Festivals

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The 5th Annual Oldtone Roots Music Festival

Cool Whisper Farm 1011 Co. Rd 21, Hillsdale, NY

The 5th Annual Oldtone Roots Music Festival: Preserving American Music Musicians and Festival Attendees Dedicated to Preservation through Participation September 5-8, 2019 1011 Co. Rd 21, Hillsdale, NY 12529 [email protected]    www.oldtonemusicfestival.com HILLSDALE, NY. The Oldtone Roots Music Festival features three stages with traditional music performances, dances, workshops, contests, and children’s activities. The founders’ goal is to preserve American roots music and dance with an intimate and interactive festival that includes opportunities to engage with main stage artists in workshop settings. Jamming in the campground late into the night is encouraged. In the evenings festival goers and artists dance under a tent that perches over a spectacular view of the rolling upstate NY farm valley of Matt and Lisa Schober’s Cool Whisper Farm. It is not unusual to find main stage performers dancing in the dance tent or jamming late into the night in the camping areas. Caleb Klauder of the Foghorn String Band has this to say about Oldtone 19: “I’m going to the Oldtone Roots Music festival because their hearts are in the music and the music there has soul.” The festival is unique amongst Roots music festivals for its popularity with the artists themselves as well as the attendees, who can often be heard talking about the “Oldtone vibe”.  Well known cajun Artist Jesse Lege (Bayou Brew) stated; “If I had to pick one best festival, and I have traveled to many, near and far....Oldtone is the biggest, most relaxed, friendliest little festival you’ll ever spend a weekend at... like having it in your own backyard.” The festival has a core of returning popular Oldtone veteran artists: the Foghorn String Band, Tuba Skinny, the Down Hill Strugglers, Jesse Lege & the Bayou Brew, Run Mountain, Tamar Korn, Travis Stuart, and theRusset … Read More »

Lowell Banjo and Fiddle Contest

Boardinghouse Park 40 French St., Lowell, MA

The 39th Annual Lowell Banjo and Fiddle Contest (Platinum sponsored by the BBU) will be held on September 7th, 2019 in Boarding House Park, in Lowell Massachusetts with workshops at 10AM, organized jams at 11AM and the contest beginning at noon.  Informal jams happen all day long.  For more details visit: http://lowellsummermusic.org/page.php?wpage=root/eventdetail.htm&Event=LSMS-E67225  

Free

FreshGrass Festival

MASS MoCA 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA, MA

FreshGrass is a wonderland of traditional and cutting edge bluegrass and roots music, tucked appropriately into a 19th-century factory turned 21st-century museum in the Berkshire mountains of northwestern Massachusetts. An opportunity for enthusiasts to both appreciate and participate, FreshGrass is family-friendly and brimming with the brightest talent not just on our four stages, but also in our galleries, brick-lined courtyards, and grassy fields. MASS MoCA is one of the world’s premier centers for making and showing the best art of our time. The museum’s vast galleries and multiplicity of stages — both inside and out — offer artists unprecedented opportunities to make and present large-scale sculpture, inventive theater, roots music writers, ‌and big new musical ideas that will confound expectations…and delight you.

$3 – $350

Fiddle Hell

Westford Regency Inn Westford, MA

Fiddle Hell features over 500 workshops, jams, and concerts taught by roughly 100 teachers, and covers dozens of traditional music styles!  

JamVember 2019

Sheraton Framingham 1657 Worcester Road, Framingham

JamVember is a weekend-long "non-festival" focused on jamming, jamming, and more jamming... with over 100 workshops and jams hosted by over 50 amazing musicians and teachers, and one big difference from usual festivals: no stage show to distract from the picking. JamVember 2019 will be held the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 22nd, 23rd & 24th, at the Sheraton in Framingham, MA.

Joe Val Bluegrass Festival

Sheraton Framingham 1657 Worcester Road, Framingham

Join the Boston Bluegrass Union and celebrate the legacy of the late Joe Val with three big days of indoor bluegrass at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel.  Great bands, two stages, jamming, workshops, vendors, master classes, Kids' Academy....it's a full and fun weekend of everything bluegrass.  

TBD

Sunday Gospel at Joe Val w/Southern Rail

Joe Val Bluegrass Festival Sheraton Framingham, Framingham, MA

Lush Gospel harmonies, irrepressible good humor and sparkling guitar, banjo, mandolin and bass.  Check out Southern Rail's eagerly anticipated Sunday morning Gospel set at the Joe Val Festival!   See you at 11 am!

Back Porch Festival Bluegrass Night w. The Travelin’ McCourys, Della Mae, and Hawktail

Academy of Music Theatre, Northampton, MA 274 Main Street, Northampton, MA

The 6th annual Back Porch Festival returns with all-star line-ups of American roots artists at The Academy of Music and The Parlor Room in Northampton, MA and Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, MA. The Back Porch Festival takes it's name from the long running Sunday morning radio program on 93.9 The River and hosted by Signature Sounds president, Jim Olsen. The festival is curated to present some of the favorite artists featured on the Back Porch radio program.

$29.99 – $39.99

Online Rollick

The Ashokan Center 477 Beaverkill Road, Olivebridge, NY

Old-time immersion weekend ONLINE! Starts TODAY! ashokancenter.org/online-rollick-2020

$50

Fiddle Hell Online

Online MA

Our schedule and instructor list are posted at https://FiddleHell.org, and registration is open for Fiddle Hell Online, April 15-18, 2021. FHO will have 200 live workshops to learn from, 35 live concerts to enjoy, and 35 live jam sessions to join on Zoom, for fiddle, mandolin, cello, guitar, old-time banjo, and singing. All sessions will be replayable (and can be slowed down) for 3 months after the event. More than 100 instructors -- experienced & supportive teachers, and wonderful & inspiring players -- will cover Bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, Cape Breton, East European, Electric, Québécois, Gypsy Jazz, Irish, Jazz, Klezmer, Latin, Mexican, New Acoustic, New England, Old-Time Southern, Scandinavian, Scottish, Swing, Texas, and Western Swing styles. Attending FHO is not only an amazing experience, it’s a way for you to support and connect with these wonderful instructors and performers. Bluegrass instructors & performers include Sharon Gilchrist, Andy Statman, Erica Brown, Richie Brown, Margaret Gerteis, Billy Contreras, Darol Anger, Ellen Carlson, Jeremy Kittel, Alex Hargreaves, Matt Shipman, Peter Anick, Joy Adams, Andy Reiner. A few instructors in other styles include: Kevin Burke, Wendy MacIsaac, Michael Doucet, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Hanneke Cassel, Jake Blount, Mike Block, Cathy Fink, ... With 270 sessions + 100 instructors + 3 months of video replays, Fiddle Hell Online is of great value to players and listeners alike. Previous attendees said that their broad opportunities for learning (tunes, styles, instruments, techniques), gains in musical inspiration, and renewed connections with the community were priceless! And it's great to have a front row seat for every session. As in the past, discounts are available for seniors and young musicians, and there are further discounts and giveaways for early bird signups. Scholarships based on financial need are available. … Read More »