Sanders family returns with Xtreme Bluegrass in Eufaula

Sep. 22—Eddie Sanders says when he sees people around the McAlester area he's often asked about the Sanders Family Bluegrass Festival.

For years the Sanders Family Bluegrass Festival built a reputation as one of the best west of the Mississippi, with almost every major bluegrass performer taking the stage, including multiple performances by the legendary musician known as the Father of Bluegrass Music, Bill Monroe.

"We started in 1977 and went for 36 years," said Freddie Sanders, one of the promoters of the Sanders Family Bluegrass Festival held west of McAlester, which attracted audiences from around the U.S. as well as Canada.

Now, Sanders and his son, Eddie Sanders, are starting what they intend to become another yearly event — billed as the First Annual Xtreme Bluegrass Music Festival in Eufaula.

It's set for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24-25, in the amphitheater near the Xtreme RV Resort at 203 Adams St. in Eufaula. Eddie Sanders said Friday's show is set to begin at noon and Saturday's starts at 11 a.m. A short supper break is included at 5 p.m., with music then expected to continue until approximately 11 p.m. both nights, he said.

Both father and son are looking forward to the festival.

"It'll be good to get started again," Freddie Sanders said. "We hope a lot of people will come. It's going to be a good show."

Eddie Sanders, who's recorded several well-received bluegrass albums, including "Wait for the Light to Shine," is among the performers. His songs also receive airplay on Sirius XM's bluegrass channel, Bluegrass Junction.

Friday's Xtreme Bluegrass Festival lineup includes Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top Express. Osborne performed for years with his brother Sonny Osborne in the duo known as the Osborne Brothers and together they were the first artists to record the song "Rocky Top." Written by the husband and wife team of Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, "Rocky Top" has become a bluegrass and country music standard.

Also performing Friday are Russell Moore and IIIrd Tyme Out, Tim Crouch and Dennis Crouch, Alecia Nugent, Joe Hott and the Short Mountain Boys, the Bonham Brothers and SpringStreet.

Saturday's lineup includes Shawn Camp, Eddie Sanders, Appalachian Road Show, Fast Track, Springstreet and Heartland Express.

Camp is renowned songwriter, producer and recording artist, known for writing hits for Garth Brooks as well as producing Guy Clark's Grammy-winning Folk Album of the year in 2013. He also co-produced the award-winning 2012 Guy Clark tribute album, "This One's for Him," the Americana Album of the Year in 2012.

Camp also co-produced Kris Kristofferson's 2016 album "The Cedar Creek Sessions," nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album.

Appalachian Road Show includes renowned banjoist Barry Abernathy. He's a Grammy-nominated musician who became a virtuoso despite being born with a birth defect that left him with only a thumb and part of his index finger on his left hand.

National news stories, including a segment on "Today," featured Abernathy in 2020 after he and his wife adopted a boy, as well as the boy's sister, who had the same defect on his hand as Abernathy.. They met after Abernathy's teen daughter told him she had seen a boy at the day care center where she worked with the exact same defect on his hand as Abernathy had.

Eddie Sanders, who is set to perform at 2:20 p.m.and 7:20 p.m. Saturday, said some of his former bandmates from his previous group, Signal Mountain, will be performing at the Xtreme Festival and some of them will be getting together again at the Eufaula event.

Tickets are $25 per day, and will be available at the gate.

Sanders said the festival site can be reached from McAlester by heading north on U.S. Highway 69, taking the first Eufaula exit and then continuing to the Xtreme RV Resort, near Lake Eufaula. It's between the lake and Braum's, Freddie Sanders said.

Anyone needing more information or wanting to get tickets online can go to the festival's website at xtremebluegrass.com, Eddie Sanders said.

Organizers are hoping to attract new bluegrass fans as well as provide an ideal setting for longtime fans to get together again.

"It gives everybody a chance to see their friends," said Sanders.

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.