So many young bands are coming up through the bluegrass tradition and taking the music in new directions, creating a place in the musical lexicon for themselves and their music! We are please to feature many of these bands at ROMP 2011: Bluegrass Roots & Branches Festival.
Trampled By Turtles, from Minnesota, has so much energy and talent that they’re literally driving the music in front of them as they push to the foreground of fame. We find it greatly interesting that we’re getting more hits on our website and calls for tickets from TBT fans than from any other band in our quite stunning line-up. It proves that bluegrass is reaching young people, bringing them up in a tradition of incredible virtuosity and launching them on an amazing musical journey.
Then there’s Chris Thile, one of the finest musicians alive at this time, with his band of outrageously talented genre-benders, Punch Brothers. And Carolina Chocolate Drops, keeping the string band tradition alive by pumping it full of new life and energy and taking it to adoring audiences everywhere—they are quite the phenomenon!
We could go on and on about the musicians in the ROMP line-up, as each band is marvelous in its own right. The non-traditional aspect of this year’s line-up is intended to illustrate the wide range of influence bluegrass music and Bill Monroe have had – and increasingly continue to have – on today’s music culture. We are so very fortunate to have them come to the heartland of bluegrass music to perform for us this June.
We'll also be kicking off new late night events at ROMP 2011, including performances, bonfires and all-night jams! Some of the featured late night acts are The Farewell Drifters, Coralee & The Townies, The Vespers and The 23 String Band. You must have a 3-day pass to camp and attend all-night events. Go to http://bluegrassmuseum.org/general/romp.php for more info!
