I began writing these newsletter/articles for the Sportsmen’s Americana Music Foundation back in March of 2019. My calculations say that this is my 74th article in 74 months. I’ve written with the help of three amazing editors, Elmer Ploetz, Jeff Meiers and Angela Hastings. I’ve learned a lot as a reluctant writer and also learned a lot about the Bluegrass bands and fans that live in and pass though Western New York. We love this music because it is accessible to every man and woman but it also has no ceiling. The skill and heart in every note never gets to an end.
This will be my last article. My thanks to the Sportsmen’s American Foundation, Journal for Americana Music (JAM), the talented and dedicated editors and everyone who has been reading my column and the other wonderful columns in our JAM. I’m talking to a replacement for me now. By the way, please bookmark www.BuffaloBluegrass.com and check us often. I will continue to maintain the latest in local Bluegrass at that website.
As May unfolds and summer is coming, plans are being made for many music festivals, and a big chunk of those are Bluegrass Festivals. The following website has a complete list (actually I added some of our local ones that are new). The list grows every year. I counted 61 Bluegrass festivals in the month of July only. https://bluegrasscountry.org/festivals/
My list below is made up of New York State and Pennsylvania only Bluegrass Festivals only. These festivals differ greatly in ticket prices and things that make each unique. For instance, some have a Kid’s Academy associated with them. That means your kids or grandkids have an opportunity to learn some Bluegrass and get to play on the main stage during the festival. Gettysburg is a well-established one with a May and an August festival. You also have the chance to tour the village and battlefields of Gettysburg. Of the festivals that I have highlighted below, Grey Fox is the largest with the most top-rated Bluegrass bands and multiple stages. Great Blue Heron is the most diverse with jazz and jam bands along with Bluegrass. The ticket prices and camping fees have a very wide range, so you need to do some research online to fit your budget. The size of the festival, as far as crowds, will most often be linked to the amount of the ticket price, the higher the ticket price, the larger the crowds in most cases and the higher level of the bands.
MAY
15-18 Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Gettysburg, PA, May 15-18 (with a kid’s Academy)
JUNE
5/29-6/1 NEPA Bluegrass Festival, Tunkhannock, PA
5/30-6/1 Adirondack Bluegrass League Annual Roundup, Galway, NY
5-8 Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival, Wind Gap, PA (with a kid’s Academy)
12-14 Thousand Islands Bluegrass Festival, Clayton, NY
19-21 Smoked Country Jam Bluegrass Festival, Cross Fork, PA
25-29 Remington Ryde Bluegrass Festival, Centre Hall, PA
JULY
4-6 Great Blue Heron Music Festival, Sherman, NY
16-20 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Oak Hill, NY (with a Kid’s Academy)
13-18 Augusta Heritage Center Bluegrass & Vocal Week, Elkins, WV (a weeklong music camp)
24-27 Brantling Bluegrass Festival, Sodus, NY
7/31-8/3 Appalachian Fiddle & Bluegrass Association Festival, Wind Gap, PA (with a Kid’s Academy)
AUGUST
10 Three corners Bluegrass Festival – The Annex WNY, 12139 Olean Rd, Chaffee, NY
16 Mayville Bluegrass Festival, Big Inlet Brewing, 6169 Elm Flat Rd, Mayville, NY
14-17 Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Gettysburg, PA (with a Kid’s Academy)
21-23 Pickin’ in the Pasture, Lodi, NY
23 Sunny hill campground bluegrass festival, Bolivar, NY
21-24 Crooktop Old-Time Music Festival, Bradford, PA
The Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder concert on Sunday, June 8th from 1-3 pm at the Sportsmen’s Music Park directly behind the Sportsmen’s Tavern at 326 Amherst St. in Buffalo has a few more tickets available. If you’ve never been to the Music Park at the Sportsmen’s before, you are in for a real treat! Sight lines and the sound system are both outstanding! Make sure to bring a lawn chair and a rain poncho because this event is rain or shine. Information and a link to purchase your tickets can be found at this Facebook Event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1159968348689285
Ricky Skaggs began playing mandolin and singing as a very young boy in Kentucky. He even played with Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs on their TV show back when he was 7 years old. Here it is on YouTube. https://youtu.be/Oh0Py4fNRqc?si=FbhrUqBkJCFnudTo
As time went on, Ricky grew as a musician and went on along with Keith Whitley to play in the Ralph Stanley Band. Ricky tells the story of this rare opportunity for the young musicians. https://youtu.be/74SSBdKLKVA?si=uGiP9jgaKrOmUkQ9
Skaggs later joined The Country Gentlemen in Washington, DC, and J. D. Crowe’s New South from Lexington, Kentucky. In 1976, Skaggs formed progressive bluegrass band Boone Creek, including members Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas. For a few years, Skaggs was a member of Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band. He wrote the arrangements for Harris’s 1980 bluegrass-roots album, Roses in the Snow. In addition to arranging for Harris, Skaggs sang harmony and played mandolin and fiddle in the Hot Band. Here he is playing with Boone Creek. A personal note: this is where I started following Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas.
