What with all the music acts, beer and wine tasting, flatpicking and other contests, antiques appraisal and various workshops, the fifth annual Roots and Bluegrass Music Festival in River Falls is sure to be finger pickin’ good.
Bands playing at the prominent spring fest — at least 12 of them performing more than 50 total hours of free foot stompin’ music at 13 different venues — will take the various stages, all indoors, between April 9-12.
A key part of the festival is the second year of a local craft beer and wine tasting event, which can attract many visitors to River Falls, and also even more attendance among the locals, as it starts early, running from 5-8 p.m. Friday at Juniors Bar and Restaurant. There have been many scheduled openings of new wineries and craft-style breweries in the immediate area, and six of them each will display their liquid wares, with their creative names showing the diversity. The tasting event is a high-profile but still down-to-earth activity to accompany the music weekend. This is the only event of the entire festival where you have to pay to participate, but you get a lot of bang for your buck, as well over a dozen of the drinks can be sampled for only a $20 fee (or $30 at the door). Pushing Chain will provide music.
The Wisconsin State Flatpicking Championship for bluegrass-style instruments such as guitar is billed as among the only ones of its kind, where people who include accomplished musicians can compete and see how they measure up against the best. It will be held on Saturday at Juniors from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the winner gets an authentic handcrafted guitar.
Another novel event that is special to the festival is at RiverWalk Art and Antiques on the north end of the downtown on Saturday from 2-4 p.m., where artists can have their musical instruments and other “treasures” appraised for value. You can see how much that antique instrument you’ve had around for years is worth, or just watch the fun. In the spirit of the festival, Riverwalk also will host a clogging demonstration.
There is also a new singer-songwriter competition on Saturday at Juniors from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and open mic and open jams at various times during the weekend, at the Dish ‘N the Spoon Cafe, Family Fresh Market and Funktion Junktion. At these, individual instrumentalists and singers mix and match with members of the house band. The first three places each in the flatpicking championship and singer-songwriter competition get prizes.
As part of the four days of music, the headliners on the weekend in the late night slots include the Barley Jacks from 8-11 p.m. on Friday at Juniors as well as Dead Horses, a Stillwater, Minn. band that gives a regional presence from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. on that same night at Shooters, and Art Sevenson and High Water from 8-11 p.m. on Saturday at Juniors.
The main stage at Juniors opens an hour before each of the music acts get going. Sorry, there are no pets allowed at any of the events.
The festival’s bands incorporate at least seven different genres, but all have a tie-in with roots music, bluegrass and Americana, also showing variances of style within a genre, said Jeff Wesley of Juniors.
Chris Silver, another one of the organizers, and his band Good Intentions, will headline the festival on Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the West Wind Supper Club, and Silver said the festival’s shows tend to be a mix of bluegrass diehards and younger people first becoming acquainted with the music.
The fact that they are playing at what is predominantly a supper club underscores what’s special about this festival. “You can see a dozen great regional and local bands within the course of one weekend. While most festivals have one stage that the bands cycle through, our festival has stages all around town,” said Wesley.
In recent editions of the festival, attendance has been up sharply. The fest has been billed as an event where patrons can make an entire day of it, going to breakfast as a start, and then continuing on into the afternoon and evening by taking in plenty of music and other activities. They are even invited to parttake in the various “Bluegrass brunches” put on by local eateries.
Patrons have said they like the experience of being at someplace like a local grocery store, as one of the venues with music is the Family Fresh Market, then rounding a corner and finding that hey, there’s a band playing there, said Judy Berg of the River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Other stores where you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find bands, but they’ll be playing there anyway, are local cafes and antique-based shops.
“With this, you’ll never know what is going to happen,” Berg said about the surprises that can unfold at the festival. But one thing is for certain; this is April and in Wisconsin that can still mean rough weather, but it doesn’t matter, since the bands are all indoors and the only time people have to be outside is the short walk from venue to venue. All of them are in a few block section of historic Main Street, with its tree lined median, and even this short jaunt allows people to enjoy its unique character, with specialty shops, restaurants and the historic Falls Theater. Along with this ambiance is the hustle and bustle of a vibrant college campus, Chamber officials note. They also point out the stay and play aspect of River Falls, as there are three extensive attractions, such as walking tours, within blocks of the downtown, as well as five motels and other hospitality-based businesses nearby.
The festival is presented by the River Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau. For more information, contact them at (715) 425-2533 or www.riverfallsbluegrass.com.