Minnesota Bluegrass May 2015 by Minnesota Bluegrass

Homegrown Kickoff Issue

May 2015

May 2015 Vol. 41 No. 4 Newsstand: $3 Subscription: $35

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: Peter Albrecht, henrypeteralbrecht@gmail.com Vice President: Jana Metge, 952-996-6490, singdancesavetheworld@gmail.com Treasurer: Sandi Pidel Secretary: Mary DuShane Board Members: Term expires 2015: Marilyn Bergum, Gary Germond, Greg Landkamer, Quillan Roe Term expires 2016: Alan Jesperson, Philip Nusbaum, David Smith 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: Tony Anthonisen, Bob Bovee, Katryn Conlin, Ann Iijima, Matt Johnson, Ross Johnson, Jed Malischke, Phil Nusbaum Coming Up: Loretta Simonet, Rick Swanson Y’All Come: Bill Lindroos Wordmark: Katryn Conlin Photography: Steve Chollar, Martin Chvatal, Katryn Conlin, Scott Stebbins, Kelly Vanderpool Cover image: Originals album cover, courtesy No Grass Limit 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 Membership as of April 1, 2015: 1,003

Patrons:

David Johnson Howie & Maggie Jorgenson Linda Kjerland Russell Lane Maxine Larson Richard Luckeroth Rolf & Lisa Lund Rodger McBride & Mabel Houle Douglas & Georgene Nesheim Katy Olson & Ron Roller Harold Pederson David & Betty Pfeiffer David Rogers Tom & Cathy Schaefer Thomas & Barbara Schommer Tom & Margaret Schuveiller Penelope Scialla David Tousley & Margaret Brandes Donna Velasco Steve Vincent & Jill Weese Rebecca Wagner & Dan Forsythe Tim Wankel Jane & Dobson West Jim Whitney John Wilcox

Sustaining:

Donald Jacques Chris Juettner Alan & Geriann Kagan Matthew Kaster Jim Lally Lloyd & Beverly LaPlant David Lee James Lee Steve & Elaine LeVasseur Bob Lundeen Rudy & Jeanne Marti Bill Merrill Chad Mezera Ben Monk James Natwick Dennis & Jan O’Brien Dominic Orrico Bob Ostlund Dan Robinson Leo & Ann Rosenstein Rick Sanders Marty & Carol Schirber Wendy Schoen Howell Smith Lynn & Carolyn Thorson R. & Elizabeth Vaughan David & Bonnie Warner Mark & Danelle Wolf

Peter Albrecht Tony & Barbie Andreason Tony & Ann Anthonisen Mary Arntson Lenny & Colleen Baltus Gary & Karen Bartig Ron & Kathy Blade Kenneth Bloch Ann & Barry Brooks Doug Chasar Paul Christianson Gary & Janet Cobus Katryn Conlin Laura Cooper Bob & Marilyn Dodd Brian Etling & Rebecca Lautenschlager William Fancher Jerry Frank Darrell & Marilyn Fuhr Tom Furrer Jon & Sharon Garon Gary & Jae Germond David Glatt Dale & Diane E. Gruber Michael & Paula Hildebrandt

Rod & Barb Anderson Paul Ashworth Fred Boyer Mark & Erdyne Briere Bill & Ann Bushnell Susan Christensen-Wichmann Dan & Marilyn Cook Brian Cornell Bob & Vicki Dalager Hal Davis Doug Duncan Mary DuShane Matt Edwards Garry & Linda Elfstrand Jennifer Faulkner Mark & Kathleen Fisher Nathan Fjeld Jim Franczyk Warren Gumeson Timothy & Ginger Haaland Mary & Fred Harms James Helig Thomas Hollenhorst & Karin Kraemer David Holm Dick & Sue Hopperstad Ann Iijima & Myles Bakke

Help Wanted Minnesota Bluegrass is looking for a few web searchers to help Coming Up editor Loretta Simonet gather gig, concert and event information from some of our favorite venues for the Coming Up Calendar. Coming Up is the one feature almost all MB readers go to each month to find out where and when they can hear MBOTMA member bands, as well as touring national bluegrass, old-time and acoustic music in the Twin Cities and throughout the Midwest. There are more and more frequent opportunities to hear acoustic music. In just a few hours per month your web searching savvy will help keep your fellow music lovers up to date on what’s happening. We will take a lot of the guess work out of the process for you, by assigning a list of venues we know are likely to feature this music. And we welcome your initiative to find new venues we don’t yet know about. Whether you’d like to jump right in, or find out more about this opportunity, contact Minnesota Bluegrass editor, JoAnne Makela, editor@minnesotabluegrass.org.

The

7th Annual

Minnesota Bluegrass July 2015 Articles, Ads, Coming Up, and News Clips

Deadline: June 1, 2015

Send to: editor@minnesotabluegrass.org

Funding for MBOTMA 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.

Musicians Wanted: The Gloryland Gospel band seeks female soprano & alto, and bass guitar or lead guitar. We are an all-volunteer Music Ministry band that performs 2–3 times per month. Rehearsals Mondays, 6:30–7:30pm, in Eden Prairie. Check our website www. glorylandgospelband.com. Respond to glorylandgb@gmail.com.

Inside:

KAKABEKA FALLS BLUEGRASS & OLD TYME FESTIVAL (14 mi west of Thunder Bay, ON, Canada)

JUNE 26, 27, 28, 2015



Featuring



THE HIGH 48’s, THE ROE FAMILY SINGERS, PORCUPINE CREEK, GIBSON MARTIN & I, SHADES OF GREY, HIGHGRASS HOPPERS MinnesotaBluegrass.org

plus many more local musicians… Held rain or shine in a rustic building. Camping & food concessions on site. Motels, shops, restaurants & provincial park within 1 mile. Visit our beautiful “Niagara of the North”, Old Fort William & “the Sleeping Giant”! For more info contact: Eddy Van Ramshorst

email: gemvan@tbaytel.net Toll free: 1-888-688-9582 www.kakabekafallsbluegrassfestival.weebly.com May 2015

The Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association presents…

THE MINNESOTA HOMEGROWN KICKOFF MUSIC FESTIVAL May 29 - 31, 2015 El Rancho Mañana Campground Richmond, MN 30 Min W of St Cloud MN, From I-94 take exit #153 (Avon), then S on County 9 and E on Mañana Rd

Roe Family Singers No Grass Limit Froemming Family Sawtooth Brothers Blue Groove Moss Piglets Mark Kreitzer Band Curtis & Loretta Platte Valley Boys Pushing Chain Purdy River Band No Man’s Stringband The Long Shots Pickin’ Up Steam Split-Shot Sinkers Timbre Junction Mother Banjo Singleton Street Bob & Lynn Dixon Crooked Grass

Get Two Festivals In One! The Great Minnesota Uke Gathering Workshops, Jams, Sing-Alongs Same Weekend, Same Place Same Ticket

Main Stage Showtimes: & Ticket Prices: Friday - 6 PM to 11 PM, Saturday - 12 PM to 11 PM, Sunday - 11 AM to 4 PM. One Day Ticket (no camping): $20 advance, $15 MBOTMA member advance, gate is $20 Fri, $25 Sat, $10 Sun. Saturday & Sunday Ticket (w/Sat camping): $45 advance, $36 MBOTMA members in advance, $50 gate. Weekend Ticket (all 3 days w/Fri & Sat camping): $52 advance, $42 MBOTMA members in advance, $60 gate. Teens $5 any or all days. Children 12 & under free with paid adult. Bring lawn chairs of blankets. No display of alcohol allowed in concert area.

Call: 800-635-3037 or 612-285-9133 Visit: www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org This activity is made possible in part by a grant provided by the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

PLUS

Workshops Jam With the Bands Ranch House Live The Gathering Place

Cover

Springing Up: No Grass Limit By Ann Iijima

May 2015

Mandolin Performer of the Year (Chuck Millar), Banjo Performer of the Year (Mike Hedding), Bluegrass Band of the Year (Contemporary), and Vocal Group of the Year. Clint Birtzer subsequently was nominated for Guitar Performer of the Year for SPGMA’s National Bluegrass Music Awards. However, like a prairie, which hides more than 75 percent of its biomass underground, one secret to the string of NGL’s successes is the broad and deep experience the band members bring to this enterprise. This is no secret, of course, to the many MBOTMA members familiar with the musical backgrounds of the players. Before Chuck and Sandi Millar co-founded NGL, they had extensive experience as musicians, playing all over the country and winning many competitions. Chuck was 11 when he started his violin studies with Jeff Menten. Since then, he’s won numerous fiddle and trick fiddle competitions and has taken

up the guitar, mandolin, and bass. He has played with a number of excellent bands, including Tangled Roots. Sandi started playing guitar when she was 16, and brings her picking skills and vocal talents to the band. NGL already is well known for its sweet harmonies, many performed by Sandi and Chuck, who sang for 10 years as an award-winning duo before co-founding the band. They also worked in harmony to create Lesson Pros, a group of talented teachers who offer music lessons at the Lesson Pros studios, online, and at locations throughout the United States. When Clint Birtzer was nine, he found a guitar and book in his parents’ basement and tried to teach himself to play. Soon thereafter, a family friend showed him and other family members how to play a little bluegrass, and the whole family played at his aunt’s wedding (with a little help from Monroe Crossing). When his mother quit playing the mandolin, Jesse Moravec joined the 5

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

Like the prairie grasses that burst forth in late spring, No Grass Limit (NGL) seemed to come out of nowhere, quickly racking up an impressive string of accomplishments. Formed in June 2011, they won the Race for a Place competition four months later at MBOTMA’s Harvest Jam. Last spring, a successful Kickstarter campaign enabled them to travel to Nashville to record their first all-original CD, No Grass Limit− Originals, with Grammy-award winning engineer, Randy Kohrs. As reported in the December issue of Minnesota Bluegrass, this album “made it to the #2 slot for most radio downloads in October 2014, [and] their single, ‘Good Ole Days of Bill Monroe,’ made it to #1.” NGL then received 13 nominations for the SPBGMA Bluegrass Music Awards Mid-West Convention, and won seven of them: Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year (Sandi Millar), Bluegrass Album of the Year (Originals), Guitar Performer of the Year (Clint Birtzer),

