australianbluegrass.com

Thinking of Going to Merlfest?

The deadline for Early Bird ticket prices to MerleFest 2010, presented by Lowe’s, has been extended to Tuesday, 6th April, at 5:00 p.m. EDT.  That is the last day to purchase 4-day and 3-day tickets at the Early Bird price, representing an average 10% discount.

Ticket purchases can be made on the web at http://www.merlefest.org or by calling 1-800-343-7857.   Free parking is available, and children 12 years of age and younger are admitted free to the festival when accompanied by an adult with paid admission.

MerleFest 2010, presented by Lowe’s, will celebrate its 23rd year from 29th April – 2nd May, 2010 on the campus of Wilkes Community College.  There will be over 100 acts performing on 15 stages during the course of the event, with a complete list of confirmed performers is available at www.merlefest.org. As in previous years, the list of performers fits the traditional plus definition offered by Doc Watson when describing the rich musical diversity that is a hallmark of the event.

MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of Eddy Merle Watson as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College and a celebration of “traditional plus” music.

Festivals Merlfest

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.

Bluegrass News, Festivals Blue Mountain Rain, Charlie Walden, Davidson Bros, National Folk Festival, Whitetop Mountaineers

Guildford Dates 17th, 18th, 19th September 2010

Here’s some great news from the Guildford Banjo Jamboree. The new committee, comprising Jeanette Gillespie, Annie Wiltshire, Jasmine MacDonald and Ray Pattle, have advised us that the 7th Guildford Banjo Jamboree is definitely going ahead in 2010.

The new committee  is keen to carry on the tradition in the spirit of that which has been established. The Ryan brothers and others previously involved will be valued advisors as we take over the big task.

The website will be updated within the next couple of weeks and then progressively as time goes on.

Festivals Guildford Jamboree

News from the folk at Urban Country Music Festival in Caboolture Queensland, is that The Bluegrass Brunch will make its long awaited debut at this year’s festival and is guaranteed to get even the most reluctant toes tapping.

you are invited to Sunday brunch at Hasking Street Cafe to immerse yourself in the addictive sounds bluegrass music. Stay tuned for more news and the announcement of our first bluegrass artists to converge on Urban.

Festivals Urban Country

Sharon Winter from the Boyup Brook Country Music Club has advised that  Jane Germain and Ian Simpson have taken out the The Western Australian Country Music Open Group/Duo Awards for 2010.

Jane Germain is an Australian songwriter by birth, and Chinese by heritage. Her songs are about feelings old and new – her music is inventively rhythmic as it is melodic. Her latest compositions emphasize free, brushstroke-like improvisations, which have been inspired by her recent experiences with other cultures and musicians and her life in China.

Accompanying Jane is Ian Simpson – winner of 6 Golden Guitars, an Aria Award with the band the Flying Emus, and is also 3 times Australian National Banjo Champion.

Ian has recorded and toured with many leading Australian artists – such as the legendary Slim Dusty, Paul Kelly and Keith Urban.

Jane Germain & Ian Simpson were nominated for the 2009 WAMI Best Country Music Act and have been invited to perform at the Beijing Music Festival in 2010.

The 25th Boyup Brook Country Music Festival will be held in Boyup Brook WA from the 18^th to the 21^st February, 2010.

Artists, Festivals Ian Simpson, Jane Germain

A self professed All-star Interstate Musical Collaboration

The Wilson Pickers are Queenslanders Danny Widdicombe, Ben Salter, Andrew Morris, and Victorians Sime Nugent and John Bedggood. They got together after a crazy idea of uniting some Queenslanders with some Victorians in the vague hope of inventing a bluegrass-style band.

The Wilson Pickers feature five individual singers/songwriters, who all embrace the spiritual feeling one gets when singing in harmony. The band creates an earthy energy by using purely organic stringed and reeded instruments.

The Australian-born lads dare not take on bluegrass traditionalists of old but instead are aiming to craft their own unique take on the bluegrass configuration of instruments and ideas which can be experienced on their debut album Land of the Powerful Owl.

