"Kid's Bluegrass Academy
2005"
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Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival
Thank you all! CTBMA president Kim Cyr organized the first-ever "Kid's Bg Academy" at the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Preston, CT. This free program was similar to the extremely successful kid's academies offered at some of the other major Bluegrass festivals in the country over the past few years. Included were four instructional classes conducted by qualified teachers of Bluegrass music and its respective instruments. Instructors were Cathy Goode, Louis Kaplan, Ellen Carlson, Flynn Cohen, and Kevin Lynch. We were honored to have Peter Wernick (of Hot Rize fame) stop by to speak with the class. Pete is solely responsible for initiating the promotion and recognition of the youth scene in Bluegrass music. He put some young talented musicians together at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass week in Owensboro, KY in 1993. The "Bluegrass Youth All-Stars" Pete introduced to the world at the IBMA Awards Show that year were teen-pickers Brady Stogdill, Cody Kilby, Josh Williams, Michael Cleveland, and Chris Thile. Thanks to Pete and the IBMA, opportunities now exist for young musicians to meet, learn, and participate at festivals, concerts, and organizational events all over the world. Following the final class on Sunday morning, the students hit the main stage at Strawberry Park that afternoon for a performance of their instrumental tunes: "Redwing" and "Bile Them Cabbage Down". For their finale, they played and sang the late Jimmy Martin's song "Ocean Of Diamonds". These young musicians were a huge hit with the audience. A lot of promising talent and a very successful first venture for the "Kid's Bluegrass Academy" at the Strawberry Park Bg Fest! Hopefully this will be an annual event. See more photos by our friend, Bluegrass radio host, and professional photographer, Darwin Davidson! |
Photos by: Kim Cyr Click on a photo to enlarge:
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