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

Another Bluegrass festival season is upon us. If you're a Bluegrass fan I hope you will take the time this summer to support as many music venues as you possibly can…and as always, bring a new friend to Bluegrass music. Your choices for 'festers' in Connecticut are listed below. Note: A favorite festival, which has become an annual tradition for people from all over the USA & Canada, is the Thomas Point Beach Bg Festival in Brunswick, ME -- celebrating it's 25th year. Unfortunately, as of this writing, the promoter tells us it will be the final Bluegrass event at TPB. Call now and don't get shut out if they should limit ticket sales due to high volume for this farewell event: 1-877-872-4321. Another fest celebrating its silver anniversary is the 25th Annual Strawberry Park Bg Festival in Preston, CT. This year it's a 4-day event. One more festival note: the Noppet Hill Bg Festival in Lanesboro, MA will not take place this year, but may possibly return next year. Needless to say one should not take these special summertime musical gatherings for granted. Like the song says: Here today, gone tomorrow.

Time now for a final recap of the "Year of O'Brother, Where Art Thou?" Yes! A clean sweep of all the major music awards including the 2001 International Bluegrass Music Awards, Academy of Country Music, Country Music Academy, Grammy Awards, and more. CD sales are currently well over 5.5 million! The "Down From The Mountain" tour (including performers from the O Brother soundtrack and more) will be coming through our state on July 2nd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Chances are this concert will be sold-out by the time you read this, but call the box office in any case. If it is sold-out you can always ask about returns/cancellation of tickets: call the box office at 1-800-477-6849. We're not likely to see an impressive program like this again any time soon. No tour has included so many top performers since the 1960s when the Opry had a traveling show that played the Bushnell on several occasions. In case you're not aware of it, the DFTM tour features Alison Krauss & Union Station, Emmylou Harris, Patty Loveless, Ralph Stanley, The Del McCoury Band, Norman & Nancy Blake, Ricky Skaggs, Dan Tyminski, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The Whites & Jerry Douglas.

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Here's the Connecticut festival information for 2002. See ya there...

May 17-18: Bluegrass Pickin' Party / Stafford Fish & Game Club, Stafford Springs / 860-745-6887
May 30-June 2: 25th Strawberry Park Bg Festival / Strawberry Park Campground, Preston / 1-888-794-7944
July 5-7: Footstompin' Bg Festival / Mineral Springs Campground, Stafford Springs / 860-684-2993
July 25-27: Podunk Bg Festival / Martin Park, East Hartford / 860-528-1458
September 7: Hartland Hollow Bg Festival / Berg Field (Rte. 20), East Hartland / 860-653-0447

Also, mark your calendar:
September 21: CT Audubon Fiddle Contest
CT Audubon Center of Glastonbury, Rte. 17 / Main St. / 860-633-8402

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Copyright©WWUH: May/June Program Guide, 2002