Entering its 33rd year, the largest Northeast bluegrass festival brings in an all-star lineup and gathers tales from its past.

By STEPHEN A. IDE
The Patriot Ledger

OAK HILL, NY - On a farm in rural Greene County, New York, stories are written each summer. A hay field is transformed into a temporary small city, a village of bluegrass lovers, musicians, campers and neighbors.

At the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, its stories are its heartbeat.

For the first time, Grey Fox is collecting those stories in a book.

The largest bluegrass festival in the Northeast, Grey Fox will be held July 16-19, and will be in its second year on the Walsh Farm, in Oak Hill, New York. That location is beginning to nurture its own tales. But many of the stories being gathered recall early festival days, when it went by names like Berkshire Mountain or Winterhawk before eventually becoming Grey Fox in 2000.

Some stories tell of getting mandolin tips directly from the father of bluegrass music, Bill Monroe - and buying him a chicken dinner. Others recall how friendships rekindle each year when families reunite, sharing precious earth where the music meets the sky.

“Almost everybody who comes to Grey Fox has some sort of remarkable experience there. Little, big, life-changing. And they go home happier. That’s our real goal,” said assistant director Mary Burdette, who organizes the show with producer Mary Doub. “When we put out the plea for stories, they started coming in quickly.”

So much so that the festival is planning story-gathering sessions on three mornings at the festival.

Swimming in Catskill Creek will not be allowed this year,
but above are scenes from the 2008 festival.

Some of the stories even have an international flair: A New Jersey man met his Thai bride-to-be online. He introduced her to bluegrass music and they married last year, attending Grey Fox together for the first time. He writes: “I will always remember the look in her eyes, the excitement and how much fun it was to share it all with her. Not to mention we were ecstatic when we met a wonderful Thai family there cooking THAI FOOD as a vendor.”

Others are tales of devotion to musicians who have affected their lives. One New York woman wrote about a time that they arrived late to the festival in the rain. Rather than set up camp and stay dry, she ran to the stage to hear Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. “I was drenched to the bone, but the sound of Ralph’s vocals and banjo licks made me as happy as a pig in mud, and I probably looked like one too, but I felt beautiful.”

The book, which will contain 70 stories from the festival, was proposed by Mitchell Levy of Happy About Books, Burdette said. But “it was a no-brainer” when the book was proposed, she said. Topics will range from “Love and Marriage,” to “Friends and Family” to “How Grey Fox Changed My Life.”

The stars shine

Along with festival hosts, the Dry Branch Fire Squad, the line-up at Grey Fox every year is like a Who’s Who in bluegrass music and this year is no exception. (see complete schedule)

Del McCoury is celebrating 50 years performing bluegrass. His distinctive high tenor truly makes him the voice of bluegrass. Other big names this year include Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Marty Stuart & his Fabulous Superlatives, the David Bromberg Quartet, the Tim O’Brien Band, the Kruger Brothers, the Claire Lynch Band, Mountain Heart, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum and Peter Rowan’s Bluegrass Band.

But it’s not just the big names. It’s also the variety. The dance troupe Footworks will celebrate 30 years performing at Grey Fox. There will be Cajun music from Louisiana’s Red Stick Ramblers and dance instruction from John Kirk and Trish Miller.

The up-and-comers also add to the vibrance and growth of the music, including mandolin prodigy Sierra Hull, multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz, guitarist phenom Josh Williams or old-time country from The Maybelles. Other rising stars performing will include King Wilkie, The Boston Boys and Crooked Still.

The stories of Grey Fox evolve from not just the musicians people see, but the event itself. It’s a flurry of activity. There are multiple stages for music, workshops and dance. There is a vibrant family stage, keeping kids busy with juggling, yoga, puppet shows, clowns, ventriloquists, tie-dyeing, crafts and movies at night.

Photos from a variety of Grey Fox Staff photographers
(may take a few moments to load)

For older “kids,” there are all-night jam sessions, workshops, food of all types, unusual camp sites, booths with instruments, crafts and clothing. Hundreds of volunteers are the thread that keeps the village functioning, from planning to breakdown.

And just like in any city, learning is a key element in its growth and its success.

One of the festival’s most satisfying events is its Bluegrass Academy for Kids. Grey Fox was among the first festivals in the country to help children learn to play bluegrass music through this program, established 11 years ago and now a staple at many other music festivals. It has become hugely successful, with about 100 children playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and other instruments. They practice for days with expert teachers and then perform on the main stage for an appreciative crowd. The cuteness level is off the charts, but the music often sticks with the children for years into the future.

