Sister Sadie Honored with the 2024 Blue Blaze Award by the Smithville Jamboree

May 27, 2024
By:

The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival has awarded Sister Sadie the Blue Blaze Award for the 53rd annual event. The Blue Blaze Award is given to artists for continuing and promoting bluegrass music as well as participating in the past Jamborees.

Comprised of original members Deanie Richardson (fiddle), Gena Britt (banjo & vocals) and newcomers Jaelee Roberts (guitar & vocals), Dani Flowers (guitar & vocals), and Maddie Dalton (acoustic bass & vocals), Sister Sadie has combined the varied talents of each of the individual women in the lineup to create something that is far more than the sum of its parts. It is a sound uniquely their own. The first gravitational shift came in finding a new lead vocalist in 2020—someone whose voice had the power and confidence to hold court and capture an audience. Fortunately, Jaelee Roberts had all the above and more. Roberts had been near the members of Sister Sadie for her whole life: Richardson played with her dad, Danny Roberts (another Jamboree favorite) in New Tradition and Britt had played with her mom in Petticoat Junction. The original Station Inn lineup formed the core of the band for the majority of the first eight years, featuring Dale Ann Bradley, Beth Lawrence, Tina Adair, and of course, Deanie Richardson and Gena Britt. In 2019, following the release of their second studio album “Sister Sadie II” on Pinecastle Records, they had their debut on the Grand Ole Opry, won their first IBMA award for Vocal Group of the Year, and received a GRAMMY nomination for Bluegrass Album of the Year. In 2020, Deanie was named the IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year (the second woman to win that prize in the 30-year history of the awards), and the band took home the top prize as the Entertainer of the Year. Sister Sadie also was named Vocal Group of the Year for the second year running.

“We are thrilled to give this year’s award to Sister Sadie. Four out of the five band members have been at the Jamboree – Deanie Richardson, Jaelee Roberts, Dani Flowers, and Gena Britt. What an honor to give this award to a group of women who have been involved with the Jamboree over the years and have been successful in their musical endeavors ever since,” stated Jamboree President Kim Driver Luton.

“I started going to the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree when I was a young girl,” said Deanie Richardson. “I was the first fiddler to win the National Beginner Fiddler Championship at the age of twelve. That win also awarded me my first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. I cannot tell you what this Jamboree means to every young person who plays an instrument and works all year to prepare for this competition. I have made lifelong friends that I still talk to and play music with that I met at the Jamboree. I now have students of my own that attend the Jamboree and I get to go with them and accompany them when they compete. That is the ultimate experience for me to get to relive it and feel their excitement about being there as I did when I was their age. I am thrilled to get to be there this year with our band, Sister Saide and accept the Blue Blaze Award for 2024”, continued Deanie.

In 2021, Sister Sadie was featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s American Currents exhibit. That same year, the band took home a third consecutive IBMA Vocal Group of the Year award, and new member Jaelee Roberts was awarded the IBMA Momentum Vocalist of the Year award. In 2022, Gena Britt was recognized as the SPBGMA Banjo Player of the Year and Sister Sadie signed with Mountain Home Records to begin work on their third studio album. In 2023, Jaelee Roberts took home the honor of SPBGMA Female Vocalist of the Year. The band continues to work on the third album which is set to be released soon.

“Sister Sadie is an inspiring musical collaboration bringing together some of the best women bluegrass music has ever claimed.” ~ Alison Krauss.

The Blue Blaze award will be presented on Saturday, July 6th @5:00 pm – followed by music provided by Sister Sadie. The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree & Craft Festival is free to the public.

For more information about Sister Sadie, go to Sister Sadie (sistersadieband.com). Visit smithvillejamboree.com for more info about the Jamboree. This year’s Jamboree will be held Friday, July 5th & Saturday, July 6th.

May 27, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The annual Miss Jamboree Pageant is set for Saturday, June 15, featuring categories from 1 day old to 20 years old.

The first pageant begins at 9 a.m., at the DeKalb County Complex. It is open to all Tennessee girls and baby/toddler boys. The deadline to enter is Friday, June 7.

The pageant is a fundrasier for the Last Minute Toy Shop.

Arista Isabella Rigsby was crowned the 2023 Miss Jamboree in the age 17-20 category. Rigsby is the 19-year-old daughter of David and Tyroma Rigsby of Lebanon.

