HENDERSON, Ky. – Music will start early Saturday at the 30th annual Bluegrass in the Park Folklife Festival, and before the day is finished, nine groups will take the microphones to perform their version of roots music.
It will begin at 7 a.m., when local favorite Keith Vincent provides the musical ambience for Downtown Henderson Partnership’s Breakfast in the Park.
Also on Saturday, the festival will offer a full day of music on the main stage, a Folklife Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., a disc golf tournament and demonstration and food vendors.
Breakfast in the Park will be followed at 10 a.m. when The Shade Tree Players kick off the Folklife Festival. In addition to dulcimers, their instrumentation includes guitar, ukulele, washtub bass, mandolin and autoharp.
At 11 a.m., Ma Crow the Lady Slippers, an award-winning all-female band from Cincinnati, will perform their mix of bluegrass, Americana and old-time mountain music. Ma Crow is a legendary acoustic artist in the Cincinnati area, a CAMMY (a Cincinnati Grammy) award winner and a multi-nominee for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards.
Breaking Grass of Booneville, Mississippi, will take the stage at 12:45 p.m. Touching on sounds of traditional and contemporary bluegrass, western swing and gospel, Breaking Grass performs original material. They have two albums, “Breaking Grass” and “Running With The Moon.”
Barbwire, from Atlanta, will play at 2:30 p.m. Consisting of five musicians who share a love for the genre, Barbwire performs mostly original material on dobro, guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin.
King’s Highway (of Henderson, Owensboro and Rosine) is the only band to play on both days of the festival and will repeat their Bill Monroe-drive sound at 4:15 p.m.
At 6 p.m., Adkins Loudermilk of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, and Eastnaollee, Georgia, will perform. After years supporting some of bluegrass music’s most highly lauded artists, including Edgar Loudermilk’s time spent with Rhonda Vincent, Marty Raybon and IIIrd Tyme Out and with Dave Adkins’ time spent playing bluegrass at Dollywood and with Dave Adkins and Republik Steele, they joined forces of writing and performance in 2013.
Flatt Lonesome of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will start winding down the festival at 7:45 p.m. The band was awarded the prestigious IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year at the 25th Annual IBMA Awards show last October. They also won the Chris Austin Songwriting contest at Merlefest for their original hit “I’m Blue.” The band includes three siblings (Kelsi, Buddy and Charli Robertson) who have been performing since they were youngsters in the gospel group Sandy Creek Revival.
Town Mountain of Asheville, North Carolina, will close out the 30th festival at 9:30 p.m. After recording their first two albums, Town Mountain signed with Pinecastle Records label. That led to a pair of acclaimed recordings with 2011’s “Steady Operator” as well as “Leave the Bottle.”
Both projects were produced by Mike Bub, a recipient of five IBMA Bass Player of the Year awards, as well as many other IBMA honors during his time with the Del McCoury Band.
Their music is described as traditional bluegrass with the “bluesy and swinging sounds explored by the first of the bluegrass pioneers of the last century.”
The festival is designated a “Top Summer Event” by the Kentucky Tourism Industry Association and “Top 20 Summertime Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society.
For details, visit bluegrassinthepark.com.
Here is an overview of Saturday’s schedule:
7-9 a.m.: Breakfast in the Park. Tickets: $8 for adults, $5 for children. All-you-can-eat pancakes, eggs, sausage, juice, coffee.
7 a.m.: Keith Vincent of Henderson
8 a.m.: Disc Golf Tourney Atkinson Park
9 a.m.: Jammin’ Jumpin’ Street Vault
10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Folklife Festival events
10 a.m.: The Shade Tree Players of Evansville
11 a.m.: Ma Crow the Lady Slippers of Cincinnati
12:45 p.m.: Breaking Grass of Booneville, Mississippi
2:30 p.m.: Barbwire of Atlanta
4-8 p.m.: Disc Golf Mini Course in the Riverfront amphitheater
4:15 p.m.: King’s Highway of Henderson, Owensboro and Rosine, Kentucky
6 p.m.: Adkins Loudermilk of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, and Eastanollee, Georgia
7 p.m.: Pro Elite Jammin’ Jumpin’ Street Vault
7:45 p.m.: Flatt Lonesome of Murfreesboro, Tennessee
9:30 p.m.: Town Mountain of Asheville, North Carolina
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