Niles, Mich., throwing free festival
Niles Bluegrass Festival will be held June 5-8 in Riverfront Park in downtown Niles, Mich.
Niles is 8 miles north of South Bend, Ind.
The free festival this year will feature 13 bands, although the bands and performance schedules have yet to be posted at www.nilesbluegrass.com.
The festival will feature three stages of music, an open jam gospel session, a pickers tent, workshops, food, arts and crafts.
Information is available at www.nilesbluegrass.com or from the the Michigan Main Street (Downtown Development Association) office at 269-687-4332.
No commentsBluegrass to ring in West Michigan
Award-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland and his band Flamekeeper will headline the 13th annual Mayfest Bluegrass Festival at the Kent County Fairgrounds in Lowell, Mich.
The festival will be held May 16-18. Cleveland and his group will perform Saturday.
The remainder of the lineup consists of local and regional bands.
The West Michigan Bluegrass Music Association, sponsors of the festival, are holding a potluck and jam session on Thursday evening, the day before the festival kicks off.
Ticket and camping information can be found on the festival pages of the association’s Web page, http://www.wmbma.org
The lineup includes:
Friday, May 16
- 6:00-6:35 Thunder Floor Cloggers
- 6:40-7:25 Just Jammin’
- 7:30-8:15 The Bluegrass Echoes
- 8:15-8:20 50/50 drawing
- 8:25-9:10 The DooDads
- 9:15-10:00 Sandi Paul & Raisin Corn
Saturday, May 17
Workshops begin at 9am.
- 12:35-1:20 Just Jammin
- 1:25-2:10 The Oat Bran Boys
- 2:15-3:00 Black Canyon
- 3:05-3:50 The Williams Family
- 3:50-3:55 50/50 drawing
- 4:00-4:45 Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
- 4:45-6:00 Supper break
- 6:00-6:35 The Thunder Floor Cloggers
- 6:40-7:25 Black Canyon
- 7:30-8:15 The Williams Family
- 8:15-8:20 50/50 drawing
- 8:25-9:10 Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper
- 9:15-10:00 The Oat Bran Boys
Sunday, May 18
- 10:00-10:55 Sunday opening and For Heaven’s Sake gospel show
- 11:00 Band auditions
Drawing for $100 to be held after the audition bands
No commentsBluegrass Bits and Pieces
Kathy Mattea will be performing material from her eagerly anticipated release “COAL” during upcoming appearances at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI and Mountain Stage.Coming to The Ark in April
The Ark, the premier live music club in Ann Arbor, MI, will feature a few Bluegrass shows well worth noting in April.
- Apr 1 — The Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile, 8:00 PM. Tickets are $25.00.
- Apr 8 — Flecktone bassist Victor Wooten, 8:00 PM. Tickets are $35.00.
- Apr 12 — The RFD Boys, 8:00 PM. Tickets are $11.00
- Apr 20 — Kathy mattea, 7:30 PM. Tickets are $35.00
For more information visit The Ark online.
On the WDVX Blueplate this week.
East Tennessee’s Own WDVX will feature The Red Stick Ramblers and Tim O’brien on a pair of live shows this week during WDVX’s Blueplate Special. The Blueplate Special features live in studio performances in front of an audience and is broadcast locally at Noon (Eastern Time). WDVX currently feautres a variety of audio streams online for listeners out of the area.
- Wed March 26 — The Red Stick Ramblers.
- Sat March 29 — Tim O’Brien
Live On Mountain Stage this week
Mountain Stage will have Kathy Mattea, Tim O’Brien and Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee on March 30 at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY. The 7:00 PM show will also feature slide guitar extraordinaire Sonny Landreth and Tift Merrit. Tickets are available through the Paramount Box Office (606)-324-3175 or Ticketmaster.
No commentsByron Goes Bluegrass Follow-up
Byron Goes Bluegrass Finale - Dec 1st 2007Patty Williams sent us a quick follow-up on the “Byron Goes Bluegrass” Concert Series show held in Byron, Michigan on Dec. 1st. The show featured Marty Raybon and Full Circle, Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain along with Lare Williams & New Direction.
Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain at Byron Goes Bluegrass - Dec 1, 2007Here is a follow up on the recent Byron Goes Bluegrass concert in West Michigan. The show was a great success despite the snowy Michigan weather. I have attached some pictures of the show.
P. Williams Productions, West Michigan’s premiere bluegrass music production company presented the Telly Award winning concert series Byron Goes Bluegrass. On December 1, 2007 the concert featured Marty Raybon and Full Circle, Carrie Hassler and
Hard Rain, and Lare Williams & New Direction.
Marty Raybon at Byron Goes Bluegrass - Dec 1, 2007The audience was on there feet with applause at the grand finale when all the bands finished the evening on stage singing “Christmas Times A Coming.
Patty Williams
www.pwilliamsproductions.com
For more information on the “Byron Goes Bluegrass” Concert Series, check out BluegrassJournal.com’s previous coverage here.
No commentsRaybon, Hassler up next in Michigan concert series
Carrie Hassler and Hard RainMarty Raybon and Carrie Hassler & Hard Rain are up next in the Bryon Goes Bluegrass Concert Series at the Van Singel Fine Arts Center in Bryon Center, Mich.
The show starts at 7 p.m. Dec. 1.
The series is promote by P. Williams Productions and Patty Williams, the woman behind the promotions company. She is the daughter of Larry Williams, generally regarded as Michigan’s Father of Bluegrass fiddle. She plays the guitar and mandolin.
According to http://pwilliamsproductions.com/, Williams felt bluegrass music needed better representation in Western Michigan. Thus, P. Williams Productions was born.
She has strived to bring bluegrass into the Western Michigan communities and to share her talent and love of music with many. “Since it’s start in 2003, P. Williams Productions has been a professional voice for local and national musicians,” according to the Web site.
She has developed the Byron Goes Bluegrass concert series and she has brought bluegrass to national television programming, an effort that has won here national recognition.
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