Kick Up Your Heels with a Jig and Sligo Rags Friday in Temecula

Sligo Rags, the Irish/Celtic Rock band that plays at the Temecula Bluegrass Festival every year to a packed house of standing ovations, will be in Old Town Temecula this Friday, August 19 for their only summer appearance of Hot Summer Nights. The band has had a busy summer, playing twice a week at Disney’s California Adventure and almost daily for the past month. Sligo Rags was named one of the top acoustic bands in L.A. by “Folkworks Magazine” and has won the Orange County Music Award for Best Folk Band twice. Playing original and traditional Irish, Bluegrass and Celtic tunes with a rock twist, and always energized with the antics and vocals of fiddler Michael Kelly, Sligo Rags turns rock fans into jig-dancing Irish music buffs. David Burns is an award-winning flat-picking and finger-style guitarist whose vocals and song writing give the band it’s unique flair. Add percussion from Jonathan Baer (who always seems to smile) and the band keeps audiences toe-tapping and clapping. Sligo Rags plays at Baily’s Courtyard from 7 to 10 p.m. Duchicela hails from Ecuador and offers the music of the Andes with their enchanting  tunes played on hand made pan flutes, guitars and percussion instruments. The word Duchicela in the pre-Incan language of Puruhua means “the mountain lion who led the people to their homeland.”  This band spends much of the year performing throughout Hawaii and returns for the summer to hit the Southern California scene. Get a load of the jacha toyos, pan flutes that are nearly four feet in length and provide the deep notes of the Andean  music. These flutes require well-developed lungs and tons of experience.  Another instrument played during their performance is the charango, a small-ten-stringed instrument, that until recently, was made with the  shell of an armadillo.  Duchicela blends traditional Andean folk music with popular cover tunes. They play from 6-9 p.m. at Villa di’ Calabro. For classic rock and Willie Nelson fans, the band Two of Us Plus one plays their final concert of Hot Summer Nights at the Temecula Cheese Company from 6:30-9:30 p.m. What started as a duo with Fred  Schaffer and Craig Chojnowski  has grown to a four piece band - hence the “plus one.” This is actually a four-piece band now with Jennifer Orris on guitar, and Dave Rodway on the drums. Together they play Beatles tunes, mixed with soft classic rock ballads from the1960s and 70s.  An extension of the group’s personality  comes alive when they perform their Westcoast Willie  & Friends segment of the concert, featuring Willie Nelson’s most popular tunes. Rounding out the musical variety night in Old Town Temecula is the Valley Winds Big Band.  Hot Summer Nights is sponsored by the City of Temecula. A community band that plays throughout the year, the Valley Winds Big Band performs with the classic big band style of music stands, slide trombone and clarinet solos, and tunes from Benny Goodman to Stan Kenton. They play 6-9 p.m. in the Tesoro Winery parking lot with plenty of room to swing dance.  You can get a complete list of bands for the remaining Hot Summer Nights at www.temeculacalifornia.com. The event continues through September 2nd.

 Sligo Rags plays to standing ovations at Bluegrass Festival

Pack Up the Fiddles, Rosin Up the Bow it's Bluegrass Time In Temecula

If you haven't attended the Temecula Bluegrass Festival, you've denied yourself a musical treat that can only be experienced - not described. The streets fill with musicians, carrying their fiddles, wheeling their stand up bass fiddle, thousand dollar banjos and guitars. These musicians are the "Pickers" - the amateurs who somewhere along the line picked up a stringed instrument, played awhile, and eventually discovered the beauty of Bluegrass. With common chords every musician knows, and familiar "reels" a lonely fiddler can find a bass and banjo player and suddenly you have a band.

Old Town Temecula Bluegrass Festival March 18-20, presents some of the top Bluegrass artists on stage, as well as in workshops. Fiddling with Byron Berline, Banjo picking with Dennis Caplinger, Flat picking Guitar with David Burns and picking the mandolin with John Moore, musicians can learn techniques while playing with the best. Workshops are held Saturday and Sunday at the "Merc" 42051 Main Street and are Free. For a schedule see http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/.

That's not all that is free - jamming up and down the street with musicians under pop up tents and street corners, plus concerts outdoors at Town Square on Main Street, and in the Theater are free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. There is also a free concert at Sweet Lumpy's, 6 p.m.Friday night.

FREE CONCERTS:

ON STAGE SATURDAY:
Next Generation, Sligo Rags, Fine Line, Byron Berline, Bluegrass Etc., Silverado Bluegrass, The Girlz, Hunt and Family Bluegrass.

ON STAGE SUNDAY:
Bluegrass Brethren - with Gospel tunes at 10 a.m. outdoors, Byron Berline, Sligo Rags, The Girlz, Windy Ridge, Bluegrass Etc., Silverado Bluegrass, and Hunt Family Bluegrass.

TICKETED CONCERTS
The Grascals, Friday night, March 18, 7:30 p.m. at Old Town Temecula Community Theater. $20 pp.
Good seats available -but hurry - some areas have sold out.