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group and they formed the Sawtooth Bluegrass Band with their brothers. Clint continues to perform with this band, now known as the Sawtooth Brothers, as well as with NGL. Clint won the Minnesota State Flatpicking Guitar competition in 2009, 2011, and 2013, as well as the 2011 Duet Singing Championship with Jesse. Although Clint already knew Chuck slightly, their relationship deepened in 2012 when Clint, feeling over his head preparing for a festival workshop, grabbed Chuck to help. A couple of weeks later, Chuck invited Clint to join NGL. Vaughn Asselstine started playing the piano when she was eight, then began singing and playing the accordion. She later played for theater productions, playing piano indoors and accordion outdoors. Five years ago, she went to the 331 Club for a jam and was inspired to take up the guitar. The friend she was with suggested she take up the bass instead, which immediately resonated with her strong interest in the rhythmic aspects of music. Previously (and to this day), she had expressed this interest through dance, primarily rhythm tap and jazz tap. Alongside these numerous musical interests, Vaughn obtained a nursing degree and studied music theory and computer science, eventually ending up as a programmer, designing systems. We talked about whether there’s something about a knack for pattern processing that causes so many bass players to go into programming, and quickly listed Pete Mathison, David Tousley, Ron Weise, and Mark Anderson as other members of the bass/computer club. Besides NGL, Vaughn is a member of the DL Cajun Band and King Wilkie’s Dream. Mike Hedding played some guitar growing up, but was more into soccer than music. He didn’t really get rolling with his music until he began playing mandolin and banjo in college, devoting many hours to practicing and foregoing other activities. He still practices a couple of hours a day on each instrument; he doesn’t find it to be a chore, but rather “fun and effortless.” Within a few years of settling into this practice, 6

he started playing with a series of bands, including Blue Wolf and Tangled Roots (where he met Chuck), and with the High 48s, with whom he still plays. Mike says that playing with NGL is really fun; since Chuck and Sandi run the show, he’s able to sit back and focus on the music. Chuck’s songs don’t fit into the Scruggs style, and it’s been challenging and interesting for Mike to work them up on his banjo and has encouraged him to grow. While Mike still considers himself a student, currently taking fiddle lessons from Eric Christopher and mandolin via Skype from Mike Compton, he has started teaching as well through Lesson Pros and through his own website, Mikeheddingmusic.com. He’s looking for small, not miraculous changes and tells music students to “keep it up; you’ll get there.” Besides the thousands of hours the band members spent honing their musical skills, their recent accomplishments also were preceded by extensive preparation. Although most of the band members already had been involved in other recording projects, recording No Grass Limit−Originals took them to Randy Kohrs’ Slack Key Studio in Nashville. They connected with Kohrs through a network of musician friends: Marty Marrone to Heath Loy to Becky Schlegel to Kohrs. Kohrs heard some of their work and agreed to produce, record, and play on the album. It wasn’t just Kohrs’ work that produced such a fine CD, of course. Before going to Nashville, NGL preplanned the songs and recorded a practice CD in the Millar’s own studio, so the band members could practice on their own with that CD. Much of the album’s preparation involved raising the funds to cover travel, recording, and production costs, which the band accomplished primarily through a Kickstarter campaign. Sandi and Chuck outlined some of the steps they took, starting with building a strong support base. One of their main methods for building this base was using the Facebook community. They made extensive use of their personal Facebook pages as well as NGL business and fan pages, connecting them with

over 4,000 fans. Having this support, they designed a unique, creative campaign to grab and hold the community’s interest. On April 1, 2014, they posted a video announcing their Kickstarter campaign. Then, throughout April, they worked nearly full-time promoting the campaign, thanking people, and creating daily graphics to count down the days left in the campaign. By the end of the month, they had raised $16,000 from 149 backers. (Sandi and Chuck suggest that you ask advice from someone who’s been there before starting your own Kickstarter campaign; they’d be glad to coach other MBOTMA bands. Recently, they helped with the Sawtooth Brothers’ successful Kickstarter campaign.) No Grass Limit−Originals showcased Chuck’s and Sandi’s writing chops, which they have in abundance. Sandi started writing in her early twenties, but really got a fire lit under her after connecting with Jon Weisberger, IBMA’s first Songwriter of the Year, at the 2012 Minnesota Bluegrass & OldTime Music Festival, where she spent the week hanging out with Jon and with Chris Jones and the Night Drivers. A few months later, in Iowa, she gained additional inspiration from Donna Ulisse. Although Sandi usually writes the lyrics first and adds the melody later, she sometimes does both simultaneously. With a lyric library of almost 400 completed and 200 in progress, and looking for co-writers to help with melody, she joined the Minnesota Association of Songwriters. She has since connected with and co-written with other members, including association president Wayne Hamilton. Chuck and Sandi often write together, with Sandi as the lyricist and Chuck writing the melody. Unlike Sandi’s usual lyrics-first approach, Chuck generally starts with a melodic idea, which he plays over and over, until a story emerges. When they write together, as they often do, they generally work in different rooms, passing the song back and forth. Chuck said he had a take-it-or-leave-it approach to writing until he took a class from Mark “Brink” Brinkman last October, after which he May 2015

May 2015

band practices and performs, creating a “band of friends,” an “extended family.” Vaughn, Clint, and Mike observed that Sandi and Chuck work well together, are fun to be around, and have a great sense of humor. The band has rules for their practices (mostly fake/fun, but with an element of truth): 1) have fun; 2) shut up and play. Their rule for performances is no complaining afterward; only positive comments are allowed. As their band mates have pointed out, Chuck and Sandi are a real team. Besides writing, practicing, and teaching, they’ve divided up the many essential business tasks. Chuck is the webmaster and in charge of graphics, including the design of their album cover. Sandi is in charge of their bookings and public relations, including communications and their Facebook presence. When asked whether living and working together in NGL and Lesson Pros creates problems, both agreed that, on the contrary, being together so much is “kinda awesome. . . . We are really lucky to be able to do music full time and do it together.” Chuck added, “My life is better, every second Sandi’s in it.”

Vaughn called me back a few minutes after we had finished our telephone interview, saying she forgot to mention the most important thing: She owed a huge debt of gratitude to people with whom she’s played and from whom she has learned so much. “You don’t do this alone, at all. The whole magic is the people you play with.” From talking with the other members of No Grass Limit, I’m certain she was speaking for them all. You can hear No Grass Limit at the Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff on Saturday, May 30, at 12:20 and 9:30 p.m. at El Rancho Mañana, Richmond, MN. For more on the festival, go to www. minnesotabluegrass.org. To order a No Grass Limit CD, schedule bookings, or learn more about the band, check out their website at www.nograsslimit.com, or contact Sandi Millar at sandi@lessonpros.com. If you are interested in music lessons, go to www.lessonpros.com or send an email to info@lessonpros.com.

Cover photo and image in this article courtesy of No Grass Limit.

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went “all in.” That class changed his style and his understanding of what makes a good song good. He now follows the 80/20 rule. A songwriter generally starts with a great idea, the “hook,” and then writes the first verse and/or chorus. That’s the 20 percent. The remaining 80 percent of the time needs to be spent making the rest of the song just as good as the first 20 percent, using imagery, order, and feeling. The other band members have written as well, and plan to continue doing so. Mike said that he has no exact process and that he mostly writes mandolin tunes. When he writes songs, sometimes the melody comes first, and sometimes the theme. Like Chuck, he had a writing mentor; in his case, it was Mark Kreitzer. Mark taught him that you need to write every day: keep building that “muscle” and don’t be too critical. If you get too much into your head, it can stop you from putting pen to paper. Mike said it’s similar to practice−you just have to do it; you can’t wait for lightening to strike. Clint does some writing, but doesn’t consider himself an accomplished songwriter, just a guitar player who happens to write an occasional song. He doesn’t really have a process and doesn’t sit down to write anything−it’s more random. He may get an idea for a line while driving and start singing it, or one will come to him at night, and he won’t be able to get to sleep until he has written it down. He does have more of a process when he writes with Jesse. There’s more accountability then: “you have to come up with something.” Clint has studied linguistics and has written some lyrics, but primarily does the melody and chord progressions. Jesse, on the other hand, is more poetic and the more accomplished lyricist. With so many of the band members having skills on multiple instruments, on vocals, and with songwriting and arranging, it’s difficult to pigeonhole them into specific roles. The band members agree, however, that Sandi and Chuck form the core of the group, not just because they are the founding members, but because they create and sustain the positive environment in which the

Review

No Man’s String Band: Following a winding road to their bluegrass home

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

By Ross Johnson

If you’re part of the bluegrass and acoustic music scene in Minnesota, you know that the music genre borders have blurred considerably here, especially in the last four or five years. For my part, I think it is a most wonderful thing. No Man’s String Band (NMSB) is a prime example of what happens when you toss youthful enthusiasm, varied music backgrounds, and lots of talent into the “Bluegrass” mixing bowl. Runners up of the Race for a Place at the 2014 Harvest Jam, NMSB will be playing at the spring Kickoff at El Rancho Mañana, bringing their spin on bluegrass to the Main Stage, Saturday, May 30, at 6:10 p.m. The band added fiddler Lindsey Bordner shortly after the Race for a Place competition. The now fivepiece group was organized in 2011, and they’ve become a regular fixture at Twin Cities’ venues and MBOTMA festivals. NMSB is notable for its varied entry points into the bluegrass camp, the musical sensibilities they possess, and some things distinctly different about their musical approach. Those distinctions are a good place to start. You won’t find a banjo on the NMSB platform, nor a Dobro, or a heavy focus on a “verse/chorus/break/break/verse/ chorus” song pattern—three mainstays of traditional bluegrass bands. No Man’s energy comes from clever arrangements of their original material and unique adaptations of covers from inside and outside the bluegrass songbook. NMSB songs are catchy, pulling you in with a rhythmic or note pattern hook that brings you along for the ride. Punctuation typically delivered by the banjo in many bluegrass outfits comes instead from interplay between the mandolin, guitar and bass, with accordion adding the “sonic bed” in many songs. Once your brain processes the unusual instrumentation, it’s a fun romp to listen to the mando bump off the guitar and the guitar play off the accordion. NMSB 8

arrangements deliver a blend of the instruments and vocals, so long “hot licks” breaks are infrequent, replaced by mando, guitar, and accordion variations on the core musical line. What WILL you find in NMSB? Tight Photo: Kelly Vanderpool arrangement is a key element to their music. A theme time? . . .” interactions), and the very act often passes like a hacky sack between of scribing the arrangement internalizes instruments and vocals. This places the song better in their brains. For the responsibility on each member to be formally trained members, scores are synchronized into their piece of the song important to see the musical line on the in a much more integral way rather than page. Much different than swagging it just “chopping” through chords and “by ear” alone as many of us seat-of-theruns. Clean, strong vocal harmonies, and pants players do. using vocals to enforce a rhythm or the Many new bands in the MBOTMA hook is common too. Melissa’s accordion community are comprised primarily work is subtle but always there in the of young people who cut their teeth on mix, giving a unique chord foundation bluegrass by listening and playing with to many songs. This leaves room for Nic their parents, grandparents and extended and Justin to pepper string elements on families. Not so with No Man’s String top for a complex sound. With the addiBand. All, save one, came into the bluetion of Lindsey’s fiddle, an instrument grass camp through personal discovery that can provide both linear and rhythof the music as adults. Each has a differmic punch, one can predict their sound ent path into the music. is going to continue to expand in that Nic Hentges (mandolin and vocals): direction. “I don’t know if my parents would Something else you’ll find at a NMSB be offended by this, but I don’t think practice are charts—not just chords or they really listened to music. None of a chunk of tablature scribbled above my relatives play—I’m the only one. the lyrics, but real honest to goodness I do remember my mom got my dad charts with staffs, musical notations, a greatest hits collection of the Doors and arrangement notes in the margins. and the Guess Who, which was a huge About half the group has classical or eye opener that my dad listened to rock some “formal” music training, and the music! I took guitar lessons in seventh other half have learned the value of the and eighth grades but all I wanted to music composition toolbox to write, do was play the “Dookie” record (Green arrange, notate, and visually log their Day) from cover to cover. After that I songs to the page. Scores or charts help quit.” them make progress at each practice (with fewer “what did we decide last May 2015

