Friday, November 25, at the home of Ben and Barbara Eldridge, a cast of characters gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary bluegrass act known as the Seldom Scene. As everyone was arriving, it felt more like a family reunion of sorts. As has always been the tradition, on Thanksgiving weekend the band plays their annual gig at the Birchmere, but this year was going to be different. Instead of headlining the show Friday and Saturday night at the Birchmere, the band was asked to play a one night only concert. Special guests invited to participate included Original Scene members Tom Gray, Dr. John Starling, and Mike Auldridge. Other special guests included Akira Otsuka, Chris Eldridge, Jay Starling, and Rickie Simpkins. Tickets for this event sold out quickly. Hopes were high that it would be recorded for a live album, or DVD, but that was not the case. So it was with much excitement that we arrived early for dress rehearsals Saturday afternoon, eagerly awaiting this historic event. Each band member had family with them, and we all brought out our own recording equipment to help document this incredible night of history and music. There was an air of electricity in the room, and by the time the sound check had begun (4pm) the line of waiting ticket holders was wrapped around the block. As the band had decided Friday night, the evening would progress as an informal jam with everyone sitting onstage, performing and talking as the outlined script called for. It was apparent during sound check that the laid back fun from the Friday night gathering at Ben's would continue, however this time the audience would get the joy of going along for the ride. Here are my shots from Friday and Saturday night. They can't even come close to representing the magic that was Seldom Scene's 40th Anniversary Show. To hear the background rehearsal clips from Friday night, disable internal music at the bottom left of the screen.....Enjoy-

Christy Reid