Bluegrass, folk music lovers converge for Five-String Fest

Published: Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 14:25 PM.

Sometimes we play for hours and dont know each others name.

This is the heart of bluegrassa music finely tuned in back yards and on front porches, among friends. Tedd Williams, a guitar player from Duluth, Minn., said thats his favorite part of festivals like the Five-String Fest at Elliott Family Farms in Lawndale, which ran Thursday through Sunday.

I usually end up at really big festivals. This place is gorgeous. Its small but its easy to access, he said. For me, these are all about sitting on the porch playing.

Beside Williams, as he sits on the porchs wooden floor, is his fellow Minnesota-native friend Tom Driessen, who said he came to the festival for the intramural sport of jamming.

Thats what they call their informal sessionsjamming.

Steve Potts, who just met Driessen at the first annual festival, said the festival brought a good mix of bands and shows.

Among some of the most well-known acts who played this weekend were Big Daddy Love, Tony Trischka Territory, the Travelin McCourys and Willie Watson from Old Crowe Medicine Show.

Saturday afternoon, the sound of 11 children singing Ill Fly Away danced across the farms hills and back to a group of bluegrass lovers sitting on the grass in front of the stage.

While the Sweet Potato Pie Kids strummed banjos, guitars, fiddles and mandolins, Roger Maye smiled to the music.

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Bluegrass, folk music lovers converge for Five-String Fest