(Sept. 22, 2016) The 24th annual Berlin Fiddlers Convention returns this weekend with free live music by four local and regional bands, as well as competitions in multiple levels and categories.
Berlin Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Larnet St. Amant said Fiddlers would stick with its “tried and true” formula and will keep to much the same schedule of events as during previous years.
“It’s always been a really great event for us,” she said. “Friday night ends up being a nice, family vibe, and then Saturday we switch the stage [to] near the Atlantic Hotel end of town for the competition.”
Last year’s band competition winners, local father-son duo Blind Wind, will co-headline the live entertainment lineup downtown starting at 7 p.m. on Friday at the north end of Main Street.
Also performing Friday night is Grammy nominee Audie Blacklock, who will deliver a solo set and join Baltimore-based roots group Charm City Junction.
Blind Wind and Charm City Junction again will perform on Saturday morning, starting at 10 a.m. at the south end of Main Street, downtown.
The competition portion of the event will follow at about noon, with categories that include adult and child guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and full-band. Registration will begin at 10 a.m.
Also on Saturday, Charm City Junction bandleader Patrick McAvinue will hold a fiddle master class from 10-10:45 a.m. The fee is $10, and registration will begin at 10 a.m.
Berlin Brewery Burley Oak will provide a beer garden on Friday and Saturday. Food vendors will include personal pizzas by Siculi Italian Kitchen and sandwiches from On What Grounds, along with several food trucks.
The local group Country Grass will close out Fiddlers on Sunday with a gospel jam on the lawn of the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum from noon to 3 p.m.
Steve Frene, co-owner of Victorian Charm, helped organize the event and will help run the show on Sunday. During the warmer months, he and the other members of the Country Grass have played outside his Main Street shop on Friday nights, often drawing sizeable crowds.
A gospel jam, he said, is a long tradition in bluegrass music.
“The people in the hills who came up with bluegrass didn’t have big pipe organs or pianos or things like that, so they had bluegrass instruments accompany them with their church music,” he said.
“Later, traditional bluegrass players would always include a gospel number or two near the end of the performance, or at the final day of the festival. It’s kind of interwoven there with mainstream bluegrass and mountain music, and a little bit of the old hymns done acoustic style, with banjo, mandolin and guitar.”
Frene, who had a hand in organizing Fiddlers, said he always dreamed of adding a third day that featured an eclectic mix of performers.
“It’s an invitation to all of the competitors and spectators, even if they didn’t play, they are welcome to come and join in, whether it’s playing with those that are performing or coming up and doing a song on their own,” he said. “Country Grass hosts it, so we always have a guitar, a bass and a mandolin, so if it’s just one person who wants to sing a song or one instrumentalist, we kind of facilitate it.”
Other full bands have expressed interest in playing the jam this year, he said, including Blue Crab Crossing and Charlie Paparella.
“We kind of start at noon with the gospel thing, but we run out of gospel material after about an hour or two, depending on how many participants we have,” Frene said. “At some point we will just segue into regular, traditional bluegrass and an open jam.
“We’ll be playing all the favorite bluegrass songs that we know and other people know, and it’s just kind of a cool way to get up and celebrate a great festival and have some fun with other musicians,” he added.
This year, the three-day event was moved back to coincide with Sunfest in Ocean City.
“We’re trying to pull people from Sunfest because all of the merchants in town requested that and we feel like that makes sense,” St. Amant said. “We’re excited and the weather looks great, and we’ve got lots of great new vendors, from pottery to art and plenty of handmade stuff. It’s going to be fun.”
Nate Clendenen, who helped organize and will emcee the event, said attendees should “expect great fiddle music throughout the weekend.”
“My highlight is always the convention on Saturday – seeing folks of all ages come together and perform this music, being a part of this artistic tradition, it’s timeless … and genuinely American,” he said. “It’s going to be a ton a fun. I can’t wait.”
Throughout the weekend, St. Amant said she hoped the event would give those who are new to the town a taste of the unit, togetherness and collaboration that routinely happens in Berlin.
“We all work together in this town and we want everyone come here and have a good experience. But also, we want them to leave wanting to come back and bring other people,” she said. “Take advantage of what we have to offer. Go to a restaurant, see it all, but then know that you can come back and it’s going to be here again.
“We’re all still going to be here,” St. Amant continued. “It’s always like this. We all want you to come back and we all have a good time and we all support each other, and we’re all pretty happy.”