May 2015

things and I learned that bluegrass and country were two separate genres! At a music therapy internship in Cleveland, I found an accordion and I started learning that—it was really fun! When I got home I got one and we put it in our band. It added something new into No Man’s String Band, and we didn’t have a fiddle player then, so it sonically filled that space. Now it’s just a part of our sound!” Pat Loftus (bass): “My dad always played guitar and my family was very musical, but ALL guitars! Mostly they were playing country, but my dad and I really liked bluegrass. My mom and sisters were allergic to bluegrass! When Bluegrass Saturday Morning came on each weekend, my dad and I were exiled to the garage. I took up the electric bass when I got into high school and became more serious about music. Of course I played rock and folk stuff but not really bluegrass until my mid-twenties. I started standup bass and focused on classical training and went to college for music. After college though, I moved to New York City and bluegrass was huge! As a bass player, I got lots of chances to play. It was great. When I got back here, I was pretty much hooked into bluegrass. Now Justin and I listen five days a week, eight hours a day at work. For me, bluegrass is fun because I can relax and lay back some, and listen to what the other players are doing.” Lindsey Bordner (fiddle): “I come from a very musical family. Playing an instrument in my family was a given. My dad was principal trumpet player in the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and he just retired recently from there. I was maybe seven, and in North Dakota, where my family is from, I heard some fiddle music riding in the car. I LOVED it, and we found two old fiddles in our family’s farmhouse. So I chose violin. My dad of course had contacts to a really good violin teacher—classical violin and I learned the Suzuki method.” Lindsey is a recent postgraduate in music and she is a violinist in area orchestras and chamber ensembles; she also teaches. “The ear training style in Suzuki has been very useful to me learning the

improvisational ‘bluegrass fiddle’ style playing.” After taking the hard left turn into classical music that is her violinist occupation, Lindsey is now satisfying the itch that started with that North Dakota car ride when she was a kid. Not hearing bluegrass music when they were in diapers, like so many bluegrassers have, has had some advantages for No Man’s sound. It’s much easier to break out of the basic bluegrass song form when your brain isn’t hardwired into it. Bringing “traditional” tunes into their repertoire, the options are wide open in terms of arrangement and adaptation. Conversely, covering songs outside of the bluegrass idiom feels natural too. “Let’s try ‘Faith’ from George Michael . . .” are not words heard often at bluegrass rehearsals. You’ll be surprised how cool all the songs sound on the traditional bluegrass weapons and, yes, accordion! There is something for everyone in No Man’s String Band.

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Nic went on to play bass and sing in high school bands; heavy metal/ punk-type stuff in high school, and had a teacher in an Americana band that occasionally needed a bass player. Nic went to college for audio production, took on recording for Traveled Ground, and was hooked. “People would ask me ‘Why are you listening to all this sad music?’ but I loved the stuff. Clark, the leader of Traveled Ground, suggested I should try the mandolin. Not long after, I bought one and was onstage with his band that night. They put a mic in front of me-barely turned up-but I really liked it!” Eventually he found his way to bluegrass. Justin Rosckes (guitars and vocals): “I had my heart set on saxophone when I was a little kid, but my parents said no! My older sisters tried lots of instruments and my folks were worried about me sticking with one . . . so my mom bought me a starter guitar, and I said ‘okay’. I took classical lessons and took up rock and blues stuff in high school. My dad listened to country, but NEVER bluegrass music. The shift came for me in college. I listened to and played more acoustic, folk things that were going on there. Now I listen to bluegrass a lot at work with Pat (a coworker). It was sort of like relearning the guitar, putting down the electric and going acoustic again when I started playing this kind of music.” Nic and Justin have led the path into bluegrass territory for NMSB. Melissa Hentges (accordion and vocals): “I grew up in a pretty musical family. My dad played trumpet and piano, my mom played a little piano and sang in church choirs. My parents listened to jazz, big band, classic rock, rock and roll, a little of everything, but no bluegrass there! I’ve been in choirs since I was three years old. I went to college for music therapy and listened to all of the popular music of the time; Spice Girls, boy bands, EMO, alt rock, all that. For music therapy I had to learn the guitar—a lot of folky guitar stuff—but I was mostly a singer. I met Nic and he needed a singer in a band he was starting up, so I sang but didn’t play any instruments. We got into some sort of bluegrass-y

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31751 LaPlant Road Grand Rapids, MN 55744 9

KICKOFF! Everything you need to know to navigate 3 days of acoustic music mania The Committee! After a very wet festival last year, we’re looking forward to a great time at the Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff, May 29–31, at El Rancho Mañana. MBOTMA’s Kickoff committee has been preparing for a year now and they have some new tricks up their sleeves to make the 2015 Kickoff unique and exciting. The committee is composed of Gary Germond (setup), Larry Seldon (booths), Ann Iijima (workshops), Matt Johnson (chair), Gene Johnson and Dale Gruber (reserved camping), Mike Larson (sanitation), Roger Jorgenson (transport), Earl Jarosh (communications), Peggy Karsten (Gathering Place), Doug Chaser (Ranch House), Bill Lindroos (camping), and Tony Anthonisen (Uke Gathering). —Jed Malischke

The Workshops!

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

The Kickoff will offer a broad range of workshops on Saturday, most taking place in the Workshop Tent. Please check your schedules when you get to the festival for the exact locations and for any schedule changes (life happens). —Ann Iijima 11:00 AM. Songwriters Round Robin with Paul Schulte. This is an opportunity for songwriters to share their original music in an acoustic, non-amplified setting. Participants will have the option to give a 1- to 2-minute introduction and then play one song before the next songwriter takes a turn. 1:00 PM. Intermediate Bluegrass Flatpicking Guitar Workshop with Carl Sones and Sophie Galep of The Long Shots. Join two Minnesota Flatpicking Championship finalists for tips and tricks on building solos, lead and rhythm techniques. 2:00 PM. Mandolin Tips, Tricks, Tunes, and Techniques with Nic Hentges and Justin Rosckes of No Man’s String Band. This workshop will focus on

fundamentals and will be ideal for beginning and intermediate players. 3:00 PM. Fiddle Workshop with Tom Schaefer. Tom plays bluegrass, swing, and Irish music with a number of groups, including the Mark Kreitzer Band, Cousin Dad, and the Tune Jerks. He will share fiddle techniques and practice tips that would benefit fiddlers at all levels of expertise. 4:00 PM. Beginning/Intermediate Banjo Workshop with Mark Kreitzer (Mark Kreitzer Band). Mark plays bluegrass, country-swing, rockabilly, and gypsy jazz with a number of bands, switching instruments as needed. Bring your banjos (old-time or bluegrass) and questions and be ready to play! 5:00 PM. Playing Up the Neck, i.e. Cheating on Guitar with Lew Tousignant. This intermediate-level workshop will focus on chords, including chord progressions, alternative chords, and moveable shapes. With any luck at all, Lew will bring his ever-popular handout!

The Jams! Get in a circle with MBOTMA bands! This is a great way to learn a few tricks and schmooze with the players. Most of us have gained skills by simply playing in informal sessions, and it’s a great way to blend your instrument and voice into an ensemble. This year, we’re again mixing it up and giving you a chance to jam with some of MBOTMA’s favorite old-time, Cajun, and bluegrass bands. All these jams will be held at The Gathering Place, but as you walk or ride one of the free Kickoff shuttles around the festival campground, bluegrass and old-time musicians will be keeping the campfires burning with jamming around the clock.—Ann Iijima 6:00 PM, Friday, the Eelpout Stringers will take the lead on some old-time tunes. The ‘Pouts are mostly “Old Fogies” who love playing old-time string

band music. The group is comprised of Nick “Fin” Rowse (fiddle), Craig “Bullhead” Evans (banjo), Loyd “Keeper” Mitchell (guitar), and Karl “Gill” Burke (bass). They enjoy playing the music that gets your toes a-tappin’, or singing ballads that please your heart and touch your soul. You can see, hear, learn lots more about them, and buy their CDs Rockin’ the Boat and the just-released Waterbound at www.eelpoutstringers. com. 11:00 AM, Saturday, Beginner’s Slo-Jam at The Gathering Place. Both the beginner and the later 3 p.m. intermediate level slo-jam will be led by jam master extraordinaire Bill Cagley, and both will be at The Gathering Place. 1:00 PM, Saturday, DL Cajun Band will join the jamming circle! Ask the band how to get ’em and keep ’em dancing. The DL Cajun Band plays Cajun music from the prairies and bayous of Southwest Louisiana: two steps, waltzes, blues with Cajun accordion, fiddle, guitar, triangle, snare, bass, and French vocals. The group draws from the time when the Saturday night dance was the community’s main form of entertainment and socialization. Before electricity and amplification, the acoustic instruments and voice were the only way of making music. www.dlcajunband.com. 2:00 PM, Saturday, stick around for a bluegrass jam with the Platte Valley Boys, the first bluegrass band to be inducted into the Minnesota Rock & Country Hall of Fame! The Platte Valley Boys formed in 1975, and this year they are celebrating 40 years playing some of the best bluegrass music in the Upper Midwest. Their hard-driving, traditional bluegrass style and tight vocal harmonies will keep the Gathering Place hopping. You’re sure to have a great time when Ron Colby, Scott Stebbins, Tony Andreason, Tom Schaefer, and Ross Willits are in the house!

May 2015

The Great Minnesota Ukulele Gathering! The annual Minnesota ukulele weekend celebration, a get-together for all ukulele players (or want-to-be players), will be held this year in conjunction with the Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff at El Rancho Mañana with workshops, jams, and sing-alongs for all skill levels, plus food, camping, and lots of free ukerelated giveaways! The Kickoff has a rich history of playing ukuleles, uke jams and uke workshops. Together, the Kickoff and the Ukulele Gathering give beginner to advanced uke players a venue with topnotch facilities. In addition to the main stage band performances at the Kickoff, there will be ukulele workshops in a dedicated Uke Tent, organized uke jam sessions in a number of other locations, and a uke open mic in the Ranch House on Saturday afternoon. So, whether you are a ukulele, banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle, or other acoustic player, the Kickoff is a musician’s dream! —Tony Anthonisen

May 2015

Twenty bands are scheduled to perform on the Main Stage of the Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff. Show times are 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, 12 to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The list of bands for 2015 includes The Roe Family Singers, Pushing Chain, The Long Shots, The Moss Piglets, The SplitShot Sinkers, Mother Banjo, Timbre Junction, Bob & Lynn Dixon, Singleton Street, The Sawtooth Brothers, No Man’s Stringband, Pickin’ Up Steam, The Froemming Family, Platte Valley Boys, The Mark Kreitzer Band, Purdy River Band, Curtis & Loretta, Crooked Grass, and Blue Groove. Our cover story on local-bandmakes-good No Grass Limit begins on page 5. Don’t forget to bring your lawn chairs. And remember there is no display of alcohol allowed in the concert area. —Matt Johnson

Blue Groove draws material from a number of past and current bluegrass artists. The Blue Groove sound leans towards a more contemporary or progressive sound, while maintaining ties to traditional bluegrass. The band, based in Minneapolis/ Saint Paul, is made up of veteran players and singers, as well as some new faces in the local bluegrass scene. Members are Adelle Hyrkas, lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Jim Krans, bass and vocals; David Smith, banjo and vocals; Mike Keyes, lead guitar, harmonica, and vocals; and Brent Fuqua, mandolin and vocals. Find them at www. Bluegroovebluegrass.com; Facebook: bluegroovemusic; Twitter: bluegroovegrass Bob & Lynn Dixon’s music draws heavily from the early days of American recording: The Carter Family, the Delmore brothers, Charlie Poole, Ernest

Stoneman, and the like—old songs that never grow old. Along with their sweet duet harmonies, Bob plays guitar and mandolin, Lynn the fiddle and guitar. Both Bob and Lynn were fully immersed in the ’60s folk boom when they met in a college music theory class. More and more of their time is spent playing and exploring old-time songs and fiddle tunes. Known for doing “the best Carter Family in town” they keep finding more Carter Family songs to sing. From Tommy Jarrell and others, they have lately been learning some hard-driving, fiddle-centric songs. Scandinavian immigrant tunes are making their way into the Bob and Lynn show. Involvement with Clawhammer Mike’s “Minnesota Fiddle Tunes Project” to revive tunes of Upper Midwestern fiddlers provides a treasure trove of great dance tunes. And musician friends have been feeding Swedish and other Nordic tunes to Lynn over the years. They have taught workshops in duet-singing, old-time guitar, and Nordic fiddle tunes. They also play in dance bands for contradance, English country dance, and family dances. Their CD, Blue-Eyed Boatman, was released in 2009. Find them at www. bobandlynndixon.com; facebook: BobAndLynnDixon.

