Jan/Feb 2015
Jan/Feb 2015 Vol. 41 No. 1 Newsstand: $2.50 Subscription: $30
MBOTMA Hot Line (to subscribe and for other information) 612-285-9133 or 800-635-3037 info@minnesotabluegrass.org P.O. Box 16408, Mpls, MN 55416 www.minnesotabluegrass.org Twitter: @mnbluegrass Facebook: minnesotabluegrass
MBOTMA Board of Directors President: Gary Cobus, 763-428-2394, garycobi@charter.net Vice President: Jana Metge, 952-996-6490, singdancesavetheworld@gmail.com Treasurer: Peter Albrecht Secretary: Mary DuShane Board Members: Term expires 2014: Alan Jesperson, Philip Nusbaum, David Smith Term expires 2015: Marilyn Bergum, Gary Germond, Greg Landkamer, Sandi Pidel Youth Representatives: Sarah Cagley, Catie Jo Pidel For meeting minutes and other Board business, go to: minnesotabluegrass.org/as_Board
MBOTMA Staff Executive Director: Jed Malischke, 715-635-2479 Administrative Assistant: Bea Flaming, 612-285-9133
Minnesota Bluegrass Editor: JoAnne Makela, editor@minnesotabluegrass.org Contributors: Marilyn Bergum, Ann Iijima, James Kent, Jed Malischke, Phil Nusbaum, Sandi Pidel, Loretta Simonet Coming Up: Loretta Simonet, Rick Swanson Y’All Come: Bill Lindroos Wordmark: Katryn Conlin Photography: Steve Chollar, Martin Chvatal Cover: Covers from the past 12 issues of Minnesota Bluegrass Submit content or request advertising guidelines at: editor@minnesotabluegrass.org. Minnesota Bluegrass is published monthly by The Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association™, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, P.O. Box 16408, Mpls, MN 55416. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for the loss or return of unsolicited photos, recordings, or manuscripts. ©2015 Minnesota Bluegrass. All rights reserved. ISBN 0891-0537.
Thank you, MBOTMA members Patrons: Tony & Barbie Andreason Lenny & Colleen Baltus Art & Teresa Blackburn Ron & Kathy Blade Kenneth Bloch Doug Chasar Paul Christianson Laura Cooper Bob & Marilyn Dodd William Fancher Jerry Frank Daniel & Maggie Freese Darrell & Marilyn Fuhr Jon & Sharon Garon Gary & Jae Germond Michael & Paula Hildebrandt
Sustaining: Rod & Barb Anderson Mary Arntson Lee Bjorndal Ann Crawford Brooks & Barry Brooks Bill & Ann Bushnell Dan & Marilyn Cook Brian Cornell Bob & Vicki Dalager Hal Davis Mary DuShane Garry & Linda Elfstrand Jim Franczyk Art Geffen Warren Gumeson Timothy & Ginger Haaland James Helig Dick & Sue Hopperstad
Howie & Maggie Jorgenson Linda Kjerland Maxine Larson Richard Luckeroth Rolf & Lisa Lund Rodger McBride & Mabel Houle David Rogers Tom & Cathy Schaefer Thomas & Barbara Schommer Penelope Scialla Carri Scott & Bryan Trappe Jane & Dobson West Jim Whitney John Wilcox
Ann Iijima & Myles Bakke Alan & Geriann Kagan Jim Lally Lloyd & Beverly LaPlant Jim Miller Ben Monk James Natwick Dominic Orrico / Rhapsody Design Bob Ostlund Leo & Ann Rosenstein Marty & Carol Schirber Wendy Schoen Tom & Margaret Schuveiller Howell Smith Roger Sweet David & Bonnie Warner Mark & Danelle Wolf
Membership as of December 1, 2013: 962 New membership numbers will be posted in March 2015, with the results of the Member-Get-A-Member Challenge.
Funding provided in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and private donors.
To the editor
Become a Member
There was a lot of positive response to the December 2014 cover of Minnesota Bluegrass. In my haste to find an appropriate cover for the end of the year, I did not leave myself enough time to track down the identity of the lovely young fiddler featured in the photo from the August 2013 festival taken by photographer Martin Chvatal. Thanks to B.K. and Annie Brooks, I received a postive ID right after the Harvest Festival:
The Minnesota Bluegrass & Old Time Music Association is open to everyone. Our members include people who love to listen to music and people who love to make music. As a member, you’ll be invited to participate in bluegrass and oldtime music events and celebrations. You’ll receive discounted prices on admission to events and merchandise, and you’ll receive 12 monthly issues of Minnesota Bluegrass magazine. Becoming a member of MBOTMA is easy and affordable. Your membership will not only nurture your own interests, but help to ensure that the bluegrass and old-time music tradition is sustained and grows in Minnesota.
Just got home from Harvest Jam, and found our copy. The cover photo shows Dulcie Ashworth and the arm of Derek Birkeland, 14 and 16 years old respectively, who are members of the Porcupine Creek Band, who just won the race for a place contest on Saturday! What timing. Folks will have a chance to see them again on the Main Stage at El Rancho this summer thanks to that win. Keep up the great work! B.K. & Annie Brooks And one more email that made my day: Good morning, Want you to know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover picture. She’s so cute, a winner, and great bluegrass depiction. Have a tender Turkey Day! Vicki Andersen
These rates are in effect until March 1, 2015 Individual ($30)
Includes Minnesota Bluegrass, events discounts for one person, and a free classified ad.
Family ($40)
Includes Minnesota Bluegrass, up to four discounted tickets per event, and a free classified ad.
Add $18 for First Class or foreign postage to individual or family membership
Band ($65)
Thanks, B.K., Annie, and Vicki! I had a terrific Turkey Day and am so happy that cover was a hit. Check out the December issue as well as the past six months of Minnesota Bluegrass on issuu.com. Type “Minnesota Bluegrass” into the search bar for all past issues posted. December 2014 can be found directly at: http://issuu.com/ minnesotabluegrass/docs/minnesotabluegrass_dec2014. The combined January/February 2015 will be posted by the time you get this issue in the mail. —Jo
Inside: 12to12 p. 5 | Porcupine Creek p. 7 | Have a good vacation p. 9 | Phil Nusbaum p. 13 | Don MacRostie p. 17 | Coming Up 22 | Y’all Come p. 26
January/February 2015
Patron Level ($120)
Includes Minnesota Bluegrass, first-class postage, events discounts, two free concert tickets, and a free classified ad. Includes Minnesota Bluegrass, first-class postage, events discounts, four free concert tickets, and a free classified ad.
Go to minnesotabluegrass.org and select the Membership tab to join online and pay with PayPal. Or mail in your personal information and payment to: MBOTMA P.O. Box 16408 Minneapolis, MN 55416
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
Remember, you can still renew your MBOTMA membership at 2014 rates until March. And don’t forget to join the MemberGet-A-Member Challenge! Visit minnesotabluegrass.org for details.
Sustaining Level ($75)
Includes Minnesota Bluegrass, advance booking information for MBOTMA events, a free classified ad, and listings in the MBOTMA member band directory in print and on our website.
Call 800-635-3037 or 612-285-9133 for details or if you would like to join by phone.
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12to12 Festival and MBOTMA $ilent Auction By Marilyn Bergum and Sandi Pidel
January/February 2015
One of the prime features of our January fundraising event will be the $ilent Auction. Here’s how you can help:
Donate!
• Share your talents—offer a couple of free music lessons or a home-cooked dinner. • Repurpose that well-meaning Christmas gift—trinkets, collectibles, or toys that would make someone else happy. • Give Cash to add to a purchasing pool for larger items, such as instruments. • Business owners or service providers—a gift certificate for your products or services would be a welcome gift for the right bidder. We all can use an oil change or hair style update. • Bands—donate a house concert or commit to play at a venue of the bidder’s choice. Small donations are welcome! We can bundle them with other contributions to make gift baskets for bidding. Or you could also donate a basket of related items with your fellow jammers and friends.
Bid! • Place your bid on items of interest that have been donated by your fellow musicians. Every penny you pay over the market value of each item is tax-deductible. • Form a bidding group for big-ticket items such as group meals, vacations, or band performances. Four friends could up the ante on a house concert combined with a catered meal that could put you on the charts for best private event of the season! As either a donor, bidder or, best of all, both, you’ll be ensuring the future of our shared passion—bluegrass and oldtime music! This is your chance to help MBOTMA preserve and promote the music we love for us and all those who come after. Contact info@minnesotabluegrass. org or 800-635-3037 to contribute items, services, or cash, or to volunteer at the fundraising $ilent Auction! For a complete list of bands, see the advertisement on page 4.
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
2014 was a tough financial year for MBOTMA, but the undaunted Board of Directors has some terrific musical ideas to put us back in the black. We will kick off the New Year with the 12to12 40th Anniversary and Fundraising Party and MBOTMA $ilent Auction. Doors at the Kraus Hartig VFW in Spring Lake Park will open at 11 a.m. on January 31 for a 12-hour, non-stop, juggernaut of music. Starting at noon, enjoy 12 great bands as they take the stage over 12 hours. For a minimum donation of $10 at the door—less than a buck a band—you can come jam with friends new and old, take a workshop, join a theme jam, and stomp your feet at an old-time dance. There will be food and beverages too. We will have a silent auction, amazing prize raffles, as well as door prizes. This event is still in the planning stages and we have lots more ideas of things to add to the day. Want to help? Volunteer at minnesotabluegrass.org. Or donate items for the silent auction or raffles. Information on how to do that is on the web page. However, the most important way to show your support of MBOTMA is to join us on January 31, bring your instruments and your friends, and make this a celebration to move MBOTMA forward into the next 40 years. Visit minesotabluegrass.org for details on how to volunteer at the event, how to donate your silent auction and raffle items, and to keep track of new things happening. Scroll down on the home page until you see the 12to12 event. Schedules and more details will be posted as they become available. • 12to12 40th Anniversary and Fundraising Party • January 31, 2015 • Noon to midnight (doors open at 11 am.) • Kraus Hartig VFW Post 8100 Pleasant View Dr. Spring Lake Park, MN
Volunteers sell merchandise at MBOTMA festivals like the recent Harvest Jam. Find out how you can donate time at minnesotabluegrass.org. Photo: Steve Chollar 5
Porcupine Creek is making waves By Ann Iijima
January/February 2015
Holger plays resonator guitar, piano, and saxophone (alto and baritone), runs cross-country, and is close to earning his black belt in taekwondo. Sarah plays bass, violin, and piano, and enjoys downhill skiing. Derek plays mandolin, guitar, and Porcupine Creek on stage at Harvest Jam 2014. All photos: Steve Chollar fiddle, is an Eagle Scout, and enjoys downhill skiing and camping. Family Area talent contest, earning a Jacob plays banjo, guitar, and bass (allspot on the main stage as a “Tweener” state orchestra), and is on the baseball act. Their next goal was “to give Barton’s team. Ben plays guitar and is on the Hollow a run for their money” in the soccer and track teams. Dulcie plays 2013 Race for a Place contest, competing fiddle, is on the swim team, and loves to for a regular main stage set. babysit (having decided at a very young Barton’s Hollow took top honors age to go into pediatric medicine). that year, but Porcupine Creek’s positive These young musicians do, of course, experience only made them more deterspend significant amounts of time on mined. They decided that they needed their music. Besides Porcupine Creek, to become more professional—perform Sarah and Derek play in Sarah Mae & more like a band than a jam—and the Birkeland Boys (with father Mike devised a set of strategies, based largely and brother Adam), the Bill & Kate on suggestions from the 2013 Race for a Isles Band, Ditch Creek, and The Road Place judges: Kill Boys. Holger plays in Ditch Creek, • They needed to improve their Sloughgrass, and is in a duet. Jacob is in emcee work and gave Sarah this The Long Shots, and he, Dulcie, and Ben responsibility. Holger interjected, are in the Ashworth Family Band. “She’s the bossy one.” Sarah MBOTMA has been a major factor in immediately shot back with an offer Porcupine Creek’s short but exciting hisfor him to do the honors. I didn’t hear tory. Although their fathers had gotten a response from the head in the iPad. to know one another through Tedd • They decided to coordinate their Williams, who also became one of the wardrobes, opting for button-down band’s mentors, the band members first shirts and jeans. In 2013, they hadn’t came together in a jam session at the talked about what to wear, so some 2012 Winter Bluegrass Weekend. By the over-dressed, some underdressed, end of that weekend, they had formed and Derek and Jacob showed up in a band. Their first gig was five months matching outfits. (I guess that’s a later at the August festival, when, calling themselves Blue Chew, they won the 7
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
If you go to MBOTMA’s indoor festivals, you’ve probably encountered groups of young jammers in the lobby, picking faster than many of us can even listen. Some of these young musicians got together, formed a band called Porcupine Creek, and ran off with first place in the 2014 Race for a Place contest at last November’s Harvest Jam. I caught up with them in Wyoming, Minnesota, the home of three of the band members. I knew as soon as I walked into the Ashworth home that interviewing the band members would be out of the ordinary. The Ashworth family was entertaining two dozen friends and family members for a post-Thanksgiving gathering, and Porcupine Creek was providing the afternoon’s entertainment. The band took a break, and we went downstairs to talk, automatically falling into a jam-sized circle. I greatly enjoyed chatting with these young musicians, all fine instrumentalists, and all of whom sing lead or harmony vocals: Ben Ashworth, 17 (guitar), Dulcie Ashworth, 14 (fiddle), Jacob Ashworth, 18 (banjo), Derek Birkeland, 17 (mandolin), Sarah Birkeland, 15 (bass), and Holger Olesen, 15 (resonator guitar). Holger, who was participating in a parade in International Falls that day, joined us as a disembodied head on a music stand, thanks to the magic of an iPad and the FaceTime app. Well, I have to say that I really would like to be a better, more generous person than I am. But when I hear kids this talented, I sometimes think, well, maybe they’re really quite homely. But, nope, the members of Porcupine Creek are an attractive bunch, the lot of them. Then I might tell myself that they’re probably really obnoxious. Not a chance; they’re as nice as can be. At last, in desperation, I tell myself that they must be narrowly focused on their bluegrass, without any other interests. Well, I give up. All six band members enjoy a wide range of music genres, many are multi-instrumentalists, and all participate in sports and other extracurricular activities.
