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.

The Reed Island Rounders have long been known for not being your typical string band. Drawing from the lonesome hollers of West Virginia, the lively traditions of Kentucky’s fiddlers, their local Blue Ridge Mountains styles, and now the North Carolina sounds from Round Peak to the Piedmont, they weave archaic with sophisticated, soulful with foot-stomping, romantic with down-to-earth. The resulting tapestry is alive with texture and color, making for an invigorated dance hall, or a lively and enlightening concert.

Each a veteran of festivals, music camps, and dance circuits, Betty, Billy & Kirk choose the tunes and songs they love the best, adding a bass for dances, and bringing a unique variety of sounds to each venue.
Betty Vornbrock’s fiddle bow brings energy to dance tunes, emotion to waltzes and listening tunes, and imagination to her twin fiddle harmonies with Kirk.
Billy Cornette keeps his rock solid beat and fanciful bass runs on guitar, and is the vocal lead. Kirk Sutphin, adept in different banjo styles, frails or fingerpicks, complementing each number. His fiddling evokes his Round Peak roots, as well.

Sarah Jane Scouten
"Drawing upon traditional melodies that almost biologically are instantly singable, but combining them with emotions, sentiments and stories that are relatable even now. Stan Rogers was able to do it, Ron Hynes was able to do it, Kate McGarrigle was able to do it –
and Sarah Jane Scouten is able to do it."
- Tom Power, CBC q

Tickets: DONATIONS ON THE NIGHT

Spring into Spring Bluegrass weekend featuring The Dirty Beggars.

https://www.facebook.com/thedirtybeggars

TICKETS £10 ON THE DOOR

Like the powerful mandolinist and composer at its helm, John Reischman and the Jaybirds fashion a stylish take on bluegrass that seamlessly blends original songs and instrumentals with Appalachian old-time music for a truly unique band sound. Now in their 20th year, with seven acclaimed albums and two Juno nominations, the Jaybirds are simultaneously innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned and 21st-century contemporary.
TICKETS £12 U25's £4 from CatStrand Box Office 01644 420374

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

This year’s Summer Workshops will be led by the highly talented and immensely popular Bluegrass Band The Often Herd , winners of the 2018 European Band contest at the La Rochel Bluegrass Festival , plus Bertie Armstrong of Holly & The Reivers

The Often Herd will also perform in Concert on the Saturday evening.

For further details and tickets:
https://www.moniaivebluegrass.co.uk/tickets

With their enchanting debut album, Dreamsongs, Etc., Bill and the Belles have captured the freewheeling, lighthearted approach to music that has endeared them to listeners of every generation. With a spirited sound that falls somewhere between old-time country and vaudeville, the group puts its own spin on a golden era of music, specifically the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

“We like old music and some of us are consumed by it,” says lead singer and guitarist Kris Truelsen with a knowing laugh. “But we don't have a desire to copy it. We want to sound like ourselves and tell our story.”

As a result, a majority of the material on DreamSongs, Etc., is original, from the upbeat number, “Wedding Bell Chimes,” through the yearning ode to youth, “Back to My Childhood Days.” While Truelsen’s distinctive tenor anchors the project, the Tennessee-based band’s trio harmonies gleam against a backdrop of banjo, fiddle, accordion, ukulele, and clarinet.

“The title seemed appropriate in that a lot of the songs are about dreaming for something better, better days, better lovers, better whatever it may be,” Truelsen says. “Not to mention many of the songs we chose to sing are about the sentimental dreamer.”

The band takes its name from Bill and Belle Reed, performers from the 1920s who recorded the songs “Old Lady and the Devil” and “You Shall Be Free” in Johnson City, Tennessee.