CMC Rocks the Snowys – 5th – 6th March

Check out their website

Artists, Events, Festivals CMC, Wilson Pickers

2nd Blackwood Fiddlers Convention, 19th to 21 Feb 2010.

In 2009, the 26th Yarra Junction Fiddlers’ Convention 2009 was moved to Blackwood due to the growing risk of fires posed by the Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires which had such a devastating outcome for the communities of Victoria.

The Blackwood Fiddler’s Convention was so popular that organisers are now attempting to run two conventions in Victoria, four months apart. One in Yarra Junction and one in Blackwood.

Thus the next Blackwood Fiddler’s Convention is now scheduled for 19th to 21st February 2010 and to be held at the at the Blackwood Cricket Ground.

For information on the Blackwood Fidler’s Convention call Ken McMaster on (03) 9481 7662 or mobile 0419 580 642 or you may email kennithmcmaster@hotmail.com

Festivals Blackwood Convention, Yarra Junction

Girgarre Moosic Muster Needs You.

If you have not have the pleasure of attending the Girgarre Moosic Muster  in Victoria then can I commend this event to you. Whether you are a seasoned player, a novice or never held an instrument in your hands before, this festival has something to offer.

My wife and I attended the event for the first time last year and we blown away with the success of the event. To see the looks on the faces of people playing music for the first time in their lives is in itself a great experience. Even more so, is the sense of achievement reflected in the faces of the instructors delivering lessons to the beginners and others en-masse.

Girgarre needs your help. If you are thinking of attending this year, we urge you to bring along a spare musical instrument. It can be a fiddle, guitar, banjo or mandolin. Even if you cannot play it, but have it sitting around in your house, please get it out and bring it along to help the people of Girgarre continue their fine work. You may even consider donating the instrument you no longer use to this very worthy cause. We’d urge you to check out the Girgarre website and learn of their history and their achievements.

If you are able to provide and instrument, could you email Max Amos and let him know. This event is unique in Australia and in terms of what it is achieving it is one of the most vitally important festivals of its kind. We are pleased to be able to support the festival in this small way. We hope you can find a way to support it too.

Email Max Amos at the Girgarre Festival.

Also check out the festival’s website – Girgarre Moosic Muster

Festivals Girgarre Muster

Futher news from the Illawarra Folk Festival program is that Blue Mountain Rain are scheduled to play several concerts at the 2010 festival. Their performance dates and times are:

• Fri 15/01/2010 08:00pm to 08:45pm – Nag’s Lounge
• Sat 16/01/2010 11:00am to 11:45am – Slacky Flat Bar,
• Sat 16/01/2010 03:30pm to 04:15pm – Grandstand Bar
• Sun 17/01/2010 03:30pm to 04:15pm – Grandstand Restaurant

Artists, Events, Festivals Blue Mountain Rain

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

Festivals National Folk Festival

God willing and the creeks don’t rise.

Thanks to Ed Lowe from Western Australia for providing a run down on the 2009 Harrietville Festival.

Leaving aside theological issues, I think that everyone would agree that the creeks did rise at Harrietville this weekend. The rain was not quite of biblical proportions, but it sure did come down steadily. Timely re-arrangement of a couple of tents and distribution of straw in the damp areas certaintly helped. Just another example of the hard work put in by the organisers and volunteers. My thanks to all of you.

A quick survey of the West Australian contingent found most of us agreeing that about the only effect of the rain was to curtail any opportunity for leisurely chats in the festival area. Mind you, we’re all old enough not to care what we look like in raincoats. My youngest daughter would rather drown than wear a raincoat or carry an umbrella.

Concerts and Program

There was a significant change to the program this year with the blackboard concerts moved to end of each day’s program. This seemed to be aimed at the increasing number of people who attend to listen rather than jam. It also allowed the organisers to schedule a large number of acts in the main tent. I heard no adverse comment with regard to this change. It certainly didn’t get in the way of jamming!
The “Hub tent” and re-located food area worked much better, in my opinion, and provided a place for informal jams when not in use for blackboard concerts.