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
no-no, unless the entire band does it on purpose.) • Their major goal, however, was to improve the quality of their sound, particularly their starts and stops. They also wanted to develop unique arrangements, like the one they used for “Old Dangerfield,” and to avoid solo breaks that they had played earlier. Practicing together, however, was challenging: the Birkelands live in Duluth, 120 miles north of the Ashworth’s home in Wyoming, and Holger is an additional 200 miles north in Birchdale. They still managed to practice before gigs and at festivals. Holger wasn’t able to come down for all their practices, but, because he’s a quick study, he was able to learn his part off recordings that they share in Dropbox. Porcupine Creek already has started their collection of memorable gigs. There was that set at Kip’s Live at the 2013 Harvest Jam, when a younger sibling joined in and couldn’t tear his eyes away from the football game on the television set above the bar. There was the gig at the Sunrise Apple Orchard where no one was listening, but at least someone was watching; there was a note in the tip jar that read “To the guitar player, from the cute blond in the blue shirt.” When I asked about their favorite gig, almost in unison, they said “Race for a Place!” We’ll see whether their appearance on 8
the main stage at the 2015 Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival, part of their first-place prize, takes over that top spot. Did they have any advice for other young musicians? MBOTMA was apparently important in their individual development, as well as in their development as a band. Five of the six members participated in the Grass Seeds Academy at the Winter Bluegrass Weekend, a number of them two or three times. They highly recommend this program, particularly for beginners. They also found it very helpful to hang out at the Family Area during the August festival (and wanted to send out a special “Thank you!” to Dale Gruber and Gruber Pallets for sponsoring that area.) For intermediate and advanced
musicians, they recommend jamming with better musicians. They particularly enjoyed jamming at Nechville Banjos with Tom Nechville, Tedd Williams, and other friends who stopped by the shop, and benefitted greatly from all their encouragement. They also spoke highly of Brian Wicklund’s Fiddle Pal Camp and Rob Ickes’ ResoSummit. A final recommendation was to explore different genres of music; bluegrass is a melting pot of different styles, and these styles may provide ideas that can be applied to bluegrass. With great musicians like the members of Porcupine Creek, the future of bluegrass music is in good hands! Porcupine Creek’s upcoming performances include the Winter Bluegrass Weekend (March 6–8), the Northwoods Bluegrass Festival in Ladysmith, WI (June 12 and 13), the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival in Richmond, MN (August 6–9), and the Lakes Festival in Pine River, MN (August 27–30). Contact the band and find more information on their website, www. porcupinecreek.us, Facebook, and the Porcupine Creek YouTube channel.
January/February 2015
Have a good vacation! on the road with Curtis & Loretta By Loretta Simonet
January/February 2015
information on gigs, radio shows, and media outlets to promote each other’s events across the country. By January 2014, I had most of the concerts booked, but still had open dates, so I continued scouring the internet for leads, and contacting musicians. We were determined to play in or around Chico, California so we could visit family there. As Curtis & Loretta on stage at Cafe Artichoke during their recent tour. Photo courtesy Curtis & Loretta hard as I tried, I couldn’t find any folk venues. Finally, his right leg and back, which we found I started contacting rest homes, and we out later was sciatica. But you can’t really were hired to play at several in Chico. call in sick on a music tour, so he hunted As I booked the concerts, I listed up a walking stick, we loaded up and them on our website. A month before the headed west on I-94. tour started I emailed our Washington The mini-van was totally full with and Oregon lists (with a couple reminder everything we’d need for a month. I like emails as it got closer). Promoting the to bring printed directions to gigs, in concerts is a time consuming job, but case cell phone or GPS service is spotty. very necessary to ensure you’ll have an Over the years, we’ve found it’s much audience. Some venues do this for you, less stressful to plan ahead where we’ll but many don’t. That is definitely a quesbe staying each night. I remember years tion to ask when booking. If they don’t ago, driving through Wichita at 2 a.m., promote, I write up a press release and going from motel to motel, trying desemail it with a photo to newspapers. I perately to find one that would take a send CDs and press releases to folk radio dog. We were lucky on this trip, often shows. Finding whom to send them to being able to stay in people’s homes can be a challenge, but worth the effort. rather than paying for motels. I made This is free advertising, and oftentimes sure everywhere we planned to stay was we do get articles, photos, or at least listdog-friendly, so our Papillion Lulu was ings in local papers, on websites, and airwelcome. play and announcements on radio shows. Our first night out we stayed in Also in early September, I mailed posters Miles City, Montana. It’s a long drive to the venues, and I got the concerts on (700 miles), but our ulterior motive was our Facebook page. driving only 300 miles the next day to September 29, the big day arrived. Chico Hot Springs Resort, just north of Curtis woke up in excruciating pain in 9
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
Every time we leave town on an extended music tour, the person behind the counter at the post office where I stop our mail has these parting words for us: “Have a good vacation!” It doesn’t seem to matter that I’ve explained we’ll be driving thousands of miles, performing and loading and unloading gear umpteen times. But the musicians out there will understand—though we get to see great scenery as it whizzes past, touring musicians are NOT on vacation. Working with my partner as Curtis and Loretta, this past October we toured the Pacific Northwest, but as working musicians understand, the work to put together this tour actually started almost a year earlier. Booking a month-long tour is like fitting together a jigsaw puzzle of where venues line up on your route, re-connecting with places you’ve played before, finding new places, and coordinating dates. First, I contact any places that are locked into a certain day of the month. Pacific Northwest Folk Society in Seattle, a place we’ve played before, always has their concerts the second Friday of the month. So, in November 2013, I emailed asking for that date in October 2014, and locked it in. A couple of other venues also had concerts on certain days of the month, so I booked those. Networking plays a huge part in booking gigs. We got our foot in the door with Pacific Northwest Folk Society because Stewart, who does the booking, had seen us at a different venue in Seattle years ago. Other musicians also help out. After I’d booked several of the concerts on this tour, I was able to fill holes in our schedule by asking Pacific Northwest musicians for ideas. We were booked at a house concert in Kennewick, Washington on a Saturday, but needed something for the Friday night. A few email exchanges connected us with Grande Ronde Cellars, a winery in Spokane. Fellow musicians trade
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
Yellowstone. We got there early enough to enjoy the Olympic-sized hot pool, and we stayed two nights. OK, I’ve got to admit, those two nights WERE a vacation, and the hot springs helped Curtis’ sciatica a little bit. Thursday we drove eight hours to Spokane and stayed with the owner of the winery we were to play at the next night. Saturday was an easy drive, just 2 1/2 hours to Kennewick, where we did a house concert. Micki, our hostess, is the booker for Three Rivers Folk Society. Since the dates we had open didn’t work with the folk society schedule, she offered to do a house concert, and we were also able to stay with her. Sunday, October 5, we loaded up and drove down the Columbia Gorge to Portland to stay with an old friend we knew from our Renaissance Festival days. Monday morning we drove south to Corvallis, Oregon, to drop off my harp at Thormahlen Harps for a repair. Sharon Thormahlen lent me her own harp to use for two weeks. We headed north to Bainbridge Island, near Seattle, to stay with more old friends, and to do some practicing and visiting. I booked some future gigs, and Curtis got to nurse his sciatica. On Friday, October 10, we took the ferry to Seattle to play for the Pacific Northwest Folk Society. Stewart presents the concerts at a book store, an ultimate listening room. Next day, we drove three hours to Portland and played at another wonderful listening room, The Artichoke. It was our first time playing there, and we split the evening with James Faretheewell, an old friend of Curtis’ from Texas. We stayed with James that night and at 5:30 the next morning, in pitch dark, we were loading up again, to drive five hours north to Nancy’s Farm, for a great house concert outside Bellingham, near the Canadian border. I don’t know how many people asked, “What crazy agent booked that weekend? Seattle, down to Portland, then back up north to Bellingham?” I am the crazy agent, and that’s routing in the music business. Pacific NW Folk HAD to be the second Friday, Nancy’s Farm is always a Sunday afternoon, and we fit 10
The Artichoke in on the only Saturday we had available. Plus, this crazy scheme fit into a less crazy intention to not book concerts too close in proximity to each other, so you don’t “split” your audience. We had the concert already booked in Bellingham, when we got another offer to perform at an arts center just 15 miles away. As much as we hated to turn down work, we realized that they were so close to each other that we’d get a smaller audience at each place rather than a big audience at one of them. Next we stayed with our friend and legendary autoharp player Bryan Bowers for a few days. Then it was another couple hours plus a ferry ride back to our friends’ house on Bainbridge Island, for another two days of Curtis resting his still painful leg, and Loretta booking and promoting future gigs. I had tried to book live interviews on folk radio shows we’d done in the past, but nothing worked out. So we were delighted when KPTZ Radio, a new station that had heard about us from one of the concert presenters, asked if we’d do a live show on October 17. That evening was our concert on Bainbridge. The next two nights were shows out on the peninsula. October 20, we hightailed it back down to Corvallis to pick up my
beautifully repaired harp. Then another eight hours to my nephew’s place in Chico. After three days of rest home shows, we loaded up and headed east. We took four days to drive the 2,000 miles to Minneapolis, staying mostly in Motel 6’s on the way. We were really happy with the responsive audiences we had everywhere, and added many new names to our email list. Every place we played invited us back, so we established bases for our next tour out west. We also gathered leads on three possible gigs from musicians in our audiences, and an offer of a place to stay. I could fill another whole article with stories of new friends, old friends, and amazing experiences on the road. (You should have seen that double rainbow in Oregon that lasted over half an hour!) Grand totals: 29 days on the road, 5,929 miles. Anyone planning a lengthy music tour, remember to start planning early, promote extensively, and have a good vacation! Curtis & Loretta is a MBOTMA member band. Loretta has been the editor of the Coming Up section since 1988.
