Dixie Bee-Liners Will Start Highlands Festival Buzzing

Buzz with the bees or twist the night away.
Actually, you can do both.
See the Dixie Bee-Liners on July 25 and Chubby Checker on July 26 during the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon, which runs from July 26 through Aug. 10.
The Abingdon-based Dixie Bee-Liners are on their way to achieving acclaim. Checker earned his long ago.
Different styles. Different sounds. Different eras.
Now, Checker must have been working on “The Twist” and was unavailable for comment. However, Buddy Woodward of the Dixie Bee-Liners stopped buzzing around long enough to speak about their new album, “Ripe,” which is their second album and first on an established label, Pinecastle Records.
“That gave us an air of legitimacy that self-releasing stuff didn’t do,” said Woodward by phone from West Virginia.
“Ripe” has given the Dixie Bee-Liners much more. More shows. More credibility. Two number one singles. And now seven shots at winning a prestigious award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
“We just found out this week that we’re eligible for IBMA awards in seven categories,” Woodward said. “It’s in the second round of voting. If we make it through the third round, then it’s like, what’s inside the envelope.”
Amazing.
Just like Checker’s career. No other singer has logged more mileage from the strength of one song. Checker, born Ernest Evans in Andrews, S.C., in 1941, hit the top spot on Billboard’s pop singles chart in 1960 with “The Twist.” He hit number one again in 1961 with “Pony Time,” but few may remember that song.
Checker milked “The Twist” for a second run at number one in 1962. Add in a list of twist-referencing songs. He scored a Top 10 hit with “Let’s Twist Again” in 1961, and Top 40s with “Twist It Up” (1963) and “The Twist (Yo, Twist!)” in 1988 with rap group the Fat Boys.
Checker also appeared in two twist-inspired movies, “Don’t Knock the Twist” and “Twist Around the Clock.”
The Dixie Bee-Liners would love a career as long as Checker’s. Newly located in Abingdon from New York and working hard to build a name, Woodward said simply trying to keep a bluegrass band together in New York was a chore.
“Up there, just forget it,” he said. “Down here, we could get a steady lineup together. Our intention all along was to get a band like Blue Highway. I’d like to have some consistency like Blue Highway.”
Time will tell.
Meanwhile even though their album “Ripe” is just a few months into its release, Woodward said he’s already planning the band’s next album. Don’t look for it anytime soon, probably not for 18 months or so. But it is something to look forward to.
“Pinecastle signed us on the fact that we are interested in doing things outside the box, like concept albums,” Woodward said.
As with Willie Nelson’s 1975 classic “Red Headed Stranger,” concept albums revolve around a theme and or perhaps a story.
“We’ve got four different ideas in mind for concept albums,” Woodward said. “I think we’re going to do one called ‘Brake Light,’ about different modes of transportation – planes, trains, automobiles. We have a bunch of songs earmarked for that project. It’s still embryonic.”
That could describe the Dixie Bee-Liners, an embryonic band with a sound that’s being birthed one day at a time.
“We hope to keep it together for a good long while,” Woodward said. “We’re here to stay.”

THERE’S MORE:
Native Scotsman Jack Beck plans to stay in Appalachia. Like Woodward, he hails from a place worlds removed from the Mountain Empire, yet also like Woodward, Beck has found a home for his music here amid one of the richest pockets in the world for music. Check inside for more on Beck and wife Wendy Welch.

IF YOU GO
Who: Dixie Bee-Liners
When: July 25, 7:30-10 p.m.
Where: Virginia Highlands Festival event tent, Abingdon
Tickets: $5
Info: (888) 489-4230
Web: www.dixiebeeliners.com

AND
Who: Chubby Checker
When: July 26, 6 p.m. festivities start with Checker at 8 p.m.
Where: Main Street, Abingdon
Admission: Free
Info: (888) 489-4230
Web: www.chubbychecker.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.