Bluegrass festivals aren’t set up as battles of the bands. It’s just not the nature of the bluegrass world, where harmony, not heated competition, rules — both on the vocal side of things and also in the kinship and brotherhood of bluegrass musicians.

In fact, it’s this great community spirit that’s so attractive to many bluegrass fans and musicians, myself included. It’s a world where fans aren’t merely fans, they’re friends of the artists and their band members.

After setting that stage, I’ll confess to a twinge of guilt when I anticipated attending last week’s Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Festival in Springfield, Ill. I had set up my own little mind game, a war of the bands if you will, between Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and Dailey & Vincent. Shame on me, huh? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

I hadn’t seen Doyle Lawson and his fine group perform for four or five years, back when Jamie Dailey and Barry Scott were providing the band’s explosive vocals. How, I wondered, would Lawson’s new lineup stack up against Dailey & Vincent, perhaps the hottest act in bluegrass today?…

The ever-smiling Tony Shorter of Nothin’ Fancy wows the crowd with his charm and crooner voice Friday during this past weekend’s indoor bluegrass festival at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, Ill. Other members of the group, two-time winners of SPBGMA’s Entertaining Group of the Year award, are, from left, Mike Andes on mandolin, Gary Farris on guitar, fiddler Chris Sexton in background and Mitchell Davis on banjo. [end]

What’s it like to be a bluegrass festival bum, roaming the country to soak in your favorite music?

I got a taste of that the first two weekends in November, catching Florida’s Withlacoochee Bluegrass Jamboree, near Dunellon, Fla., and then the following weekend, for a real change in landscape (and temperature), the Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Festival, held inside (thankfully) at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Ill.

Oct. 25 is the final day to order advance weekend passes for the 22nd annual Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Festival at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Ill., generally regarded as one of the Prairie State’s premier bluegrass events.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Give Terry and Jan Lease some credit. They really know how to throw a bash — a bluegrass bash, that is.
Sunday marked the finale of the 21st annual Greater Downstate Indoor Bluegrass Festival, which has been promoted since its inception by the Leases and their organization, Midwest Bluegrass Festivals.
The promise of [...]