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  • Members of Lifeboat Quartet, a bluegrass gospel band from Delaware County, rehearse for the upcoming Snowflake Bluegrass Festival on Saturday at the Rangeline Community Center in Anderson. The band rehearses at Westside United Baptist Church in Muncie. Members are, left to right, Bradley Gregory, Larry Waters, Delon Waters, Stan Shroyer, Brent Waters, Bruce Waters and Michael Gregory. Not shown are Barney Woody and Missy Flick. Scott L. Miley / The Herald Bulletin

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February 11, 2012

Snowflake Bluegrass Festival picks its way into its 23rd year

Bands include Lifeboat Quartet’s brand of gospel

By Scott L. Miley The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON, Ind. — A good lifeboat will carry a soul through a raging storm.

Or so states the gospel hymn, “Take Me in Your Lifeboat.”

The old song has carried a Delaware County music group through the years as they perform gospel bluegrass under the name of Lifeboat Quartet.

“It’s kind of our theme song,” said Delon Waters, longtime member of the Muncie-area band founded in the 1960s. “We were trying every way to figure out what we were going to call ourselves.

“We got to singing that ‘Lifeboat’ in the old hymnal songbook and we just went with that and never did give it up.”

Waters, 68, also looks at the Lifeboat name as a vessel for carrying the gospel message.

“I’m trying to help other people see something in me or sing something that will be a blessing to them,” said Waters.

Lifeboat Quartet is among six bands scheduled to perform on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the 23rd Annual Snowflake Bluegrass Festival. The festival will start at noon at Rangeline Community Center, 1405 Rangeline Road (County Road 200 East) in Anderson. Tickets are $10 at the door with kids under 12 free.

The lineup is Cumberland Gap at noon; Common Ground, 1 p.m.; Hard Times, 2 p.m.; Abl Gry, 3 p.m.; Blue Mafia, 4 p.m., and Lifeboat Quartet, 5 p.m. The festival is presented by the Whiteriver Folk & Bluegrass Club in Anderson.

“Basically we try to get bands that are somehow tied to the club,” said Dennis Niccum, president of the club.

The 150-member club also sponsors a summer festival. Anyone can join the club for $7 a year ($10 for a family) which includes newsletters. From October to April, the club holds meetings on the third Sunday of each month at the Odd Fellows Lodge 131, 3217 Marine Drive. A pitch-in at 1 p.m. is followed by a meeting and jam session at 2 p.m.

Lifeboat Quartet is among the groups with a long acquaintance with the club.

Lifeboat Quartet was founded by the Waters family, who attended Westside United Baptist Church near Muncie. They began playing bluegrass gospel as a family in 1965 and landed a weekly radio Sunday morning show on WERK-AM in 1973. They played every week for 13 years.

The two original members, Brent and nephew Delon Waters, are now accompanied by six others, all relatives in some manner. Among them, guitarist and vocalist Bruce Waters is Delon’s son.

“It’s really been a blessing to see our family just follow in mine and Brent’s footsteps,” said Waters. “There’s a thrill about it that your family loves you enough and the music enough to want to be in there with you.”

Contact Scott L. Miley, 648-4230, scott.miley@heraldbulletin.com

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