https://youtu.be/zEr9ZlhUcBw?si=qqbyDpxWhUeC3AVn
Skaggs launched his own career in 1980, achieving 12 No. 1 hits, 8 CMA awards, and 8 ACM awards. In 1982, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the youngest musician ever to be inducted at that time. Guitarist and producer Chet Atkins credited Skaggs with “single-handedly” saving country music. Skaggs is considered one of the pioneers of the Neotraditional country sub-genre.
In 1981, he debuted on Epic Records with the album Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine, which brought him to both the country and pop charts and produced two No. 1 hits. In 1982, he released Highways & Heartaches, his only platinum album, featuring the instrumental heavy “Highway 40 Blues”. Keeping with his instrumental heavy themes, he released “Country Boy” on the album of the same name. He also had Bill Monroe as a guest on this album.
Exploring a role as producer, Skaggs produced Dolly Parton’s album White Limozeen, which started her comeback in country music. Skaggs also guested on other albums. In 1995, he sang with Vince Gill on “Go Rest High on That Mountain”, which later won CMA’s Song of the Year and was determined by BMI to be the Most-Performed Song in 1997.
Ricky always had a deep respect for Bill Monroe and the innovations Monroe brought to Bluegrass and particularly the mandolin. He first played with Bill Monroe a year before he played with Flatt and Scruggs, as a 6 year old boy. Many years later, Ricky recorded the song, “Country Boy” with Bill Monroe playing on Ricky’s album and video of the same name. The video of “Country Boy” went on to become the country music video of the year in 1985. Here it is with Bill Monroe acting in the video with Ricky. https://youtu.be/l_QheuTi8Q8?si=jqjA3XFb96wpeAbp
Ricky and his band, Kentucky Thunder marked a return to Bluegrass after he made a name for himself as a country music singer and musician. Here is a video of Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder recorded earlier this year. https://youtu.be/ngshZoh4pwo?si=YxBadQdh2PbjTjF9
This concert is a major step forward for making Buffalo a “must stop” destination for national, touring Bluegrass bands in the future. I hope you can be there to enjoy this very special opportunity being offered by Dwane Hall and his family at the Sportsmen’s.
This past week, I became aware of another national touring Bluegrass band performing in Buffalo this summer. Greensky Bluegrass band will be in concert at Terminal B on Fuhrmann Boulevard in Buffalo’s outer harbor on Thursday, July 3rd.
I would like to highlight another summer local Bluegrass event in this Round Up. For many years, Earl’s Drive In in Chaffee NY hosted the country’s biggest Bluegrass bands. When Earl passed away and later when his iconic restaurant closed and demolished a major venue for Bluegrass disappeared. Or so it seemed. This past winter, a promoter who has years of experience in putting on a major festival in Florida, told me that she is bringing Bluegrass back to the stage that Earl built behind the site of the restaurant. The location, named “The Annex” is the site of “The Three Corners Bluegrass Festival”.
The festival happens on August 10 from 10 AM to 5 PM and will feature Creek Bend, The Gibson Brothers, Pythagorus and a warm up set by the WNY Fiddle Kids.
Pythagorus is a Bluegrass band made up of students who studied Bluegrass music performance at East Tennessee State University in it’s prestigeous Bluegrass, Old-Time, Country Music
Department of Appalachian Studies. Their website reads as follows. Pythagoras began in a sweltering college dorm in the mountains of East Tennessee. Their roots in traditional bluegrass blend with a fresh, contemporary edge bring listeners across genres and generations to their shows.
