This premier bluegrass music festival commemorates the legacy of Joe Val -who is arguably one of the finest bluegrass musicians to emerge from New England. In 2006, the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival received the “Event of the Year” award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.

Tickets
Early Bird tickets are now on sale.  Click here to order yours

Festival Lineup
Here is a tentative lineup for the 25th Joe Val Bluegrass Festival.

1. Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver
2. JD Crowe and the New South
3. Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper
4. Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass
5. Special Consensus
6. The Josh Williams Band
7. Buddy Merriam and Back Roads
8. The Spinney Brothers
9. While Mountain Bluegrass
10. Acoustic Blue
11. Joe Sings Joe
12. Berklee Bluegrass
13. Bluegrass Gospel Project
14. Sierra Hull and Highway 111

Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide wrote:

Singer/songwriter Joe Val was a prominent traditional bluegrass musician and leader of the New England Bluegrass Boys. A native of Everett, Massachusetts, he was born Joseph Valiante, and his interest in bluegrass started in his early teens. He was influenced by fiddler Tex Logan, who had come north to study at M.I.T. and wound up giving the young performer his stage name. Val started out as a guitar player, but also mastered the banjo and the mandolin. He got his professional start playing with the Radio Rangers, and later joined the Berkshire Mountain Boys; with the progressive Charles River Valley Boys, Val recorded a distinguished album of bluegrass-adapted Beatles songs in 1967. Although Val played with progressive groups, he himself continued to favor a more traditional bluegrass sound; to this end, he founded the New England Bluegrass Boys in 1970 with guitarist Herb Applin, banjo player Bob French and bass player Bob Tidwell. The following year, they made their debut album. Although the group underwent many personnel changes over the next decade, Val was able to produce a remarkably consistent sound over the course of numerous albums. Sadly, Joe Val was stricken with cancer in the 1980s just as his band was beginning to achieve wider recognition; his last performance was in late 1984, and he died on June 11, 1985.

Raven Hill Orchard (Certified Organic)
255 Ossipee Hill Rd.
E. Waterboro, ME 04030
(207)247-4455

The event will occur this Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday, Sunday and Monday) from 9am-6pm. The Goodtime Stringband will be providing fun live music from noon-3pm on Monday.

There will be Face Painting, Pony Rides, Horse Drawn Wagon Rides
and Nature Talks. Not to mention Raven Hill Orchard Treats! Including pumpkin chip cookies, whoopie pies, smoothies, Raven Hill Freshly Roasted Coffee, frozen lattes, hot dogs, cider donuts and apple cider (hot or cold)!

The Orchard is 35 Minutes from Portland and Kennebunkport in a beautiful country setting. Bring lawn chairs or blankets and have a picnic among the blossoms!

For more information visit www.ravenhillorchard.com
View Map

http://www.goodtimestringband.com/mp3/ShebegandShemore.mp3

Here’s an MP3 of the band performing Jay Ungar’s composition Ashoken Farewell.  

http://www.goodtimestringband.com/mp3/ashoken.mp3

Filmmaker Ken Burns heard Ungar’s original Ashokan Farewell and was moved by it. He used it in two of his films: The Civil War, and his 1985 documentary Huey Long.

You might be interested in reading our earlier post about some of the wedding venues we’ve performed at. Click here to check it out

We are also perfectly happy to give advice to folks looking to have live music on their special day. Even if we aren’t available we can certainly recommend other bands that might be!

Note: Several of the folks in the Goodtime Stringband also perform with Amy Black and the Red Clay Rascals. This group plays more of mix of roots, rockabilly and rock music.

Drop us line – the info we’ll provide is free… but not cheap!!!

Image via Wikipedia

We have been fortunate enough to play traditional acoustic music (bluegrass, roots music, old time) at numerous weddings throughout New England. I thought it would be cool to write a post sharing some tips for nuptials planning for their special day.

In case you were wondering, roots music is a great option for weddings and heck – even anniversary parties! Have a look at this slide show prepared by our photographer friend Liz Linder showing how elegant, beautiful and memorable an event can be.

If you’re looking to hire a band (and came across this post),you are probably pretty far along in your planning. You may even have a tentative date and location. If you are still undecided on a location, here are a few that we have performed at and would recommend in New England:

Connecticut – There is a public garden in Hartford that we performed at called The Elizabeth Park Rose Garden. It is the oldest municipally operated rose garden in the country. It is a two and a half acre garden which has about 800 varieties of roses that amount to 15,000 plants. Very beautiful spot!

Maine and the Coast – The Bar Harbor area is a great location to have a wedding! Acadia National Park is quite excellent!

The Stone Mountain Arts center is a great rustic venue. The main hall is restored post and beam barn that includes a stage. Throughout the year, the Arts Center features national folk music acts. There are fishing/hunting lodges in the surrounding are that can host your out-of-town guests.

Massachusetts and the Cape – Thompson Island is a great location for a wedding – they have full service catering and everything else you could want. And speaking of islands Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are incredible locations

Rhode Island - Hammersmith Farm is an incredible venue. It was the summer headquarters of JFK during his administration and the childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Also the Kinney Bungalow is a beautiful spot situated on a working farm in Narragansett.

Western, Mass / Berkshires / New York – The Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is venue shown in this Liz Linder slide show. It is located very close to the New York/Massachusetts border and the location is breathtaking. There’s even a church on premises!

Hampshire College is also a great setting for an Autumn/Indian Summer wedding. The “big red barn” can accommodate groups for an indoor reception.

It seems that every two years, over fifty members of the family gather at a members home and spend time doing activities, sharing stories, having fun and heck – being a family! Past family gatherings have occurred in Wyoming, New Mexico and Tennessee.

The band has performed at bunches of events over the past few years and I have to say that the Petty family were some of the nicest folks we have met up with. We were happy to provide some fun bluegrass music to make their event a little more special!