Crooked Grass is a Minneapolis based string band made up of Laura Triplett on vocals and guitar, Matt Johnson on mandolin, Peter Ashley on guitar, Jim Eller on bass, and Dustin Pascoe on 11

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Uke Gathering schedule: 7:30 PM, Friday, The Gathering Place: Bluegrass & Yellow Book Jam with Tony Anthonisen (for all skill levels with help for beginners) 9:00 AM, Saturday, The Gathering Place: Old-Time Uke “Learn & Play” with Peter Albrecht (for all skill levels with help for beginners) 11:00 AM, Saturday, Uke Tent: Playing Unique Parts In A Tune workshop with Emily Wright (for advanced and beginner+) 1:00 PM, Saturday, Uke Tent: Western Swing Uke workshop with Brian Barnes (for advanced and beginner+) 2:15–4:30 PM, Saturday, Ranch House: Ukulele Open Mic with Emily and Doug Wright (for all skill levels) Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Uke Tent: Making A Uke Song Your Own workshop with David Reminger aka Ukester Brown (for all skill levels) Saturday, 5:30 p.m., The Gathering Place: Yellow & Blue Book Ukulele Jam with Brian Knilans (for all skill levels with help for beginners)

The Bands!

Music Association’s Race for a Place Band Competition. Combining skillful instrumentation, inspiring song selection, creative arrangements and clever audience interaction, The Long Shots will surely get your toes tapping and put a smile on your face.

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the banjo. This group brings an upbeat energy to crafty originals and creates their own take on classic bluegrass songs. Catch them every second Friday at the Driftwood Char Bar in Minneapolis and at other locations.

Curtis & Loretta’s music comes straight from the heart. Named “Best Acoustic Performer of the Twin Cities” by City Pages, the Minneapolis husband and wife duo’s extraordinary harmonies and proficiency on a parade of stringed instruments create an alluring frame for their poignant original songs and carefully chosen traditional pieces from the British Isles, America, and beyond. Their current instrumental menagerie includes mandocello, guitar, clawhammer banjo, folk harp, ukulele, plus a bit of kazoo, harmonica, and shakers. Curtis’ down-home sense of humor and Loretta’s theater background engage the audience in an experience that runs the gamut of rolling with laughter to holding back tears, with plenty of side-trips in between. Rick Mason wrote in the Minneapolis City Pages A-List, “Curtis and Loretta are in many ways the quintessential folk duo: finely honed vocal harmonies of multidimensional intrigue, abundant talent on an array of stringed instruments, deep traditional roots, great originals, and equally strong strains of gravity and playful irreverence.” They perform across the country and have made eight recordings. They’ve received two grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board; an Arts Tour Minnesota grant in 2010, and an Artist Initiative grant in 2015. This year’s grant project will culminate with a CD of all new songs written by Loretta. They are also on the South Dakota Arts Council Touring Arts roster. 12

The Froemming Family Gospel & Bluegrass Band has been playing music for the last six years and have two CD's with many original songs: Willing Heart (2012) and Blind From Looking (2014). The band includes Anna (Mom) on bass. Ruth 20, plays the mandolin and guitar and is a lead vocalist. She is currently pursuing a music degree from St. Cloud State University. Faith, 17, plays fiddle and guitar. She shares lead vocals with Ruth and is the band’s song writer. Elsie, 15, sings and plays banjo, and Carl, 12, plays bass, guitar and sings as well. The family lives on a little acreage outside of Eden Valley, Minnesota near Manannah. www.froemmingfamily.com

The Long Shots’ repertoire ranges from originals and traditional bluegrass to alternative newgrass, which reflects the band members’ childhoods steeped in bluegrass music. Sophie Galep (mandolin), Carl Sones (guitar), Jacob Ashworth (banjo), and Gaby Regnier (bass) barnstormed venues across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and were selected by management of Grammy-winning band The Steep Canyon Rangers as an opening act, all while infecting their audiences with high-energy and irrepressible drive onstage. Galep and Sones are award-winning musicians, both placing in the top five at the 2013 Minnesota Guitar Flatpicking Championships. In November of 2013, the band also placed second in the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time

The Mark Kreitzer Band brings together exceptional musicians who, combined, can play at least a dozen instruments. Their take-no-prisoners bluegrass will get your feet tapping and hearts pounding, from the traditional sounds of the Stanley Brothers and Flatt and Scruggs, to original songs that draw on influences from Bill Monroe to the Beatles. Mark Kreitzer (guitar, banjo, fiddle, bass, mandolin, mandocello, mandola, Dobro, ukulele), is a prolific songwriter and recipient of MBOTMA’s first Favorite Bluegrass Songwriter award. Mark has recorded two CDs of his originals: Pages and The Mark Kreitzer Band. Anthony Ihrig (banjo, dobro, guitar, vocals), a former rock and roll drummer, has spent the last ten years making a name for himself in the Upper Midwest’s booming acoustic music scene. In 2006, he cofounded The High 48s, one of the premier traditional bluegrass bands in the region and winners of the prestigious RockyGrass Bluegrass Band Competition in Lyons, Colorado. Chuck Kreitzer’s (bass, vocals) brother Mark led him and his classically trained bass astray, and Chuck joined Mark first in the Middle Spunk Creek Boys, and now in the Mark Kreitzer Band. Chuck played for a number of years with the St. Paul Civic Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony, and the Metropolitan Orchestra, and has been teaching strings (violin, cello, bass, and viola) in Hopkins public schools for 30 years. May 2015

“Doctor Tom” Schaefer (fiddle) started medical school in 1975, and, not having enough to do, started learning to fiddle, quickly becoming the South Dakota State Fiddle Champion and North Dakota State Fiddle Champion. He often sits in with other local groups, including seven at the 2012 MBOTMA Winter Bluegrass Weekend, possibly setting a festival record! Tom’s fiddling has been recorded on more than 60 CD’s, and he has performed with many notable performers, including Country Music Hall of Famers Hank Thompson and Jethro Burns, Grammy winners Riders in the Sky and Clay Hess, Texas Playboy alumni Tiny Moore and Eldon Shamblin, and Bluegrass Boy alumnus Bob Black.

May 2015

No Man’s String Band

Influenced by the classics and inspired by the modern, the No Man’s String Band play their own concoction of a familiar sound. In 2013 the band released their debut album, Let The Truth Be Told, which has enjoyed regular airplay on 88.5 FM Bluegrass Saturday Morning, and highlights the musical breadth of these young musicians through hard driving songs, inspirational stories, and inventive instrumentals. In 2014 the band was awarded “First Runner Up” in the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Time Music Association Race For A Place band contest.

Pickin up Steam plays high-energy bluegrass with blazing solos, crisp harmonies, and thoughtful, unique arrangements. Each artist brings to the group a wide variety of influences, including rock, jazz, blues, folk, country and traditional bluegrass. The group also places great emphasis on the vocal aspect of its performance singing in wellblended three-part harmony. Pickin’ up Steam is Barry St. Mane (banjo), Lincoln Potter (guitar, harmonica and vocals), Pete Brooks (bass and vocals), and Dale Martell (mandolin, guitar and vocals).

Platte Valley Boys have existed in many forms over their 40 years since forming in 1975 in Jim Stebbins' home in Bloomington, Minnesota. Jim, Ron Colby, Jerry Lee, and Howard Pine were the original band. Over the years, many of the area’s finest musicians have been Platte 13

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

The Moss Piglets have a unique, high-energy, modern take on old-time/ bluegrass, along with hints of blues, rock, country, and reggae, featuring creative original music and tasty cover tunes. The band typically uses the retro style single mic technique with purely acoustic instruments. This arrangement provides an honest sound and dynamic stage show, from house party to stadium. The Moss Piglets are Ian Gamble on banjo and guitar, Brin Peterson on mandolin, John Barcay on melodica, hurdy gurdy and saw, John Goolsby on guitar, and George Payne on bass. As of March 2015, the Piglets are in the final mixing stages of their fourth disc. The project is being recorded at Arcata studios with Ric Lee. There will be 16.5 songs in the project, including both rootsy “live in the studio” recordings, as well as unabashed ‘use the studio as an instrument’ songs that will cement the Piglets’ status in the MBOTMA “related” category. Watch for the CD sometime this summer, available at www.mosspiglets.com.

Mother Banjo, features Ellen Stanley, a New England-raised, Minneapolisbased songwriter on banjo and vocals. Called “an outstanding poet” (Inside Bluegrass), she was a Midwest Finalist for the prestigious Mountain Stage New Song Contest and has been featured nationally on SiriusXM Radio and CMT. com. Her latest album, The Devil Hasn’t Won, is an Americana gospel collection recorded with her all-star 5-piece band and produced by Steve Kaul (The Brass Kings). Hailed for its “finely wrought, earthy arrangements” (City Pages), it was released with a sold-out show at the Dakota Jazz Club. Returning by popular demand to the Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff, the Mother Banjo Band is known for its grassy groove, soulful vocals and engaging live performances. Contact: 612-281-1364.

Comprised of guitar player Justin Rosckes, accordionist Melissa Hentges, mandolinist Nic Hentges, Lindsey Bordner on fiddle, and Pat Loftus on bass, the No Man's String Band hits the road hard to bring you the best of the American bluegrass tradition. (See review, p. 8)

Valley Boys and Girls; they could fill a Who’s Who of Minnesota Bluegrass. In 2007, The Platte Valley Boys were the first Bluegrass Band inducted into the Minnesota Rock & Country Music Hall of Fame. The tradition continues with hard driving instrumentation and tight harmony vocals and, what some have called, “bluegrass soul.” Today, the band includes Ron Colby (banjo), Scott Stebbins (mandolin), Tony Andreason (guitar), Catie Jo Pidel (fiddle), and Ross Willits (bass). While Catie Jo is off to Europe following her career path (she’ll be back), the superb fiddler, Tom Schaefer, will be filling in with the boys, as he has done many times in the past.

