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Musings on folk, Americana, country, bluegrass and newgrass

Author Archives: lsnedeker


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Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, I’m With Her, Balsam Range, Molly Tuttle, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Del McCoury among headliners at Wide Open Bluegrass 2019

From the good folks over at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA):

NASHVILLE — ​Organizers ​of this year’s ​PNC presents Wide Open Bluegrass on ​Sept. 27-28 i​n downtown ​Raleigh, North Carolina, ​have announced the full list of performers, and performance schedules, for the annual festival.

The free Wide Open Bluegrass festival – part of the I​nternational Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA)’s ​five-day ​World of Bluegrass ​event,​​ sponsored by ​Chiesi USA​ – brings bluegrass into the community, and introduces the music to thousands of new fans every year, with more than 100 performers on seven stages along Fayetteville Street.

Performers include a broad mix of local, national, and international talent. Stages include the Youth Music Stage – situated on the outdoor plaza at the Convention Center – and the Dance Tent, which features clogging performances, participatory square dances, and late-night open dancing Friday and Saturday nights.

In addition to the seven stages of Wide Open Bluegrass, performances at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater will be open to the public for free, as well, subject to venue capacity. A limited number of reserved seats in prime sections of the venue are still available for purchase, to ensure admittance for every performance. More details about the festival can be found online at worldofbluegrass.org/wide-open-bluegrass, or on the festival app, available for free download via your app store.

PNC returns, for the seventh year, as the presenting sponsor for the two-day Wide Open Bluegrass festival: “PNC’s support of Wide Open Bluegrass allows festival goers free access to all stages and makes this festival even more special,” said Jim Hansen, PNC regional president of Eastern Carolinas. “As the presenting sponsor for the seven years that Raleigh has hosted Wide Open Bluegrass, we are pleased that this event has become a flagship music festival and adds to our vibrant cultural scene. We at PNC look forward to celebrating a great weekend of bluegrass in downtown Raleigh.” Continue reading →


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Pickin’ in the Pines returns to Koka Booth Amphitheatre on Wednesdays in September with New Reveille, Andrew Duhon

CARY, NORTH CAROLINA — Pickin’ in the Pines returns to the Koka Booth Amphitheatre on Wednesday, Sept. 4, with New Reveille and Andrew Duhon.

Shows will take place on Wednesday evenings in September and early October featuring local and regional talent from 5:45 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

All seating and music will take place on the spacious Crescent Deck creating a casual and comfortable environment to enjoy a mid-week outing with friends.

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IBMA announces nominees for 2019 Momentum, Industry awards

From the good folks at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA):

NASHVILLE — The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) announced the nominees for this year’s Industry Awards and Momentum Awards, which will be presented during the IBMA Business Conference, as part of the organization’s World of Bluegrass event, brought to you by Chiesi USA, Sept. 24-28 in Raleigh.

The recipients of the 2019 Momentum Awards will be presented with their awards at a conference luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, and the recipients of the 2019 Industry Awards will be presented with their awards at a conference luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 26. Thursday’s Awards Luncheon will also include a segment honoring the recipients of the 2019 Distinguished Achievement Awards.

Registration for the IBMA Business Conference is required to attend; registration, tickets and information for all World of Bluegrass events can be found at https://worldofbluegrass.org

“The virtuosity of bluegrass musicians is recognized worldwide. With the Industry Awards, we recognize that same quality, found in our industry professionals who make vital contributions felt by everyone,” says IBMA’s Executive Director Paul Schiminger. “The Momentum Awards celebrate both the incredible achievements of the rising stars in our music, and the generosity of those who mentor them.  Congratulations to each and every nominee for being recognized by your peers!”

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Appaloosa Roots Music Festival announces final lineup for fifth anniversary

The final lineup for Scythian’s Appaloosa Roots Music Festival 2019 is here and includes headliners Steep Canyon Rangers, the Dustbowl Revival, Yarn, Humming House, Fireside Collective and many more.

“We’re thrilled to release our full slate of amazing artists for our big fifth anniversary, with 33 bands over three days,” the band wrote in an email.

 

VIP Packages and Family Packages are available. And this year, the festival has added a full day of music on Friday.

Book tickets and accommodations at appaloosafestival.com.

Photo of the members of The Steel Wheels posing in a record store


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The Steel Wheels head to Rooster Walk 11, The Rooster’s Wife for the holiday weekend

The Steel Wheels are having a double rooster of a holiday weekend.

First up, they are set to perform on Saturday at the 11th annual Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival in Axton, Virginia. And on Sunday the string band from Virginia is heading to The Rooster’s Wife to perform in Aberdeen, North Carolina.

It’s the first time the band will perform at either venue, according to Trent Wagler, the band’s founder and frontman, who plays guitar and banjo. Continue reading →


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Hopscotch 10 celebrates a decade in downtown Raleigh on Sept. 5-7, 2019

Featuring an eclectic collection of more than 120 acts, Hopscotch Music Festival will return for its 10th year on Sept. 5-7, 2019 to downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hopscotch has been described as “America’s (secret) best festival” and “the premiere experimental and underground festival in America.”

