2019 Bluegrass Festival Schedule
Located on Goodwin Street in Downtown Prescott (across from the Prescott Chamber of Commerce)
Saturday, June 22, 2019Live Performances | 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Evening Concert | 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Headliner Performance: Sugar & The Mint |
Sunday, June 23, 2019Live Performances | 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Raffle Prize Drawing | 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. |
The Prescott Bluegrass Festival
The festival started as a fiddle contest dedicated to a local fiddler. In the mid-80's it took on the character of a typical bluegrass festival. Until the mid-90’s, the event was held at Watson Lake Park, and then moved to its current downtown location on the Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza in 1996. At that time the event changed character again to one with FREE admission. It remains the only FREE bluegrass festival of its caliber in the western United States. Financial support comes from local businesses, Lamb Chevrolet, the City of Prescott, Arizona Commission on the Arts and many additional Friends of Bluegrass, as well as raffle sales, festival tee shirts and the festival program.
The Prescott Chamber of Commerce coordinates this FREE festival and strives to bring audiences a variety of bluegrass shows: traditional and contemporary; national, regional, and local groups; family and non-family bands – while maintaining the highest standards for the music. |
2019 Bluegrass Bands
Headliner: Sugar & The MintSaturday, June 22 | Evening Concert at 7:00 p.m.
Sugar and the Mint’s spirited take on folk and bluegrass excites audiences across the country. The band synthesizes genres into a sparkling repertoire of original songs, balancing first-time singalong hooks with robust musicality. Sugar and the Mint’s unique vocal approach features complex, ethereal harmonies supporting accessible melodies. Informed by everything from bluegrass to baroque to current pop and country, the traditional blend of guitar, violins, mandolin and bass instrumentation is anything but standard-fare acoustic music.
In 2017, the band took first place in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest. The Arizona group has since toured coast to coast and recorded two albums: Just Past Midnight (2018) and Grape Flavored (2017). The original music on these records showcases the band’s energy, songwriting artistry, and fresh perspective on folk and bluegrass. Sugar and the Mint has shared festival bills with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Emmylou Harris, Punch Brothers, Jerry Douglass, Tommy Emmanuel, and the Sam Bush Band and many more. The band’s festival booking history includes Telluride Bluegrass Festival (2018), Ogden Music Festival (2017, 2018), Pagosa Folk and Bluegrass Festival (2018), Rapidgrass Festival (2018), and Pickin’ in the Pines Acoustic Music Festival (2017). Sugar and the Mint hails from Prescott, Arizona. The acoustic string quintet consists of Matt Tatum Haynes (mandolin, vocals), Johan Glidden (lead vocals, guitar, violin), Glory Glidden (violin, vocals), Keenan Hammack (guitar, vocals), and Cosimo Bohrman (bass, vocals). The Central Valley BoysSaturday, June 22 & Sunday, June 23
The Central Valley Boys are dedicated to paying homage to the greats of the beautiful and fertile Central Valley of California.
No frills or fancy stuff, just down home Bluegrass music at its finest. A Central Valley Boys show typically includes songs performed in the traditional style in respect to Vern Williams. The greatest Bluegrass musician to live in California. Songs like "Bald Knob Arkansas" and "Oh Susannah!" done in the traditional style can be heard at a Central Valley Boys show. Thank you Vern for bringing the true Bluegrass Sound to Bluegrass music fans. Other great musical acts from the central valley were The Farmer Boys, Bobby Adamson and Woody Murray. Like the great Vern Williams; The Farmer Boys were originally from Arkansas. They met as teens in Farmerville, CA., singing together at a jukebox. The Farmer Boys recorded in the mid '50s with a young Buck Owens playing the guitar. Their music is part of the "Bakersfield" sound. Although it's not Bluegrass, we find many of their songs lend themselves to The Central Valley Boys sound. Of course, a Central Valley Boys show would be quite sparse without songs from the great first generation Bluegrass band, The Stanley Brothers. Carter and Ralph Stanley, from McClure Virginia in the Clinch Mountains brought their distinctive "Clinch Mountain music" to the world. Carter wrote and sang some of the music ever rendered with his Brother Ralph singing high tenor and adding his distinctive banjo sound. The Bluegrass world would not be the same today without the Stanley Brothers. The Central Valley Boys invite you to come see our show, stop and say hello and maybe pick a few with us after the show! Crying UncleSaturday, June 22 & Sunday, June 23
One of the finest young acoustic bands anywhere, Crying Uncle plays bluegrass and more with astounding instrumental skill and brotherly harmonies.