Pythagoras features an international lineup of talented musicians, all now calling Johnson City, Tennessee, home: Grant Dresnok on guitar, Gracie Grossman on fiddle, Gabriel Hebert on banjo, Joe Henson on mandolin, and Lexi Wagnitz on upright bass. In 2024, the band recorded and released their debut album, Theorem, and embarked on their first international tour, leading up to the Westport Folk Festival in Ireland. Their relentless drive and ability to connect with audiences have quickly earned them a reputation as one of the most exciting young bands in bluegrass. From bustling festivals and clubs to intimate listening rooms, weddings, and private events, Pythagoras delivers a memorable, unique musical experience and energy to every show. Despite their roots in tradition, the ever-changing nature of the music industry keeps their sights set firmly on the future. Whether you’re a lifelong bluegrass fan or new to the genre, a Pythagoras show offers something for all music lovers.
The WNY Fiddle Kids are all private violin/fiddle students of Heather Pennington. They travel from Springville, East Concord, East Aurora, Orchard Park, Delevan, West Valley and Java, NY and range from age 7-16.
Creek Bend is a long time favorite of Bluegrass crowds in WNY. The current line up is founding member, Rich Schaefer- bass, Mark Panfil- banjo and dobro, Chris Panfil- guitar,mandolin and fiddle and Brendan Gossen- fiddle and mandolin.
The Gibson Brothers are a very successful Bluegrass band from Northern New York state. Raised on a dairy farm and earning accolades throughout the Bluegrass world, their latest album is making quite a stir among critics. They are an American bluegrass band which has performed professionally since the late 1980s.
The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) awarded the Gibson Brothers Emerging Artist of the Year honors in 1998 following the Alan O’Bryant produced album Another Night of Waiting on the Hay Holler label. They debuted on the Grand Ole Opry on April 11, 2003. “Ring the Bell” (written by Chet O’Keefe) won Song of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year in 2010. Their first tour abroad was to Ireland and then Germany in 2010. In 2012 they returned to Germany with stops in Denmark, France, and Italy. The brothers debuted on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion on October 4, 2014 at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota and returned on January 17, 2015. Here is a list of more of the awards The Gibson Brothers have won:
International Bluegrass Music Association Awards IBMA
Emerging Artist of the Year – 1998
Song of the Year – “Ring the Bell” – 2010 and “They Called It Music” – 2013
Vocal Group of the Year – 2011 and 2013
Album of the Year – Help My Brother – 2011
Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year – “Ring the Bell” – 2010 and “Singing as We Rise” – Gibson Brothers with Ricky Skaggs – 2012
Songwriter of the Year – Eric Gibson – 2013
Entertainer of the Year – 2012 and 2013
Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America Awards SPGBMA
Bluegrass Album of the Year – Help My Brother – 2012
Song of the Year – “Help My Brother” – 2012
Songwriters of the Year – Leigh & Eric Gibson – 2012
Song of the Year – “They Called It Music” – 2014
Gospel Group of the Year (Contemporary): The Gibson Brothers – 2015
Vocal Group of the Year: The Gibson Brothers – 2015
Our concert last night with the Buffalo Bluegrass Youth Ensemble was a resounding success! Listeners packed Wayside Presbyterian Church to see and hear the 40 or so members of this group of young Bluegrass musicians. Our entire show is online at https://www.facebook.com/groups/651267914903997/permalink/24005094945761298/
A few of our members will be playing the warm up set for Joe Mullins at the West Falls Center for the Arts on Friday May 30th and our entire group will perform at the Erie County Fair from 1-4 PM on Sunday, August 17. We are looking for new members ages 10-18 in the fall. Email for more information at MarkPanfil@hotmail.com
Local and Touring Bluegrass bands in Western New York this summer.
