It has been good to take a winter break and regroup after such a busy summer and fall. Good weather brought lots of opportunities. We enjoyed playing for dancers at the local brewery, Rising Silo, and also at Floyd Country Store.

The band performed for " STOP MVP" at two of their events to support members and boost morale. We were invited to play for several Virginia Tech special functions at Smithfield Plantation, the German Club, and the Hahn Horticultural Gardens.

  Square Dancing is back after a long break for Covid and social distancing. The Ferrum Freshman dance is a real ice-breaker and we finally got back to barn dances with the Blacksburg Square Dance!

We took time out to record some favorite tunes that we have learned recently and are still working on editing for a final product. Our bass player, Kristie, has been singing a third part to enhance our harmony singing. Her three year old son is a big fan of our train songs and his dancing adds a lot to our practice sessions!

We are so happy to be out and about, playing music for folks again. It seems that everyone is thrilled to have live music back and our events have been bursting at the seams! Our first performance this spring was in March at Rising Silo Brewery with a great crowd who seemed to especially enjoy our blues set. Some great dancers there!

We were pleased to be invited to perform old time music for the Blue Ridge Parkway's 25th Anniversary Gala. It was really fun to see the elaborate model train layout and the vintage car display at the Roanoke Transportation Museum. 

In April, we were invited to play Appalachian old time music for the Geosciences Spring Banquet. We enjoyed playing during happy hour and, later, an amplified set for the guests before the lecture by the Virginia State Geologist. Our own geologist, Kristie Dorfler, "rocked" the bass that night!

If you weren't able to make it out to these events, there are more opportunities to join us for music and dancing this Spring: 

– We'll be joining Ash Devine for a Mom's Day Concert at Moon Hollow Brewing on Sunday, May 8th.

– On May 15th, we'll perform at the Floyd Country Store, then a square dance May 21st at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing, Virginia. We are looking forward to another exciting show at Rising Silo Brewery on Friday, May 27th.

– In June, you can catch us at the St.Luke Odd Fellows Gospel Sing on Saturday June 4th at the Aleaxander Black House Museum. Also, a performance at a Garden Party, June 5th to benefit the Montgomery Museum of Art and History. 

Remember to support live music!

We sure do miss getting out and playing together, but have stuck to the Covid-19 quarantine during this cold winter. Lots of ice and snow and freezing temperatures here in the New River Valley!

Understandably, this put a kibosh on our summertime jams on the porch that continued into jamming on the deck as the fall brought chilly weather.  We even bought a small outdoor gas heater that helped, but eventually it got too cold for our fingers to play outdoors on the deck.

We were lucky to have outdoor gigs about once a month through the summer and early fall of 2020 that kept us playing. We loved sharing our music at an outdoor concert with guests at Mountain Lake Hotel by the gazebo and enjoyed playing at a couple of outdoor private parties, the Blacksburg Farmers Market, and on the porch at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum's Living History. We closed out the fall with a Halloween gig at the Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival, complete with a background of antique tractors!
Check out our photos to see all the fun that was had!

As the spring warms up, we plan to play tunes again on our deck (did I mention Margaritas?). Looking forward to playing in May at the Brewridge Festival at Mountain Lake and also playing for a small square dance as the warm weather makes outdoor entertainment a possibility.  Hope to see you soon!

Keep On Keepin' On

It's been a rough year, folks. We're lucky to all have our health and safety here are IRSB, but we know that there are many struggling for the last several months. Nearly all of our shows were canceled from March to September, but were able to do a few socially-distant gigs here and there during the last few months. All the festivals, shows, gigs, events, and brew-ha-has we were looking forward to in 2020 have all gone by the wayside. Here's to a more musical future for us all.

On a lighter note, we've been able to get some playing in the last several weeks down by the shores of Indian Run (check out the Audio & Visual page!). If you drive down our road on a Sunday evening, you just might hear some foot tapping, blues-beating music ambling down the happiest hollow in Blacksburg.

Until we meet (in person) again.

We started the summer playing for the Crooked Road’s “Mountains of Music Homecoming” in June. Keeping the beat while the Blacksburg Hoorah Cloggers performed and the guests of the “Feastival” at Sinkland Farms were treated to an old time square dance.  A small concert for the Christiansburg Library on a hot July evening was Kristie’s last performance with us on bass until the arrival of Baby James in the fall. He is a handsome healthy boy and will be picking up an instrument any day now.    

 A big “Thank you!” to Liam Kelly, Chris Webb, and Tim Thorton for helping us out on guitar and bass when we needed back-up at the end of the summer and during the fall.

The rest of the summer was busy as we hosted the Market Square Jam, played at Mabry Mill, the Roanoke Campground on the Parkway, and square dances at Ferrum College and Mountain Lake Hotel.   Paul got blue ribbons in the fiddle contest at Henry Reed Festival and the Grayson County Fiddlers! We ended the summer at Bristol Rhythm and Roots with the Possum Creek Playboys street jam that featured the Green Grass Cloggers.

Fall was fun at the Sinkland Farm’s Pumpkin Festival and we enjoyed playing for the candlelight Harvest Heritage Dinner at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum. Getting in the spirit, we dressed in Regency attire and Paul wore his vest and tailcoat that he made himself. We finished out the year playing for a New Year’s Eve dinner at The Palisades and enjoying a gourmet dinner ourselves!

We are already booking events into next year and wishing you all the best in 2020!

We had a great Sunday afternoon last weekend recording some tunes at Virginia Tech's recording studio in downtown Blacksburg. We recorded a few tunes and some songs with Old Man Kelly on guitar. A good time was had, but I have to admit that I wish we were able to enjoy the sunny (albeit windy!) afternoon a little more. That being said, we're really excited about what we recorded (with Jacob Early at the controls) and thank him for the opportunity to record there again – it's been a few years since we played there, but the quality of the studio is still 100% awesome. Fun fact: It was built by Rick Krayniak way back in the day before he sold it to VT and I think the F-150s recorded some killer stuff there. We'll hopefully be able to post some of those songs on this site on YouTube (just search for Indian Run Stringband). 

Tunes recorded: Cattle in the Cane, Monroe's Farewell to Long Hollow, Goodbye Girls I'm Going to Boston

Songs recorded: Grey Cat on the Tennessee Farm, When the Train Comes Along, Dixie Darlin' (in F with 3 part harmony)

Well, it's been a while since we've updated our site – sorry for that. The good news is that we had a great 2018 (be sure to check out the Archives page to see where we've played in 2018). Highlights include Chantilly Farms Bluegrass Festival in May, the Blacksburg Gospel Sing and event for Delegate Chris Hurst in June, opening for Wayne Henderson and performing at Bristol Rhythm and Roots in September, and spending a few beautiful Saturdays in October at the Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival. So, yeah, overall, not too shabby.

This year, we're off to a solid start with three gigs in the dark month of January and a few great performances lined up through the Spring. As always, we'd love to play for your special event (wedding, birthday, retirement party, etc.), so email Ginger at banjogal5@gmail.com and she'll hook you up!

Happy 2019!