Loretta Simonet checks in to Chico Hotsprings Resort in Chico, CA. Photo courtesy Curtis & Loretta January/February 2015
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Bluegrass Saturday Morning By Phil Nusbaum
How you treat bluegrass There is a big difference between the ways jammers operate as compared to professional bands. Regarding the pros, take Alison Krauss for example. In my view, you have to respect Alison. She rose to the top of the bluegrass industry leading a band specializing in an evolved kind of bluegrass. From that point, she totally remade over her singing and band styles, merging the string band with pop, and changing the mood from bluegrass lonesome to deep melancholy. The stylistic shift created a stylistic option for others and brought the string band closer to the world of pop. Bands adopt special strategies for all sorts of reasons. Quite a few groups playing our territory play songs that come from pop because few upper-Midwest people grew up with bluegrass. By playing repertoire that comes from pop, they reach people with songs that are familiar. A band strategy formula might be about personal preservation. For example, when Lynn Morris was still performing, some of us noticed that she would sing, at most, three songs in a row before a bandmate would lead a song or an instrumental. We thought the format was about preserving Lynn’s voice, though there could have been other reasons. But most bluegrass players are not playing in bands led by the likes of Alison Krauss and Lynn Morris. If they are playing in public, the venues are really small. The majority are playing in jam sessions. When you observe a jam session, you scarcely run into the kinds of strategies mentioned in the above paragraphs. However, you notice how much fun people are having and learning techniques. You might know that there are opportunities a-plenty to jam in Minnesota. It’s true, too, in North Dakota. I recently visited the Bluegrass Association of North Dakota where people drive many miles in order to meet other like-minded people for the purpose of spending afternoons jamming. But the motivation for jamming is a lot different than, say, re-tooling your musical style for public performance. Jamming has nothing to do with your band’s positioning in the musical marketplace. It has to do with community. The jam session is an opportunity for sharing music, for talking and learning about national and local legacies, and about the musical tastes and personal styles, and for building interpersonal histories.
I wouldn’t say one orientation is better than the other. The great thing is that you do not have to choose one or the other. You can do both. Listen for a January Gem of Bluegrass on this topic on the Bluegrass Review.
Bluegrass Review supporters • Hoffman Guitars www.hoffmanguitars.com (hand crafted Hoffman guitars, authorized Martin repairs) • Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association www. minnesotabluegrass.org (membership organization supporting bluegrass experiences) • John Waddle Violins www.waddleviolins.com (dealer of international & domestic, new & old violins, bows, cases)
Weekly Playlists Bluegrass Review playlists are located at www.bluegrassreview. com. Just use the “playlists” link you’ll find at the top of the page. Then click on “archives.” Bluegrass Saturday Morning playlists are located at www.jazz88fm.com. The Bluegrass Review is made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Bluegrass Review in Minnesota Check www.bluegrassreview.com for a complete station list. Station
Day
Time
KLQP-FM, 92.1 Madison
Monday
8 PM
KMSU-FM, 89.7 Mankato; 91.3 Austin
Sunday
10 AM
KBEM-FM, 88.5 Mpls
Saturday
11 AM
KSRQ-FM, 90.1 Thief River Falls
Sunday
11 AM
KQAL-FM, 89.5 Winona
Saturday
9 AM
KDDG-FM, 105.5 Albany
Saturday
9 PM
WTIP-FM, 90.7 Grand Marais
Thursday
10 PM
KUMD-FM, 103.3 Duluth
Saturday
4 PM
KRWC-AM, 1360 Buffalo
Sunday
5 PM
KOJB-FM, 90.1 Cass Lake
Sunday
6 PM
KSCR-FM, 93.5 Benson
Sunday
6 AM
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
January/February 2015
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Grass Clippings Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee, has two touring bluegrass bands associated with their Renaissance Department. They have plans to add three more bands by fall of 2016. Scholarships are available to Bethel students to play bluegrass, while studying in the field of their choice Stephen Mougin is the Director of Bluegrass at Bethel and serves on the IBMA Board of Directors. He is also a musician, playing with the Sam Bush Band, and has toured/performed with Audie Blaylock, Special Consensus, Jim Lauderdale, Randy Kohrs, Melonie Cannon, and many others. In the spring of 2015, Bethel Bluegrass students will be performing at Merlefest and the Big Lick Bluegrass festival as well as a full schedule of smaller concerts and churches. Bethel University is located about 2.5 hours from Memphis, 2.5 hours from Nashville, and is an hour north of Jackson. College-bound bluegrass musicians are encouraged to contact Mougin with questions about this program at mougins@bethelu.edu.
Following the acclaimed success of The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass, composer Carol Barnett and librettist Marisha Chamberlain are teaming up again to bring you a follow-up masterwork: Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum. A new Kickstarter campaign is looking for help in bringing about this new work focused on introducing new audiences to the bluegrass choral world and beyond. The crowd sourcing project allows you to be a vital part of the creative process. Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) will premiere the work at Carnegie Hall on January 25, 2016. Featuring a classical chorus of 300 voices, including a treble choir, this new work will employ traditional bluegrass style within the context of classical structure. The text will include passages from ancient scripture and contemporary prayer. DCINY’s commission has already set this project in motion and has generated a portion of the $25,000 total needed to
create and publish this new work that will endeavor to push the boundaries of American roots music. DCINY has put out a call for choirs to perform the world premiere of Mortals & Angels at Carnegie Hall. Choirs of all levels are invited to submit auditions. For more information about auditioning and how to become involved, contact Kevin@DCINY.org or call 212707-8566 ext. 304. For more information on the event go to: www.dciny.org/bluegrass-2016.html To contribute to the Kickstarter, go to: www.kickstarter.com/projects/ 158491987/mortals-and-angels-abluegrass-te-deum
Help Wanted: Copy editors and proofreaders needed for monthly assignment on Minnesota Bluegrass magazine. Put your dusty English degree to work! Spot typos, fix grammar, win the adoration of friends and family! Contact JoAnne at editor@ minnesotabluegrass.org.
Have you taken the Challenge?
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By Marilyn Bergum, MBOTMA Board Membership Chair
The Member-Get-a-Member Challenge allows current MBOTMA members to help us build our membership base, while letting you have some fun and earn glory, honor, and great rewards in the process. Download the Member-Get-A-Member Challenge form from the MBOTMA website, then ask your friends and family to become MBOTMA members. Recruiting Members are awarded points for each new member they sign up. Send forms and payments to MBOTMA by mail or phone it in as a pledge. It’s that easy. Membership rates will be going up March 1, 2015, so your friends have an incentive to join now. Recruiting points will be assessed as follows: 1 point for an Individual or Family membership, 3 points for a Sustaining membership, and 5 points for a Patron membership. The Membership Challenge began November 1, 2014, and ends February 28, 2015. Recruitment point totals will be tallied and posted at the Winter Bluegrass Weekend, and the winning recruiter will receive two tickets to the Saturday Night Headline Concert.Request application forms at info@minnesotabluegrass.org or download from www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org. 14
John Hugelen Cajun Music Scholarship
Sends aspiring mid-west Cajun musicians to music camps at Folklore Village (WI), Balfa Heritage Week (LA) & Augusta Heritage Center (WV)
Application deadline: January 31, 2015
For application forms and information, go to:
johnhugelencajunscholarship.org January/February 2015
Don MacRostie does the math By James Kent
Athens, Ohio, luthier Don MacRostie named his mandolins “Red Diamond,” after a 1723 Stradivarius violin that was washed out to sea in a storm and miraculously recovered and restored. With the meticulousness of a mathematician (which he is), Don has carefully studied Loar acoustics and produced instruments that honor variations in Loar models. His instruments are used throughout the bluegrass world.
