australianbluegrass.com

News just in from the National Folk Festival is that Limited Early Bird Tickets are now available online from 9:00am Wed 1st Sept 2010.

One of the main acts confirmed for 2011 is one of the original Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys, Peter Rowan with his full band.

Others include:

• Old Time Fiddle Banjo & Vocal Maestro – Bruce Molsky – US
• Renowned Multi-instrumentalist-Vocalist – Joe Newberry – US
• 2010 USA Blues Music Award Nominee – Fiona Boyes – AUS
• Fiddle Legend – Rafe Stefani – Italy/US
• Doyen of Irish Song – Andy Irvine – IRE

The fiddles and mandolins have played their last notes, the tents and costumes are packed

The National Folk Festival has finished for another year. The five-day Easter festival at Exhibition Park featured music, dance and folk arts.

Organisers say it has been one of the most successful years in the festival’s 34-year history, with the nearly 15,000 visitors on Saturday breaking the record for a single day.

Read the full article at ABC News.

National Folk Festival  1st to 5th April 2010.

There is a variety of bluegrass and old time music offerings at this years National Folk Festival.

For five days, Exhibition Park in Canberra becomes a venue filled with colour and sound. Hundreds of the world’s best musicians perform each day on more than twenty stages, offering continuous entertainment across twenty two fabulous venues.

Every day also offers a range of workshops and sessions, where you can join in the dancing, singing and playing and become part of the celebration.

The line up from the bluegrass and old time music camp this year features The Davidson Brothers, Blue Mountain Rain, Beppe Gambetta, Charlie Walden & Mike Bing, Whitetop Mountaineers, Appalachian Heaven and Bluegrass Souls.

Early Bird Season Tickets and Season and Camping Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 National Folk Festival.

Right now is the best time to buy as these highly discounted, best-value tickets are only available for a limited time and in limited numbers. If you buy right now you only pay a maximum of $4 an hour for 52 hours of entertainment. Now that’s excellent value

For the first time there are a limited number of Season + Camping Tickets to the Festival going on sale. Festival organisers have taken this step to reduce the crowding that has been an issue for the last few years and causing concern amongst the campers. So avoid missing out for 2010 and get in early.

Day Tickets for the Festival will be available in February 2010 when we release the full timetable for the Festival. Evening Tickets will go on sale from 1st April at the gate.

Tickets can be purchased via our website from 1st December and all ticketing services for the Festival are being provided by our ticketing partners The Event Shop.
There is an amazing world of artists to be seen at the festival Some are listed below with more to be announced over the coming months.

International Guests

Chris Smither (USA), Patty Larkin (USA), Vin Garbutt (UK), Apodimi Compania (Greece), Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan (Sco), Genticorum (Can), Kristina Olsen (USA), Riley Lee (Aus) and Jeff Peterson (USA), James Keelaghan (Can), Faerd (Den), White Top Mountaineers (USA), Eddi Reader (Sco), Les Barker (UK), Charlie Walden Band (USA), Beppe Gambetta (Ita).

Australian Guests

TaikOz, Keith Potger, The Stiff Gins, The Ballpoint Penguins, Kamerunga, Tiffany Eckhardt, Dobe Newton and the Veterans, Trouble in the Kitchen, Felicity Urqhart and Band, Dave Arden. Plus one very tall Scotsman and his rather playful dog, Ochie.

The Festival will also be introducing The Majestic. A new venue supported by the ACT Government that will showcase some of the artists out on the fringes of folk. Circus skills, cabaret, theatre and much more will all be a part of this new aspect of the National.

There will also be plenty of stalls providing handmade arts and crafts and food from all over the world as well as favourites such as the stockcamp, the session bar and the Instrument Makers Pavilion.

Keep and eye on the website for more information over the coming months.

National Folk School

One of the highlights of the Festival is the National Folk School. It provides an exciting opportunity for intermediate and advanced musicians to learn from some of the world’s best in an intimate setting.
The School runs from March 30 to April 1 and there are three session each day. The Tutors for the 2010 School are:

• Paddy Keenan – Uilleann Pipes
• Beppe Gambetta – Guitar
• Kristina Olsen – Songwriting
• Charlie Walden – Old-time and Texas Fiddling
• Mike Bing – Bluegrass Mandolin
• Ruairi McGorman – Irish Fiddle

For more information on the Tutors and the School visit the website - National Folk School

Having already endeared themselves to many Australian audiences last year, The Whitetop Mountaineers, Martha Spencer and Jackson Cunningham from Virginia, USA,  are set return to Australia by popular demand. This year they are taking in a host of Australian dates and festivals courtesy of their Australian agent, Across the Borders, based in Melbourne.

At the 2008/09 Woodford Folk Festival, unknown and unheralded, the duo stunned and delighted audiences with their performance of American mountain music and song and dance. The group also performed to audiences in Gippsland, taking in the region’s famous Yinnar Hotel a popular acoustic music venue.

