Friday, May 9, 2008

North Branch Bluegrass Festival

Yay!! A new bluegrass event in Vermont! And one that is traditional bluegrass, not just a bunch of kids experimenting with bluegrass sounds. I am not saying I don't appreciate that as well, but there is something about watching more seasoned folks play from tradition in the back of a local farmer's barn that just twangs at your soul and makes you want to dance without your shoes and keep an eye out for moonshine.

Promising "nine hours of quality music," Bridgewater Corner couple, Randy and Heather Kennedy, are holding the First Annual North Branch Bluegrass Festival on Bud Jenne's Fields in Bridgewater Corners. How can you not love how that sounds??? The festival is happening, rain or shine, on Saturday, June 21st. No camping this year, but maybe in years to come, no dogs either which is good because it can be a pain in the arse when everyone brings their dogs. The event is family friendly and workshops will be offered throughout the festival. People are encouraged to bring chairs.

Four bands will be featured, New England Bluegrass and Crossing North are the out-of-staters and Vermont bands Big Spike and Gopher Broke. Big Spike is a five-piece band featuring the twin fiddle sound highlighted with a big double bass. Gopher Broke is a Northeast Kingdom four-piece gem that promoters claim will make your kids want to sign up for music lessons (note: The Mitch is for hire for drum lessons).

Admission is $10 for kids under 12, $18 for 65+, and $19 for the rest of us. More info is on the website at www.nbbluegrass.com and there's a ton of sponsors so make sure you support those who support local events!

photos: Top - Big Spike, Bottom - Gopher Broke

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Rachel: Love what you've done for our show. I understand why you're in the biz. Randy and I are sober, working-class real folks who have that forty-somethin' pudgy thing going on. By the time the weekend rolls around, we're too tired to amount to much and have discovered the new age of music festival for old fogies.(I swear it's the same crowd we saw hard partying twenty five years ago!) Anyway, we're all older and wiser and love hanging out in the sunshine watching these amazing bands. Real talent never goes out of style. This is an affordable festival for gentle folks. We don't care if your nose is red from whatever is in your travel mug if you're over 21 but we can't afford any craziness. This show is muchos expensive and we're stretched out as far as we are able. We hope to make a new career out of it if at all possible but it has to stay a family friendly festival in order to survive to year Two. We're giving every dollar of our first show to our town because we care (and also for the publicity help) so it's up to our crowd to define whether we'll ever get affordable insurance for a show next year. Thanks again for your excellent help. I hope we get to meet at out show. Heather Kennedy Co-Director NBB

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