Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival held in mid-July in Oak Hill, Greene County, New York. The festival features a variety of acoustic music including traditional and contemporary bluegrass, jam bands, old-time, swing and Cajun. The festival presents nationally and internationally touring bluegrass bands and showcases emerging artists from around the country. The event runs Thursday through Sunday the third weekend of July. and attendance averages about 6,000 patrons per day. In addition to performances on several stages, activities include dancing, camping, children's entertainment, yoga, jamming, hands-on music workshops, traditional dance instruction, professional development seminars for musicians and event producers, and a Bluegrass Academy for youths ages 8 to 17.

History

Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival began in 1984 as the Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival on the Rothvoss Farm in Ancramdale, Columbia County, New York on the site of the 1976 Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass Festival. Producer Mary Tyler Doub asked Ron Thamason and his band the Dry Branch Fire Squad to host the festival's main stage show. Doub moved the event to the Walsh Farm in

Oak Hill, New York Oak Hill is a hamlet within the town of Durham in Greene County, New York, United States. Its elevation is above sea level. It has the ZIP Code 12460 and the Telephone Area Code 518. It is the location of Oak Hill Methodist Episcopal Churc ...

on the banks of Catskill Creek in 2008. That year, Grey Fox was named Bluegrass Event of the Year by the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

. The 86-minute documentary, ''Bluegrass Journey'' (2003), was filmed in part at Grey Fox, In 2005, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival was one of ten musical events around the world featured in BBC World's television series, ''Destination Music''.

Program

Each year the festival program includes about than 40 acts on five stages" Notable artists have included

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

Tony Rice David Anthony Rice (June 8, 1951 – December 25, 2020), known professionally as Tony Rice, was an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He was an influential acoustic guitar player in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and a ...

Nickel Creek Nickel Creek (formerly known as the Nickel Creek Band) is an American bluegrass band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), and siblings Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar). Formed in 1989 in Southern California, they released six alb ...

and

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

. The 2015 event included

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respec ...

Peter Rowan Peter Rowan (born July 4, 1942) is an American bluegrass musician and composer. Rowan plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings. Biography Rowan was born in Wayland, Massachusetts to a musical family. From an early age, he had an interes ...

, Tim O'Brien,

Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time music, old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu For ...

Punch Brothers Punch Brothers is an American band consisting of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as "bluegrass instrumentation and spontane ...

, Bill Keith,

Hot Rize Hot Rize is a bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, Hot Rize has appeared on national radio and TV shows, and has toured most of the United States, as well as Japan, Europe and Australia. History Hot ...

, the

Infamous Stringdusters The Infamous Stringdusters are a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band. The band first emerged in 2006 with the limited release of a five-song extended play CD ''The Infamous Stringdusters,'' followed in 2007 by their first album ''Fork in the Road ...

, the

Gibson Brothers The Gibson Brothers are a French musical group, originally from Martinique, who had their greatest success during the disco boom of the late 1970s. Their best known hit singles included "Cuba" and " Que Sera Mi Vida". Career The three brother ...

, the

Steep Canyon Rangers Steep Canyon Rangers is an American bluegrass band based in Asheville and Brevard, North Carolina. Though formed in 2000, the band has become widely known since 2009 for collaborating with actor/banjoist Steve Martin. In 2013, the Steep Canyon ...

Balsam Range Balsam Range is a bluegrass and acoustic music group founded in 2007 in Haywood County, North Carolina. They are the 2014 and 2018 International Bluegrass Music Association (IMBA) Entertainer of the Year recipients. Their other accolades include ...

and others In 2015, Grey Fox was the setting of a two-hour Keith Banjo Summit honoring the influential music of Bill Keith. The summit was hosted by Béla Fleck and Tony Trischka, with Noam Pikelny, Mike Munford, Eric Weissberg, Marc Horowitz, Mike Kropp, and Ryan Cavanaugh participating, and Bill Keith in attendance.

References

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External links

Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival

Grey Fox Videos (2003-2012) (See new list for 2013-Present) - YouTube
Videos 2003-2012
Grey Fox Videos (2013-2019) - YouTube
videos 2013-2019 Music festivals in New York (state) Bluegrass festivals Folk festivals in the United States