Wristbands go on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 23, at bit.ly/Hopscotch10

Check out the impressive lineup below:

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NCMA hosts first solo exhibition of Scott Avett’s visual art

From the good folks over at the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA):

Raleigh, N.C. — This fall, the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) hosts the first solo museum exhibition of the visual art of Scott Avett, founding member of the Grammy-nominated Avett Brothers band. Open October 12,2019,through February 2, 2020, Scott Avett: I N V I S I B L E will include large-scale portraits, prints, and paintings. Until now Avett’s work with The Avett Brothers has taken center stage. The NCMA exhibition shines a lighton his art making, thereby demonstrating the richness and diversity of his practice.“I’m not anything first—not painter, musician, writer, printmaker, performer—before I am an artist,” said Avett, who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from East Carolina University and lives in Concord, N.C. Continue reading →


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Shay Martin Lovette of Boone, N.C., wins MerleFest 2019 band competition

Past winners include Ashley Heath and Her Heathens, Fireside Collective

Boone, North Carolina-based musician Shay Martin Lovette found himself in good company late Saturday afternoon during MerleFest.

A perennially favorite of those interested in seeking out new music, the MerleFest Band Competition pits up-and-coming artists against each other in a competition that plays out live on The Plaza Stage near Lowe’s Hall on the Wilkes Community College campus.

This year’s band competition finalists included Lovette, Pretty Little Goat (Brevard, NC), None of the Above (Piedmont Triad, NC), Brooks Forsyth (Boone, NC), Alex Key and the Locksmiths (Wilkesboro, NC), Massive Grass (Wilmington, NC), Redleg Husky (Asheville, NC), and The Mike Mitchell Band (Floyd, Virginia).  

Once the last note of a fiddle string drifted away, the guitars were stored in their cases and the judges had cast their ballots, it was announced that Lovette had won the competition and the opportunity to play on the festival’s coveted Cabin Stage in a prime-time performance slot in front of more than 10,000 Merlefest fans, following blues great Keb’ Mo’ and preceding bluegrass legend Sam Bush.

Lovette and his band performed “Heat Lightning,” “Wherever You Roam,” and “Parkway Bound” in the competition. When they hit the Cabin Stage, they added two new songs, “First Day Here” and “Promenade.”

Learn more about Lovette at www.shaymartinlovette.com.

Lovette joined the ranks of other talented band contest winners who include Ashley Heath and Her Heathens (2018), The Trailblazers (2017) and Fireside Collective (2016).  

For the uninitiated MerleFest is a celebration of Americana, bluegrass, folk, roots, blues, country, gospel and more music that the late, great Deep Gap musician Doc Watson would qualify as “traditional plus” music. During the four-day festival, MerleFest also offers a songwriting competition — Chris Austin Songwriting Contest — for up-and-coming songwriters to have their music heard by Nashville songwriters.


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Steep Canyon Rangers shine at MerleFest 2019 with ‘North Carolina Songbook’ debut

MerleFest 2019 attendees received a special treat on Sunday afternoon when the Steep Canyon Rangers hit the stage.

Perennial MerleFest favorites, the band, whose members mostly hail from Brevard, North Carolina, has been affectionately dubbed “Steep” by their fans. And those fans were not disappointed by the band’s special set, titled “North Carolina Songbook,” a tribute to this state’s vast musical heritage.

When Gov. Roy Cooper introduced the band he noted that the state is recognizing 2019 as the “Year of Music.” In a nod to Cooper’s initiative, the band performed one-off set of covers by North Carolina artists, which included, appropriately, Deep Gap native and MerleFest founder the late, great Doc Watson’s “Your Long Journey,” a beloved tune written by his wife, the late Rosa Lee Watson, as well as a haunting rendition of Chapel Hill native James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James.”

The band said in a release, “The influence of North Carolinians can be heard in almost every genre of popular music from Earl Scruggs to John Coltrane. Many of them worked in textile mills by day and played music with friends and family on the weekends. Some were virtuosos who packed up their influences and took the world by storm. All were, like us, a product of the music and people they grew up with in Carrboro, Jacksonville, Eden, Tryon… every corner East to West.”

Doc Watson soaked up and shared more of this state’s music and played fiddle tunes, blues, jazz, country, rock ‘n roll, and everything in between. This has been Doc’s lasting legacy for the Steep Canyon Rangers, and the band said they were excited to share the North Carolina Songbook for the very first time on Sunday afternoon at MerleFest.

MerleFest, in a release, said it is pleased to partner with Come Hear NC, a promotional campaign of the North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Arts Council, to celebrate 2019 as “The Year of Music,” a designation Cooper announced in November of 2018. MerleFest, honoring its locale, has programmed over 35 artists who currently call North Carolina home, each artist representing a different aspect of the state’s great musical history. Come Hear NC was designed to celebrate North Carolinians’ groundbreaking contributions to many of America’s most important musical genres — blues, bluegrass, jazz, gospel, funk, rock and everything in-between.


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MerleFest 2019 Chris Austin Songwriting Competition winners announced

From the good folks at MerleFest:
After they were announced at MerleFest 2019, the Chris Austin Songwriting Competition winners performed at MerleFest 2019 on the Cabin Stage to an audience eager to hear these up-and-coming songwriters before they’ve hit the big time.
Now in its 27th year, the contest is an extraordinary opportunity for aspiring writers to have their original songs heard and judged by a panel of music industry professionals (Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, better known as The Milk Carton Kids, Cruz Contreras of The Black Lillies, and Texas-troubadour Radney Foster), under the direction of volunteer contest chairperson, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jim Lauderdale.

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