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Talk a little about your model lines, annual output, and pricing. I’ve been making six or seven instruments a year almost forever, maybe eight instruments in a real good year. I use CNC to carve the tops and backs, for some inlays, and the fingerboard for placing frets. My Vintage F today is $13,500. I did a limited run of Replicas of several important old mandolins—Bobby Osborne’s Fern, David Grisman’s 1922 Loar and John Reischman’s 1924 Loar. Those instruments were more expensive. The Vintage model comes in different voicings: Vintage 22 (like the Replica of 1922 Crusher), Vintage 24 (like the 1924 Reischman Replica) and Vintage 25 (like the 1925 Bobby Osborne Replica), plus one I call the Vintage July 9th. Tonally, Loars all have a common thread: crystalline, brittle highs, with a bass that is not overly woody or thuddy, but strong and clear. Other Loar characteristics are good note separation (all the individual strings can be heard when playing chords or double stops), wonderful clarity throughout, and volume evenness high to low (no weak spots). They all have these characteristics, but differ slightly in where their strengths lie. The Vintage 25’s strength is in the high end. Clear up to 10th, 12th or even 15th fret those trebles almost get stronger. Vintage 24 voicing has a sweeter, more mid-range strength—clear highs, good bass, and a little darker. The Vintage 22 is strong on the ends—not quite as strong as the 25 on the highest frets, and really strong low, not as sweet. It has an “in your face,”
edgier tone (bark). The Vintage July 9th resembles the Vintage 22 very much, but has a little more of everything. These are all subtle differences. For all my instruments I use red spruce and eastern curly maple. For the last four years, it’s been red spruce from West Virginia, from several logs. From a local sawyer I have a very nice log of eastern curly maple. Don MacRostie in his workshop with “Red Diamonds” waiting to be finished. Photo courtesy Don MacRostie I was making F5-syle mandolins for Conservatory of Music, and knew and years, probably 160 or so instruments, loved music. So he guided Gibson to and always thought I could make some make masterful instruments. But for me, improvements. In 2003, I thought, the key is that all this music we love and what if I just tried to copy a Loar? How listen to was written on those instruwould I do that, and how close could I ments. Most of Monroe’s best instrucome? That’s when my Vintage model mental tunes were written with a Loar came out. Everything up to then was a in his hands. Those tunes would not Red Diamond Standard, and once the have come out the way they did with an Vintage line came out, the call for the instrument of different tonal characterisStandard model dropped off completely. tics (say an oval hole A). As I see it, that To copy, I measured a couple dozen body of music was written, performed characteristics, including the height of and recorded on those instruments and the plate, neck angles, shape of the top that’s why it demands an instrument and back arches, and thickness with a with that kind of voice to be faithful to Hacklinger gauge. I developed a thickthat music. ness map and location for placement of Is there a profile for a Red Diamond tone bars, but the key thing is measurclient? What are they looking for that ing the flexibility of those instruments. you provide? I had used flexibility (deflection) for I’ve been extremely fortunate to some time to keep my standard model be able to associate with a lot of really consistent. My first Vintage models were great players and have gotten wonderful voiced using an average flexibility of feedback from them. I do get a lot of pro three Loars and a Fern I had the chance players—also nonprofessionals that are to measure. I found that the Loars were very serious about bluegrass. They range stiffer than my Standard model—a little from full-time musicians, to professionstiffer in the top and much stiffer in the als, to businessmen, to laborers—all love backs with higher arching. bluegrass and have a serious fascination My belief on the Loar tone is that with the music. They come from just there is nothing scientifically superior about all 50 states. Some play other about them. They were factory instrustyles, most commonly Celtic and jazz. ments. It is documented that Lloyd Loar Players mature in their understanding was a good player, attended Oberlin
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of tone and that takes time. That is the point I see them looking at what I do. Do you work alone, or with apprentices or colleagues? My son worked in the shop for a few years when he was in his early teens, and I had an apprentice for two years from the Galloup Guitar School, but otherwise I have always worked alone. I taught a class in instrument building at Charles Fox’s Lutherie School and enjoyed that. That got me thinking about doing more of it, but I always seem too busy to have time to do any teaching. What is your past and present relationship with Stewart-MacDonald? I was building mandolins and living in Athens, Ohio, where Stew-Mac is based. Thirty-five years ago, building was a very local practice and didn’t bring a living wage, so I tied in with them and kept my shop on the side. I did production work at first, mainly keeping everything in the shop running and managing a few people who made parts. For the last 20 years, I have been among the four or five people who do product development. Basically, anything in the catalog we develop, test and/or verify for suitability. I am now semi-retired from Stew-Mac. Did you stumble into instrument building or was it always part of a grand plan? Maybe a little of both. I was born in California, attended high school in Florida, and have an undergraduate degree in math. I played guitar in high school and tinkered with them a bit, fixed friend’s instruments and so on. I was in the military during Vietnam and after that started messing with instruments more seriously. I came up to Ohio in the early 1970s to go to grad school on the G.I. bill. I made friends with a fellow who was making dulcimers and that opened my eyes to lutherie and spurred me to start building mandolins. For many builders today, the Irving Sloane book was influential. Can you point to who or what were your early influences as a builder? I did have the Irving Sloan book and I got into mandolin making pretty quick. Another influence was Classic 16
Guitar Making by Arthur Overholtzer, a maker in California who mixed a lot of life and building philosophy. I also learned a lot through the Guild of American Luthiers (GAL) conventions. You go there for four or five days, talk shop, and pick up things and pass along things. Another important organization was the Association of Stringed Instruments Artisans (ASIA), which sprang up because GAL was on the west coast and people not on the West Coast wanted to have something closer. At one ASIA convention I met Frank Ford, one of the founders of Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, and head of the repair department, and I sold instruments through them for quite a while. Dan Erlewine has been a big influence on me. He doesn’t make mandolins, but his insights into repair have been a constant source of ideas. When you take the blindfold test, can you tell the difference between your A and your F models? How would you characterize that difference? I produce about one A for every four or five Fs. I thought the A and the F I produced sounded virtually the same while I was making only the Standard model. Since I have been making the Vintages, I have found that the Fs just seem to be bigger and more solid in tone. At an ASIA Symposium I met an engineering student from Rensselaer Polytech who was using laser interferometry to study solid body instrument motion. I asked him if he would measure an F mandolin for me. I was surprised at the movement I saw on so many parts that I hadn’t associated with tone before. I saw things like the finger board extension and scroll on the peg head move much more than I expected. You’d expect that a lot of that is dead but, if it’s moving, it’s feeding back into the instrument and probably influencing tone. In one case I had a customer who wanted to play the violin repertoire on his mandolin so we cut off the fret board at the 21st fret and put on a removable (snap-on) extension to 36 frets. The instrument sounded incredibly different with that extension on and off. That just confirmed what I saw on the interferometry
analysis that the extended fingerboard is coloring the tone. What is your oldest instrument that has come back to you, and how would you describe the effect of age on its tone? Number 2 came back several years ago (number 1 never got finished). I was at work one day and one of the fellows who worked with me brought it in. I didn’t recognize it at first. It was tubby, not refined at all, but had held together and played remarkably well. In general, instruments take two to three years to reach maturity. Johnny Staats lives an hour away and has two of my instruments. Over the first two years I thought his newer one had tremendously changed and became stronger. New instruments need time to settle down. I believe that there is a “wood” and a “metal” component to the tone of a fretted instrument. Achieving the proper balance is the mark of a wonderful instrument. At first they’re a little zingy and untamed. The metal component is pronounced (strings and frets). Within six to 12 months, it becomes more solid. Zinginess goes away. It takes 15 to 20 minutes of playing to get a good mandolin warmed up . . . people talk about that with red spruce. I don’t know why, but it’s a recognized effect. You are respected for your careful study of Loar properties. Are you after what a Loar sounded like when new or what a Loar sounds like today? My exploration is to see how close a new builder can come to that old sound. I am frequently told, “This doesn’t sound like a new instrument.” That’s what I’m after. Oil varnish, spirit varnish, French polish. Can you define these terms? Is there a magic sauce you have settled on? Spirit varnish is shellac-based, mainly shellac and alcohol with a couple of other components to make it less brittle. French polish is a technique of applying shellac or spirit varnish. It is done by rubbing the finish with a pad. Oil varnish is a cooked oil that was traditionally brushed on and dries by oxidation. It January/February 2015
January/February 2015
Does handmade mean no jugs/fixtures, no power tools? This is a dilemma we all wrestle with in today’s world—players, buyers, and craftsmen alike. What is the most valuable advice you give customers? I try to get across to players how important a really good instrument is to get you playing more and, with playing more, learning faster. I tell customers that, if you’re serious, don’t skimp on an instrument. If you want to play with a group, have a good instrument. For me, advice goes both ways. Really good players give me a lot of advice, often about things I don’t even think about. Josh Pinkham is a phenomenal player in Florida (www.thepinkhamfamilyband. com). Where the side binding meets the top/back, I was keeping it square because it looks neat and clean. Josh said: “this kind of cuts my arm.” Since then, I’ve been rounding the edge of the binding all around the top and back. That has made a big difference in the feel. It is so important to listen. There is a local player who once commented that in any new instrument the bass will develop, but if you don’t have a strong enough treble at the start, that won’t develop as much. And I think he’s right. What does success as a builder mean to you? The big thing for me is being part of the mandolin community and what a great group it is. I go to a festival and just walk around and talk to people. Sometimes they call me up out of the blue—that’s where the reward is: being in communication with people like David Grisman, Bobby Osborne, Hirschel Sizemore, John Reischman, Danny Roberts, Johnny Staats, Chris Hillman. At GAL and ASIA and through StewMac I get to see all the builders I have heard about and admire. Financially, it means that I can use quality tools and materials, travel, and share with people who eventually become friends. What is next for Red Diamond? There is something to that 90-yearold Loar tone. You can play a Loar next to a modern instrument and the Loar has a presence, a haunting. I feel like I’ve gone as far as I can go to be true to how
those were built—wood, glue, finish, flexibility—except the age! Now I’m looking at a way of aging wood. Water is easy to get out of wood, but other things in wood take years to change. The nonsolid material becomes more solid. I heard about “roasting wood” at IBMA—basically raising wood to a temperature above kiln drying, which is around 200 degrees Celsius. Something happens at that temperature to sugars and resins in the wood. If you put a light inside a modern guitar and shine it through the top, the top glows orange. But do the same with a 1930s Martin and light does not pass through. Something has happened over those years. This roasting does the same thing; light does not transmit through roasted spruce tops. Roasting stabilizes wood, making it less susceptible to seasonal gain and loss of moisture. I’m experimenting, building four instruments from the same log, all with the same voicing, but two with roasted wood and two not. We’ll see how this turns out. I find that running down any possibility that may make an improvement is what keeps me fascinated with this work.
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takes quite a long time to dry, but you can speed it up with UV light or sunlight, and dryers can be added. Spirit varnish dries by evaporation. I use spirit varnish over oil varnish, and apply it using a French polish technique. Oil varnish is a little difficult to polish up and it’s tough to get a uniform look. Plus, you have to build up a thicker finish. In a year or so, a strictly oil varnish finish usually looks great but often looks uneven when new. I think what happens is oil varnish continues to flow and over time that surface flows into a nice, soft gloss. We think—does anyone know?—that the Loars were made with spirit varnish over oil varnish. At one point I went to lacquer (mainly because it’s easier to repair store dings) when I was selling more instruments through a dealer. When people asked, I would do a varnish. While doing both finishes in the same batch, I found that I always preferred to play the varnish instruments over the lacquered ones. So, I decided to just finish with varnish. Tap tuning is a big subject. What are your thoughts on how useful it is? I do flexibility tuning. I put a flexible bridge on a top or back and apply a load similar to what the strings would do. I work the tone bars and top thickness until I reach the same flexibility that I measured on the Loars. I usually start with a dozen tops to make six instruments. It takes that to find the flexibility I’m after for that voicing and at the thickness I’m after. I do tap to listen for that crisp, strong wood response, but that is not the control of the voice. CNC [computer numerical controlled machinery] is another big subject. When does a CNC-made instrument cease to be “handmade”? I’ve used CNC for 10 years. It hasn’t increased production but it allows me to be more precise and repeatable. I’ve gotten good enough with it so that I can make the changes I want to make, and nail it on the machine. I see it as just another tool that helps me do exactly what I want to do. There is only so much CNC can do. There is still a tremendous amount of hand work. As far as “handmade,” where does one draw the line?
Mary DuShane and Phil Nusbaum at Harvest Jam. Photo: Steve Chollar 17
MBOTMA Calendar of Events Concerts and events presented or supported by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association
The following events are presented by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA) or supported in part by MBOTMA, and made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. MBOTMA’s 40th Anniversary Noon To Midnight Fundraising Party, Saturday, January 31, 2015, 12 p.m. to 12 a.m., Kraus Hartig VFW Post, 8100 Pleasant View Dr., Spring Lake Park. A 40th anniversary celebration featuring 12 bands over 12 hours with The High 48s, The Platte Valley Boys, Switched At Birth, Cousin Dad, Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Roe Family Singers, Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, Jumping Jo & The Catie Cats, Ivory Bridge, Brian Barnes, Blue Hazard, and Porcupine Creek. Plus an old-time dance, theme jams, silent auction, raffles, door prizes, and lots of jamming. Suggested admission donation of $10 with all proceeds to benefit the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA). Food and beverages available. For more information call 800-635-3037 or visit www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org. Winter Bluegrass Weekend: A Festival of Bluegrass & Old-Time Music & Dance, March 6–8, 2015, Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West Hotel, 3131 Campus Dr, I-494 & Hwy 55, Plymouth. More than 50 groups will be performing bluegrass, old-time stringband, and related forms of acoustic music on several stages, including The Becky Buller Band for the Saturday Night Headline Concert and The Red Squirrel Chasers in the Dance Hall. Plus workshops, dances, instrument exhibitors, and jam sessions around the clock. For more information call 800-635-3037 or visit MinnesotaBluegrass.org. To book lodging contact the Crowne Plaza at 763-559-6600 or the nearby Residence Inn at 763-577-1600. Ask for the special Minnesota Bluegrass Festival rate.