Grey Fox has for years nurtured youth in their pursuit of musical excellence through its Bill Vernon Memorial Scholarship. This year, fiddler Etienne Cremieux, recipient of the award who will attend Berklee College of Music in the fall, will perform with Boston’s Red Hot Black Top during the festival’s emerging artist showcase.

Undoubtedly, like others before him, he will carve his own niche in Grey Fox’s storybook.

Tickets and additional information are available online at www.greyfoxbluegrass.com or at 888-946-8495.

Children play on the Main Stage at Grey Fox
as part of the Bluegrass Academy for Kids. Photos by Stephen Ide.

New Bedford-area musician Art Tebbetts performed at several of the stages at this past weekend’s Summerfest. I happened to catch his show on Saturday, July 4. It was held in the auditorium of the Whaling Museum in the city’s heart. While Art didn’t sell out the joint, he had a respectable crowd of almost 100 people, and he appreciated it. Some were friends offering support. Some were strangers. He greeted folks and shook their hands as they came in. They had come to the show to enjoy his conversational and amiable storytelling style, in the wonderful folk tradition, and he didn’t disappoint. While other shows this weekend might have featured wizardry on guitar or other instruments, Tebbetts specialty is simply playing songs people know, getting them to sing along and taking requests.

Art has a knack for just that. Aside from playing in pubs and coffeehouses, his “day job” is performing for seniors in nursing homes or at councils for aging, where he plays all the classic songs that shaped the soundtrack for an older generation. But he’s a folkie and showman at heart, enjoys the world of tie-dye, acoustic instruments and a great old sing-along. He does it all with a smile, knowing that he never got into folk music for the money.

Below is a playlist of some of the songs from his Saturday show:

Tebbetts is a cover-master, able to perform many songs in “folk” fashion on his acoustic guitar, whether they are songs from the mid 1900’s to the more contemporary. He took requests from the audience, including Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans” and others performed Saturday. He played Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue,” and even Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire,” with some interesting reverb that made him sound like he was in a larger hall.

He poked fun at a friend/photographer who was lying down in front of the stage. Later he posed mid-show for a photo with the audience, saying it would be this year’s Christmas card. He made fun of his own quirkiness, and changed keys to a more comfortable one during the intro of “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You,” a song popularized by Elvis Presley. I have edited the key change out of the video to keep it shorter. But the audience laughter you hear is from Art repeating his story once he found the right key.

You can check out more good stuff about Art at his myspace page, and even read his take on his shows and events at Summerfest on his blog.

The English Men, with guitarist Colvin Quarmby, brought their entertaining, comical style and fine musicianship in uplifting songs to the main Custom House Stage. Canadian duo Dala, Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther, brought finely honed duet harmonies to the smaller Garden Stage. They were billed under the heading “Best Friends.” The description is accurate, since they are indeed that, but they thought it a bit ironic, noting that they soon are going their separate musical ways.

Local troubadour Art Tebbetts garnered almost 100 visitors to the New Bedford Whaling Museum for his set of warm cover songs. Tebbetts, a local favorite, created instant song medleys and toyed with the audience, even posing appreciatively for a picture with the crowd.

Below is a video compilation with some of the acts from the day:

If you’ve never been to the New Bedford Summerfest, mark your calendars for next year, since it’s held the first weekend in July. Besides the music, there was an abundance of food and crafts set up throughout New Bedford’s cobblestoned downtown.

It’s been years since I have seen singer-songwriter John Gorka, and he has lost none of his wry humor and audience appeal. His songs have a down-home feel as he sung about being from New Jersey and many of his early career favorites. He noted that he is soon to release his 10th CD.

Singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards, the definition of a touring musician, performed with his new trio, with Stuart Schulman on bass, fiddle and piano, and Taylor Armerding (Northern Lights, Gospel Bluegrass Project). Edwards hit all of the crowd favorites, including “Sunshine (Go Away Today),” “Shanty,” “Don’t Cry Blue” and many others, beginning his set and bringing the crowd to its feet as he (and they) sang the “Star Spangled Banner” in honor of July 4th.

Other performing on Saturday included Red Molly, Roy Book Binder, The Kennedys, Ellis Paul, Cliff Eberhart, Bob Franke, David Surrette, Stacey Earl and Mark Stuart, among others.