Byron Berline, Bluegrass Etc., and Silverado Bluegrass - 7p.m., at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater. $15 pp. This one always sells out. Better hurry. http://www.temeculatheater.org/.

For map, schedule and program see http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/.

Old Town Temecula Bluegrass Festival with Great Concert Line up!

Temecula's 11th Annual Bluegrass Festival has two great evening concerts this year. Friday features The Grascals, recent winners of the Instrumental Group of the Year at the Annual SPBMAA. They play March 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater.


The Grascals also have their personal best Billboard chart numbers, with the current #1 Top Bluegrass Album (four consecutive weeks) and peaking at #23 on the Top Country Album chart with their newest CD, "The Grascals & Friends - Country Classics with a Bluegrass Spin." The Grascals have also won awards the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award in 2005 and earning its Entertainer of the Year honor in both 2006 and 2007.

The Grascals embody a profound grasp of and familiarity with country and bluegrass tradition that made them a natural choice for Dolly Parton to turn to for recording and tour support in 2004. The group continues to push the envelope and, in 2010, The Grascals joined The Rowdy Friends Tour with Hank Williams, Jr. They’ve performed at the Grand Ole Opry, Kennedy Center, Radio City Music Hall, Wintergrass, and the Stagecoach Festival. They’ve opened for Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn and Vince Gill. Tickets for The Grascals' concert are $20 and available at http://www.temeculatheater.org/.

Highway 138 will offer a free concert at Sweet Lumpy's restaurant Friday at 6 p.m.

Bring your chairs, we have about 300 chairs,
but folkd up chairs are welcome.

TheByron Berline Band, the Hunt Family Band and Bluegrass Etc. will highlight the 11th annual event March 19 and 20. Daytime concerts both Saturday and Sunday are free. Paid evening concerts are held indoors at the acoustically perfect Old Town Temecula Community Theater and are paid events.

Saturday's free concert lineup includes Silverado Bluegrass, Sligo Rags, The Girlz, Fine Line and Next Generation on stage, plus Older than Dirt near Rosa's Cantina. A jam session will be held at 5 p.m. at Embassy Suites, the host hotel for the event.

Saturday evening at the theater will feature the Byron Berline Band, Bluegrass Etc and Silverado in concert in the theater. The concert starts at 7 p.m. and is $15. There is a Friday/Saturday concert package that reduces the convenience fee for online purchases.

Sunday's free concerts include Byron Berline, Bluegrass Etc., Silverado, Bluegrass Brethren, Windy Ridge, The Hunt Family Bluegrass, Sligo Rags and The Girlz.

Byron Berline is a three-time National Fiddle Champion who turned to a musical career after earning a B.A. in Physical Education at the University of Oklahoma. Berline has a Who’s Who list of bands that he has either led or been a member. They include: Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Dillard & Clark, Dillard Expedition, Berline, Crary & Hickman, California, and the Byron Berline Band. He’s recorded with The Band, The Byrds, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, John Denver, Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, Rod Stewart, Vince Gill, Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs and
Mason Williams."Pickers" (Bluegrassers’ term for musicians) jam anywhere along the rustic streets of Old Town Temecula.

“It’s the greatest part about a bluegrass festival. Fans are also musicians, some of them quite good and notable in the music world,” stated Melody Brunsting, organizer of the event. “We’ve had Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek show up on our stage just to jam with Bluegrass Etc. before.”

Free workshops Saturday and Sunday are held in the Mercantile and help instigate the free flow of jamming around town. Band members lead the workshops and provide the audience a chance to pick and play with their favorites. On Saturday Dennis Caplinger of Bluegrass Etc will teach a workshop on Banjo, David Burns fro Sligo Rags will teach flat pick guitar, and Byron Berline will teach fiddle. Sunday workshops include "The Family Band" with the Hunt Family Band, Mandolin with John Moore from Bluegrass Etc., and the Bodhrain with Andy Reilly of Sligo Rags.

JAMMING AT THE HOST HOTEL - Embassy Suites is once again the host hotel and will host a Jam Session on their patio, 5 p.m. til you're done.
To visit the cultural district of Old Town Temecula take the 15 Freeway to Rancho California Road or Highway 79 south and follow the signs leading to Old Town Front Street. Public parking is free. RV parking is available in town for $30 for the weekend. Reservations are recommended at (951) 678-0831. For more information call (951) 678-1456 or visit http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:


www.temeculacalifornia.com
http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/Bluegrass_Festival/_Schedule___Tix/_schedule___tix.html
www.temeculabluegrass.org
http://huntfamilybluegrass.com
http://www.silveradobluegrassband.com
(Byron Berline) http://doublestop.com/byron.php

Bluegrass Festival Schedule Now Online

Okay - know it's been awhile, but here's the bluegrass schedule. It is now at http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/.

You may purchase tickets for the evening concert and Sunday Matinee online at http://www.temeculatheater.org/ or go to the ticket office if you are in town on a Friday or Saturday night.

Pray for Sunshine all weekend. We have several new activities:
Jam at Embassy Suites on Friday 5-7 p.m.

A free concert Friday night in Town with Highway 138, and a special concert with Sligo Rags & Alan Munde on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Old Town Theater.