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Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Festival, August 6–9, 2015, El Rancho Mañana, Richmond, MN. Fourday outdoor music and camping festival with stage shows, dances, workshops, showcases, children’s shows, demonstrations, crafts, and good food in five stage areas. Four-time IBMA Event of the Year nominee. 2015 performers will include a Hot Rize Reunion with Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers, Entertainers & Vocal Group of the Year Balsam Range, Eddie & Martha Adcock with Tom Gray, Red Molly, The Jumpsteady Boys, The Bucking Mules, and many more. Mainstage showtimes are 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, 1 to 11 p.m. Friday, 1 to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. $20 to $30 daily at the gate or $85 for all four days in advance including camping ($79 before March 1). Additional discounts in advance for MBOTMA members. Teens are only $10 and kids are free. For information or tickets call 800-635-3037 or visit www. MinnesotaBluegrass.org.
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Cabin Fever Festival, Friday–Sunday, March 20–22, 2015, Inn On The Lake, 350 Canal Park Dr., Duluth. A weekend-long cabin fever reliever event including stage shows, draw bands, open stage, workshops, and jam sessions around the clock. Featuring The Walker/Stargel Band both Friday and Saturday nights. Weekend tickets are $29 in advance ($26 for members). Day of show: $15 Friday; $20 Saturday. Teens half price and kids are free. For more information call 800-635-3037 or visit MinnesotaBluegrass.org. For lodging contact Inn On The Lake at 888-668-4352 and ask for the special Minnesota Bluegrass Festival rate.
Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff Music Festival, May 29–31, 2015, El Rancho Mañana, Richmond, MN. Threeday outdoor music and camping festival with 20 regional groups performing bluegrass, old-time stringband, and related forms of acoustic music. Showtimes are 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Advance tickets are $52 for the weekend including camping ($42 for members) or $20 daily ($15 member). Gate prices: $60 for the weekend, including camping; $20 Friday; $25 Saturday; and $10 Sunday. Teens are $5 and kids are free. For information and tickets, call 800-635-3037 or visit www. MinnesotaBluegrass.org.
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MBOTMA Member Bands BLUEGRASS BANDS Alzen Family, Brad Alzen, 715-749-3977, bwalzen@pressenter.com Art Stevenson & Highwater, Art Stevenson, 715-884-6996, artstevenson@ hotmail.com Assisted Picking, Jon Garon, 612-8392277, jon@myfavoriteguitars.com Barton’s Hollow, Ian Kimmel, 507-7663529, ickimmel@yahoo.com Benson Family Singers, Peter Benson,, bensonpd@yahoo.com Big Juke & The Last Resort, Mark Jukich, 218-390-7342, mjukich@msn.com Biscuit Boys, Daniel Fish, 763-434-2734, radiocty@skypoint.com Blue Groove, David Smith, 952-9745121, ds5string@gmail.com Blue Hazard, Hannah Johnson, 651-500-0747, info@bluehazardband.com Blue Wolf, Shirley Mauch, 612-724-1482, samauch@worldnet.att.net Borderstone, Ryan Morgan, 715-7812989, info@borderstonetheband.com Cabin Fever, Jeanie Wyttenbach, 507-635-5625, wyttenbach.lou@mayo. edu Carver Creek Bluegrass, Tom Monsen, 952-466-2089, carvercreekbluegrass@ gmail.com Castle Ridge, Mark Clark, 319-389-1535 mark_w_clark@msn.com Dick Kimmel & Co, Dick Kimmel, 507-359-1163, kimmel@newulmtel.net Fine Line Bluegrass, Darin Manson, 641-895-9401, caramanson@ finelinebluegrass.com The Fish Heads, Kim Curtis-Monson, 218-729-5326, KMonson802@aol.com Freshwater, Harvey Riekoff, 262-4973024, tjbanjo@wi.rr.com Froemming Family, Anna Froemming, 320-453-2393, pilgrims@meltel.net The Good Intentions, Chris Silver, 651-491-4013, chrissilverband@gmail. com Halvorson Family Band, Loren Halvorson, 507-345-7431, loren@ birchcovesoftware.com Hand Picked Bluegrass, Joe Cronick, 715-966-6463, handpickedbluegrass@ charter.net
The High 48s, Eric Christopher, 651-271-4392, eric@thehigh48s.com Ivory Bridge, Jim Tordoff, 612-759-5987, guitarrodeo@gmail.com JedFest, Jed Malischke, jmalisch@ centurytel.net The Kalisch Family, Sandy Kalisch, 507-744-3348, skalisch7@means.net King Wilkie’s Dream, Robbi Podrug, 612-562-8402, booking@kwdream.com King’s Countrymen, Lorn Schultz, 715-495-5275, schultzfam92@yahoo.com The King’s Highway, Eddy Van Pamhorst, 807-630-9914, gemvan@ tbaytel.net The Kingery Family, Christy Kingery, info@thekingeryfamily.com The Long Shots, Sophie Galep, 715-2330181, sophie.galep@gmail.com Long Time Gone, Ben Manning, 651-388-7383, mndawg@gmail.com Luke Warm and the Cool Hands, Michael Periolat, 303-638-3135, kastro1981@hotmail.com Mark Kreitzer Band, Mark Kreitzer, 612-724-7334, mark@markkreitzer.com Marty Marrone & Tangled Roots, Marty Marrone, 651-295-1376, marty@ tangledrootsbluegrass.com The Middle Spunk Creek Boys, Al Jesperson, 612-727-2489, alanjesp@ gmail.com Minnesota Blue, Kelton Parrish, 651-697-0209, kgparrish@gmail.com Monroe Crossing, Art Blackburn, 763-213-1349, info@monroecrossing.com No Man’s String Band, Nic Hentges, 612-387-0196, nihentges@gmail.com Northern Lights Bluegrass, Douglas Ewert, 612-845-6737, dmewert@hotmail. com Northern Posse, Arlette Solom, 218-463-0710, bluegrass@northernposse. com Ophoven Family Band, Molli Ophoven, 218-327-2058, jmophoven@q.com Phil Nusbaum & Steven Earl Howard, Phil Nusbaum, 651-690-1508, pnusbaum@bitstream.net The Platte Valley Boys, Ron Colby, 651-458-0804, roncolby@comcast.net
Porcupine Creek, Sarah Birkeland, 218-624-1781, arahsay328@gmail.com Prairiegrass, Bonnie Hallett, 320-4853310, bkhallett@yahoo.com Pride of the Prairie, Sarah Cagley, sdcagley@comcast.net Riverside Bog Stompers, David Darnell, 218-260-6546, davestreetrod@ hotmail.com Sawtooth Brothers, MJ Moravec, 507-990-6456, info@sawtoothbrothers. com Singleton Street, Sherri Leyda, 763-972-2341, singletonst@yahoo.com The Stringsmiths, Chris Landstrom, 715-671-3772, chris@stringsmiths.com Tim and Cindy, Tim Roggenkamp, 218-568-5559, rogge@uslink.net Timbre Junction, Karen Radford, 612-623-0261, KarenJRadford@eaton. com Trackside, David Anderson, 952-4740981, renee_ballroom2@yahoo.com The Woodpicks, Joel Kezar, 218-6812148, kezarmusic@mncable.net OLD-TIME STRINGBANDS Bob & Lynn Dixon, Lynn Dixon, 612-377-6819, dixon@visi.com Bob Bovee, 507-498-5452, bobbovee46@gmail.com Bob Payton Foot Stompin’ Banjo, Bob Payton, 612-722-9603, bob@ accessupdate.com The Bootlickers, Irina Rossi, rinarossi@ gmail.com The Eelpout Stringers, Karl Burke, 651-784-7323, bltfolk@aol.com The Gritpickers, Rob Daves, 612-8220085, gritpickers@gmail.com Mike In The Wilderness, Michael Sawyer, 651-698-7520, minnesotafiddle@ yahoo.com Poor Benny, David Furniss, 651-6990557, david.w.furniss@uwrf.edu The Roe Family Singers, Quillan Roe, 612-599-0266, pappyroe@yahoo.com Rush River Ramblers, Eric Hatling, 715-772-4421, ehatling@gmail.com Tickwood String Band, Doug Wells, 218-736-4469, betsyanddougwells@ gmail.com
The Tune Jerks, Bob Douglas, 651-7781395, rjdouglas@stthomas.edu Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, Jim Brooks, 612-419-4576, brooks@csp.edu
January/February 2015
Split-Shot Sinkers, Chris Boone, 651-274-3054, cboone@dezinnia.com String Beans, Chick Pea & Garbonzo, Roger Cuthbertson, rojo@visi.com Switched At Birth, Rick Anderson, 651-230-2431, ricktune56@gmail.com T & L Schwartz & Family, Linda Schwartz, 701-659-3154, lspollanthra@ gmail.com Trinity Trio, Jay Forney, 218-681-8172, wjwforney@gmail.com Tucker’d Out, John Trelstad, 701-2120015, jdtrelstad@aol.com Wayne Hamilton, 612-508-0768, wayne@waynehamilton.com
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
RELATED GENRE BANDS Alabaster Falls, Julie Kaiser, 218-3083131, tiedyechick40@yahoo.com Alchemical Banjo, Richard Swanson, 651-338-1349, rick@richardpswanson. com Awkward Sorrows, Robert Coleman, 612-801-4660, rob@awkwardsorrows. com The Barley Jacks with Brian Wicklund, Brian Wicklund, 651-4334564, brian@fiddlepal.com Benji Flaming, Benji Flaming, 612-3266521, mbotma@benjiflaming.com Bernie King & The Guilty Pleasures, Bernie King, 763-242-6943, bkandthegps@gmail.com Bill & Kate Isles, Bill Isles, 218-3404404, bill@billandkateisles.com Blessings Gospel Trio, Timothy Johnson, 763-464-3481, timkarin@ comcast.net Blue Yodel #9, John Whitehead, 651-641-0752, jfw@bitstream.net Cousin Dad, Ross Vaughan, 320-6853839, rvaughan@cloudnet.com Culver’s Jammers, Barb Carlson, 763-784-7881, Blinkbug@aol.com Curtis & Loretta, Loretta Simonet, 612-781-9537, curtisloretta@att.net DL Cajun Band, Doug Lohman, 612-306-3490, DougLohman@aol.com Don D Harvey & the Ultrasonic Duo, Donald Harvey, 608-781-3456, dondharvey@centurytel.net Due North, Louise Wiermaa, 218-5907654, lew3355@hotmail.com The Flemming Fold, Sandra Flemming, 952-758-7522, troynsandra@hotmail.com Four Legg Fish, Mick Garrett, 320-2791868, mick_garrett@hotmail.com The Gated Community, Sumanth Gopinath, 612-332-2006, sumanth_ gopinath@hotmail.com Greenwood Tree, Bill Cagley, 651-6369542, bcagley@comcast.net The Hacklewrappers, Mark Rubbert, 612-387-8189, mjrubbert@comcast.net