Boyd’s originals have been winning songwriting awards (2012 Big Top Chautauqua and 2014 River Falls Roots & Bluegrass Upper Midwest Songwriter of the Year). Pushing Chain plays original songs, covers of classic artists like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Nina Simone, and some fresh new takes on old folk songs. The duo also features tight harmonies and keep performances fresh and exciting, even if you’ve seen them before.

night since 2005. They’ve shared the stage with Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Mike Seeger, Del McCoury, the Grascals, and Jim Kweskin & Geoff Muldaur. In 2011 the band was awarded the prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians; they won the title of “World’s Best Jug Band” twice, in 2010 & 2012 at the annual Battle of the Jug Bands; and, in 2012, won the Minnesota Duet Contest at the MN State Fair. The Roe Family Singers mix original music and contemporary takes on oldtime, traditional, and gospel tunes into one roiling and rollicking river of fresh yet familiar American music. Every performance raises a ruckus. www.roefamilysingers.com; facebook: roefamilysingers; pappyroe@yahoo.com

Pushing Chain isn’t afraid to invite others up to the stage. This has led to some great evenings featuring such friends as drummers J.T. Bates and Robin Anders, accordionist Radislav Lorkovic, mandolin player Chris Silver, and guitarists Jef Cerniak and Dean McGraw, along with many, many more. Find out more at www.pushingchain. com.

Sawtooth Brothers

The Purdy River Band

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

Formed in 2013, The Purdy River Band performs primarily original music in the traditional and contemporary style of bluegrass along with classic standards, instrumentals, and gospel. The members are Chuck Lahr from northeast Iowa, founding member of the group; Dave and Beth Anderson from southeast Minnesota; and Jon Anderson from the Minneapolis area. The members are diverse in their musical talents, bringing together many years of experience. A CD of Chuck’s originals was released in 2014 with a second CD of originals due for release in early summer 2015. Pushing Chain was formed in 2012 by Boyd Blomberg and Adam Moe who have been performing together since 1997. They play roots and Americana music, featuring Boyd on guitar and Adam on the fiddle. Their folky-tonk sound has been winning them fans throughout the Midwest, including an invitation to sing the National Anthem at the Twins/White Sox game, and 14

The Roe Family Singers are a goodtime, old-time Hillbilly band from the tiny community of Kirkwood Hollow, Minnesota. Led by wife and husband Kim Roe (Best Female Vocalist, City Pages/Village Voice) and Quillan Roe (Accident Clearinghouse), the band marries old-time sounds from barndances, fiddle pulls, and county fairs with the rock & roll passion of youth. Featuring banjo, autoharp, guitar, and Appalachian clogging, the band and family of fans have been regularly filling Minneapolis’ 331 Club every Monday

Dazzling audiences with precision picking and sharp harmonies developed over eight years of playing, performing, and growing up together as the Sawtooth Bluegrass Band, Clint, Ethan, Jesse, and Luke have created a strong musical rapport with one another, which is now channeled through their infectious original material under a new name, the Sawtooth Brothers. Their sound is rooted in traditional bluegrass instrumental and harmony work and is influenced by the modern acoustic sounds of Nickel Creek, the Punch Brothers, and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Further influence comes from the eclectic listening habits of the band members, which range from Frank Sinatra to Eric Church, and The Who to The 1975. During a live performance by the Sawtooth Brothers, audiences can expect creative original songs, hard driving bluegrass, classic country, gospel, and

May 2015

classic rock. Tying it all together is the band’s ability to put on a good show. The Sawtooth Brothers have gained a reputation as sincere and hardworking professionals. They’ve shared the stage with Garrison Keillor and Dr. Ralph Stanley, and are the winners of the 2008 MBOTMA Race for a Place. Guitarist Clint Birtzer is a three-time Minnesota Flatpicking Guitar Champion, as well as the 2015 SPBGMA Midwest Guitar Performer of the Year. He and Jesse Moravec also won the 2011 Minnesota Duet Championship. Fiddle player Luke Birtzer is winner of the 2010 Bluegrass Idol competition.

Singleton Street plays bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, and Americana music with tight harmonies, energetic arrangements, and a fun, friendly stage presence. They’ve been playing throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin for over a decade. Singleton Street includes Sherri Leyda on guitar and lead vocals, Jimmy Newkirk on bass and vocals, and Chuck Leyda on mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar and vocals. A typical Singleton Street performance might include some gospel and few murder ballads, some songs of love and some highway of regret, a little Saturday night and a little Sunday morning but always a good time had by all! www.singletonstreet.com.

May 2015

Timbre Junction has been together for about 12 years and consists of Mike Regouski on banjo, guitar and Dobro, Stan Chew on guitar, mandolin and vocals, Amy Ferman on fiddle, mandolin and vocals, and Karen Radford on upright bass and vocals. Although the instrumentation is bluegrass, they mix it up with a variety of bluegrass, old time, classic country, and folk tunes. Mike is a self-taught Scrugg’s-style banjo player and he gives the group its definitive bluegrass sound. He also

enjoys working up many of the instrumental arrangements for the group. Amy has been playing music for nearly 30 years and in addition to fiddle, she plays banjo, guitar and bass. She has played in various bluegrass and country bands over the years. Stan is originally from Maryland and his relaxed and fun approach to making music reflects Timbre Junction's style. His contributions range from bluegrass to folk, blues and western swing. Karen played the bass in elementary through senior high school and thought she’d never play again after graduation. What a surprise when her uncle called her about an opportunity to play in a band about 15 years ago and she accepted! Even though Karen’s bass holds the beat of the music, she really enjoys singing. The variety of music the group plays allows her to try on many different vocal styles from country crooning to driving bluegrass to the cowboy yodel. Timbre Junction’s enthusiasm for making music lets the audience feel the energy in each song. See the Main Stage lineup on page 16. And check back with minnesotabluegrass.org for updates to the schedule.

Congratulations to The Platte Valley Boys who celebrate 40 years as a band in 2015! The original members of PVB (l-r): Jerry Lee, Ron Colby, Jim Stebbins, and Howard Pine. Photo: Scott Stebbins (aged 12; 1975) 15

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

The Split-Shot Sinkers play roots, bluegrass, old-time and original music in the Twin Cities. Influenced by eclectic

artists ranging from The Grateful Dead to Pink Floyd to Doc Watson, the Split-Shot Sinkers inject an enjoyable, laid-back groove into traditional music. Members include two-thirds of the legendary power trio TresMoto: Bob Doe (guitar) and Chris Boone (mandolin). This latest project introduces Leif Sjostrom on bass. www.splitshotsinkers.com.

2015 Kickoff Tentative Entertainment Schedule MAIN STAGE FRIDAY MC: 6:10 Roe Family Singers 7:00 Pushing Chain 7:50 Long Shots MC: 8:40 Moss Piglets 9:30 Split-‐Shot Sinkers 10:20 Roe Family Singers SATURDAY MC: 12:20 No Grass Limit 1:10 Mother Banjo 2:00 Timbre Junction MC: 2:50 Bob & Lynn Dixon 3:40 Singleton Street 4:30 Sawtooth Brothers MC: 6:10 No Man’s Stringband 7:00 Pickin’ Up Steam 7:50 Froemming Family 8:30 Volunteer Prize Drawings MC: 8:40 Platte Valley Boys 9:30 No Grass Limit 10:20 Mark Kreitzer Band SUNDAY MC: 10:50 Sawtooth Brothers 11:40 Purdy River Band 12:30 Curtis & Loretta MC: 1:20 Crooked Grass 2:10 Blue Groove 3:00 Froemming Family

For More Information:

RANCH HOUSE LIVE FRIDAY Open Mic: 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, & 11:30

SATURDAY 2:15-‐4:30 PM Ukulele Open Mic with Emily and Doug Wright. Open Mic: 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, & 11:30

WORKSHOP TENT

SATURDAY 11:00 Songwriters Round Robin 1:00 Flatpicking Guitar with Sophie Galep & Carl Sones 2:00 Mandolin Tips with Nic Hentges & Justin Rosckes 3:00 Fiddle w/Tom Schaefer 4:00 Banjo with Mark Kreitzer 5:00 Guitar Up The Neck with Lew Tousignant

GATHERING PLACE

FRIDAY 6:00 Jam With The Band with The Eelpout Stringers 7:30 Bluegrass & Yellow Book Uke Jam

SATURDAY 9:00 Old-‐Time Uke “Learn & Play” Jam 11:00 Beginner’s Slow Jam with Bill Cagley 1:00 Jam With The Band with DL Cajun Band 2:00 Jam With The Band with The Platte Valley Boys 3:00 Intermediate Level Slow Jam with Bill Cagley 5:00 Yellow & Blue Book Ukulele Jam

GREAT MN UKE GATHERING FRIDAY 7:30-‐9:00 PM (Gathering Place) Bluegrass & Yellow Book Uke Jam with Tony Anthonisen. For all skill levels with help for beginners. SATURDAY 9:00-‐10:30 AM (Gathering Place) Old-‐Time Uke “Learn & Play” with Peter Albrecht. For all skill levels with help for beginners. 11:00-‐12:00 PM (Uke Tent). Playing Unique Parts In A Tune with Emily Wright. For advanced and beginner+. 1:00-‐2:00 PM (Uke Tent). Western Swing Uke Workshop with Brian Barnes. For advanced and beginner+. 2:15-‐4:30 PM (Ranch House). Ukulele Open Mic with Emily and Doug Wright. For all skill levels. 2:15-‐3:15 (Uke Tent). TBA. For all skill levels. 3:30-‐4:30 PM (Uke Tent). Making A Uke Song Your Own with David Reminger (Ukester brown). For all skill levels. 5:00-‐6:30 PM (Gathering Place). Yellow & Blue Book Ukulele Jam with Brian Knilans. For all skill levels with help for beginners.

SUNDAY 9:30 Non-‐Denominational Service with Jack Trosen

www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org

info@minnesotabluegrass.org

800-635-3037

Brand New Strings: At Southeast Technical’s Student Guitar Show, newly-built instruments will be played, displayed By Katryn Conlin

May 2015

SETech luthierie student Justin Ness preps his OM-style guitar for the upcoming show. Photo: Katryn Conlin

“We always have an amazing range of instruments,” says guitar program instructor David Vincent. “The work the students do is very high quality. People who love guitars and any stringed instrument will enjoy seeing the new instruments on display and hearing them played for the first time on stage by professional musicians.” Justin Ness is a first year student in the program. He built a Larson-braced OM-style guitar with Sitka spruce top, Honduras mahogany back and sides, and ebony fingerboard. Adding to the challenge, he crafted a slotted headstock, a traditional pyramid-style bridge, and inlaid the fingerboard with a traditional diamonds and dots pattern. He also took the electric guitar course and built a bass. “Before coming here, I had built cigar box guitars that could be tuned, but nothing like the guitars I am working on at Southeast Technical. My grandfather was a carpenter so I spent my childhood in his workshop; I had done

woodworking but never to this extent,” Justin relates. “I thought I knew the basics of setting up a guitar since I had always worked on my own equipment, but I have found out so much more here. I feel confident that I can do a task in a professional way now.” Justin says he is really looking forward to the Student Guitar Show. “We all went through the guitar build together and helped each other out along the way. It will be extremely rewarding to hear all of the instruments played and to finally play everyone else’s guitars. It’s like going guitar shopping but nothing’s for sale!” The Student Guitar Show is on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical, 308 Pioneer Road, Red Wing, Minnesota. Admission is free and the public is welcome to attend.

