* BLUEGRASS FANS WILL GET AN EARFUL AT TACOMA FESTIVAL
PATRICK MACDONALD
* 02/25/99
The Seattle Times
(Copyright 1999)
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Festival preview
"Wintergrass," featuring Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Chesapeake, IIIrd
Tyme Out, the Laurel Canyon Ramblers, the Dry Branch Fire Squad,
J.D. Crowe & the New South, Cornerstone and the Gibson Brothers,
today through Sunday at the Sheraton Tacoma Hotel & Convention
Center and the First Baptist Church in downtown Tacoma ($10-$75;
253-926-4164).
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Now in its sixth year, "Wintergrass" has become one of the
* biggest bluegrass festivals in the country. The four-day event
features five stages in two locations, some 50 music workshops,
kids' activities, a "swingrass" dance, the Pizza Hut Showdown for
amateur groups, vendor booths and lots of opportunities for jamming.
"It's fairly unusual because it's inside," explained Patrice
* O'Neill of the Wintergrass staff. "Most of the other bluegrass
festivals are outdoors in the summertime."
Wintergrass is also noteworthy in that it welcomes other
styles. There's a Celtic show, a featured performance by bluesman
Kelly Joe Phelps and another by acclaimed jazz guitarist Bill
Frisell.
* Two masters of bluegrass, acoustic flat-picker Tony Rice and
guitarist-mandolinist Peter Rowan, both disciples of the late Bill
* Monroe, Father of Bluegrass, will make rare appearances together
tomorrow and Saturday. Rowan is a former member of Monroe's
* Bluegrass Boys.
Other featured performers include the Dry Branch Fire Squad, an
Ohio group dedicated to the preservation of old-time Appalachian
music; Chesapeake, a quartet known for taking a second look at great
songs that have been performed over the years; and J.D. Crowe and
* the New South, a top-notch progressive bluegrass band headed by
influential banjoist Crowe.
Newly featured this year are the Gibson Brothers, recently
* named "emerging band of the year" at the International Bluegrass
Music Association's Awards.
The festival is musician-friendly, with workshops for amateurs
and professionals and ample opportunities for playing with other
musicians.
"All day and all night, all over the hotel, you hear people
jamming," O'Neill said.
Fans are treated well, too, she added.
"We spoil them to death," she said, with discounted
accommodations at a variety of hotels and motels, plenty of room for
RVs and trailers, and a shuttle-bus service running 20 hours a day.
This year the festival's brochure was translated into Japanese
and distributed in Japan. As a result, tour groups are coming from
there, as well as from Germany, England, Switzerland and other
countries. "We have a pretty big Canadian contingent," O'Neill said.
Much of the festival is run by volunteer labor.
"People who really love it are nurturing it and keeping it
going for the next generation," said O'Neill. The festival welcomes
children, with special activities for them all day.
In addition to several stages in the Sheraton, the nearby First
Baptist Church is also used for featured performances. The
900-capacity, turn-of-the-century building, originally built as a
theater, has fine acoustics and sightlines, according to O'Neill.
She compared it to the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the
original home of the Grand Ole Opry.
"It feels intimate," she said, "it's quiet and peaceful."
About 3,000 festival-goers are expected each day. Single-day
and weekend passes are available, with reduced rates for children
and seniors.