5, May, Mon, 6:30 – 8pm, Buffalo bluegrass youth ensemble concert, Wayside Presbyterian Church, Hamburg, NY
6, May, Tue, 8 – 10:30pm, Old Crow Medicine Show, Smith Opera House, Geneva, NY
7, May, Wed, 9 – 11:30pm, Monthly Bluegrass and old-time concert and jam session, Nietzsche’s, Buffalo, NY
8, May, Thu, 5:30 – 7:30pm, Creek Bend – Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo
10, May, Sat, 2:30 – 4:30pm, Buffalo old time jam and gathering at Crane library, Buffalo NY
10, May, Sat, 7 – 10pm, Tribute to the Stars of the grand Old Opry- West Falls Center for the Arts, West Falls, NY
11, May, Sun, 2 – 7pm, the Monthly Jam session Bennington Lanes Bennington Lanes, 1374 Clinton Street Road, Attica, NY
11, May, Sun, 5:30 – 6:30pm, The Crooked North at the Lilac Festival, Highland Park, Rochester, NY
15, May, Thu, 12 – 2:15pm, Buffalo Bluegrass All Stars Lunch, Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo, NY
18, May, Sun, 7:30 – 8:30am, Home Made Jam – Bennington Bar & Grill, 1374 Clinton Street Rd, Attica, NY
18, May, Sun, 2 – 5pm, United Heritage Fiddlers Open Jam, Dayton Fire Hall, Dayton NY
18, May, Sun, 4 – 7pm, Old time string jam session, 42 North Brewing Company, East Aurora, NY
30, May, Fri, 7 – 9:30pm, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers and warm up by the Buffalo Bluegrass Youth Ens., West Falls Center for the Arts, West Falls, NY
4, Jun, Wed, 9 – 11:30pm, Monthly Bluegrass and old time concert and jam session, Nietzsche’s, Buffalo
5 – 8, Jun, Thu – Sun, Wind gap bluegrass festival, Wind Gap, PA
5, June, 12 – 2:15pm, Buffalo Bluegrass All Stars Lunch, Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo, NY – 6, Jun, Fri, 6:30 – 8pm
First Friday Acoustic Folk Jam, Delevan-Yorkshire Public Library
6, Jun, Fri, 7 – 9:30pm, Unspoken Tradition Band, West Falls Center for the Arts
8, Jun, Sun, 1 – 3pm, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Sportsmen’s Tavern, Buffalo, NY
21, Jun, Sat, 6 – 9pm, Panfil brothers trio, East Eden Tavern & Smoke House, Eden NY
2, Jul, Wed, 9 – 11:45pm, Creek bend show and jam, Nietzsche’s, Buffalo NY
3, Jul, Thu, Creek bend trio w Jim Russert, Rich and Mark, Gateway Harbor Center, Tonawanda, NY
3, Jul, Thu, 7 – 9pm, Greensky bluegrass band, Terminal B, Outer Harbor, Buffalo, NY
4, Jul, Fri, 3:30 – 6:30pm, Del McCoury Band, Point of the Bluff Vineyards, Hammondsport, NY
5, Jul, Sat, 10am – 11pm, Great Blue Heren festival, Sherman, NY
10, Jul, Thu, 7 – 8:30pm, Creek Bend – Town Concert, Victor Town Park Lodge, Victor, NY
12, Jul, Sat, 11am – 1pm, Creek Bend – Chalk Art Festival, Perry, NY
12, Jul, Sat, 6 – 9pm, Creek Bend – Church Concert, Community Fellowship Church, Middleport, NY
16, Jul, Wed, 9 – 10pm, BanjerDan, Nietzsche’s, Buffalo, NY
16 – 20, Jul, Fri,- Sun, Grey fox 2025, Oak Hill, NY
24 – 27, Jul, Thu-Sun, 5pm-10 pm, Brantling bluegrass fest, Sodus, NY
10, Aug, Sun, Three corners Bluegrass Festival – Creek Bend, Gibson Brothers and PythagorusThe Annex WNY, Chaffee, NY
16, Aug, Sat, , Gene Johnson, Gregg Weldy, Doug Yeomans Bluegrass, Creek Bend and more! Mayville Bluegrass Festival, Big Inlet Brewing, Mayville NY
17, Aug, Sun, 1 – 4pm, Buffalo Bluegrass Youth Ensemble at Erie County fair, Erie County Fair & Exposition, Hamburg, NY
23, Aug, Sat, 5:30 – 8:30pm, Sunny hill campground bluegrass festival featuring Kody Norris Band, Cutter and Cash, the Panfil Family Band
21, Sep, Sun, 7:30 – 9:30pm, , Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas coming to Lewiston NY. ArtPark
Stay tuned and as always, Keep on Pickin’ Well, friends.
Mark Panfil
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