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

Talk about brand-new old-time! Michael Opp, a student in the second-year guitar program at Minnesota State College – Southeast Technical, is at work building an acoustic hurdy-gurdy and getting it ready to play at this year’s Student Guitar Show. The Student Guitar Show takes place on Tuesday, May 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., on the college’s Red Wing campus. Almost 80 new musical instruments will be exhibited and played in concert by Bill Cagley, Sarah Cagley, Mike Cramer, and Phil Heywood. In the case of Michael Opp’s hurdygurdy, he’ll have to play it himself. After all, he’s one of the few hurdy-gurdy virtuosos in the region. The medieval French instrument contains a rosined wheel that scrapes against interior strings when cranked. The player turns the crank with the right hand while pressing keys with the left. Because there are drone strings, the resulting sound is something like a cross between a fiddle and a bagpipe. Despite the hurdy-gurdy’s medieval origin, you might find Michael playing common tunes like “St. Anne’s Reel” and “Red Haired Boy” in bluegrass jam sessions on campus. Somehow he makes it fit in among the sounds of mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo played by students, faculty and staff in lunchtime jams held most Thursdays. Of course the hurdy-gurdy is an exception at the Student Guitar Show. Most of the instruments on display will be guitars. Every student in the first year program builds a flat-top guitar and has the option to build an electric guitar. Second year students build at least at least one archtop guitar or mandolin, and design and build a project instrument of their choice. Violin repair program students have the option to build a violin.

The fiddlers are coming! to Bluff Country

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

By Bob Bovee

For one weekend every year since 1999, Lanesboro, Minnesota has become the Midwest’s epicenter of old-time fiddle music. The 17th Annual Bluff Country Gathering, a celebration of American traditional music and dance, will be held May 14–17, 2015. And it’s not just fiddlers, but guitarists, banjo pickers, mandolin players, singers, clog dancers and square dance callers who assemble for two days of workshops, concerts, and a big barn dance. For many old-time musicians across the country, as well as for local residents who enjoy the music and dance, this has become a not-to-bemissed event. Friday and Saturday daytime hours are filled with instructional workshops and showcase sessions that are for registered students only. The sessions include such tantalizing titles as Singing with the Banjo, Mandomazing (an advanced mandolin class), Missouri Valley Fiddle, Banjo Tunes of Western North Carolina, Fingerstyle Guitar, and Fiddling with Drive and Funkiness. There are workshop levels from beginning to advanced and showcases where the fiddle and banjo players on staff get to display some of their favorite tunes. Full registration for students is $225 and includes workshops, the concert and dance, a special Thursday evening staff concert, and lunches. The Thursday show gives students a chance to hear all the workshop instructors and get an idea what sessions they might like to attend. Although the workshops are only open to registered students, anyone can come and enjoy the great music and dancing at the two public events. The Concert is Friday, May 15, at the Lanesboro Community Center at 8 p.m. Admission is $12 for an exciting evening of music by Roger Cooper and Scott Miller, Sheila Kay Adams, Dwight Lamb and Kim Lansford, Joseph Decosimo and Gail Gillespie, and Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones. Saturday, May 16, is the Barn Dance, also at the Community Center at 8 p.m. Admission for the dance is $8 and 18

music is provided by the same musicians as the concert with Twin Cities’ favorite Pop Wagner calling the figures. A seventh-generation ballad singer, storyteller, and claw-hammer banjo player, Sheila Kay Adams was born and raised in the Sodom Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina. In 2013 she received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Roger Cooper is one of only a handful of Lewis County, Kentucky fiddlers of his generation to grow up performing the region’s distinctive style of local fiddling, learned from many notable Kentucky fiddlers, including Buddy Thomas. He is also a master artist teaching through the Kentucky Arts Councils’ Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. Scott Miller, also from Kentucky, will be playing backup guitar and fiddle. Raised in southeast Tennessee, Joseph Decosimo is a traditional musician and folklorist with a deep respect and love for the older music of the South. In 2007, he won the National OldTime Banjo Championship at Uncle Dave Macon Days, and his fiddling has earned him blue ribbons at prestigious contests including the Appalachian Stringband Festival (Clifftop) and the Tennessee Valley Fiddlers Convention in Athens, Alabama. Gail Gillespie, a master of older, local styles of finger-picking banjo and an exceptional guitar accompanist will be performing with Decosimo.

Dwight Lamb of Onawa, Iowa is returning for his third time as a master at the Bluff Country Gathering. Dwight’s grandfather, Chris Jerup, played traditional Danish melodies and Americanstyle fiddle tunes on a single-row button accordion and his father, Clarence Lamb, played the fiddle. Dwight has mastered both of these instruments. Accompanying Lamb will be Kim Lansford, the favorite back-up guitarist of many an old-time fiddler and a compelling traditional singer. Erynn Marshall and Carl Jones of Galax, Virginia are old-time musicians and inspired tunesmiths whose Southern song-duets and soaring fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and banjo tunes comprise their diverse concert sets. Erynn’s awards include a prestigious first place in fiddle at the Appalachian Stringband Festival (Clifftop) in West Virginia. Well-known Twin City musician Pop Wagner is also a nationally recognized square dance caller focusing on the traditional style square and big circle dances. For more information on the Bluff Country Gathering, contact Bob Bovee, bobngail@springgrove.coop, or check www.boveeheil.com.

May 2015

Bluegrass Saturday Morning By Phil Nusbaum

The Fund Drive Thanks to the musicians who participated in the most recent KBEM fund drive, featured on Bluegrass Saturday Morning on March 21 and 28. They must have had the attention of listeners because very few phone calls came in during live performance segments, but the phones started ringing right after! Steve Howard came over on March 21 to join me in a duet. Then Marty Marrone and Eric Christopher of the High 48s, on their way to a show in Minneapolis, came by that same day to play and sing some hard driving bluegrass. On the 28th, Adam Kiesling came over with his fretless banjo with the 12-inch rim, followed by Kim and Quillan Roe of the Roe Family Singers. Kim and Quillan were en route to a performance later in the day at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul. The first week of the fund drive on the show yielded about 55 pledges for over $6,000 and the second Saturday attracted about 65 pledges for over $5,000. The total donations raised for the two Saturdays were over $12,000. On-air fund-raising totals are lower than, say, ten years ago, but KBEM-FM has been successfully asking for renewals via email and direct mail. Though any pledge is accepted during on-air fund drives, these efforts are targeted toward new members to the station. So, all in all, it was a good showing for the program. We have a crew of dedicated volunteers who answer the phones. Some of the folks have been doing it for years. Every task has ins and outs, and they certainly know the ins and outs of KBEM fund raising. Hats off to them!

Business Support

Bluegrass Review supporters • Cooperstands instrument stands, www.cooperstand.com • Hoffman Guitars www.hoffmanguitars.com (hand crafted Hoffman guitars, authorized Martin repairs) • John Waddle Violins www.waddleviolins.com (dealer of international & domestic, new & old violins, bows, cases) • Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association www.minnesotabluegrass.org (membership organization supporting bluegrass experiences)

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 Minneapolis

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

To promote your business locally, statewide, or nationally through the Bluegrass Review, contact Phil Nusbaum: 651-2451527, pnusbaum@bitstream.net. For promotion through Bluegrass Saturday Morning, your contact is Kevin Barnes: 612-668-1735, kbar264@aol.com.

KUMD-FM, 103.3 Duluth

Saturday

4 PM

KRWC-AM, 1360 Buffalo

Sunday

5 PM

And . . . back to programming

KOJB-FM, 90.1 Cass Lake

Sunday

6 PM

I’m oh-so-grateful to those who choose to support our kind of community radio. But the great thing about fund raising is that it ends and then it is back to normal. On the Bluegrass Review, we’ll be investigating connections between Scandinavian folk music and old-time music and bluegrass. Those segments will be mixed in with all the others as the programs progress. As ever, thanks for listening to both Bluegrass Saturday Morning and the Bluegrass Review. This bluegrass outpost is really quite a story. KBEM-FM delivers five hours of bluegrass every week, much more than the typical station that carries bluegrass programming. I am proud to be part of it.

KSCR-FM, 93.5 Benson

Sunday

6 AM

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) May 2015

Catie Jo Fest!

Your last chance to hear Catie Jo Pidel “MBOTMA’s Favorite Fiddler” in 2015!

607 W Lake St Minneapolis MN 612.827.1726

May FRI 8 –

Tommy Bentz Band

SAT 9 – Parisota Hot Club FRI 15 –

Blue Groove (New bluegrass band!)

SAT 16 –

Sundae & Mr. Goessl (Jazz duo from Seattle)

FRI 22 –

Daddy Squeeze Band

FRI 29 –

The Barley Jacks w/ Brian Wicklund

FRI 12 –

Becky Schlegel

June

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

SAT 13 – Bill Giese & The Pedestrians FRI 19 –

Pat Donohue & Dan Newton

SAT 20 –

Chris Silver & The Good Intentions

FRI 26 –

Mississippi Hot Club

SAT 27 –

Jon Garon & Assisted Picking

Music starts at 8pm Find updates on Facebook

www.dulonospizza.com 20

Sat. May 2, 7:00pm

At SteppingStone Theatre 55 Victoria St. Saint Paul

Three Great Bands!

Jumpin’ Jo & The Catie Cats, Switched at Birth AND

The Platte Valley Boys

Produced by The Platte Valley Boys

Sponsored in part by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association (MBOTMA)

Tickets $10 in advance/ $12 at door www.rdwillits.com | 612-964-7892 May 2015

8th Annual Northwoods Bluegrass Festival June 12 & 13, 2015 Join us at the Rusk County Fairgrounds in Ladysmith WI

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE*

Friday, June 12, 2015 6 pm - 10 pm

Saturday, June 13, 2015 9 am - 9 pm Ticket Prices: Advance Sales: Fri. & Sat. $20.00 Gate Prices: Fri. only $10.00 * Sat. only $15.00 Age 15 & under FREE with paid adult admission     

Bluegrass Instrument Workshops Sat. Open mic on Saturday Rusk County Historical Society events and Dairy Breakfast on Saturday This is a family friendly, no alcohol event Camping on the fairgrounds Fri. & Sat.

Band Lineup includes:

Art Stevenson & High Water The WoodPicks Roller Mills String Band Porcupine Creek The Fish Heads Northern Crossroads Blue Wolf www.northwoodsbluegrassfestival.com

Presented by the Greater Ladysmith Area Chamber of Commerce & Rusk County Tourism.

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

For more information call 715-532-7328. Email: manager@ladysmithchamber.com or www.ladysmithchamber.com.

May 2015

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

May 2015

Four Time IBMA Event Of The Year Nominee!

August 6th-9th, 2015 - El Rancho Mañana

Richmond MN, 30 Minutes W of St Cloud (I-94 Exit #153 at Avon, 9 mi S on County 9)

A HOT RIZE REUNION featuring RED KNUCKLES & THE TRAILBLAZERS and IBMA’s Entertainers Of The Year and Vocal Group Of The Year BALSAM RANGE plus Red Molly, Eddie & Martha Adcock with Tom Gray, The Jumpsteady Boys, Bucking Mules, The Bootlickers, Wild Goose Chase Cloggers, New Riverside Ramblers, Fish Heads, Bernie King & The Guilty Pleasures, High 48s, The Good Intentions, Borderstone, Ivory Bridge, Porcupine Creek Beautiful Main Stage  Shaded Seating Area  35 Hours of Concerts  Nightly Dances  Instrument Showcases Children’s Activities  Over 20 Workshops  Plenty of Campground Jam Sessions  30 Merchant & Food Booths Campground with Showers & Beach  Shuttle Transportation  A Welcome & Safe Environment  Kids Are Free!

