Thursday 5 May – Gulpener Bluegrass Festival Utrecht
Thu 5 May – Sa 7 May – European World of Bluegrass Festival (that’s where I’m at right now) in Voorthuizen, the Netherlands
Sa 14 – Sun 15 May – Grevengrass festival in Germany
Monday 16 May – Big Bear festival, the Netherlands
And a lot of concerts by touring bluegrass bands in this period… I had the pleasure to follow a masterclass in new acoustic music on the bass by Ben Somers, who is in the new transatlantic band The Peregrines with Grant Gordy, Joe Walsh and Bobby Britt. What a treat and inspiration to learn from and jam with these guys, the way they push and pull in and out of the rhythm is so refreshing and exciting!!
I was planning to write a report straight from one of those festivals, but as I could have guessed, I’m so busy rehearsing etc. that I didn’t get around to it…!
Would it be OK for today’s column to post a video instead of a text?
I saw that there is already some footage online of past Thursday’s festival, Gulpener Bluegrass Festival Utrecht, and it might be interesting for the Californian readers to actually hear and see the Dutch bands play instead of just reading about them.
Here is a link to the YouTube channel of the guy who made the videos.
There are 2 videos of the band that I play bass in, Red Herring.
Steam Power is a band made up of some of the finest bluegrass musicians in the Netherlands, including the organizer of the festival (fiddler Joost van Es) and singer Fay Lovsky, who has been somewhat of a cult hero in the Netherlands since the 1980s.
Pam McBeth is originally from Atlanta, GA, she lived in Nashville, TN, and now she lives in Lisse, the Netherlands (I think she’s married to a Dutch guy). She was the MC at the festival and she also played a set together with a Dutch troubadour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_yZF_i11sw&list=UUGfcuwfTZBeMAbA9Swsbt5A
I hope this input is of use to you,
With sunny regards from the Netherlands,
Loes van Schaijk
(+31)(0)6-14362134