Jack Klatt & The Cat Swingers, Jack Klatt, 612-270-9079, jackklatt@gmail. com John & Rose Band, John Vincent, 218-766-1925, fiddling@hotmail.com Karen Mueller & Friends, Karen Mueller, 612-270-4740, karen@ karenmueller.com Mad Jack & The Black Label Boys, Pop Wagner, popwagner@mac.com Mary Henderson & Geoff Shannon, Mary Henderson, 612-721-3550, hendersonshannon@goldengate.net Moonlight Duo, Mary DuShane, 612-724-5341, marydushane@gmail.com The Moss Piglets, Ian Gamble, 651-644-0810, themosspiglets@yahoo. com Mother Banjo, Ellen Stanley, 612-2811364, motherbanjo@gmail.com NE Triangle, Emily Wright, 612-2754701, e.writes@hotmail.com New Riverside Ramblers, Eric Mohring, 612-724-4687, info@ newriversideramblers.com New South Shore Mountain Boys, Tom Draughon, 715-682-9362, tom@ heartistrymusic.com Nordic Bees, Renee Vaughan, 651-2954200, renee@nordicbees.com Now and Then, Daniel Fish, 763-7862524, radiocty@skypoint.com Pert’ Near Sandstone, Michael McGregor, 612-998-8647, michael@ hellobooking.com Peter Ostroushko, 612-529-2884, postroushko@visi.com Pushing Chain, Boyd Blomberg, 218-370-0910, boyd@pushingchain.com Rachel Nelson, Rachel Nelson, 651-3533370, bardlive@usfamily.net Ralph Bailey With Strings Attached, Ralph Bailey, 612-743-7439, flyingrabbitmusic@gmail.com Rev Matt, Matt Weiss, 314-800-6696, mateoblanco76@aol.com Ring of Kerry, Paul Cotton, 320-2510601, paulcot@iname.com Rosby Corner, Jeanne Marti, 763-5597552, romarti3@aol.com Sherry Minnick & Jackson Buxton, Sherry Minnick, 651-644-8682, minnicksherry@gmail.com Sloughgrass, Soren Olesen, 218-6342800, sloughgrass@gmail.com
21
Coming Up Venue abbreviations 331C: 331 Club, 331 13th Ave NE, Mpls, 612-331-1746, www.331.mn 3Cr: Three Crows Cafe, 225 N River St, Delano, 763-972-3399, www.thethreecrows.com ACA: Acadia Cafe, 329 Cedar Ave, Mpls, 612-874-8702, www. acadiacafe.com AGr: Amazing Grace Bakery & Cafe, 394 S Lake Ave, Duluth, 218-723-0075, www.amazinggraceduluth.com APHC: “A Prairie Home Companion,” Minnesota Public Radio AST: Aster Cafe, 125 SE Main St, Mpls, 612-379-3138, www. astercafe.com BTC: Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua, Bayfield, WI, 888-244-8368, www.bigtop.org BoDD: BoDiddley’s Pub and Deli, 129 25th Ave S, St. Cloud, 320-252-9475 CED: Cedar Cultural Center, 415 Cedar Ave S, Mpls, 612-3382674, www.thecedar.org CJ: Celtic Junction, 836 Prior Ave, St Paul, 651-330-4685, www. thecelticjunction.com CrH: Creek House Concerts, New Brighton, 651-633-5353, www. creekhouseconcerts.com DAK: Dakota Jazz Club, 1010 Mall, Mpls, 612-332-1010, www. dakotacooks.com DUL: 607 W Lake St, Mpls, 612-827-1726, www.dulonos.com DuG: Dunn Brothers on Grand, 1569 Grand Ave, St. Paul EAG: Eagles Club, 2507 E 25th St, Mpls, 612-729-4469, www. Mplseagles34.org
FITZ: Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E Exchange St, St Paul, 651-2901200, www.fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org GINK: Ginkgo Coffeehouse, 721 N Snelling Ave, St Paul, 651-645-2647, www.ginkgocoffee.com GKb: Grand Kabaret, 210 N Minnesota St, New Ulm, 507-3599222, www.thegrandnewulm.com HB: Harriet Brewing, 3036 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis HOB: The Loft at Hobgoblin Music, 920 State Hwy 19, Red Wing, 877-866-3936, www.stoneyend.com HOPK: Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins, 952-979-1111, www.hopkinsartscenter.com KIP: Kieran’s Irish Pub, 85 6th St N, Mpls, 612-339-4499, www. kierans.com KRAM: Kramarczuk’s Deli, 215 E Hennepin Ave, Mpls, 612-379-3018, www.kramarczuks.com OAK: Oak Center General Store, 67011 Hwy 63, Lake City, 507-753-2080, www.oakcentergeneralstore.com ROCK: Rockwoods, 9100 Quaday Ave NE, Elk River, 763-2224353, www.nograsslimit.com/RockwoodsCalendar.html SHL: Sheldon Theatre, 443 W 3rd St, Red Wing, 800-899-5759, www.sheldontheatre.org TAP: Tapestry Folkdance Center, 3748 Minnehaha Ave S, Mpls, 612-722-2914, www.tapestryfolkdance.org UMC: Underground Music Café, 1579 Hamline Ave N, Falcon Hts, 651-644-9959, undergroundmusiccafe.com ZUM: Crossings at Carnegie, 320 East Ave, Zumbrota, 507-7327616, www.crossingsatcarnegie.com
To post gigs and events to this calendar, request the link to our online submission form to editor@minnesotabluegrass.org
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS January 8
February 17
February 28
Sawtooth Brothers, Winter Bluegrass Series, Rosemount Community Center, S Robert Tr, Rosemount, rosemountarts. com, 7pm
DL Cajun Band, Arlington Hills Community Center, 1200 Payne Ave, St. Paul. Mardi Gras Party, with dance lesson by Flory Katz, 612-306-3490, 6pm
Pert Near Sandstone’s Winter String Band Gathering with Town Mountain, Cedar Cultural Center, 415 Cedar Ave S, Mpls, 612-338-2674, www.thecedar.org, 8pm
December 26—Friday
December 29—Monday
• Monroe Crossing, Festival Theater, St Croix Falls, WI, 7:30pm
• Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm
• Cajun Music Jam, UMC, 11am • Four Mile Portage, AGr, 6pm, Old time music and dance calling • Machinery Hill + The Sons, AST, 9pm • The Thirsty River, Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave S, Mpls. The Thirsty River will start the night off with their blend of old-time & bluegrass followed by the new Fargo supergroup
December 27—Saturday
• Contra Dance with Pat O’Loughlin and Ken Steffenson, TAP, 7:30pm • Choo Choo Bob’s Holiday Concert, CED, 11am
December 28—Sunday
• Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am 22
December 31—Wednesday
• Monroe Crossing with guest Long Time Gone, SHL, 7pm
January 1—Thursday
• Swamp Poppas, EAG, 7:30pm
January 3—Saturday
• Bill and Kate Isles, ZUM, 7:30pm • Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am
January/February 2015
Boots, celebrating the release of their new album. 952-334-3252, 10:30pm
January 11—Sunday
January 6—Tuesday
• The Duhks, CED, 7:30pm • Dick Kimmel & Co, SPGMA Bluegrass Awards Convention, Jefferson City, MO • Monroe Crossing, Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am
• Michael Shynes + Max Dvorak + Preston Gunderson, AST, 8pm • Roots Music Jam with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm
January 12—Monday
• Monroe Crossing, JT’s Bluegrass Fest, Titusville, FL, 6:30pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm
• Gary Rue & The Pittfield Four, AST, 9pm • John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm
• Monroe Crossing, House Concert, Thonotosassa, FL
January 4—Sunday
• Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am
January 5—Monday
• Bill and Kate Isles, UMC, 7pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm
January 7—Wednesday
January 8—Thursday
• Celtic Music Showcase with Paul Garding, UMC, 7pm • Monroe Crossing, Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise • Pert Near Sandstone, Snowball Festival, Lutsen, MN • Sawtooth Brothers, Winter Bluegrass Series, Rosemount Community Center, S Robert Tr, Rosemount, rosemountarts.com, 7pm
January 9—Friday
• Chad Elliott, BoDD, 7:30pm • Chris Silver and the Good Intentions, Junior’s Bar, River Falls, WI, 8pm • John Gorka, ZUM, 7:30pm • Monroe Crossing, Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise • No Grass Limit CD release party, DUL, 8pm
January 10—Saturday
January/February 2015
January 14—Wednesday
• Folk Showcase with Larry Carpenter, UMC, 7pm • Gary Rue & The Pittfield Four, AST, 9pm • Greenwood Tree, Prior Lake Farmers Market, inside City Hall, Prior Lake, 9am • John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm • Monroe Crossing, Cedar Key HS, Cedar Key, FL, 7pm • Peter Ostroushko and Dean Magraw, CrH, 7pm
January 15—Thursday
• Monroe Crossing, Paddock Square, The Villages, FL, 5pm
January 16—Friday
• Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, Crosscurrents, Kansas City, MO, 507-498-5452, 7pm • Lonnie Knight, BoDD, 7:30pm • Monroe Crossing, Mudville Music Room, Jacksonville, FL, 7:30pm
January 17—Saturday
• Accordion-O-Rama, ZUM, 7:30pm • APHC with The Gibson Brothers and Joe Newberry, APHC, 4:45 PM • Barley Jacks, DUL, 8pm • Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, Manhattan House Concert, Manhattan, KS, 507-498-5452, 7pm • Cajun Music Jam, UMC, 11am • Middle Spunk Creek Boys, 318 Cafe, 318 Water St, Excelsior, $10, 8pm
January 18—Sunday
• Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, Colorado Springs House Concert, Colorado Springs, CO, 507-498-5452, 7pm • Monroe Crossing, Christian Hill Baptist Church, Clermont, GA, 7pm • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am • The Zinghoppers, Paramount Theatre, 913 W. St. Germain St, St. Cloud, 320-259-5463, 1pm and 4pm
January 19—Monday
• Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm
January 20—Tuesday
• Monroe Crossing, Loxley Civic Center, Loxley, AL, 7pm • Roots Music Jam with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm
January 21—Wednesday
• Country Music Showcase with Bill Travers and Laura Moe, UMC, 7pm • Gary Rue & The Pittfield Four, AST, 9pm • John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm
January 22—Thursday
• Bob Bovee, Colorado Cowboy Gathering, Golden, CO, Festival of cowboy poetry and music; many performers; Jan. 22–25. Admission charge. 507-498-5452, 9am • Monroe Crossing, The Melting Point, Athens, GA, 8pm • The Skally Line with Fred Keller, AST
January 23—Friday
• Barley Jacks, Junior’s Bar, 414 S Main St, River Falls, WI, 8pm • Dick Kimmel & Co, GkB, Live recording for DVD, 7:30pm • Greenwood Tree, Sail Away Cafe, 3121 St Croix Trl, Afton, 651-4366555, 6:30pm • Monroe Crossing, The Douglass Theater, Macon, GA, 7:30pm • Sweet Rhubarb, BoDD, 7:30pm
23
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
• Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Dan Newton’s Accordion Orchestra presents “Cinema” with Diane Jarvi, CED, 8pm • Dick Kimmel & Co, SPGMA Bluegrass Awards Convention, Jefferson City, MO • Monroe Crossing, Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise • Riverside Bog Stompers, Thirsty Pagan Brewing, 1623 Broadway St, Superior, WI, 715-394-2500, 8pm • Vicky Emerson, AST, 9pm
January 13—Tuesday
• Monroe Crossing, Randy Wood Guitars Concert Series, Bloomingdale, GA, 7:30pm • Mother Banjo, Summit Brewery, 910 Montreal Circle, St. Paul, 651-2657800, Beer proceeds benefit the Minnesota Music Coalition, 7:30pm • The Gibson Brothers and Joe Newberry, FITZ, 8:30pm
January 24—Saturday
February 3—Tuesday
February 12—Thursday
• Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Chris Silver and the Good Intentions, DUL, 8pm • Curtis & Loretta, Sun Dog Farms House Concert, Maple Plain, Info, directions and reservations at 763-479-4396 or sundogfarmconcerts@gmail.com, 7pm, Potluck at 5:30pm • Monroe Crossing, The Bluegrass Express, Hartwell, GA, 7pm • Mother Banjo with Evergreen Grass Band, $5, Red Herring Lounge, 208 E 1st St, Duluth, 218-481-7318, 9pm • Peter Ostroushko and Dean Magraw, CrH, 7pm • The May North, Takin Time, Clearwater, MN, 7pm
• Four Mile Portage, AGr, 6pm • JugBand Jam, hosted by Fat Chance, Driftwood Char Bar, 4415 Nicollet Ave S, Mpls, 612-354-4512, Jam 1st Tuesday of the month. 7:30pm • Roots Music Jam with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm
• Celtic Music Showcase with Paul Garding, UMC, 7pm • Gaelic Storm, Mill City Nights, 111 5th St N, Minneapolis, MN 612-3333422, 7:30pm • Sans Souci, Rosemount Community Ctr, 13885 S Robert Tr, Rosemount, 952-388-8652, 7pm
January 25—Sunday
• Monroe Crossing, Mike Music and Concert Hall, Flintstone, GA, 3pm • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am
January 26—Monday
• Monroe Crossing, KASU Bluegrass Monday Concert Series, Paragould, AR, 7pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm
January 27—Tuesday
• Bluegrass Showcase with Sarah Cagley, UMC, 7pm
January 28—Wednesday
• Gary Rue & The Pittfield Four, AST, 9pm • Lenz and Frenz, 331C, 9:30pm
January 29—Thursday
• New Riverside Ramblers, EAG, 7:30pm, Cover charge $5.00
January 30—Friday
• Curtis & Loretta, BoDD, 7:30pm
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
January 31—Saturday
• Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 9pm • Mother Banjo, Anoka Winterfest Wine & Beer Tasting, Greenhaven Country Club, 2800 Greenhaven Rd, Anoka, 763-576-2725, 5pm
February 1—Sunday
• Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am • The May North, McNeely Conservatory, Como Park, St Paul, 4:30pm 24
February 4—Wednesday
• John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm
February 5—Thursday
• Barley Jacks, Frets and Friends, 2105 University Ave, Green Bay, WI, 920-857-3984, 8pm • Monroe Crossing, Park Theater, Hayward, WI, 7:30pm • Swamp Poppas, EAG, 7:30pm
February 6—Friday
• Dick Kimmel & Co, SPGMA National Bluegrass Awards Convention, Nashville, History of Bluegrass Music • Harpers Cord, BoDD, 7:30pm • Monroe Crossing, First Lutheran Church, Rice Lake, WI, 7pm
February 14—Saturday
• Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Bob Bovee, Canton House Concert, Canton, SD House Concert 605-36613113, 7 PM, House Concert; admission charge, 507-498-5452 • Chris Thile, APHC, 4:45 PM • Greenwood Tree, Prior Lake Farmers Market, inside City Hall, Prior Lake, 9am • Riverside Bog Stompers, Thirsty Pagan Brewing, 1623 Broadway St., Superior, WI, 715-394-2500, 8pm
February 15—Sunday
• Barley Jacks, Der Rathskeller, 800 Langdon St, Madison, WI, 608-2653000, 9pm • Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Cajun Music Jam, UMC, 11:00 AM • Dan Mahar, CrH, 7pm • Krewe de Walleye Mardi Gras Dance, Withrow Ballroom, Withrow, MN • Monroe Crossing, Granite Area Arts Council Concert, Granite Falls, MN, 7pm • Punch Brothers, APHC, 4:45pm • Sawtooth Brothers, OAK, 8pm
• Accordion Showcase with Dan Newton, UMC, 7pm • Bob Bovee, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Sioux City, IA, 2pm • Carver Creek, St. Columba Catholic Church,, McDonald Ave, Iona, MN, 507-836-8030, Bluegrass mass, 8am and 9am • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am • The Thirsty River, Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave S, Mpls, , 952-334-3252. A stunning brunch menu paired with old-time influenced music from The Thirsty River. 11am–2pm
• Monroe Crossing, Marion Ross Performing Arts Center, Albert Lea, MN, 3pm • Pert Near Sandstone, Big Sky Big Grass, Big Sky, MT • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am
• DL Cajun Band, Arlington Hills Community Center, 1200 Payne Ave, St. Paul, Mardi Gras Party, Dance with Lesson by Flory Katz, 612-3063490, 6pm • Roots Music Jam with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm
• Folk Showcase with Larry Carpenter, UMC, 7pm • John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm • Lonesome Dan Kase, 331C, 9:30pm
• Country Music Showcase with Bill Travers and Laura Moe, UMC, 7pm • John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm
February 7—Saturday
February 8—Sunday
February 11—Wednesday
February 17—Tuesday
February 18—Wednesday
January/February 2015
February 21—Saturday • Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Cajun Music Jam, UMC, 11:00 AM • Charlie Parr, CED, 8pm • Claudia Schmidt, CrH, 7pm • Pat Donahue, UMC, 7pm • Sawtooth Brothers, DUL, 8pm
February 22—Sunday
• Bill Staines, OAK, 3pm • Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players, CED, 11am • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am
February 24—Tuesday
• Bluegrass Showcase with Sarah Cagley, UMC, 7pm
February 25—Wednesday
• Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph
• • • •
Ave, St. Paul, 651-690-6700, 7:30pm, Presented by the O’Shaughnessy and the Dakota Bill Staines, BoDD, 7:30pm John Evans and Dan Perry, Manitou Station, 7:30pm Lenz and Frenz, 331C, 9:30pm Mother Banjo, Hell’s Kitchen, 80 9th St S, Mpls, 6pm
February 27—Friday
• Dan Newton and Pat Donahue, UMC, 7pm • Dick Kimmel & Co, BMAI Bluegrass Festival, Des Moines, IA • Monroe Crossing, New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, New York Mills, MN, 7:30pm • Pert Near Sandstone’s Winter String Band Gathering with Possessed by Paul James, CED, 8pm
• Barley Jacks, OAK, 8pm • Bluegrass Brunch with the High 48s, AST, 11am • Bob Bovee, Bloomington House Concert, Bloomington, IN 812-3310631, 8 PM, House Concert; admission charge, 507-498-5452 • Dick Kimmel & Co, BMAI Bluegrass Festival, Des Moines, IA • Mother Banjo, Sun Dog Farm Concerts, Maple Plain, 763-479-4396, 7pm • Monroe Crossing, The Historic Chief Theater, Bemidji, MN, 7:30pm • Pert Near Sandstone’s Winter String Band Gathering with Town Mountain, CED, 8pm • Walter’s Wheelhouse, Paramount Theatre, 913 W. St. Germain St, St. Cloud, 320-259-5463, 7:30pm
-Kakos -Kennedy -Kopp -Kronbauer -Morris -Santa Cruz -Walden -Walker
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
New location! 4151 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis (612) 767-2800 podiumguitars@gmail.com
-Bourgeois -Breedlove -Carmel -Fairbanks -Goodall -Hoffman -Huss&Dalton -Hill
February 28—Saturday
Premium Guitars, Amplifiers, and Repair January/February 2015
25
Y’All Come Looking for a place to play with others? Jams are open to the public, but musical tastes and etiquette vary from place to place. A call is recommended before your first visit. Let us know of any changes or misinformation regarding these listings. Please update your own jam information or send us details about new ones at editor@minnesotabluegrass.org.
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
MINNESOTA Blaine: Culvers, 10550 Baltimore St NE, 763-784-7881. Barb: 763-784-7881. Sponsored by MBOTMA; all levels welcome. Bluegrass. Sat. 1:30–4pm Brainerd: Coco Moon Coffee Bar, 601 Laurel St, 218-825-7955. Bluegrass. 1st, 3rd & 5th Thu. 6:30–8pm Cannon Falls: First Congregational Church, 220 Main Street W (Hwy 19). Mary Pat Kleven: 507-298-3016, mpkleven55@gmail.com. Old-time. 2nd Fri. 6:30-8:30pm Clear Lake: Travelers on the Mississippi, 11290 80th Ave SE, 320-743-3133. Dick Pickens: 406-868-9205. Bluegrass, Gospel; amps permitted. May–Sep, 3rd Sat. 6–9:30pm Duluth: Sir Benedict’s Tavern on the Lake, 805 Superior St, 218-728-1192, sirbens.com • Bluegrass. Wed. 7–9pm • Celtic. Thu. 7–9pm Fergus Falls: • The Spot, 220 W Lincoln Ave, 218-998-2551, thespotpaniniandwine. com, Bob Johnson: 218-736-6198, redblug@yahoo.com. Celtic. 3rd Thu. 7–9pm • Westridge Mall, 2001 W Lincoln Ave, 218-739-4439, Bob Johnson: 218-7366198, redblug@yahoo.com. Acoustic; “1st Sunday Mall Jam”. 1st Sun. 1–5pm Ham Lake: • Glen Cary Lutheran Church, 155531 Central Ave NE (Hwy 65), 612-3661359, WhenWillitSnow@mac. com. Bluegrass, Country, Gospel; community dinner at 6pm. 2nd Fri. 6:30–9pm 26
• Ham Lake Senior Center, 15544 Central Ave NE (Hwy 65). Maxine Larson: 763-434-6750 • Country, Bluegrass, Old-Time & Horns. 2nd Thu. 7–10pm • Acoustic & amplified. 3rd Tue. 1–4pm Minneapolis: • Blackbird’s Music, 3445 Cedar Ave S, 612-326-5745, blackbirdsmusicstore. com. • Bluegrass. Thu. 7–9pm • Adult learners; $5 fee. Tue. 6:30–8pm • Driftwood Char Bar, 4415 Nicollet Ave S. Jug Band Jam hosted by Fat Chance. 1st Tue. 7:30pm • Elliot Park Recreation Center, 1000 14th St E, tcuker@icloud.com, www. TCUkeClub.com. Sponsored by MBOTMA; $5 suggested donation. Ukulele, Blues, Jazz, Swing. 1st & 3rd Tue. 6–8pm • Kenwood Park Community Center, 2101 Franklin Ave. tcuker@ icloud.com, www.TCUkeClub. com. Sponsored by MBOTMA; $5 suggested donation. • Ukulele, Bluegrass. 2nd & 4th Mon. 7–9pm. .Instruction provided 6pm • Ukulele, Americana. 1st & 3rd Thu. 7–9pm. Instruction provided 6:30pm • Kieran’s Irish Pub, 330 2nd Ave S, 612-339-4499, kierans.com. Irish. Sun. noon–2pm • Walker Community United Methodist Church, 3104 16th Ave S, 612-209-5311, revanster@gmail. com. Roy’s Jam, Bluegrass. Last Mon. 7–10pm • West Bank School of Music, 1813 S 6th St, 612-333-6651, info@wbsm.org. Bluegrass; led by Bill Cagley, $5 fee. 3rd Sun, 2–4pm Monticello: VFW, 713 Cedar St,, 763-807-6431, mardellolson@yahoo.com. Acoustic & amplified. May–Nov, last Sun. 2–5pm
