Fundraiser for the Hot Springs Rescue Squad

July 17, 2019

The Hot Springs Rescue Squad is having a fundraiser this month. I’m here with Debbie Young, who has been a member there for over 10 years and is going to give us all some information about the fundraiser.

“We are very excited that we’re going to be having a concert this year and it’s going to be put on by the group called Crossing County lines- Tanner will tell you more about his group, but they are a traditional mountain music bluegrass gospel group, this event is going to be on Saturday July 27th from 7 to 9pm. It’s across from the Fire and Rescue building, at what used to be the old stables. Proceeds from this concert will benefit the group Crossing County Lines as well as the Hot Springs Rescue Squad and we encourage you to bring a lunch here to sit in. We will have food available to purchase; there’s not an admission charge, it will be a free will offering.”

Supporting our local rescue squad is so vital. They’re all volunteers and work countless hours and the proceeds from this event will cover their state mandated training. Here’s Debbie talking about that a little more.

“The state mandates that we have a certain number of training hours per year. So in order to do that training, we do some of that training online, we also have three locations that we can go to- Blacksburg, Norfolk, and Hampton, and we have to go to those places and of course stay and take the training courses. So all that does cost money. The proceeds that we make from this event will cover the cost of our training.”

I’m here with Crossing County Lines bass guitarist, Tanner Lacks, where we talked a little bit about the band.

“So I actually kind of came into the band a little late, the original two members, Isaac, our banjo player, and Eli, our fiddle player. We’re kind of the first to get on board with that. But it’s all thanks to a woman named Charlotte Ivy, who’s now down in Texas but she was around here and it was kind of her vision to get everything going as far as a group of young people that has more of a traditional mindset about bluegrass music. So I came in as kind of a placeholder temporarily but ended up sticking really well and meshing really well with a group so I’ve been with them ever since. We got to go to Nashville and record an album down there back in October, so we have CDs and stuff we’ll probably be selling at the event. We’re also going to be playing at the Highland County fair. And we’ve got a couple other smaller events coming up as well.”

And can you tell me a little more about what kind of music you guys play in each member of the band?

“We play more traditional bluegrass music, traditional bluegrass and country music. We do gospel as well, because there’s there’s no bluegrass without gospel music. Isaac Blake plays banjo for us. Eli Philips is fiddle. I play bass guitar. And we’re sort of filling in with some different guitars and mandolin players right now.”

And how did y’all come up with your band name?

“The guys in the band were traditionally from.. I think we had one from Rockbridge or something like that, Allegheny County, and then Bath County, so we sort of had to come from all over to be able to just practice. So Crossing County Lines kind of stuck. And then with new, different moving parts, different training members of the band, it’s it’s now been just Allegheny and Bath. So at least we’re still crossing county lines. We’re not just Bath County lines.”

And how long has the group been together?

“I think it’s going on two years as far as the original founding of the group. I’ve only been with them about a year and a half, maybe.”

Do you guys play a lot of shows around here in the surrounding areas?

“We do some local shows. The majority of performances we’ve done have been in Clifton Forge, the Masonic theatre, which we’re hoping to have some more shows there just because we’re now doing some partnering with the Masonic as far as creating events and being able to do like open mics and things like that.”

And how long is your performance at the fundraiser?

“We’re going to be playing from 7pm-9pm and I’m sure they’ll be dancing and stuff like that. So make sure you got dancing shoes on.”

Make sure to mark down this date which is Saturday July 2th, from 7 to 9pm. I’d like to thank Debbie Young and Tanner Lacks for coming in today and talking to me about the fundraiser.

For AMR News, I’m Abby Dufour