For more information, visit www.BerlinFiddlers.com or www.facebook.com/BerlinFiddlersConvention.
Berlin Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Larnet St. Amant said Fiddlers would stick with its “tried and true” formula and will keep to much the same schedule of events as during previous years.
“It’s always been a really great event for us,” she said. “Friday night ends up being a nice, family vibe, and then Saturday we switch the stage [to] near the Atlantic Hotel end of town for the competition.”
Last year’s band competition winners, local father-son duo Blind Wind, will co-headline the live entertainment lineup downtown starting at 7 p.m. on Friday at the north end of Main Street.
Also performing Friday night is Grammy nominee Audie Blacklock, who will deliver a solo set and join Baltimore-based roots group Charm City Junction.
Blind Wind and Charm City Junction again will perform on Saturday morning, starting at 10 a.m. at the south end of Main Street, downtown.
The competition portion of the event will follow at about noon, with categories that include adult and child guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle and full-band. Registration will begin at 10 a.m.
Also on Saturday, Charm City Junction bandleader Patrick McAvinue will hold a fiddle master class from 10-10:45 a.m. The fee is $10, and registration will begin at 10 a.m.
Berlin Brewery Burley Oak will provide a beer garden on Friday and Saturday. Food vendors will include personal pizzas by Siculi Italian Kitchen and sandwiches from On What Grounds, along with several food trucks.
The local group Country Grass will close out Fiddlers on Sunday with a gospel jam on the lawn of the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum from noon to 3 p.m.
Steve Frene, co-owner of Victorian Charm, helped organize the event and will help run the show on Sunday. During the warmer months, he and the other members of the Country Grass have played outside his Main Street shop on Friday nights, often drawing sizeable crowds.
A gospel jam, he said, is a long tradition in bluegrass music.
“The people in the hills who came up with bluegrass didn’t have big pipe organs or pianos or things like that, so they had bluegrass instruments accompany them with their church music,” he said.
“Later, traditional bluegrass players would always include a gospel number or two near the end of the performance, or at the final day of the festival. It’s kind of interwoven there with mainstream bluegrass and mountain music, and a little bit of the old hymns done acoustic style, with banjo, mandolin and guitar.”
Frene, who had a hand in organizing Fiddlers, said he always dreamed of adding a third day that featured an eclectic mix of performers.
“It’s an invitation to all of the competitors and spectators, even if they didn’t play, they are welcome to come and join in, whether it’s playing with those that are performing or coming up and doing a song on their own,” he said. “Country Grass hosts it, so we always have a guitar, a bass and a mandolin, so if it’s just one person who wants to sing a song or one instrumentalist, we kind of facilitate it.”
Other full bands have expressed interest in playing the jam this year, he said, including Blue Crab Crossing and Charlie Paparella.
“We kind of start at noon with the gospel thing, but we run out of gospel material after about an hour or two, depending on how many participants we have,” Frene said. “At some point we will just segue into regular, traditional bluegrass and an open jam.
“We’ll be playing all the favorite bluegrass songs that we know and other people know, and it’s just kind of a cool way to get up and celebrate a great festival and have some fun with other musicians,” he added.
This year, the three-day event was moved back to coincide with Sunfest in Ocean City.
“We’re trying to pull people from Sunfest because all of the merchants in town requested that and we feel like that makes sense,” St. Amant said. “We’re excited and the weather looks great, and we’ve got lots of great new vendors, from pottery to art and plenty of handmade stuff. It’s going to be fun.”
Nate Clendenen, who helped organize and will emcee the event, said attendees should “expect great fiddle music throughout the weekend.”
“My highlight is always the convention on Saturday – seeing folks of all ages come together and perform this music, being a part of this artistic tradition, it’s timeless … and genuinely American,” he said. “It’s going to be a ton a fun. I can’t wait.”
Throughout the weekend, St. Amant said she hoped the event would give those who are new to the town a taste of the unit, togetherness and collaboration that routinely happens in Berlin.
“We all work together in this town and we want everyone come here and have a good experience. But also, we want them to leave wanting to come back and bring other people,” she said. “Take advantage of what we have to offer. Go to a restaurant, see it all, but then know that you can come back and it’s going to be here again.
“We’re all still going to be here,” St. Amant continued. “It’s always like this. We all want you to come back and we all have a good time and we all support each other, and we’re all pretty happy.”
For more information, visit www.BerlinFiddlers.com or www.facebook.com/BerlinFiddlersConvention.