Whether playing straight-up bluegrass or virtuosic Dawg Grisman tunes, Crying Uncle delivers breathtaking instrumentals, impressive at any age. Crying Uncle was founded two years ago by Miles and Teo Quale, as a duo band with invited guest artists. Miles (age 14, on fiddle) and Teo (age 12, on mandolin), have been featured on NPR’s The California Report and performed at venues such as IBMA’s Diversity in Bluegrass Showcase. This weekend, at the Prescott Bluegrass Festival, the Quale brothers, National and State Champion fiddlers and pickers, are joined by award-winning bassist Jason Howard and Sugar & the Mint guitarist Keenan Hammack. Jason Howard currently plays bass in The Cross-Eyed Possum, The Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, and various jazz combos. Jason has been ranked 1st in the Arizona all state jazz competition in 2017 and 2018. Keenan Hammack has been an award winning flatpicker since the age of 14, taking the Arizona contest circuit by storm. Since then he has shared the stage with many of his heroes including Roy "Futureman" Wooten, Tristan Clarridge and many more. Disregarding his acceptance to Berklee College of Music, Keenan is currently touring with Telluride winning band Sugar and the Mint. When not playing as a duo or with invited guests, the brothers perform with their bluegrass band, Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band (CUBG). The band recently released their first CD, Crying Uncle . CUBG has opened for prestigious bands such as The Del McCoury Band and David Grisman Bluegrass Experience . In 2018, the bluegrass band was featured on a TEDxTalk with Phoebe Hunt. Winners of the 2018 Pickin’ in the Pines Band Contest in Flagstaff AZ, and selected by the International Bluegrass Music Association to perform at IBMA’s 2018 World of Bluegrass in North Carolina, CUBG is making waves in the bluegrass community. Old Blue BandSaturday, June 22 & Sunday, June 23
“OLD BLUE” is a bluegrass band. They play bluegrass music the old fashioned way, with much attention paid to the original music of the founders of the style. Folks like Bill Monroe, The Stanley Brothers, Flatt and Scruggs. The band is dedicated to the preservation of the music from the past and the continued presentation of its character in the present day. They leave the future development of this music to a new generation.
“OLD BLUE” are seasoned professionals who have played this style for decades. They are some of the best in the business from the western United States. Band members are: Dick Brown on banjo and vocals, Thomas Porter on guitar and vocals, Jim Govern on mandolin and vocals, Bob Denoncourt on bass and vocals, Marty Warburton on guitar and vocals, and Alvin Blaine on dobro (and other instruments). These gentlemen present bluegrass music the way it was in the early days. Fans will experience the music the way it used to be, and still is…played by “OLD BLUE”. The Blue JsSaturday, June 22 & Sunday, June 23
The Blue Js are a traditional bluegrass band hailing from the Bay & Central Valley areas of Northern California. A band of second and third generation bluegrass musicians, these young men are forging a style all their own, steeped in the music of pioneering bluegrass acts such as, Bill Monroe, Don Reno & Smiley/Harrell, Red Allen & Frank Wakefield, and Del McCoury, as well as country artists such as Buck Owens and George Jones.
Their shows are crowd favorites, wildly engaging, fun and full of stunning musicianship with a mature musical sensibility! The Blue Js appear at many events throughout the Western United States. Recent appearances include California Bluegrass Association Father's Day Festival, Parkfield Bluegrass Festival, Berkeley Bluegrass Festival, Susanville Bluegrass Festival, Viva Las VeGrass, Bluegrass on the Beach, and Mount St. Helens Bluegrass Festival. Band members include: Josh Gooding (Mandolin, Vocals), Jesse Personeni (Banjo, Guitar, Vocals), Jacob Gooding (Bass, Vocals), and John Gooding (Guitar, Vocals) |
2019 Bluegrass SponsorsPresenting Sponsor
Official Radio Station of the
Prescott Bluegrass Festival: 2019 Friends of Bluegrass2019 Raffle PrizesEnter for your chance to win!
Ticket Prices: 3 for $5.00 7 for $10.00 12 for $15.00 20 for $20.00 Raffle Drawing on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. (Winners do not need to be present to win) Camping AvailableFirst-come, first-serve only
Dry camping is available at the nearby Prescott Mile High Middle School campus. Opens: Thursday, June 20 at noon Closes: Monday, June 24 at noon Bluegrass Festival Sponsorship & Ads |