LAUREL HILL — From the road, the Pickin’ Shed might not look like much, but what happens during its hours of operation encompasses a whole lot.
The former tractor shed where bluegrass music lovers come to listen and to perform represents community even in its origins.
“It started over there under that shed next to the store in ’98 and we brought it over here in ’99. We moved this shed from the old Gibson farm down the road. He said give me two hundred for it, and if you come back and clean up after yourself, I’ll give you a hundred of it back,” said Danny Pate, owner of the Pickin’ Shed. “Just about everything here was donated from friends or bluegrass pickers or people that enjoy bluegrass music.”
The Pickin’ Shed will open for the season this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and be open every Thursday until November. The venue is located at the intersection of Marston and McFarland roads in Laurel Hill. The shows are open mic for anyone who plays a bluegrass instrument.
“If you come, you can pick. If you want to learn some bluegrass, these guys here will slow down and take time to show you,” Pate said. “A lot of times we’ll come early and set up here and jam until the show starts. When everybody gets in their place we’ll play and if there’s another band here, we’ll get out of the way and they can play.”
The events are free, although donations to help performers offset expenses are taken up. Charis are provided, but Pate suggests bringing a folding chair because the little venue is often filled and visitors set up chairs on the grounds around the shed.
The shed consists of a hodgepodge collection of donated seats ranging from gymnasium bleachers to school chairs and church pews surrounding a stage and dance floor. That mishmash of furniture lends to the nostalgic effect that participants enjoy, a time where barn dances and church socials was the norm.
“This is sort of a throwback from the old days people used to do this all the time,” Pate said.
The decorations add to the sense of nostalgia with original vintage signage and reproductions of vintage signs along with photos of people who have visited the shed and pictures of noted bluegrass musicians like Bill Monroe and the duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs – who was born in Cleveland County.
Building on the sense of community, the venue’s performers and supporters have held fundraisers to benefit local residents. One benefit even helped out the Pickin’ Shed itself.
The late Fred Fox of WLNC came out to broadcast the event and wound up donating sound equipment for the performers.
“We were having a fundraiser for this lady. One of her kids were sick, and we were trying to raise some money for her. While [Fred] was out here, he noticed that we didn’t have any sound equipment. We were just standing on the ground playing, so he brought us the box and all. We just had to get some microphones and hook it up,” Pate said.
Later, a local church sold the shed old PA equipment for a small donation to the church.
According to Pate, people from as far away as Wisconsin and Canada have come to the Pickin’ Shed to experience bluegrass music and a the sense of nostalgia that come with the performances under the shelter.
“When they’re visiting in the area with their relatives, they’ll bring them out to the shed. We’ve had some from Minnesota, California and Arizona,” Pate said.
Pate gets plenty of positive feedback from locals and visitors.
One regular comes every week from Hartsville, S.C. to socialize and enjoy the music.
The entertainers stick with the bluegrass genre and some Southern gospel. They don’t perform modern country or rock and roll.
Pate has been a bluegrass lover all of his life. He grew up listening to the music his parents played on record players, so it was natural that he become a performer of that style of music.
Pate and his band visit music festivals along the east coast. The name of the band, the Red Bluff Ramblers, is a reference to his roots in the Red Bluff community between Clio and McColl, S.C. The band performs bluegrass classics and original works, including the song Red Bluff which features a recurring theme in bluegrass. It tells the story of childhood, growing up and the loss of a loved one while maintaining a connection to home and a simple upbringing.
An upbeat tempo and story-telling are what set bluegrass apart from other genres according to Pate.
Pate not only loves the music, he loves the vibe in the bluegrass community.
“It’s my church. It’s like religion to me because those people are so down to earth and open and we all appreciate the same things in life. That’s the way it works,” he said.