Talented craftspeople as well as musicians, Pharis and Jason also have a personal story that would make for a gripping feature film. Having met in California where Jason originally started his banjo-building business, they moved some years ago to Pharis’ tiny backwoods hometown of Horsefly in British Columbia, Western Canada. There they established the latest incarnation of the J Romero Banjo Co workshop on their rural homestead, working together to create an increasingly sought-after line of beautifully crafted artisan banjos. One night in June 2016, the workshop burned to the ground, turning their business, several newly built instruments and the couple’s own collection of priceless old guitars to ashes. The fire also consumed the nearby cabin where Pharis and Jason were sleeping while the adjacent house was being renovated. They escaped with their lives and their two small children. With their home and business now rebuilt, chief songwriter Pharis seems to have drawn renewed inspiration from the couple’s frontier lifestyle and supportive network of family and friends, and the new album Sweet Old Religion was recorded at their home in Horsefly.
Tickets £10 on the door or from:
http://www.craigdarrocharmshotel.co.uk/buy-tickets

An evening in the company of Leon and Jason is a rare
treat, more a musical conversation than a rigid performance.
These old friends will most likely confound any preconceived
ideas you may be harbouring as to what these instruments
can (and should) do. As well as leaning heavily
on traditional music from the US and The British Isles, their
own compositions take on musical references from just
about everywhere else.
Tickets £10 on the door or from:
http://www.craigdarrocharmshotel.co.uk/buy-tickets

Blue Summit is a genre fluid bluegrass band that first formed in 2016. They are a remarkable group of young musicians who have grown up performing in the California bluegrass community. One of their latest achievements includes a CBA showcase at the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) event held in North Carolina. They have been gaining traction with their unique sound, sharing their music all over the west coast. Later this year, they plan to travel overseas for the first time.

Lead vocalist and mandolinist, AJ Lee, has been recognized as NCBS (Northern California Bluegrass Society) Female Vocalist of the Year nine times. She began singing and performing on stage at the astonishing age of five. By twelve, she had begun writing her own songs and showcasing them nation-wide. AJ has traveled with many bands, including “The Tuttles with AJ Lee”, which had been featured at numerous festivals in an out of state. Now twenty-one, Ms. Lee is excited to share Blue Summit’s latest album consisting of all original material.

Jesse Fichman started playing guitar at the age of ten when he and his friends decided to form a bluegrass band. Since then, he has played in multiple bluegrass bands, multiple jazz combos, and a country band. Jesse graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in biology, and took a majority of the music classes offered there. He is a full time and original member of Blue Summit, and is studying and writing music on the side.

Sullivan Tuttle started to have an international following when he was just ten years old with a YouTube video of El Cumbanchero, which he played with his brother and sister - it now has over 1.6 million views from around the world. His musicianship was impressive at that young age and just keeps getting better. Over the last few years, Sullivan has developed a reputation for his songwriting and contemporary singing style, as well as his blazing guitar solos. He has appeared at major bluegrass festivals across the US, Canada, and has toured in the United Kingdom.

Born and raised in Northwest Ohio, Chad Bowen has been with Blue Summit since May 2018. A hardworking musician, Chad has been playing bass with numerous bands in the Bay area for almost 10 years. Music has always been a huge part of his life. Growing up he played piano, guitar, and sang in choirs. Eventually he gravitated to the double bass where he finds himself today smiling big, holding down the low end and those sweet harmonies.

TICKETS £10 ON THE DOOR OR
ONLINE FROM:
http://www.craigdarrocharmshotel.co.uk/

OR PHONE 01848 200205 TO RESERVE SEATS

Bluegrass, old time, americana and gospel music concerts over the weekend in beautiful Moniaive.
Instrument workshops, jamming sessions on the campsite and in hotels and a whole lot more besides.
Watch this space to see when tickets can be purchased.

It's unusual to find someone who's as good a songwriter as an instrumentalist. Vera van Heeringen is that person. A consummate guitarist, highly acclaimed by her contemporaries, she brings the instrument to life in way that is entirely her own. Vera also writes songs and tunes which deliver straight to - and from - the heart. Firmly rooted in Transatlantic traditions, her original contemporary Americana showcases both these skills: firebrand instrumental virtuosity and poignant, emotionally astute songwriting.

An early starter, raised in the acoustic music scene in her native Holland, Vera has been performing from the age of 16. Vera's debut album, Standing Tall, was released in 2012 and marked a change of direction after nearly five years of touring as part of the brilliantly comedic New Rope String Band. In 2015, Vera released her second album, Proper Brew, which features a roll call of top-drawer musicians who share her musical aesthetic – amongst them Tim O'Brien, Dirk Powell, Rayna Gellert and Kris Drever. Vera's currently working on her third album.

TICKETS: DONATIONS ON THE NIGHT