An eco-conscious wedding showcase for New England engaged couples!

Sunday, February, 14, 2010
12:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Hyatt Harborside Boston
101 Harborside Drive,
Boston, Massachusetts, USA 02128
Tel: +1 617 568 1234

Come to the Hyatt and spend the day -and night- with your honey. The Hyatt is offering a limited number of hotel rooms, at a special rate, to people attending the show. On Valentine’s Day enjoy the Hyatt’s Valentine’s Day dinner special, a three-course meal, at a 10% discount per person. If you stay at the Hyatt overnight, your entrance to the show will be complimentary.

1. Eco-Swag bags for the first 100 Guests through the door
2. Music and drinks in the Chillax Lounge!!
3. Informal Eco-Couture fashion show
4. Prizes and Giveaways
5. Bring your old Cell Phones in for recycling

Please visit the website to pre-register www.elegantlygreenweddingshowcase.com

USE PROMO: CODEEGWSVENDOR to pay $12 in advance (you must pre-register to receive discount) It’s going to cost $25 at the door!

Harvard University (Cambridge, MA)  has scheduled an academic event on February 6 focused on bluegrass music. The one day seminar is entitled, Fire On The Mountain – A Bluegrass Symposium, and will feature a keynote address and panel discussions including a number of prominent bluegrass musicians and educators. Things kick off at 10:30 a.m. with an opening keynote from Berklee’s Matt Glaser, and will run throughout the day, capped by an early evening concert.

Presenters and panelists include legendary musicians Sam Bush and Bobby Hicks, noted banjoist, producer and record company exec Alison Brown (a 1984 Harvard grad), luthier Lynn Dudenbostel, historian Neil Rosenberg, and Jack Tottle, founding director of the bluegrass program at ETSU. Topics for the panels include a look at the history and traditions of bluegrass, the craftsmen and the instruments who make the music, and where the genre is moving in contemporary music.

A pair of current Harvard students will also be featured. Forrest O’Connor, a senior music major who is doing his undergraduate thesis on luthiery, proposed this topic to the administration, and has been involved at every level of planning and implementation. He is the son of fiddle/violin master Mark O’Connor, and founder of the Harvard College American Music Association. Clint Miller is set to graduate in 2011 with a Philosophy degree, and is a blues and bluegrass guitarist. Both will perform in the evening concert.

The Symposium will be hosted by the Harvard Committee on Degrees in Folklore & Mythology, along with the Office for the Arts (OFA), the Office of the Provost, the Undergraduate Council, and the Harvard College American Music Association (HCAMA) There is no charge to attend, nor reservation required. Full details can be found online here.

Don’t miss your chance to study with topnotch musicians who will be playing at the Joe Val Festival
Most are IBMA Players of the Year!

• Michael Cleveland on fiddle
• Jesse Brock on mandolin
• Greg Cahill on banjo
• Marshall Wilborn on bass
• Jimmy Heffernan on dobro

More information can be found here:
http://www.bbu.org/JVMasterClasses.html

I just wanted to share this video produced by George DeLuca showcasing the “Lowell Dreaming” artwork exhibit by Linda McCluskey and a performance of “Milltown Moon” by Melvern Taylor (unplugged). Great stuff, showcasing the architecture, art and music of our mill town!

From the Nine Inch Nails’ Web site:

We’ve been going through the NIN touring and studio rigs and are getting rid of a large selection of gear and equipment the band is no longer in need of. It’s being listed on eBay here. We do not know which (if any) tour these items are from unless specified, nor can we get any items autographed, so please do not ask. Hundreds of items will be listed over the next several weeks such as guitars, keyboards, amplifiers, drums, staging, anvil cases, cables, rack/outboard gear, guitar effects, and pedal boards. Check the eBay page regularly for new listings, or follow @nineinchnails on Twitter for updates. More information can be found in the descriptions of each item.

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.