Workshops in the "Merc" Saturday & Sunday 11-2.

Check out the website for a schedule. http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/

Temecula Bluegrass Festival March 19-21 Offers Free Concerts, Jams, Workshops & More

Alan Munde Gazette will highlight the Old Town Temecula Bluegrass Festival March 20 and 21. Bandleader Munde’s long, rich history in the bluegrass community has solidified him as the one the world’s foremost five-string banjo players. He brings his Gazette band of Elliott Rogers-Guitar/Vocal, Bill Honker-Bass/Vocal, Steve Smith-Mandolin/Vocal, and Nate Lee-Fiddle/Vocal. Gazette will play twice Saturday and Sunday of the event.

This is the tenth year for the Festival and organizers have added two free concerts Friday evening plus a jam session at Embassy Suites in Temecula from 5-7 p.m. Highway 138 will perform from 7-9 at Sweet Lumpy’s and Old Haywire will perform at Palumbo’s from 6 to 8 p.m. Both restaurants are in Old Town and admission is free. The legendary Moonalice Band will perform in concert Friday, March 19 at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater at 8 p.m. Moonalice tickets are available at www.temeculatheater.org.

Munde and his band will headline Saturday and Sunday, playing once each day on the Town Square outdoor stage at Mercedes and Main Street. The band is also part of a three-act concert Saturday evening, 7 p.m., indoors at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater. On the same billing is Bluegrass Etc., and Silverado Bluegrass Festival. Tickets are $15 and $10 for balcony seats.

Munde made his mark in Bluegrass beginning in 1972 as a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers performing with Byron Berline. After a European tour, the Burritos split up and Munde joined Country Gazette, then consisting of Roger Bush on bass, Kenny Wertz on guitar, and fiddler Byron Berline. Later in 1977, Munde and mandolinist Sam Bush recorded "Together again for the first time" with Roland White, Curtis Burch and John Cowan (both members of legendary "Newgrass Revival" with Sam Bush).

Also performing outdoors are: Bluegrass Etc., Lonesome Otis, Even So, Sligo Rags, Hunt Family Bluegrass, Gone Tomorrow, the Silverado Bluegrass Band, Older than Dirt, Old Haywire, and Highway 76 Bluegrass Band. Bands perform on two stages from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. All outdoor concerts, workshops and jam sessions are free. Daytime concerts in the theater Saturday are also free.

Sunday features Bluegrass Brethren in a free gospel concert at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater, plus a 3 p.m. matinee featuring Alan Munde Gazette and Sligo Rags. This concert is $5 while concerts outdoors remain free.

Sligo Rags with entertaining and energetic fiddler Michael Kelly, Dublin percussionist Andy Reilly, and solid vocals are crowd favorites in Temecula with show-stopping renditions like “The Devil Went Down to Dublin.” An Irish band by nature, Sligo Rags injects their Irish overtones to create a unique brand of bluegrass, original tunes and unusual interpretations of popular rock, folk and bluegrass favorites.

Kelly, versatile fiddler and comedian, is well known in all musical circles where fiddle is played. His career spans decades, and includes forays into the country, newgrass, swing, and bebop realms.

Band leader David Burns plays guitar and banjo for a number of local Irish and bluegrass bands. Currently Burns is the banjo player in Heart Of 'Grass (headliners at the 2004 Topanga Bluegrass Festival), guitar player in acoustic jazz band Timbreline (recent nominees for Best Instrumental Band at the 2006 Southern California Music Awards), and also worked with The Mulligans, Ken O'Malley, Rob Williams of The Fenians, The Band of Rogues (Featuring Terry Casey, Rob Williams, and Chris Pierce of The Fenians) and many other local heavyweights in the Irish realm.

Reilly is one of the finest percussionists in all of California and spent eight years on the road with the original Dublin-based touring company of Riverdance. Now a Los Angeles resident, he plays all manner of percussion including the bodhrain giving the group a sound that sets them apart from all other bluegrass bands.

"Pickers" (Bluegrassers’ term for musicians) jam anywhere along the rustic streets of Old Town Temecula. Scheduled workshops on the mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo are held each day in the “Merc” at 42051 Main Street and are free.

“It’s the greatest part about a bluegrass festival. Fans are also musicians, some of them quite good and notable in the music world,” stated Melody Brunsting, organizer of the event. “We’ve had Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek show up on our stage just to jam with Bluegrass Etc. before.”

To visit the cultural district of Old Town Temecula take the 15 Freeway to Rancho California Road or Highway 79 south and follow the signs leading to Old Town Front Street. Public parking is free. RV parking is available in town for $30 for the weekend. Call (951) 678-0831 for RV reservations. For information call (951) 693-3952 or visit http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/

ADDITIONAL LINKS:
www.temeculacalifornia.com
www.temeculabluegrass.org
http://huntfamilybluegrass.com
http://www.alanmundegazette.com/
http://www.sligorags.com
http://www.tricopolisrecords.com/bands/bandframeintro.html
http://www.silveradobluegrassband.com