BLUEGRASS FROM THE FOREST Kristmas Town Kiwanis is pleased to invite bluegrass friends and family back to Shelton! Bluegrass from the Forest 2021 is returning to the Olympic Peninsula for its 16th year in a new outdoor festival format at the South Mason Youth Soccer Park about two miles from downtown Shelton. Camping, jamming, workshops, and great bands are hallmarks of this annual event!
NEW OUTDOOR VENUE
The event is relocating to an outdoor venue, the South Mason Youth Soccer Park – less than three miles from the former location. September is the ideal time in the Northwest to take this festival into the forest! The larger area will allow for expanded camping, additional food and music vendors and a beer and wine garden near the stage. We are also pleased to have food vendors on site as well as dinners FRI/SAT evenings that you can pre-reserve to enjoy with the main stage bands!
Crying Uncle was founded in 2016 by Miles and Teo, as a duo band with invited guest artists. They invited Andrew and John to join Crying Uncle’s Bluegrass Band in 2017. The band released their first CD in 2018.
2021 LINE UP
Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band (CA) Whether playing straight-up bluegrass or virtuoso Dawg Grisman tunes, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band delivers amazing instrumentals and vocal leads and harmonies that catapult the band into an elite sphere of artistry. Winners of the 2018 Pickin’ in the Pines Band Contest in Flagstaff AZ, and selected by the International Bluegrass Music Association to perform at IBMA’s World of Bluegrass in North Carolina, they are making waves in the bluegrass community. Brothers Miles and Teo Quale, National and State Champion fiddlers and pickers, are joined by award-winning bassist Andrew Osborn and former CBA Youth Ambassador guitarist John Gooding.
Kristen Granger & True North (OR) Kristen Granger & True North is a folk-bluegrass powerhouse of terrific songwriting, lush vocals and crazy-good instrumentalists. The band is comprised of multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Dan Wetzel and Pacific Northwest bluegrass superstars Martin Stevens (mandolin, octave mandolin, fiddle, vocals) and Josh Adkins (upright bass, vocals), both formerly of the Bluegrass Regulators. Kristen Grainger won the 2020 USA Songwriting Competition (folk) and took second in Overall Grand Prize (all genres). She has collected accolades and awards at Telluride Bluegrass Festival (CO), Wildflower Arts & Music Festival (TX), IMEA (GA), Merlefest (NC), Kerrville (TX) and, together with Dan Wetzel, Wintergrass (WA). She also won the 2019 Local Roots Northwest songwriting competition (OR). On stage, the band deftly delivers the song-stories, mind-blowing harmonies and mad instrumentals of a band deeply rooted in traditional folk and bluegrass genres.
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Whiskey Deaf Duet & Friends (OR) The band is made up of talented and experienced bluegrass musicians who share a passion for finding and playing lesser known bluegrass and related music from the repertoires of first generation bluegrass, early country and oldtime sources. Annie Staninec – Fiddle and vocals –began playing fiddle at age four, was performing by age 11 and since that time she has made her living performing and teaching in a variety of styles all over the world. Before the age of 21 Annie had toured with David Grisman and the Gypsy Caravan, Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings, and numerous other regional groups. Thereafter, she joined several national acts including Town Mountain and the Kathy Kallick Band, of which she is a permanent member, and expanded her repertoire to include such diverse artists as Mary Gauthier and even Rod Stewart. John Kael – Guitar and vocals – has been teaching and performing bluegrass guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass for over 20 years, and is also an established songwriter – his award-winning song Handmade Cross can be heard on the Grammy-nominated album “Hard Game of Love” by Doyle Lawson.
Kentucky Sky (MT) Kentucky Sky performs traditional bluegrass music. Randy Hackworth‘s roots take him back to the hills of Eastern Kentucky. Although he has played in several bands and genres of music, his love and passion is for that Bluegrass sound.