Some of this year’s more than 30 acts include the Jonathan Edwards Trio, Antje Duvekot, Ellis Paul and Roy Book Binder. Surprisingly, with this much talent on multiple stages, the Saturday-Sunday ticket is an amazing $15, or $10 for just one day, still cheaper than seeing one of these acts at a local coffeehouse.

The Friday night kick-off show, a separate concert, features Maria Muldaur, Ellis Paul and Peter Mulvey.

Here is a video I made from last year’s festival. It barely scratches the surface of what you’ll see and hear there:

For  details, visit the festival web site or the web site for Barrell of Music Productions, which offers bios of all the performers.

On his latest CD, “Departure” (Mas Music Studios), Schultz steeps his songs in images of blue collar America and small-town living, from the traditional sounding “Quaint Little Town” to the 12-bar blues of “Ocean Avenue Blues” or the jangly rock of the working person’s anthem “Gotta Get to Work:”

My back is aching and my joints are stiff
A 15-minute break just don’t do the trick
I can’t believe tomorrow, I gotta do this again
I just heard the boss say, ‘Hey, get back to work!’ “

Many of Schultz’s songs have the feel of 50’s rock with the storytelling sensibilities of a folk singer. He sings of his experiences being drafted and serving in the Vietnam War in “Times Wasted.” That serves in stark contrast to the tender, though risque, ballad “Moo Moo My Lady,” written by Jim Krotki, Lee Yarosh and Ken Charters.

A multi-instrumentalist influenced by the Moody Blues, Schultz offers a tribute to that group in the instrumental “Tranquility,” which has a clever undertone that fits perfectly with “Melancholy Man.” Joining him on keyboards is co-writer Tomas Perez, who also adds bass, drums and percussion on the CD.

There also were strong performances by other finalists Lynne Hanson of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Chris Elliott of Leverett, Mass.

Check back in the next few days for photos and videos from the show.

Small clubs around Boston and elsewhere, where non-labeled musicians play to small and sometimes large crowds, are the pollen for the busy bee musicians of the movement. And they are all looking for their big break. Sometimes all it takes is a line that says that they were a finalist or won a songwriting contest.

It was in the spirit of trying to provide that break that the Rose Garden Coffeehouse began its performing songwriter competition 17 years ago. Since then, many of the musicians that have been either finalists or winners have gone on to better musical careers. Songwriters like Darryl Purpose, Michael Troy, Jud Caswell, Cadence Carroll and many others.

“This year, the quality of the entries made picking three finalists especially difficult,” says Rose Garden organizer Samuel “Mac” McLanahan. “We had more than 50 entries from all over the country, although most were from New England. It just happened to work out that two of the three we picked will be coming a long distance to do their two songs …  one from Canada and one from Florida. The third, from Western Massachusetts, lives relatively close.”

Garrison Doles Orlando, Fla.

Chris Elliott Leverett, Mass.

Lynne Hanson Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

The contestants this year include Garrison Doles of Orlando, Fla., Lynne Hanson of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Chris Elliott of Leverett, Mass. “All three are extremely talented,” McLanahan said. “Our audience always has fun seeing if their choice for the winner matches the judges’ choice!”

Garrison Doles web site | myspace
Doles has warm bluesy voice that hovers nicely over picked acoustic guitar and belies his hard-scrabble 30-year career as a performer. He is no stranger to songwriting contests, having won contests in Florida, North Carolina and Dallas in 2008.

Chris Elliott web site | myspace
Elliott has the storytelling sound of Bob Dylan, the heart of a rocker and the soft sound of a traditional folkie. He won his current handmade guitar in a WUMB radio competition.

Lynne Hanson web site | myspace
Lynne Hanson has more of a countrified sound than the other two and a powerful country voice and won the Blues Award for the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals “Songs from the Heart” contest in 2006.

The Judging
The judges will rate the performers on their performance abilities, interaction with the audience, the quality of their songwriting, both music and lyrics. Each finalist submitted two songs and will perform them Saturday night.

“A good song has to start with a good, original idea,” says McLanahan. “To me, the best songs are about topics that haven’t already been covered over and over. We look for the quality of voice and the instrumental accompaniment. Then, when the finalist gets to the actual performance on Saturday, the judges will also be looking at stage presence and how well the performer presents himself or herself in a live situation.”

The judges this year include Naomi Arenberg, host and producer of the “Folk on WGBH” radio program; August Watters, an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the director of education for the Boston Bluegrass Union; and Chuck Hall, an accomplished songwriter, performer and winner of the 2008 competition.

