Hi. Well, it’s no surprise…it’s snowing outside again. It sure has been a woolly winter up here in Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains. Randy is out with our town road crew trying his best to plow heavy wet snow off of our thawed out dirt roads. Our little house is toasty warm here by the woodstove. I almost feel guilty that Avery and I are tucked in safe and sound at home today. Looking out at the winter wonderland, it’s hard to believe that bluegrass season will be here before we know it.
I’ve spent many months searching for new talent for our festival. The good news is, I’ve found a great lineup for our 4th festival. While there’s a boatload of wonderful musicians available, many are beyond our reach financially. It’s quite a challenging and daunting task to hire so many people for such a big show and still stay within our budget. Having now completed that part, I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition. I’m sure that anyone looking at our 2011 lineup will recognize a few familiar faces….most notably our brothers from other mothers Neil, Freeman, Bill, Pete, and Mike from the Big Spike Bluegrass band. Cardigan Mountain Tradition, our neighbors to the east, will also be returning to play on Sunday. Delivering to all of you the rest of our lineup sort of makes me feel like the kid who got his Christmas shopping all done early….I can’t wait to see the “joyous expression” on everyone’s face when you see what we’ve gotten for you this year. If you’re a true bluegrass fan, you will simply love our 2011 Lineup.
I once was fortunate to spend a summer around the great Rudloph Serkin, one of the world’s finest pianists. Watching him play would just give a person tingles every time. Anyone that has watched Steve Lutke from the Appalachian Uprising Band play the banjo or watched the renowned Jim Hurst play his guitar knows that feeling. What an honor to have them both come to our little festival. (Maybe they heard about our fabulous field picking and free cake?)
Remington Ryde from PA will be up onstage at our next festival on Friday and Saturday. In just a few short years, these workaholic fellows have practically stormed the nation with their fantastic traditional bluegrass sound. New bands with veteran musicians like Hot Mustard with veterans Bruce Stockwell (Stockwell Brothers Band) and April Hobart (Birch Benders) and Fairview Avenue’s Scott Hopkins (Breakaway) are once again revving up our local bluegrass scene. We are fortunate to have both bands join us in 2011 as a valuable part of the North Branch lineup. Dropping into relative obscurity in 2011, four members of the popular Massachusetts band, Crossfire, have reformed as the new “Four Bridges” band and will be performing up on our stage next Labor Day Weekend. Also coming up from Massachusetts and on their way to the big league is a great young band out of Berklee School of Music called Chasing Blue. These youngsters are really looking forward to all the field picking sessions our festival offers.
Randy and I like to throw a musical wildcard or two into every festival. While not 100% bluegrass, Wissahickon Chicken Shack is our wildcard for 2011. They’ve promised us a majority of traditional-sounding numbers but will be adding some spice to our program with a few non-traditional numbers as well. This big band is coming all the way from Pennsylvania at a discount just to be a part of our festival. Although they’re not bringing their piano and have downsized their drumset to just a snare drum with brushes, they will be our first band featuring an accordian. Sound like fun folks, don’t they?
So, that’s the lineup for our next festival. We’re having 15 music workshops again and of course the field picking out in the campground will be fantastic. I haven’t even told you all yet that Travis Wetzel, world famous fiddler will be leaving his spot at the Grand Old Opry for the weekend to come play our festival with Appalachian Uprising. There’s sure to be even more pleasant surprises when you get here. I know that times are tough these days and the price of gas will curl your hair if you still have some but….please start saving your pennies and put a spot on your social calendar for the 4th Annual North Branch Bluegrass Festival next Labor Day Weekend (September 1-4, 2011). It’s sure to be money well spent. -HK
