Ryan Spearman Concert

Last evening we returned once again to Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis for their weekly out-doors concert known as the Whitaker Music Festival.

Now in its 19^th year, the open-air festival presents nine weeks of free Wednesday evening concerts under the stars, May 30 through July 25, 2012, sponsored by the Whitaker Foundation which supports St. Louis arts and parks.

The lead artist for the evening was Ryan Spearman an instructor at the Folk School of St. Louis where he has taught classes covering several traditional musical subjects including, clawhammer banjo, old time and bluegrass fiddle, guitar, jug band, improvisation, music theory, and old time ensemble performance.

Although the lanterns for the Lantern Festival were not lighted in most of the Botanical Garden,  the four column lanterns closest to the stage were lighted adding to the beauty of the evening.

The weather was perfect for a concert on the lawn.  Spearman is an excellent musician, playing the guitar, banjo and fiddle.  His back-up instrumentalists were also added variety to his presentation of  various styles of music, including folk, country, bluegrass,and rhythm and blues.  It was a delightful evening!