The contest will be held before the main act at Saturday’s Rose Garden, Jake & Taylor Armerding. As in the past, the winner of the competition will be announced at the end of the show. Check back on this blog for the results.

The show will be held at 8 p.m. at the Orthodox Congregational Church, 17 West St., Mansfield. Doors open at 7:30. Tickets are $18, $16 in advance. For more information, visit the Rose Garden web site.

There is something special when the father-son duo of Taylor and Jake Armerding take the stage. In Taylor’s early days, as a founding member of the progressive bluegrass band Northern Lights, he would invite Jake to perform onstage with the band. Playing fiddle at 13-14 years old, Jake would wow the audience with abilities that seemed far beyond his age, almost stealing the limelight from the band. His affable nature endeared him to audiences, and encouragement from his dad no doubt set the stage for Jake to launch his own musical career.

The duo will be together this Saturday, May 16, 2009, for the season-ending show at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield, Mass. In addition to the special nature of this father and son performance, they will be bringing with them a full complement of musicians and both will be releasing new CDs. For Taylor, this is his first, a birthday and Christmas gift from his son.

In addition, the Rose Garden will hold its 17th annual performing songwriter competition. Finalists this year will include Garrison Doles of Orlando, Fla.; Lynne Hanson of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and Chris Elliott of Leverett, Mass.

For Jake Armerding, 31, who got married in this past year, it comes as no surprise that his fourth CD, “Her,” is a collection of songs about love and relationships. “For years I’ve been trying to get away from love songs,” says Armerding, who also plays guitar and mandolin. “Everybody writes them, they’re the easiest to write, all that stuff. But then I fell in love and got married, so it wasn’t really an option.”

Here are some song clips from Jake’s new CD:

Jake has become one of the most melodically and lyrically gifted songwriters on the circuit today.  His songs continue a trend of defying easy characterization. His deft use of electric and acoustic instruments, keyboards and percussion never hides lyrical impact, leaving his tender tenor vocals out front. His songs vary from acoustic folk, to jazz, to bluegrass, to Latin and more. They can change the mood from the distant and sadly affecting “I Came Upon Some Love Today” to the joyous opening track “Up On The Rim”:

“How did I find
True love with a friend of mine?
Just a boy and a girl
But it still feels just like a miracle”

I found myself singing along and hitting repeat on the CD player to songs like “$2 Kite,” about being torn between love and friendship, and the celebratory “Song of Solomon.” The latter is a country-folk melody that has a duet with Taylor, warm vocal harmonies that mingle with fiddle, and an anthemic chorus:

“Alleluia to the chorus
Can you hear the angels sing along
To the music written for us
We sing our Song of Solomon”

He sings a confrontational love-dismissal rant amid power-strummed acoustic guitar in “Harry/Sally.” In “Porto, PT (Portugal)” jazz horns, clarinet and Latin rhythms tell the story of love lost to the lure of a travel poster on a wall.

Pensive electric guitar pushes the impassioned love song, “Dying Light,” while “Summer of My Life” offers lush harmonies and devotional lyrics that could be wedding vows:

“You are my marigold
spring’s daughter
You are my drink of cold
well water
And you are my girl next door
who lives with me
I could not love you more
Somehow I do, I do.”

Taylor Armerding, 60, a columnist for “The Eagle Tribune” in Lawrence, Mass., spent 28 years as the Northern Lights mandolin player and front man. Now he performs in a trio with Jonathan Edwards, the Bluegrass Gospel Project and with an occasional collaboration called Barnstar (consisting of guitarist Mark Erelli, banjoist Charlie Rose, bassist Zack Hickman and Northern Lights fiddler Mike Barnett). He said Jake comes from a musical family (both of his grandparents also were musical), and that he was exposed to many kinds of music growing up. Taylor said he’s proud of Jake’s accomplishments, and especially his writing. “Some of these are among the best he’s ever done,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s birthday and Christmas present from Jake was his first solo CD project, called “Head That Way,” a collection of blues, bluegrass, bluegrass gospel and folk favorites, with Zack Hickman on bass, Mark Erelli on guitar and vocals, Lincoln Meyers on guitar, Greg Liszt (Crooked Still) on banjo and his youngest son, Jesse Armerding, on drums.