Come for the Day – Camp for the Weekend – Call for Brochure Thu-Sun Camping Package (per person) Admission Thu thru Sun plus unimproved camping Thu, Fri, & Sat nights, $95 Gate, $85 Adv, $75 Member Adv

Single Day Tickets (per person) Admission one day, no camping, $20 Thu or Sun Gate, $30 Fri or Sat Gate, $25 Adv (any day) $20 Member Adv (any day)

800-635-3037

www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org

Presented by the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association 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.

August 27-30, 2015

ual n n A 10th

Pine River, MN Cass County Fairgrounds Featuring the Best in National & Regional Bluegrass Bands! Plus camping, jamming, workshops, food & more! Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper

Celebrating 10 Year s! Becky Buller

Festival Schedule Gates Open Tues., 3pm

Wed. Night Old Time Dance

Main Stage Thu. 5 - 11pm Fri. & Sat. 11am - 11pm Sun. 10am - 2pm

9 Time IBMA Fiddler of the Year! Winner of 2 IBMA Awards in ‘14! Nominated for IBMA Songwriter of the Year ‘14!

Workshops Fri. & Sat. 10am -5pm Ticket Information & Purchase Available Online

g: layin P o s Al Shaffers Lost 40 The Berge Family Porcupine Creek No Grass Limit Sarah Mae & the Birkeland Boys

Special Consensus

Nightflyer The Sawtooth Brothers

The Platte Valley Boys Tommy Brown & County Line Grass The Lonesome Tradition

800-728-6926 Lakesbluegrassfestival@gmail.com

www.LakesBluegrassFestival.com

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.

Presented by MBOTMA

Supported by MBOTMA

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. Advance tickets: $52 for the weekend including camping ($42 for members) or $20 daily ($15 member). Gate price: $60 for the weekend, including camping; $20 Friday; $25 Saturday; and $10 Sunday. Teens are $5 and kids are free. 800-635-3037 or www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org.

Catie Jo Fest, Saturday, May 2, 2015, 7 p.m., Stepping Stone Theater, 55 Victoria St. N., Saint Paul. A concert celebration for Catie Jo Pidel as she leaves for Europe for a year, featuring The Platte Valley Boys, Switched At Birth, and Jumpin’ Jo & The Catie Cats. Admission $10 advance/$12 door. For more information 612-964-7892 or www.rdwillits.com. Produced by The Platte Valley Boys and supported in part by MBOTMA.

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. 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. $20 to $30 daily at the gate or $85 for all four days in advance including camping ($79 before March 1). Additional discounts for MBOTMA members. For information or tickets call 800-6353037 or visit www.MinnesotaBluegrass.org.

RecFest Bluegrass Festival, July 23–26, 2015, Recreation Park, 2nd St. NW, Milaca, MN. The 6th annual festival, with Shaffer’s Lost 40, The Long Shots, Pride Of The Prairie, Barton’s Hollow, Biscuit Boys, Northern Lights, Mathison Family Fiddlers, Sarah Mae & The Birkeland Boys, and The Halvorson Family. Admission $25 weekend + $30 per camping unit. 320-237-2657 or www.milacarecfest.com. Produced by Milaca Parks & Rec and supported in part by MBOTMA. Caponi Art Park Bluegrass Festival, Sunday, September 13, 2015, 12–6 p.m., Theater In The Woods, Caponi Art Park, 1220 Diffley Rd., Eagan, MN. A community celebration featuring music, clogging, children’s activities, and food trucks in a beautiful outdoor venue. Adults $20; Age 6-12 $5; Under 5 free. For more information: 651-454-9412, www.caponiartpark. org. Produced by the Caponi Art Park & Learning Center and supported in part by MBOTMA.

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

Harvest Jam Acoustic Music Experience, November 20–22, 2015, Marriott Minneapolis West Hotel, 9960 Wayzata Blvd, St. Louis Park. 10th annual event will feature stage shows Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. The Race For A Place Band Contest on Saturday, the Saturday Banquet Dinner, Kip’s Live Open Mic in Kip’s Irish Pub throughout the weekend, workshops, musical exhibitors, Sunday morning gospel show, and lots of jam sessions. 800-635-3037 or www. MinnesotaBluegrass.org. Lodging: Marriott, 952-544-4400, ask for the special Minnesota Bluegrass rate.

Scott County Fair Bluegrass Festival, Sunday, July 26, 2015, 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m., Scott County Fairgrounds, 7151 190th St. W., Jordan, MN. Church service with music by Mary Lou & The Rusty Strings at 10:30 a.m. followed by The High 48s, Blue Drifters Duet, and The Roe Family Singers. Admission $10 for parking. For more information 952-492-2436 or www. scottcountyfair.com. Supported in part by MBOTMA.

May 2015

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

SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS May 8 The High 48s, 3rd Annual Americana Music Concert, University of St Thomas, O’Shaughnessy Education Center Auditorium, 2115 Summit Ave, St Paul, featuring Robbie Fulks and Don Stiernberg, 7pm (See page 23)

May 1—Friday

May 2015

June 7

Greenwood Tree, Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival, Washington County Fairgrounds, Lake Elmo, 10am http://shepherdsharvestfestival.org/

The Fish Heads, Beaner’s Central, 324 N Central Ave, Duluth, 218-624-5957, Pete Fest, multiple bands, great food, great folks and you get to meet PETE! www.bigfishtunes.com, 5pm

• Prairiegrass, Blackwater Cafe, Maple Plain, MN, 7pm • Sweet Rhubarb, UMC, 7pm

• Curtis & Loretta, Paris-Belle Concert, Williamsville, IL • Mary Chapin Carpenter, State Theatre, 805 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, 800-982-2787, 7:30pm • Mother Banjo, HON, 6pm • Pushing Chain, Lutsen Resort, 5700 W. Hwy 61, Lutsen, MN, 218-663-7212, 7pm

May 2—Saturday

• Alternate Route, Black Sheep Coffee Cafe, 705 Southview Blvd., South St. Paul, MN, 651-554-0155, 10am • The Barley Jacks, The Station Pub, White Bear Lake, MN, 9pm • Cheryl Wheeler, CED, 8pm

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

• Cheryl Wheeler, BoDD, 7:30pm • Dick Kimmel and Jerilyn Kjellberg, GKb, 8pm • The Barley Jacks, Junior’s Bar and Restaurant, River Falls, WI, 8pm • The Flemming Fold, Evening of Bluegrass/Gospel Music, Dassel-Cokato Performing Arts Center, 4852 Reardon Ave SW, Cokato, 320-286-4120, Multiple bands, 7pm

May 16

May 2—Saturday • Sawtooth Brothers, Ashland Folk Festival, Northland College, 1411 Ellis Ave S, Ashland, WI, 5pm • Timbre Junction, UMC, 7pm

May 3—Sunday

May 13—Wednesday

• Monroe Crossing, Bluegrass and BBQ, Branson, MO

• Monroe Crossing, Bluegrass Mass, North Harford High School, Pylesville, MD, 4pm

May 14—Thursday

• Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm

May 15—Friday

May 4—Monday May 5—Tuesday

• Bob Bovee, Maplewood Library, Maplewood, MN, 7pm

May 6—Wednesday

• Pushing Chain, Bent Paddle Brewing, 1912 W Michigan St, Duluth, MN, (218) 279-2722, 6pm

May 7—Thursday

• Curtis & Loretta, Robert Trail Library, 14395 S Robert Trail, Rosemount, 651-480-1200, 11am and 1pm • Pert Near Sandstone, Reggies, Chicago • Swamp Poppas, EAG, 7:30pm

May 8—Friday

• The Gated Community w/ Church of Cash, Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave S, Minneapolis, 612-276-6523, 9th anniversary and CD release $6 advance; $8 door, facebook.com/thegatedcommunityband, 11pm • The High 48s, 3rd Annual Americana Music Concert, University of St Thomas, O’Shaughnessy Education Center Auditorium, 2115 Summit Ave, St Paul, featuring Robbie Fulks and Don Stiernberg, 7pm (See page 23) • No Man’s String Band, 318 Cafe, 318 Water St, Excelsior, MN, $10, Reservations recommended, 612-3870196, 8pm • Pert Near Sandstone, Madison Live, Covington, KY, 8pm • Pushing Chain, Lutsen Resort, 5700 W. Hwy 61, Lutsen, MN, 218-663-7212 • Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, APHC, Nashville, TN, 4:45pm MinnesotaBluegrass.org

• Pickin’ up Steam, Neumanns Bar & Grill, 2531 E 7th Ave, North St. Paul, 7pm

May 11—Monday

• New Riverside Ramblers, EAG, 7:30pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm

May 12—Tuesday

• Monroe Crossing, Bluegrass and BBQ, Branson, MO

• Celtic Music Showcase with Paul Garding, UMC, 7pm • Southside Aces, EAG, 8pm • Dan Preston and Deanna Paulzine, BoDD, 7:30pm • Blue Groove, DUL, 8pm

May 16—Saturday

• Brooks Williams, CrH, 7pm • Greenwood Tree, Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival, Washington County Fairgrounds, Lake Elmo, 10am • The Flemming Fold, Central Square Cultural and Civic Center, 105 2nd Ave NE, Glenwood, MN, 7:30pm • Pushing Chain, Excelsior Brewing, 421 3rd St, Excelsior, MN, 952-474-7837, 8pm • Contra Dance with Pat O’Loughlin & Friends, TAP, 7:30pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 2pm

May 17—Sunday

• Brooks Williams Workshop, CrH • Monroe Crossing, House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St Paul, MN, 2pm • The Flemming Fold, St. Peter Lutheran Church, 3030 Navajo Ave, Watertown, MN, Outdoor German heritage festival • Pushing Chain, Excelsior Brewing, 421 3rd St, Excelsior, MN 55331, (952) 474-7837, 8pm • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am

May 18—Monday

• Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm

May 19—Tuesday

• Roots Music Showcase with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm

May 20—Wednesday

• Country Music Showcase with Bill Travers and Laura Moe, UMC, 7pm

May 21—Thursday

• Pickin’ up Steam, Bristol Ridge Golf Course, 1978 County Road C, Somerset, WI, 7:30pm • Roe Family Singers, Rosemount Community Center, 13885 S Robert

Trail, Rosemount, MN, $7 at the door or at www.rosemountarts.com, 7pm • Roots Music Showcase with Bill Cagley, UMC, 7pm • Mr. Rowles, EAG, 8pm

May 22—Friday

• Daddy Squeeze Dan Newton w/ Mark Kreitzer, DUL, 8pm

May 23—Saturday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Willisau 16th Spring Bluegrass Festival, Willisau, Switzerland • Patty and The Buttons featuring Connie Evingson, AST, 9pm • Contra Dance with Greenwood Tree & Judith Eisner, TAP, 7:30pm • Jug Band Battle, AGr, 7pm

May 24—Sunday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Toogenblik, Brussels, Belgium • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am • Jug Band Battle, AGr, 7pm • Bob Bovee, Harkin Store Historical Site, New Ulm, MN, 1pm

May 25—Monday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Big Bear Festival, Zuidlaren, Holland • Curtis & Loretta, Salo Park Amphitheater, 39th Ave NE, St Anthony Village, 7pm • Roe Family Singers, 331C, 9pm