Both musicians are skilled multi-instrumentalists – Jackson plays guitar, mandolin and clawhammer banjo, while Martha plays fiddle, guitar and banjo and dnaces. They are both strong vocal performers and their close harmonies are indicative of the old time and bluegrass traditions from which they draw their repertoire.

Martha and Jackson will be appearing at the following confirmed destinations in 2010:

• 5th – 8th March – Pt Fairy Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 12th – 14th March – Blue Mountain Festival, NSW
  
• 18th March – Brunswick Music Festival, Vic
  
• 19th – 20th March – Yakandanda Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 25th March – Bendigo Folk Club, Vic
  
• 26th – 28th March – Apollo Bay Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 31st March – Yinnar Hotel, Gippsland, Vic
  
• 1st – 4th April – National Folk Festival – ACT

This year’s National Folk Festival presented another fantastic mix of musical experiences for the packed crowds who attended Canberra’s Exhibition Park over the Easter weekend. Across 18 venues, more 170 acts from Australia and overseas demonstrated why this Festival maintains its status as the number one Folk gathering in Australia.

Flying the Bluegrass flag amongst these performers was Victoria’s Bluestone Junction & Coolgrass,  each of whom performed several shows separately to packed rooms.

Coolgrass’s irreverent take on the genre was very popular with large crowds at their two shows, with new material demonstrating their vocal and instrumental arranging capabilities are still top notch. This band has a great grasp of dynamics, and after many years with the same line-up, have developed a seamless stage show that is very entertaining.

Bluestone Junction’s Easter weekend was particularly busy, combining four high quality performances showcasing their traditional sound with five Bluegrass-related workshops over the weekend. Amongst their shows was a live national broadcast on ABC radio from the 2,000 seat Budawang auditorium, where they demonstrated why they are considered one of the better bands on Australia’s Bluegrass scene.

The Bluestone Junction workshops covered Bluegrass fiddle, banjo and dobro, each lead by the respective players who provided great tips on the finer points of performing bluegrass on their chosen instrument. Complimenting these were a gospel harmony workshop (packed to the rafters), and an intimate workshop session on How To Get That Bluegrass Sound which consisted of a free-flowing discussion on building the essential instrumental elements, player awareness (etiquette) and a general history of the genre. This workshop was extremely informative, which was evident by the high level of audience feedback and participation.

Late on Sunday night, members from both bands were spotted belting out tunes together in the legendary Session bar, displaying that brotherly perspective that makes our Bluegrass fraternity so great. Onto the next festival…

Submitted by John

Wondering about the 2009 Festival?

Well here it is and the versions now available were updated on 20 March.

Please remember that things can still happen between now and Easter however we have done everything we can to ensure that this timetable is correct.

The full Timetable for the 2009 National Folk Festival includes the National Library of Australia Live @ the Lounge interview series, a book launch by author Najaf Mazari and much more. To download the timetable visit the Festival Program page of the website.

Some Festival Facts

Jane Speechley from the media unit of the National Festival sent through some interesting  facts on the National Festival today that are worth sharing.

• The broader term ‘folk music’ actually comprises a range of different musical styles – for example, at the Festival you’ll find contemporary and traditional folk as well as world music, Cajun, indigenous, blues, boogie, roots, bluegrass, gypsy swing, acapella, country and western and even rock ‘n’ roll.
• The National Folk Festival attracts some of the world’s finest musicians and performers from all over the globe, and in 2009 will showcase artists from Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, Canada, the USA, Chile and Gambia to name just a few.
• An annual event since 1967, the National was held in a different state each year up until 1992. It is now held in Exhibition Park in Canberra and an Australian state or territory is  featured each year. This year the feature state in 2009 is South Australia.  SA residents receive discounted tickets as well as special promotions.  Artists from the current feature state are also encouraged to apply to perform so their state’s talent can be showcased.
• The Festival is attended by around 50,000 people each year – 40% of the current audience are from Canberra, with other patrons hailing from the surrounding districts as well as interstate and overseas.
• The Festival provides on-site transport, extensive parking, all-amenities camping and an on-site supermarket. EPIC is less than fifteen minutes from the city centre and buses stop at the gate, so interstate Festival visitors can easily explore the other unique attractions on offer in Canberra.
• The Festival presents over 16 hours of entertainment each day in more than 20 separate comfortable venues within the boundaries of EPIC – 600 hours of performances in total, from street theatre and buskers, to stage performances by musicians and choirs, to spoken word and poetry around the stockman’s campfire, and late-night jams in the Session Bar.
• Throughout the year, festival operations are managed by a team of 12 personnel comprising 6 paid staff and 6 key volunteers in full- or part-time positions. During the festival a team of more than 1400 highly valued volunteers perform critically important roles in hospitality, ticketing, services and operations.  The approximate value of the support provided by volunteers is $345,000.

This year’s festival will be held (Easter Weekend) from 9th – 13th April. - Visit the NFF Website.