of Carter Stanley,” will bring his 70-minute performance to Massanutten Regional Library’s Central Library in Harrisonburg at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
