Staff Writer
FORT FAIRFIELD – They’ll be pickin’ and grinin’ in Fort Fairfield Labor Day Weekend as Rhonda Vincent & The Rage and Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper – two big names in the world of bluegrass music – will highlight the second County Bluegrass Festival of the summer.
Contributed photoRhonda Vincent & The Rage will appear Saturday, Sept. 5 at the County Bluegrass Festival in Fort Fairfield. Vincent, a seven-time International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, is currently promoting her “Destination Life” album, which was released June 16. It features such songs as “Crazy Love,” “I Heard My Savior Calling Me” and “Stop the World (and Let Me Get Off).
The first summer outing was held in July – the weekend after the Maine Potato Blossom Festival – but officials jumped at the chance to acquire a second event.
According to organizer Stev Rogeski, a slot on the bluegrass circuit opened up when the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival – which had a successful 30-year run in southeastern Maine – decided to retire.
“We had contemplated adding a second festival for a while now, and the opportunity presented itself last year when it was announced that Thomas Point Beach was going to stop having their festival on Labor Day Weekend,” said Rogeski. “We wanted to keep bluegrass alive on Labor Day Weekend, and we were able to pick that date up and bring the festival up here.
“It’s our intention to hold both festivals every year – the one in July and now Labor Day Weekend,” he said.
Vincent, a seven-time International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, is very popular with the Canadian audience, Rogeski said.
“Half of our clientele comes from Canada … New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island,” he said. “When we asked for suggestions on who we should try to get to come up here, they strongly suggested that Rhonda Vincent be on the top of our list.”
Michael Cleveland is the reigning and six-time IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year.
Also appearing will be Goldwing Express, known for their mixture of old time bluegrass and humor, White Mountain Bluegrass, Blistered Fingers, Bluegrass Diamonds, Phat Grass, Hemingway Brothers, Aroostook County Bluegrass, the LaClaires, and the Robinson Gospel Sing Along.
“We have 11 different bands performing,” said Rogeski, “including three of the top 10 bands in bluegrass (Vincent, Cleveland and Goldwing Express) coming to northern Maine for the first time. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Attendees will also have the opportunity to “pick in the fields.”
“That’s really why people travel from one show to the next,” said Rogeski. “We’ll have 24-hour off stage picking. The bands will go from campsite to campsite and pick with the campers who are encouraged to bring their instruments to the festival. It’s a chance for everyday people to play with some of the best musicians in bluegrass today.
“We’ve had people come from New York, Connecticut, Montana and even had people come in on motorcycles from Mississippi,” he said. “They can come from any walk of life, but when they hit that bluegrass festival, they’re the same as everyone else. It’s like a big family.”
Rogeski said his goal is to make the Fort Fairfield festival the festival of choice in September.
“There are three different bluegrass festivals Labor Day Weekend in the New England/New Brunswick area,” he said. “There’s one in New York, New Richmond, Quebec, and ours,” he said. “We want ours to become fans’ festival of choice. The way we’ll do that is to take their suggestions and do our best to give them what they want.”
Photo courtesy of Shawn Wright
The Reigning Instrumental Group of the Year and Fiddle Player of the Year, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, are final nominees in six categories for 2009 International Bluegrass Music Association awards. They will perform Sunday, Sept. 6 as part of the County Bluegrass Festival in Fort Fairfield. Their current album, “Leavin’ Town,” was released in 2008 and includes such songs as “Sold Down The River,” “Jerusalem Ridge” and “My Blue Eyed Darling.”
The County Bluegrass Festival will be held Sept. 4-6 at FARM Park, located at 119 West Limestone Road. The festival will be held rain or shine as all performances are under cover.
Weekend tickets at the gate are $80 per person. Rough camping is free with a weekend ticket. Day ticket prices per person are $20 Friday, $30 Saturday or $20 after 5 p.m., and $25 Sunday or $10 after 5 p.m. Children 12 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.
“Performances are priced to enjoy daily shows or the entire weekend,” said Rogeski. “One of the reasons that we do that is because there is so much that goes on in Aroostook County on the weekends. We’ve only got 13 good weekends in the summertime, and every town has a festival or something going on.
“This year, we’re competing with Caribou’s Sesquicentennial celebration, but by having our tickets priced by the day,” he said, “people can still enjoy things over in Caribou. If they bought a day pass for Saturday, for example, they can come and see a couple shows, go to Caribou and enjoy some of the activities there, and then come back. With our festival, you get a wristband so you can leave the venue and come back. That way, people can share in everything that’s happening in Aroostook County and not have to pick between what’s going on.”
Gates open at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31.
The performance schedule and other information is available online at www.countybluegrass.com.
For further information, call Rogeski at 227-6242.
