Jeff Austin

Located along the serene Maremac River, Lost Hill Lake offers a natural venue and spot for a festival of interactive workshops and large, late night bonfire jams. Two stages are separated by the shade of a 50 year-old walnut grove, where the audience can participate in camping, have lake and river access and an assortment of food, artisan crafts and more. The 14-band lineup consists of local, regional and national touring bands performing a range of traditional and progressive bluegrass, jamgrass, Americana folk and more.

Congratulations to The Travelin’ McCourys on their GRAMMY win for “Best Bluegrass Album,” announced today in Los Angeles, CA. The band’s eponymous debut album was released on May 25th of last year after decades of playing-- the GRAMMY award pointing to both the band’s work ethic and their innovative style of bluegrass which honors the genre’s tradition and drives it forward. In the acceptance speech Rob McCoury thanked Del and Jean McCoury, saying “without them, none of this would have happened.”

The WinterWonderGrass Grass After Dark legacy has manifested through our attendees’ experiences of their favorite bands, bearing witness to iconic, true-to-WonderGrass moments in the most intimate of settings. Heading into the final month before the seventh annual Colorado festival, we’re pleased to announce this year’s Steamboat Grass After Dark, late night show series.

The WinterWonderGrass Festival had its first ever foray to the east in mid-December. It was a warm welcome to the beautiful Vermont Green Mountains at the Stratton Ski Resort. There’s a saying in New England, and it especially applies to Vermont this time of year. If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour. This adage proved true over all three days of the WinterWonderGrass Vermont festival. Opening day Friday started out mild, mid-40s a bit grey. Everything looked perfect for a fine festival kick-off.

Congratulations to The Travelin’ McCourys on their GRAMMY nomination for “Best Bluegrass Album,” which was announced today on https://www.grammy.com/.

The Jeff Austin Band played a wickedly high energy show at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom with openers on the first night of their two-night run.

This review is going to read more like a sci-fi story. Do not adjust your grammatical eyes or correct the run-on sentences.  You are entering my Shoe Fest Vision. For only 72 hours, gates opened at 10 am on Friday and closed down at 10 am on Monday Labor Day.  Once crossed into Shoe Fest 2018 at Camp Shaw-waw-nas-see (affectionately known as Camp Shaw) in Manteno IL, you were greeted with unexpected twists and left with a good moral learned.  A fest like this is filled with instant karma.

Jeff Austin Band | Sideshow Blues | RockyGrass
Jeff Austin Band | Boatman's Dance | RockyGrass

I had one question as I was pulling into Bean Blossom, Indiana for this year’s John Hartford Memorial Festival. “Can they keep the spirit of this thing alive with continued success?” There is something different and special happening in this event, and we all know what happens when beautiful special things really take off and become tremendously successful. I didn’t doubt that I was about to take part in something truly good, but I was – let’s say worried. I don’t want to see this festival lose its way.