tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-205923212025-04-02T00:22:07.450-07:00News and comment on leading North American roots music festivalsDan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.comBlogger493125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-90705055974341377402009-01-03T11:23:00.000-08:002009-01-03T13:24:02.277-08:00

Hello festival-goers,Festival Preview has recently gone through a major site upgrade and will now be posting festival news for all genres on the new beta version of FestivalPreview.com. The roots section of the new site can be found here. Come sign up at the new site and join in on the fun!Jessica BailiffPublishing AssociateFestival Preview

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-18645181329354825342009-01-02T02:04:00.000-08:002009-01-02T02:32:00.230-08:00

Claire Lynch <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Ted Lehmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12948477139450253563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-30710645275391302452009-01-01T14:46:00.000-08:002009-01-01T14:52:39.798-08:00

Woodwind wonder Jeff Coffin will be splitting his time between his regular gig with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones and the Dave Matthews Band. From Jeff's Website: There have been many people asking and, yes, I will be joining Dave Mattews Band starting in 2009. I am honored to be asked to be part of such a fantastic group of musicians and people and am looking forward to making some great music!

ZChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03504578558522945540noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-48382499074416842782008-07-03T17:37:00.000-07:002008-07-03T17:51:44.123-07:00

The just finished 13th Kate Wolf Memorial Folk Festival may just have been the best one ever, despite the pall of smoke in the air, the result of the fire situation in Northern California, including Mendocino county where the festival is held. Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, home to several festivals over the course of the summer, provides a lovely venue, with a natural music bowl, a wooded

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-44303013995032216022008-06-24T16:07:00.000-07:002008-06-24T19:11:21.949-07:00

The newly eclectic Newport Folk Festival announced that former Beach Boy and composer-producer Brian Wilson will headline the festival's traditional opening night concert at The International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino on Friday, August 1, 2008 in Newport, RI. The facility is a historic place in the history of tennis and of old Newport, and is used twice a year to host the first

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-18693810360737727692008-06-23T16:45:00.000-07:002008-06-23T17:02:09.577-07:00

By Donald FrazierComing down out of the workaday world into any four-day festival in a remote resort location is bound to be more than a change in scenery. But in the case of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, it’s an especially long, strange trip.Festivarian Nation. More, perhaps, than any music event in America, this one positions itself as a sort of gathering of the clans. The festival website

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-82615866704926632832008-06-23T16:44:00.000-07:002008-06-25T15:30:48.485-07:00

Some of the most immediate performances in Telluride took place far from the main stage. Living up to its mission to advance the form, this festival every year conducts a number of clinics and competitions to discover new talent, showcase new ideas and pass on skills to a new generation. For example, Saturday morning saw Michael Harnick and Bobby Wintringham expound upon the fine points of

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-31841557198788672812008-06-23T16:42:00.000-07:002008-06-23T16:44:14.739-07:00

By Donald FrazierIt was a night of star turns in Telluride as Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, the omnipresent Sam Bush, and the tight ensemble of soloists in Leftover Salmon took the stage in a flurry of high virtuosity on every instrument in the bluegrass arsenal, from fiddle and dobro to banjo and mandolin.Ricky Skaggs took it one step further, unveiling a new piano-based sound. And this is no

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-76249233130018250732008-06-23T15:23:00.000-07:002008-12-11T01:33:53.882-08:00

By Donald FrazierPerhaps it’s too soon to name the high point of the festival season. But the peak of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival took place at precisely 9:37 p.m. Saturday night of the Summer Solstice, when Sam Bush swung from a jazz fusion violin homage to Jean-Luc Ponty into a Celtic fiddle improv that segued, with a vast collective gasp from the crowd of thousands, into Whole Lotta

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-51725299161117687622008-06-20T17:24:00.000-07:002008-06-20T17:29:54.116-07:00

By Donald FrazierAs a number of high-profile commercial festivals command attention this summer, the Big Daddy of bluegrass events continues to draw thousands to its Rocky Mountain home of 35 years, the once-funky and now-tony Telluride, Colorado. More than any other event, this one positions itself as keeper of the flame for the ongoing evolution of this musical form.Headliners include Ricky

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-77686224555583101992008-06-16T16:47:00.000-07:002008-06-16T16:49:24.353-07:00

Following the outcry that resulted from news that Strawberry Music Festivals could lose its lease for Camp Mather, the City of San Francisco-owned camp in the High Sierras, the festival revealed Friday that negotiations are back on track. An open letter from Strawberry management said that the festival and city Recreation and Parks department are now in agreement on the terms of a new lease. "

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-15929546508494615272008-06-10T13:40:00.000-07:002008-06-10T13:49:26.157-07:00

By Jimmy Carlisle It’s less than a month till the large field overlooking the Okemah golf course and the distant hot and cold water towers will be transformed into Pastures of Plenty, which will hold the main stage for the 11th annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, also known as WoodyFest (July 9-13, Okemah OK). That's the stage where Judy Collins (yes, the Judy Collins, in answer to one of the

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-78500775348937674522008-06-06T15:41:00.001-07:002008-06-06T16:11:15.391-07:00

By Dan RubyStrawberry Music Festivals today acknowledged the truth of rumors that the festival is in danger of losing its lease for the idyllic site where the event has been held twice a year since 1984. In a detailed email posted to several lists, Strawberry management laid out the issues involved in the lease negotiations with the City of San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department, which is