Taylor joked that he toyed with calling the CD “Breaking Old Ground,” because most of the songs on the CD he had already recorded with other groups. But the real gift, he said, was that his son also put together the band for his recording. “I couldn’t have assembled a better group of players,” Taylor said. “It was Dad and the kids.” He said, for him, the CD is a kind of retrospective, adding “being at the age that I am, it’s kind of nice to have them all in one place.”

Though he knew the group members  ̶  most introduced through his association with Jake  ̶  he had never worked with them. “It was an amazing experience,” Taylor said. “We knocked out 13 songs in two days. It was a blast.”

Here are some song clips from Taylor’s new CD:

The CD includes songs that followers of Northern Lights will recognize, most notably the band’s signature train song for many years, “Northern Rail,” along with “City on a Hill,” both written by Taylor. He said he had never recorded until now a couple of songs in his repertoire, the original “Company Town” and the Dillards’ “Old Home Place.”

Taylor’s vocals soar in the classic bluegrass gospel of “Working on a Building” and offers up some fine harmonies in the Louvin Brothers’ “Cash on the Barrelhead.”

Armerding said he’s looking forward to his return to the Rose Garden. He’s performed there in many of the coffeehouse’s 20 years. He attributes it to the venue’s ability to bring quality acts to the stage. “The ones that survive and even prosper basically are able to establish a reputation that you can go there anytime and enjoy what you hear,” Taylor said. “The Rose Garden has a loyal following, but I don’t think you get a loyal following if it’s uneven.”

The Rose Garden Coffeehouse, held at the Orthodox Congregational Church in Mansfield, Mass., opens its doors at 7:30. The show starts at 8 p.m. Click for a map. Tickets are $18 at the door, $16 in advance. For information, visit the Rose Garden web site at www.rosegardenfolk.com or call 508-699-8122.

Jake Armerding performed with Northern Lights in 1993 at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in this before and after photo montage.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams; live the life you’ve imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau

Singer-songwriter David Ogden says he tries to live by that Thoreau quote. He’s traveled around the country and back again, and the path has returned him to his roots. Born and raised in Scituate, Mass., Ogden had been a regular on the South Shore music scene before heading to Florida in the mid 80’s to explore other dreams. But, now he’s home again.

Ogden’s music, a mix of meticulously picked acoustic guitar and warm, soothing vocals, wraps around classic images of New England and Boston’s South Shore. His fifth CD, “No Better Place” (Coastal Fog Records, davidogdenmusic.com), is rife with imagery of his home, which he calls the “Irish Riviera,” a reference to the seaside region so named because of the influx of Irish-Americans who vacationed there in the ’20s and ’30s. It’s no wonder “1-4-3 (Lighthouse Song)” is backed by the sound of pennywhistles.

“Off the coast of Cohasset,
She’s got a Boston point of view,
a lighthouse that flashes 1-4-3,
I-love-you.”

The CD, produced by Ben Wisch (Marc Cohen, Patty Larkin, David Wilcox) pays homage to New England in “No Better Place,” a quick-paced, percussive lyrical canvas of life in the Northeast, with mentions of fly rods, Maine cabins, the Vineyard and more.

Click the Play button above to hear a clip of “No Better Place.”

Ogden, who had worked in Florida managing a music production company, says he and his wife, Dawn, returned to the South Shore about 6 years ago. “Being a Yankee and New Englander in Florida, I got homesick,” he said. He found himself writing songs about his original hometown. “I missed performing. I missed writing. I missed following that dream … I took that leap of faith [back into performing]” he said, by returning to New England. “It’s been an uphill battle. Independent music is a tough thing.”

His songs delve into familiar folk music territory, with introspective melodies about life, love and spirituality. He sings about his first guitar, handed down from his grandfather to his father, then to him, in “Grandfather’s Guitar.” “Even though it was a bit weathered, strings a mile off the frets, and always out of tune, it was great. I took it everywhere, a couple of buds making up songs and plucking out old Beatles tunes. Little did I know it would send me on a lifelong journey.” One tune, “Woodsmoke and Rain,” relies on his guitar today, in a peaceful, emotive, picked instrumental.

Ogden performs solo, with a band or with Norwell singer-songwriter Les Sampou, who adds bluesy harmonies on “God Only Knows.” Also joining Ogden on this CD are Jennifer Kimball, Duke Levine, Ben Whitman and a half-dozen other musicians. “It’s been fantastic to get in touch with old friends again and be back playing again, writing, recording and getting back on the right track.”

Click the Play button above to hear a clip of “God Only Knows.”