Grassfire at Nelson Ledges – Festival Preview: Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

Grassfire at Nelson Ledges – Festival Preview: Something Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

by Bill Kurzenberger

On the semiquincentennial anniversary weekend marking the United States’ 250 years of independence from a tyrannical government (the past year or so notwithstanding) there are over a hundred festivals around the Buckeye state celebrating the 4th of July weekend, listed in full on OhioFestivals.net. However for the faithful festive crowds of jam-band and bluegrass music from northeast Ohio to sister states, the choice is clear and the destination is set: Grassfire Festival at Nelson Ledges in Garrettsville, Ohio.

The beauteous Nelson Ledges Quarry Park has been well-known as a premier venue for madcap music fests for decades. Your mileage may vary at “the Ledges” depending on your proclivities and tolerance for unadulterated freakish fun, altered states of mind, never-ending music with raucous dub-step until dawn in the ‘war zone’ camping area, and sand… it gets everywhere. Navigating to the designated campsite and through the labyrinth of paths leading to the beach, festival-goers are greeted by a gorgeous man-made quarry lake with crystalline turquoise water fed by a natural underwater spring with areas for swimming, sunbathing, cliff-diving and a small island reachable on floatable watercraft.

As the two stages come alive on festival weekends it becomes a hippie-fied unbridled utopia, making the tropical-like setting a favorite destination for Ohioans and festival-goers for four decades. This weekend at the Ledges the sun will shine brightly on some of the country’s premier bluegrass, newgrass and jamgrass artists, while showcasing multiple Ohio-based acts. For fans of acoustic traditional music, country bluegrass and its emerging offshoot genres, the lineup spans the horizon with something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

 

Topping the lineup are Greensky Bluegrass, Del McCoury Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, The Travelin’ McCourys, Peter Rowan and the Walls of Time Band, Yonder Mountain String Band and Keller and The Keels, all well-known to genre aficionados and Ledges dwellers as these masters of their craft have appeared at Grassfire and/or Gratefulfests for years – decades for Keller, Yonder Mountain, Sam, Peter, Del and his band. Adding musical wisecracking to the equation are the Steep Canyon Rangers, joined at times by comedian/banjoist Steve Martin. One of this decade’s brightly shining stars, fiddlist Michael Cleveland Flamekeeper makes his return to Grassfire, along with Fireside Collective while borrowing the Grateful Dead’s Reckoning album for their set.

Some of Ohio’s old, new, jam and bluegrass bands will also be spotlighted on the permanent main stage and the wood pavilion’s second stage. David Mayfield Parade, northeast Ohio’s top bluegrass bandleader, has long been a lively staple at Nelson Ledges. The bourbon-fueled barnburners of trashgrass Rumpke Mountain Boys and The Whiskey Drinks are well-known for keeping the party going… sometimes until sunrise. Sultry songs will be led by stand-up songstresses Chloe and the Steelstrings, Lea Marra & the River Boys and upstart quartet Jenny and the Streetwalkers, followed by moon-howling hunters Hunter Root and Hunter Skeens and the Forerunners.

The schedule is rounded out early Saturday with the additions of Steve Turner’s Sound Bath on the beach, Sibling Rivalry and The Frettliners. In the evenings the skies come alive as well with pyrotechnic fireworks, and skydivers dropping onto the beach.

Photos courtesy of Nelson Ledges on Facebook

Details about this year’s Grassfire Festival and its host venue Nelson Ledges Quarry Park including ticketing and camping information can be found on its website nlqp.com . Come prepared to enjoy Ohio’s grass of all flavors, let your dancing feet be your guide, and expect the unexpected.

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