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com51tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-39995500601987822482008-06-06T14:53:00.000-07:002008-06-06T15:02:14.482-07:00

By Ted LehmannStrawberry Park Bluegrass Festival finished on Sunday with four very strong performances surrounding the delightful on-stage debut of this year’s Kids Academy. After a short rain delay and some mugginess on Saturday night, the day dawned misty and a little muggy but quickly cleared into a warm, dry, sunny day – perfect for bluegrass. The morning’s music opened with Dry Branch Fire

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-85941537122215183352008-06-06T14:41:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:47:01.487-07:00

By Ted LehmannThe Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival will kick off its eighth four-day season on June 26, 2008 at the Weston Recreation Area a mile or two north of the picturesque village of Weston, VT off Greendale Road. This delightful, small festival will feature the strongest lineup in its history. National bands are led by The Dan Tyminski Band and include The Gibson Brothers, Dan Paisley &

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-46920815267801369722008-06-06T14:05:00.000-07:002008-06-06T14:23:05.968-07:00

Funky folkie Laura Love talks with Festival Preview about the "Black to Bluegrass" evening she hosted at Wintergrass 2008 featuring Ruthie Foster, The Ebony Hillbillies and her new band Laura Love & Harper's Ferry. The performances paid homage to the African American roots of bluegrass music. Love makes the argument that American traditional music resulted from a union of folk traditions from the

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-21949614058618648672008-06-04T17:42:00.000-07:002008-06-04T18:04:40.431-07:00

There is so much competition for festival attendees that some festivals have taken to making earlier and earlier lineup announcements, possibly intending to discourage regular festival attendees from sampling competitive fests.At least that's my best guess for why Wintergrass put out its preliminary February 2009 lineup yesterday, at least three months earlier than usual. In past years, I have

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-21942957485217024582008-06-03T14:31:00.000-07:002008-06-04T15:00:08.061-07:00

The Strawberry Music Festival email list is buzzing today with talk about a possible move to a new location that could become necessary for the 2009 season. The festival's long-time home, Camp Mather outside the gates of Yosemite National Park, is an ideal setting that thousands of fans have come to think of as their home away from home. It is owned by the City of San Francisco, and the

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-13868996495147709522008-06-03T13:39:00.000-07:002008-06-12T00:52:28.506-07:00

How do they do it at the Kate Wolf festival? Every year I am amazed at how good a lineup the Wolf family and Cumulus Presents manages to put together for this northern California folk festival. They got me again this year with the following artists, all favorites of mine:Keb' Mo', Taj Mahal, The Waifs, The Greencards, Greg Brown, John Gorka and Lucy Kaplansky, Todd Snider, Ani DiFranco, Los Lobos

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-21443899358040175542008-06-03T13:00:00.000-07:002008-06-03T14:19:53.713-07:00

Of all the artists who are frequent performers at the Kate Wolf Music Festival, coming up June 27-29 at the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville CA, few were as part of the festival scenery as the great Utah Phillips, who passed away two weeks at 73 after a long bout with heart disease. (I'll have more to say about the Kate Wolf lineup in another post.)Musicians and folk music fans around the country

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-90434028122695559282008-05-29T13:46:00.000-07:002008-05-29T14:09:50.653-07:00

Attendees at last weekend's Spring Strawberry Music Festival are remembering this year's event as "Drizzleberry." The event offered some great musical moments, according to posters on the festival's email list, but many fans missed them while seeking refuge from the coldest and wettest Strawberry festival in recent memory. Strawberry is just the latest 2008 festival that has offered less than

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-80150268181656294602008-05-06T12:44:00.000-07:002008-05-06T12:59:29.839-07:00

The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame will honor acoustic music greats Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson as its first inductees in a ceremony and concert June 13 at the Walker Center at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro NC.The organization was created in 2006 to recognize musicians and others who have contributed to the musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The area was a “melting pot” of

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-6835314427913596302008-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:002008-12-11T01:33:54.247-08:00

The local Palm Springs newspaper The Desert Sun offers comprehensive news, reviews, photos and more from last weekend's Stagecoach festival. Among a high-powered lineup of country music stars, the highlights were probably the reunion concert by The Judds and a rare performance by The Eagles. Until Saturday, Naomi and Wynona had not performed together since 2000. Desert Sun's Stagecoach

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-3989900355752261012008-05-02T14:37:00.000-07:002008-05-02T15:08:23.861-07:00

Citing financing issues with its festival venue property, Silver Ridge Music Festivals announced cancellation of the two festivals—Mountain Country Festival and Mountain Rock Festival—it had scheduled this summer in Farwell MI. Silver Ridge had run a successful debuts for the two festivals last year at the former ski resort after making significant property improvements including a main stage

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20592321.post-91795275079952600292008-05-02T10:09:00.000-07:002008-05-02T10:43:28.942-07:00

Filling out the program for the first DelFest, coming May 23-25 in Cumberland MD, High Sierra music announced the schedule of late night shows and artist "playshops."Late night programming is a popular feature of jam-band festivals, and the opening night midnight show offers a full cast of top jammers—Jon Fishman, Drew Emmitt, Billy Nershi, Tyler Grant and other special guests—playing with Ronnie

Dan Rubyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16988719959803239998noreply@blogger.com1