Editor, The Herald:

I have always liked country music and I was told that one of my friends, Bill Powers, could play a banjo. I had never heard him. I ran into Bill a couple of weeks ago and asked him when he would be playing again and he advised that he and other groups would be playing at Gary Hickman’s Buffalo Creek Guitar Company on Third Street, Sunday, November 2.

I showed up at the guitar company and was delighted to find that a benefit show was being presented for the Wooten Family that had lost their home and a child in a terrible fire. Powers’ group is known as Powers & Brown and Sabrina Brown, an Associate Vice President at Longwood University, was there with her violin and they were fantastic. Bill was great on the banjo and Sabrina sang and played. One of her instrumentals was the Orange Blossom Special. All of the groups were very good and they included Dixie Road, Allen’s Mill, The Yoder Brothers, Rick Suiter, and many others.

I have never witnessed such good banjo playing since Henry introduced me to Don Reno at a Jaycee hootenanny at the Farmville Fairgrounds back in the 70’s. All of the groups had fabulous musicians and I hope I get the opportunity to see them again.

James L. Whitlock

Farmville