May 26—Tuesday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Prague, Czech Republic • Bluegrass Showcase with Sarah Cagley, UMC, 7pm • Pickin’ up Steam, Neumanns Bar & Grill, 2531 E 7th Ave, N St. Paul, 7pm • The Fish Heads, Lighthouse at Emily’s, 218 Scenic Dr, Knife River, MN. No cover, just great music and ambiance on the Knife River, www.bigfishtunes. com, 6pm

May 27—Wednesday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Partycentrum, Wadway, Holland

May 2015

May 28—Thursday

June 4—Thursday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Het Blauwe Huis, Harpel, Holland • Rockin’ Pinecones, EAG, 7:30pm

• Claudia Schmidt’s Birthday Bash with Dean Magraw, GINK • Mark Kreitzer, International Fiddle Camp, International Peace Garden, 10834 Peace Garden Drive, ND • Pushing Chain, ROCK, 7:30pm • Swamp Poppas, EAG, 7:30pm

May 29—Friday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Copenhagen, Denmark • The Barley Jacks, DUL, 8pm • Chris Silver and The Good Intentions, Junior’s Bar, River Falls, WI, 8pm • Minnesota Homegrown Kickoff Music Festival, El Rancho Mañana, Richmond, Presented by MBOTMA, May 29–31. See full schedule starting on page 10. • Monroe Crossing, Great River Arts Center, Little Falls, MN, 7:30pm

May 30—Saturday

• The Skally Line, GKb • Joe & Vicki Price, Falconer Vineyards, 3572 Old Tyler Rd, Red Wing, 651-3888849, 6pm

May 31—Sunday

• Alan Munde Trio (with Dick Kimmel & Adam Granger), Combined Masters of Bluegrass concert with Mark Johnson and Emory Lester, Liestal, Switzerland • The Flemming Fold, Glewwe’s Castle Brewery, Prior Lake, MN, Open House/ Tasting Event • Monroe Crossing, Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, 9am, 10am & 11am • Pushing Chain, Icehouse, 2528 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN, 612-276-6523, 11am • Sawtooth Brothers, Flint Hills International Children’s Fest, Rice Park, St. Paul, MN, 3:15pm • Swing Brunch with Patty and the Buttons, AST, 11am • The Weepies w/ Kristina Train, FITZ, 7:30pm

June 2—Tuesday

June 3—Wednesday

• Monroe Crossing, Way Station Concerts, Unitarian Church of Lincoln, Lincoln NE

May 2015

• Mark Kreitzer, International Fiddle Camp, International Peace Garden, 10834 Peace Garden Drive, ND • Kris Delmhorst, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater, 10pm, Presented by CED • Monroe Crossing, Tallgrass Music Festival, Skiatook OK

June 6—Saturday

• Contra Dance with Pig’s Eye Landing, TAP, 7:30pm • Monroe Crossing, Tallgrass Music Festival, Skiatook OK

June 7—Sunday

• The Fish Heads, Beaner’s Central, 324 N Central Ave, Duluth, 218-624-5957, Pete Fest, multiple bands, great food, great folks and you get to meet PETE! www.bigfishtunes.com, 5pm • Summer Concert for Kids, featuring Bunny Clogs, Clementown, Roe Family Singers, CED, Benefit for Southside Family Nurturing Center, 11:30am

June 9—Tuesday

• Sawtooth Brothers, Centerville Music in Park, Hidden Spring Park, 1601 LaMotte Dr, Centerville, MN, 6:30pm

June 10—Wednesday

• Dick Kimmel & Jerilyn Kjellberg, Gaylord, MN, Music on Main, 5pm • Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, Spring Grove Park, Spring Grove, MN, 6pm

June 11—Thursday

• The Pine Hill Project: Lucy Kaplansky & Richard Shindell, CED, 7:30pm • Southside Aces, EAG, 8pm • Monroe Crossing, Northwoods Friends of the Arts Concerts, Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, 124 Fifth Street SE, Cook, MN

June 11–13

June 12—Friday

• Chris Silver Band, Day Block Brewery, 1105 S Washington Ave, Mpls, 9pm • Porcupine Creek, Northwoods Bluegrass Festival, Rusk County Fairgrounds, Ladysmith, WI, www. northwoodsbluegrassfestival.com, 7pm • The Barley Jacks, Heritage Square Park, Wabasha, MN, 7pm • The Gated Community w/Church of Cash, HB, $6 cover, 7pm

June 13—Saturday

• Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner, CrH, Creek House concert by reservation only, 7pm • Jon Vezner Songwriting Workshop, Schmitt Music Recital Hall, 2906 W 66th St, Edina, mnsongwriters.org, 1pm • The Barley Jacks, Somerset Amphitheater, Somerset, WI, 9pm • The Fish Heads, Northwoods Bluegrass Festival, Rusk County Fairgrounds, Ladysmith, WI, www.northwoodsbluegrassfestivall.com, 11am • The Good Intentions, Loring Park Music Festival, Loring Park, Mpls, 5:45pm • Pushing Chain, Great Northern Radio Show, Grand Marais, Venue & time for live show TBA, listen at KAXE & KBXE (Northern Community Radio): Grand Rapids at 91.7 FM, Bagley at 90.5 FM, Brainerd at 89.9 FM, and Ely at 103.9 FM • Contra Dance with Pat O’Loughlin & Friends, TAP, 7:30pm

June 14—Sunday

• Blue Groove, Excelsior Art on the Lake, Excelsior MN, 12pm, The ExcelsiorLake Minnetonka Chamber will host its 35th annual Art on the Lake on June 13 & 14. Free parking & shuttle from Mtka. High School, more info at excelsior-lakeminnetonkachamber.com/ art-on-the-lake

• Blue Ox Music Fest, Hosted by Pert Near Sandstone. 3 Days of music near Eau Claire, WI featuring: Yonder Mountain String Band, Del McCoury Band, Sam Bush Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Infamous Stringdusters, 31

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

• Monroe Crossing, Bluegrass Tuesdays, Warren County Courthouse Square, Indianola IA

June 5—Friday

Pokey LaFarge, Hackensaw Boys, and many more. Various ticket packages available from www.blueoxmusicfestival.com

Grass Clippings Bluegrass crowd-favorites Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road along with Grammy award-winning The Kentucky Headhunters have joined forces to record and release “Runnin’ Water,” a collaboration that can be found on the forthcoming Country Grass, which will be released by Pinecastle Records on June 9. The music video for “Runnin’ Water,” premiered exclusively on The Boot, and is available on iTunes. Radio can download the new single via AirplayDirect. “We had so much fun making this video, and I think it really shows,” says Lorraine Jordan. “This is just a sample of what's to come on this upcoming project.” The video was shot on location in Kentucky where The Kentucky Headhunters hit singles have been recorded. In addition to The Kentucky Headhunters, country music hit-makers T.G. Sheppard, Crystal Gayle, John Conlee, Lee Greenwood, Lynn Anderson, Eddy Raven, Jim Ed Brown, Kelly Lang and Jesse Keith Whitley all serve up a little classic country with a bluegrass twist. Learn more about Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road at www.carolinaroadband.com

In November, 2012, the International Bluegrass Music Museum embarked on the most exciting and challenging project in its 23-year history—to build a new International Bluegrass Music Center. The center will house an exciting new museum, as well as the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame, a 500-seat stateof-the-art concert hall, an international hall, teaching rooms, a research library, and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Ohio River. The City of Owensboro, Kentucky is providing a free 99-year lease to the museum for the riverfront property upon which the new center will be built, as well as contributing $3 million to the project. The property comprises a city block in the downtown area, and is adjacent to a convention center, hotels, and a waterfront park. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced in April that the state of Kentucky will provide an additional $5 million towards the center. Groundbreaking is scheduled for later this summer, with completion expected in 2017. “The board is very grateful to the state of Kentucky, in particular, the governor and elected representatives, for their tremendous support of our

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

New location! 4151 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis (612) 767-2800 podiumguitars@gmail.com

-Bourgeois -Breedlove -Carmel -Fairbanks -Goodall -Hoﬀman -Huss&Dalton -Hill

organization and the realization of bluegrass music as Kentucky’s gift to the world,” said Rosemary Conder, chair of the IBMC design committee. The $13.5 million project will allow the museum to house the world’s foremost collection of bluegrass artifacts, memorabilia, and music recordings in a safe environment for generations to come. For more information, contact Katie Keller, Marketing Director IBMM, Katie@bluegrassmuseum.org.

The 19th Annual Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival is

sponsoring a songwriting contest. Winners receive cash prizes and other amenities, including the opportunity to appear on stage during the August 6–9 Festival held in Hebron, Connecticut. The contest entry deadline is May 1, 2015. Rules plus an entry form can be found at www.podunkbluegrass.com.

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Premium Guitars, Ampliﬁers, and Repair 32

May 2015

Minnesota State College â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Southeast Technical

Student Guitar Show

Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 11 am to 1 pm 308 Pioneer Road, Red Wing, MN Admission: Free Almost 80 extraordinary new flattops, archtops, acoustic, electrics, mandolins, violins, ukeleles, a hurdy gurdy... and more! PLUS Raffle for a hand-made dreadnought guitar built by David Vincent. Raffle tickets only $5. Proceeds benefit the Roger Benedict Memorial Scholarship fund.

More info: www.southeastmn.edu redwingmusicrepair.org redwingguitar.blogspot.com

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

May 2015

ARMADILLO SOUND & DESIGN

Serving MBOTMA for over 25 years.

Complete production services, sound and lights. Custom speaker cabinets, road cases, amp racks.

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

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

May 2015

Concerts & Events Coming Up Sunday, April 26

3 pm

The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass with Minnesota Center Chorale Paramount Theatre, 913 West St. Germain

St. Cloud, MN

320-257-0603

Sunday, May 3

4 pm

The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass with Deer Creek Chorale North Harford High School Theater, 211 Pylesville Road

Pylesville, MD

n/a

Branson, MO

800-475-9370

Tuesday, May 12

Wed, May 13

10:15 am, 12:30 & 2:45 pm Bluegrass & BBQ Riverfront Playhouse, Silver Dollar City 10:15 am, 399 Indian Point Road 12:30 & 2:45 pm House of Hope Sunday Series House of Hope Presbyterian Church 797 Summit Avenue

St. Paul, MN

651-227-6311

Friday, May 29

7:30 pm

Great River Arts Association Concert Great River Arts Center 122 First Street SE

Little Falls , MN

320-632-0960

Sunday, May 31

9, 10, & 11am

Volunteer Sunday Mount Olivet Lutheran Church 5025 Knox Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN

612-767-2263

Check out our new CD

MinnesotaBluegrass.org

2 pm

Sunday, May 17

“Because you asked ”

at monroecrossing.com

Go to www.MonroeCrossing.com for detailed information on all our concerts! Booking: Art Blackburn, 844-monroeX or 763-213-1349, art@monroecrossing.com May 2015

noun, often attributive 1: A pattern of parallel lines where any two adjacent rows slope in opposite directions. 2:a; An inlayed trim feature (purfling) on Martin guitars that signifies hand scalloped braces for greater projection. 2:b; Cuts through banjos without breaking a sweat.

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May 2015

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May 2015

Non-ProямБt Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities, MN Permit 343

MINNESOTA BLUEGRASS & OLD-TIME MUSIC ASSOCIATION P.O. BOX 16408 Mpls, MN 55416

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Michael Opp builds an old-school hurdy-gurdy at Southeast Tech. The Student Guitar Show is May 12. See the story, page 17. Photo and story: Katryn Conlin