It also turned out to be a preview show for Scythian’s Appaloosa Roots Music Festival set for Sept. 1-3 in Front Royal, Virginia, at which both Scythian and Forlorn Strangers are set to perform. And Front Porch Fest fans will be happy to know they can catch Forlorn Strangers at the festival on Sept. 3 in Stuart, Virginia.
If you can hardly wait for Sept. 26-30 and the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass Festival and PNC’s Wide Open Bluegrass, the weekend festival on Sept. 29-30 in downtown Raleigh that takes place during the IBMA event, you’re in luck.
You can catch two of the Wide Open Bluegrass acts — MerleFest favorite Celtic roots rockers Scythian and Nashville’s Forlorn Strangers — at a “Save the Date” party beginning at 9 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh. This all-ages show will also serve as a CD Release Party for Scythian’s newest album, “Dance All Night.”
Founded in June 2004 by the International Bluegrass Music Museum, ROMP Festival has been celebrating the roots and branches of bluegrass ever since and this year is no exception.
Scheduled for June 21-24, 2017, in Owensboro, Kentucky, ROMP’s impressive lineup includes: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Punch Brothers, Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Los Lobos, Rhiannon Giddens, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jerry Douglas Band, Peter Rowan, The SteelDrivers, Pokey LaFarge, Dailey & Vincent, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, We Banjo 3, Billy Strings, Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley, Scythian, Becky Buller, Dustbowl Revival, Kelsey Waldon, The Wooks, Driftwood, Snyder Family Band, High Fidelity, Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys and Hogslop String Band.
I am particularly excited to see Scythian, We Banjo 3, Rhiannon Giddens, The SteelDrivers and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band are on tap to be there. Would love to hear who you are interested in seeing and hearing at this festival that is sure to be a good time.
To purchase tickets visit:www.rompfest.com or call (270) 926-7891.
I discovered two of my favorite bands — Yarn and Will Overman Band — at the annual Rooster Walk Music and Arts Festival just outside Martinsville, Virginia. Rooster Walk 9 is set for May 25-28, 2017. Yarn, a perennial favorite will be there, but unfortunately, Will Overman Band will not. Rooster Walk needs to work on that for RW10.
If MerleFest has a house band, it’s Scythian, the Celtic rockers who initially played their way into fans’ hearts busking outside the grounds as festival goers were waiting in line. To hear them tell it, Doc Watson heard them playing and the rest, as they say, is history.
MerleFest fan-favorite Scythian is launching its “Board Scramble Tour” this week just in time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day 2017. When you’re a Celtic rock band, St. Patrick’s Day is your Super Bowl and this year is no exception for the Washington, D.C.-based group.
When is the last time you felt joy? I mean pure, unadulterated joy? As adults, the kind of joy we experienced as children just swinging on the playground or spinning around on a merry-go-round can be as elusive as buying that winning lottery ticket. This post also appears on The Huffington Post blog here.
The following announcement is from the good folks at MerleFest, which is slated for April 27-30, 2017. Early bird tickets are on sale now here. I am particularly excited to see Mountain Heart, Front Country, Chatham County Line, Scythian and Swift Creek in the lineup. Here’s hoping subsequent lineup announcements include Mipso, Flatt Lonesome, Will Overman Band, Dead Horses, Mandolin Orange, Zoe and Cloyd, Dori Freeman, The Church Sisters, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sarah Siskind, Sierra Hull, Yarn, American Aquarium, Mike Farris, Rhonda Vincent, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Annabelle’s Curse, Town Mountain, Little Hill Trio, The Genuine, The Honeycutters, The Steel Wheels, Elephant Revival, Balsam Range, Mason Via, The Judy Chops, Swampcandy, Chamomile and Whiskey and Billy Strings, among others.
From the release: “2017 will be a celebration of 30 years of MerleFest! The annual homecoming of musicians and music fans returns to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The star-packed lineup for MerleFest 2017 will be announced over the next few months; today MerleFest made its first announcement for the 2017 lineup, including Zac Brown Band with a very special acoustic set, Del McCoury Band, Jim Lauderdale, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Peter Rowan, Mountain Heart and many more.”