Concert highlights for me were Hungry Hill, Pigeon Wing Strings and Bluestone Junction’s set in the Gospel Concert. Garry Brown’s resophonic guitar playing was just wonderful in a number of settings.

I was particularly taken with the energy and passion for the music apparent in Pigeon Wing Strings Friday night set.

Workshops

Festival workshops can be unsatisfying. It’s very hard for the presenters to know where to pitch their presentation. That said, some manage it very well. Bluegrass Parkway’s harmony workshop is very well thought out and works well. From all reports the harmony workshop run by Hungry Hill was very good too. So much so that Jenny’s DVD on bluegrass harmony singing sold out immediately after the workshop.

I attended two workshops.

Mandolin -  Bob Hamilton

This was a well presented workshop for both players just starting out and those who some experience. Well presented and easy to understand. Bob has thought about his playing and is good at explaining things.

Banjo Styles – Ross Nickerson

Sometimes in a workshop the presenter explains something in a way that suddenly joins up the dots for you. Ross Nickerson’s comments about playing in the key of D did that for me in this workshop. I didn’t see his beginners workshop, but I found this one to be valuable.

As it has been every year that I have been to the festival, it was the informal and unplanned interaction with other pickers, some of whom have become friends over the years, that was the best part of the festival.

So I’ll see you next year. Qantas willing; and the creeks don’t rise – Ed Lowe.

You can see  Ian Fisk’s pictorial review of the festival on the Harrietville page.

Festivals Bluestone Junction, Harrietville

The 21st Harrietville Bluegrass and Ol’ Timey Convention is underway in downtown Harrietivlle.

The unofficial part of the weekend commenced on Thursday night with a performance on the main stage by Hungry Hill from the Canada followed by Bluegrass Parkway from WA presenting their Radio Show. The evening then saw jam sessions across the length and breadth of Harrietville. The weekend continues with countless music concerts, workshops and jam sessions.

The five day event is growing bigger each year to the point that it’s been noted by many that the number of acts and venues this year is the largest ever. The weekend continues.

We hope to bring you a full review once people have gone through the return home and recovery process..

Bluegrass News, Festivals Harrietville

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

Artists, Festivals National Folk Festival, Whitetop Mountaineers, Yinnar

MerleFest – 29th April to 2nd May

If you’re planning to head over to the US for Merlfest next year, tickets go on sale tomorrow. An early bird ticket discount is available until 12th March 2010.

Ticket purchases can be made on the web at http://www.merlefest.org or by calling international 1-800-343-7857.

MerleFest 2010 will celebrate its 23rd year from 29th April – 2nd May, 2010. A complete list of confirmed performers is available from previous posting on our site.

Festivals Merlfest

MerleFest 2010, will once again host the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest.

Now in its 18th year, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. is an opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of Nashville music industry professionals, under the direction of this year’s volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale.
Contest entries are now being accepted via the following methods:

1. U.S. Mail to – P. O. Box 121855, Nashville, TN 37212
2. Online at American Songspace
3. Online at Sonicbids

Details about entry fees, eligibility and other requirements are available at Chris Austin Songwriting Contest . The deadline for submissions is 18th Feb. 2010.  To be eligible to enter, a songwriter must not derive more than 50% of his or her total income from songwriting or from music publishing.

The contest recognizes winners in four categories—country, bluegrass, gospel and general.  First place winners in each category receive:  a performance on the Merlfest Cabin Stage (29 April – 2 May), an acoustic guitar, a cheque for $300, two boxes of D’Addario strings and one-year subscriptions to both Acoustic Guitar and American Songwriter magazines.  Second and third place winners in each category receive performance slots on the Friday night Songwriters Coffeehouse, as well as cash prizes, D’Addario strings and subscriptions to Acoustic Guitar and American Songwriter.

Festivals Merlfest