State of the Bluegrass
by Kevin Lynch, Host of UH Bluegrass Saturday
 9am to 1pm

    Special thanks are in order to all of you pledged your financial support during the WWUH Radio Marathon Fund Drive this past March. You were especially generous during the Bluegrass programs. The staff at WWUH is grateful for your dedication and vote of confidence in our programming. To date most of you have honored your pledges and have received you premiums for your donation. If you have not received your gift, please feel free to contact us by phone, fax, or email and we’ll be glad to help correct any problems. If you forgot to mail your payment, it’s never to late to do so. We’ll put a ‘hold’ on any premiums you requested for a few more weeks. We were fortunate to have received very generous donations from various Bluegrass festival and concert promoters, record companies, publications and string manufacturers. If you received one of these premiums, please note the company who supplied that item and think about them when you make your next purchase. Perhaps you could let them know how much you appreciated their donation.
    It’s that time again! The festival season is upon us and here’s some information you will need to plan your Bluegrass weekends in Connecticut. Please note: as of this writing the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Preston (June 4-6) has sold-out its reserved, full-camping facilities and has a waiting list for field camping vehicles. Be sure to call ahead and know exactly what the protocol will be for attending the festival. On a more positive note, WWUH will once again conduct a live broadcast during the first half of the Podunk Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, July 24th from Martin Park in East Hartford beginning at 11:00 AM. We urge you to stop by our table at the festival and meet some of the WWUH show hosts... and please join us for the evening show at Martin Park for the featured acts you won’t hear during the live broadcast. Featured artists are the duo of Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, and the Bluegrass pioneer Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mt. Boys who return to the Podunk Festival stage to close out the festivities with their powerful, exhilarating showmanship. Last year they brought over 2.000 ecstatic people to their feet at the free concert in Alumni Park in East Hartford.

May is ‘Worldwide Bluegrass Music Month’!!

    Here are a few suggestions for celebrating WBMM and bringing a greater awareness of Bluegrass music to an unsuspecting public! Consider becoming a member/volunteer of a Bluegrass association. If you’re already a member, urge others to do the same. Buy a friend a concert/festival ticket and convert them. Buy a subscription to a Bluegrass publication you’ve already been reading at a friends house - or buy one for a friend. Hold a Bluegrass jam session at a non-traditional venue; i.e. and airport terminal, university campus, train/bus station, the subway, a shopping mall, your local music store, your local schools, nursing homes or hospitals. Produce videotape or perform ‘live’ for your cable TV’s public local access channel. Do something!! This is your chance to make a difference. Let me know what you did for WBMM ‘99 and include some photos. I’ll post them on our WWUH website. Do the same for the IBMA and let them know we participated here in Connecticut.

1999 Bluegrass Festivals in Connecticut

May 21 - 23 3rd Annual BG Pickin’ Party
Stafford Fish & Game Club
Stafford Springs, CT
Phone: 860-684-6217 or 860-745-6887
Email: bluegrass98@hotmail.com
(Benefit CT River Valley BG Assoc. And Stafford Fish & Game Club)

June 4 - 6 Strawberry Park BG Festival
Strawberry Park RV Resort
Preston, CT
Phone: 1-888-794-7944 (toll free)
*** sold out at press time, call for update ***

July 2 - 4 Mineral Springs BG Festival
Mineral Springs Campground
Leonard Road, Stafford Springs, CT
Phone: 860-684-2993

July 23 - 24 4th Annual Podunk BG Music Festival
Martin Park,
Burnside Ave, East Hartford, CT
free concert - Friday, 23rd
Saturday, 24th = adults: $10, kids 10 & under free
Phone: East Hartford Special Events Hotline
860-291-7350
(camping available Friday/Saturday nights)
Email: Klbgrass@aol.com

August 13- 15 Connecticut River Valley BG Festival
Sunrise Resort
Moodus, CT
Phone: 860-347-5007
Email: CRVBA@aol.com

* Don’t forget the return of the Peace Train’s New England Fiddle Contest at Bushnell Park in Hartford on Memorial Day weekend.
* Also, the 3rd Annual CT Audubon Fiddle Contest will take place September 18th at the CT Audubon Center on Rt. 17 in Glastonbury, CT - Phone: 860-633-8402.

Copyright©WWUH: May/June Program Guide, 2000