Northfield: Contented Cow, 302B Division St, 507-663-1351, contentedcow. com • Northern Roots. Mon. 7:30pm • Acoustic. Tue. 7:30pm Oakdale: Silver Lake Methodist, 5399 Geneva Ave N (Century Ave), 651-7772920, MNrover@juno.com. Acoustic. 3rd Sat. 10am–noon Red Wing: Winter Farmer’s Market, Sargent’s Nursery, 3352 N Service Dr. Dave: 651-388-3847. Old-time. Nov–Mar, Sat. 9am–noon Richfield: Homestead Pickin’ Parlor, 6625 Penn Ave S, 612-861-3308, homesteadpickinparlor.com • Slow fiddle tunes; all bluegrass instruments welcome. 1st, 3rd, 5th Mon. 7–9pm • Flatpicking Guitar. Thu. 7–9pm • Beginning Bluegrass, $1 donation for leader. 2nd & 4th Tue. 7–9pm • Advanced Bluegrass. Sat. 3–6pm • Fiddle tunes, intermediate level; all Bluegrass Instruments welcome. Wed. 7–9pm. • Folk Jam. 1st, 3rd, 5th Tue. 7–9pm Rochester: Peace UCC, 1503 2nd Ave NE, peacechurchucc.org. Pat Lehey: 507-261-7128. Bluegrass. Fri. 6:30pm Rogers: Rogers Community Center, 21201 Memorial Dr. Dave Christen: 612-859-5847, quickieauct@hotmail.com. Potluck at 4pm. Acoustic & amplified. 1st Sun. 1–6pm Roseville: Ken’s Market, 788 Cleveland Ave SW, Doug Chasar: 612-802-0833, dchasar@att.net. Acoustic. Mon. 6:30–8:30pm Rushford: Good Shepard Home, 800 Home St. Roberta Albertson: 507-8648109, semba@acegroup.cc. Bluegrass. Nov–Mar, 3rd Sun. noon–5pm Saint Cloud: Whitney Senior Center, 1527 Northway Dr. Ken Hoest: 320-2603348. Acoustic & amplified. 1st Tue. 6:30–9pm Sartell: The Legends at Heritage Place, 673 Brianna Dr. Gary Loomis: 320-2232537, garymusic@midco.net. Acoustic. 4th Tue. 6–9pm
January/February 2015
Spring Valley: Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 805 S Broadway. Roberta Albertson: 507-864-8109, semba@ acegroup.cc. Bluegrass. Nov–Mar, 1st Sun. noon–5pm Saint Paul: • Burn Ward Coffee Unit, 945 West 7th St. Doug Chasar: 612-802-0833, dchasar@att.net. Acoustic; call for space availability. Thu. 6:30–8:30pm • Dubliner, 2162 University Ave, 651-646-5551, thedublinerpub.com • Sea Shanties. 2nd Mon. 7:30pm • Traditional Irish (advanced). Fri. 6–9pm • Underground Music Cafe, 1579 Hamline Ave N, 651-644-9959, undergroundmusiccafe.com • Roots Music (Bluegrass, Old-time, Country). 1st, 3rd Tue. 7–9pm • Cajun. 1st, 3rd Sat. 11am–1pm Taylors Falls: Memorial Community Center, 312 Government St. Brian Pigott: 651-465-5551, popspeejou@frontier.com. Acoustic & amplified. Mon. 6–9pm Wyoming: Wyoming Methodist Church, 5459 E Viking Blvd, 651-464-7442, whitingsranch@gmail.com. Acoustic, Gospel. 2nd & 4th Thu. 7–9pm
NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: Red Raven Expresso Parlor, 916 Main Ave. Bob Johnson: 701-478-7337, redblug@yahoo.com • Celtic. 4th Thu. 7–9pm • Old-Time. 2nd Thu. 7–9pm Valley City: Barnes County Historical Society, 315 Central Ave N. John Andrus: 701-721-8296. Bluegrass. Sep–May, 2nd Sat. 1–5pm
WISCONSIN La Crosse: Southside Neighborhood Center, 1300 6th St S. Ron Sackett: 608-498-0020, ronaldsackettsr@yahoo. com. Bluegrass, Gospel. Sep–May, 2nd Sun. 12–4:30pm Menomonie: Christ Lutheran Church, Elm & Wilcox Streets. Donna Harschlip: 715-673-4885. Mountain Dulcimer; other acoustic instruments welcome. Tue. 1–3pm
Rice Lake: First Lutheran Church, 15 E Sawyer St, 715-458-0181, curlupndye@ mosaictelecom.net. Acoustic, Bluegrass, Gospel. Sep–May, 2nd Sat. 6–9pm River Falls: • Farmers Market, 2nd & Locust. Ben Toppel: 715-688-3112, Benatoppel@ yahoo.com. Old-time; bring a chair. Tent available, but may cancel if it rains. Jun–Oct, Sat. 9am–noon • Funktion Junction Antiques and Local Goods, 125 North Main St., Ben Toppel: 715-688-3112, Benatoppel@yahoo.com. Old-time. Nov–May, Sat. 9am–noon Star Prairie: This Old Store, 301 Main St., Jerry: 751-248-4800. Acoustic. Tue. 2–9pm
Friends of Minnesota Bluegrass Music Stores
January/February 2015
Kenny’s Music, Grand Forks, ND, 701-772-8670 Kezar Music Company, Thief River Falls, MN, 218-681-2148 Main Street Music, Elk River, MN, 763-441-1753 Marguerite’s Music, Moorhead, MN, 218-233-7546 Mr. Mark Music, Anoka, MN, 763-421-5455 Musicmaker’s Kits Inc., Stillwater, MN, 651-439-9120 My Favorite Guitars, Naples, FL, 239-530-7425 Nelson Music, Erhard, MN, 409-939-3062 Piano Circle, Bloomington, MN, 952-881-6165 The Podium, Minneapolis, MN, 612-767-2800 Rhapsody Music, Mankato, MN, 507-387-2562 Rocktown Music, Waite Park, MN, 320-257-7676 Scheitel’s Music, Mankato, MN, 507-387-3881 Simply Violins, New Hope, MN, 763-535-7055 Tone Music, Owatonna, MN, 507-451-5196 Waseca Music Co., Waseca, MN, 507-835-2980
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
A to G Music, Osseo, MN, 763-420-5500 All Strings Attached, Minneapolis, MN, 763-542-9542 Blackbirds Music, Minneapolis, MN, 612-326-5745 Cadenza Music, St. Paul, MN, 651-644-3611 Castle Accordion, Minneapolis, MN, 612-823-5848 Christian Eggert Violins Duluth, Duluth, MN, 218-726-1970 Christian Eggert Violins Fargo, Fargo, ND, 701-280-7017 Classical Guitars Etc., Apple Valley, MN, 952-322-1310 Dave’s Guitar Shop, La Crosse, WI, 608-785-7704 Eclipse Music, West St. Paul, MN, 651-451-8878 Evans Music, White Bear Lake, MN, 651-429-0236 Fein Stringed Instruments, St. Paul, MN, 651-228-0783 The Guitar Shop, Rosemount, MN, 651-344-8177 Haas Musical Instrument Repair, Arden Hills, MN, 651-631-8820 Hobgoblin Music, Red Wing, MN, 651-388-8400 Hoffman Guitars, Minneapolis, MN, 612-338-1079 Homestead Pickin’ Parlor, Richfield, MN, 612-861-3308
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ARMADILLO SOUND & DESIGN
Serving MBOTMA for over 25 years.
Complete production services, sound and lights. Custom speaker cabinets, road cases, amp racks.
Complete studio and live multi-track recording with Protools©.
You know Doug’s attention to detail in the live concert… Let him help you craft your next recording project.
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
612-306-3490 douglohman@aol.com
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AUTHORIZED WARRANTY SERVICE for
QUALITY REPAIRS & ACCESSORIES For All Fretted Instruments
C.F. Martin Sigma Gibson Epiphone
CHARLES A. HOFFMAN, INC. 2219 East Franklin Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55404 612–338–1079 January/February 2015
WANTED: Rochester based bluegrass/gospel band, Cabin Fever, is looking for an acoustic bass player. Practice weekly, with approx two shows per month. Contact Dennis at 507-254-2463, or aarsvold@kmtel.com
LaPlant Instruments maker of fine mandolins & guitars
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
Buy - Trade Sell - Repair (stringed instruments) 218-326-4456
31751 LaPlant Road Grand Rapids, MN 55744 January/February 2015
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On the Ocean... and On the Road in 2015! January 8-9-10-11, 2015
Danny Stewart’s Bluegrass Cruise to Cozumel Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas
Tampa Bay, FL
570-721-2760
Monday, January 12
6:30 pm
J T’s Bluegrass Fest Temple Baptist Church, 1400 North Washington Avenue
Titusville, FL
321-222-7797
Tuesday, January13
7 pm
House Concert, 3603 My Way
Thonotosassa, FL
813-215-0050
Wednesday, January14
7 pm
Cedar Key School Benefit Concert Cedar Key HS Auditorium, 951 Whiddon Avenue
Cedar Key, FL
813-215-0050
Thursday, January15
5-9 pm
Live On The Square Paddock Square, 1000 Lake Sumter Landin
The Villages, FL
352-750-5411
Friday, January 16
7:30 pm
Ray Lewis Presents Mudville Music Room, 3104 Atlantic Blvd
Jacksonville, FL
904-352-7008
Saturday, January 17
7:30 pm
Randy Wood Guitars Concert Series Randy’s Pickin’ Parlor, 1304 East Highway 80
Bloomingdale, GA
912-748-1930
Sunday, January 18
7 pm
Community Bluegrass & Gospel Concert Christian Hill Baptist Church, 5833 Gailey Drive
Clermont, GA
706-265-0655
Tuesday, January 20
7 pm
Loxley Civic Center , 4198 Municipal Park Drive
Loxley, AL
251-964-4995
Thursday, January 22
8 pm
The Melting Point, 295 East Dougherty Street
Athens, GA
706-254-6909
Friday, January 23
7:30 pm
The Douglass Theatre, 355 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevar
Macon, GA
478-742-2000
Saturday, January 24
7 pm
The Bluegrass Express, 57 Depot Street
Hartwell, GA
706-680-0329
Sunday, January 25
3 pm
Mike’s Music & Concert Hall, 1546 N Burnt Mill Road
Flintstone, GA
706-820-2228
Monday, January 26
7 pm
KASU Bluegrass Monday Concert Series Collins Theatre, 120 West Emerson Street
Paragould, AR
870-972-2367
Go to www.MonroeCrossing.com for detailed information on all our concerts! Booking: Art Blackburn, 844-monroeX or 763-213-1349, art@monroecrossing.com
MinnesotaBluegrass.org
January/February 2015
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5th Annual
IC S U M D E E R N F E K WEE
April 10-12 2015 River Falls, WI 50+ hours of foot stompin’ bluegrass!
live music at 12+ locations throughout historic main street
wisconsin flatpicking guitar championshipsm singer/songwriter competition beer & wine tasting workshops, open jams & more! Presented by:
@ rfbluesfest
Call 715.425.2533 or visit www.riverfallsbluegrass.com for details
Minnesota Bluegrass March 2015 Articles, Ads, Coming Up, and News Clips WBW & Cabin Fever (Bands: send March & April gig dates)
Deadline: January 15, 2015
Send to: editor@minnesotabluegrass.org
Attention All Bands MinnesotaBluegrass.org
If you want to sell your music, you need a good band. If you want to sell your band, you need good smiles!
Lloyd “Doc� Wallin, D.D.S. Cosmetic Dentistry Burnsville, MN 55337 952-892-5050 (Free Consultation for MBOTMA Members) January/February 2015
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MinnesotaBluegrass.org
January/February 2015
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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit 343
MINNESOTA BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIME MUSIC ASSOCIATION P.O. BOX 16408 Mpls, MN 55416
TIME VALUE DATA
The winner of the 2014 Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music festival photo contest was Bob Dixon with this photo of emcee Pop Wagner on the El Rancho Mañana mainstage.