US bands in Europe (2)

Two months ago the BIB posted news of the 18th International Bühl Bluegrass Festival, to be held this coming weekend (13-14 May) in Bühl, Baden-Württemberg, south-west Germany, a bluegrass-friendly city. The bill includes three US bands who have played in Ireland in the past: Seth Mulder & Midnight Run, Chatham County Line, and the Hackensaw Boys, as well as Belgium-based Old Salt and Blue Side of Town (D). Chatham County Line played in Dublin a week ago, their only scheduled date in this island.

The organisers of the 10th Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival (24-26 June) announce that the lineup for this year's event is now complete with thirty-five acts, nine of which are from the USA and one (the Lonesome Ace Stringband) from Canada, twelve from the Netherlands (headed by our old friends the Blue Grass Boogiemen), and high-quality groups from the rest of Europe. In just over ten years (two of them lost to the pandemic), the festival has grown from a local party with 250 visitors to a major three-day event with over 16,000 attending.

Europe's oldest bluegrass festival, the Banjo Jamboree (held under the auspices of the Bluegrass Association of the Czech Republic), will take place this year on 17-18 June at Čáslav in the Czech Republic. The wealth of native talent provides twenty of the bands on the programme, but also taking part are our old Italian friends Red Wine and one US visitor: Casey Driessen, equally adventurous as fiddler, traveller, and teacher.

© Richard Hawkins