The fee to enter is $25 per category, plus an additional five dollars for optional categories you may choose to enter, including “prettiest eyes,” “prettiest hair,” “prettiest attire,” “prettiest smile” and “most photogenic.” A “People’s Choice” winner will be named in each category determined by the most money raised in the contestant’s “People’s Choice” box. Winners in the 11-13, 14-16, and 17-20 year old pageants are required to participate in the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree & Crafts Festival to distribute trophies, flyers, etc.

The categories are:
Boys and Girls – 1 day to six months,
Boys and Girls – 7 to 12 months
Boys and Girls: 13 to 24 months
Boys and Girls: 25 to 48 months
Girls: 4 to 6 years
Girls: 7 to 10 years
Girls: 11 to 13 years
Girls: 14 to 16 years
Girls: 17 to 20 years
Applications are available at The Smithville Review (615-597-5485)

May 26, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

Remembering!

Members of the community joined the American Legion Post #122 in observing Memorial Day during a program held Saturday at the county complex.

The event featured patriotic music by Susan Hinton, a welcome by Ronnie Redmon, presentation of Colors by the Marine Corps League’s Bobby Ray Detachment #1377 of McMinnville, the Pledge of Allegiance and then a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner by Emily Phillips, a prayer by local minister Larry Green, and the introduction of the speaker by Judy Redmon.

Ralph Vaughn, the featured speaker, spoke of heroes who paid the price throughout our country’s history to make it possible for Americans to enjoy the freedoms of today and he called on the community to carry on their legacy of service.

“Scripture tells us to honor those whom honor is due,” said Vaughn. “That’s why we are here today to pay tribute and honor to the befallen soldiers who gave the supreme sacrifice that you and I could be here today”.

“While those fallen soldiers, men and women fought with great valor and gave the supreme sacrifice, we also want to honor today our law enforcement, all of our first responders, and everybody who has contributed to the cause of freedom for America,” Vaughn continued.

“Memorial Day in America began as Decoration Day. When the Civil War ended in the spring of 1865 communities throughout America began having Decoration Day,” explained Vaughn. “The reason it was chosen for May is because flowers would be in bloom. They could take those flowers and decorate the graves of fallen soldiers, Union and Confederate. The first real large observance of Decoration Day was in 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery where approximately 5,000 participants decorated the graves of some 20,000 Civil War soldiers, Union and Confederate. Memorial Day later evolved to be held on the last of May to honor the fallen soldiers that decorate the graves. Congress later made Memorial Day official on the last Monday in May as we know it today to honor fallen soldiers of all wars,” he said.

Vaughn mentioned his own family’s connection to the Civil War with the service of his great great grandfather who served in the Tennessee Army and was wounded in the battle of Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga in 1863. Although he survived, Vaughn said his courageous great great grandfather bore the scars of the war the rest of his life.

Throughout the nation’s history, Vaughn said many great heroes have stood tall such as George Washington, Alvin C. York, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower and many more but there were lesser known heroes who were just as courageous. “There are many people we stand on the shoulders of today including those who never made national headlines but they served and because of their service we are here today,” he said.

“We are to pass the torch,” Vaughn said. “You and I are to serve in some kind of capacity. It may be in the military, community service, law enforcement, or as a first responder. We all have a responsibility. We are here to serve. The Lord made us for His purpose. Lets give thanks today and may we never forget why we celebrate Memorial Day. May God Bless us. May He Bless our military, our law enforcement, first responders, and anyone who is committed to the cause of freedom,” said Vaughn who closed his remarks with a prayer.

After the program, the group gathered at the site of the veterans memorial monument outside the courthouse where a wreath was placed for the occasion followed by the Marine Corps League’s 3 Volley Salute and then Taps.

About the guest speaker:
Ralph Vaughn was home grown in DeKalb County. He managed and was broadcaster for radio station WJLE for 15 years from 1970-85. Vaughn was one of the original committee members of the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival and he served as emcee and voice of the Jamboree for 25 years.

Ralph later became President of Chambers of Commerce in Rutherford County, at Madison Georgia, and the Tennessee Christian Chamber of Commerce for a combined total of 18 years.

Vaughn was the personal assistant to Ronnie Barrett in Murfreesboro, the inventor of the shoulder fired 50 caliber rifle that is used by every branch of the United States military and allied countries around the world.

Ralph served six months in the U.S. Army and finished his military career with the 130th Military Police Company of the Tennessee Army National Guard. He and his wife June, another Smithville native, now live in Nashville.

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