Across the Cascade Mountains from Seattle and the crowded I-5 corridor, across the wide, arid Columbia Basin to where the Ponderosa forests spill out of Idaho and into Northeast Washington, there is a land of lakes. Clear waters, warm days & cool nights, blue skies, no humidity. On the shores of one of these lakes — Medical Lake, just a dozen miles east of Spokane — during the second weekend of August, one of the best-kept secrets of Northwest Music Festivals is held: The Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival. Now in it’s 10th year, Blue Waters boasts one of the best lineups of any up-and-coming summertime bluegrass festival in the region, with rock-bottom prices and laid-back friendliness to go with it’s stellar location.
This year’s headliners include 3 extended performances by 3 diverse national bands: The Wilders on Friday promise to kick things into high-gear as only the Wilders can. The Wilders played Blue Waters a few years ago arriving barely in time for the show after fighting Seattle traffic, and took the stage with a big holler: “MAN, IT’S GREAT TO BE BACK IN THE COUNTRY!” and ripped into high-gear. Mountain Heart headlines the evening on Saturday with an extended set of jaw-dropping musicianship and their always-entertaining stage presence, and the Boston-based Neo-Folk-Grass ensemble Joy Kills Sorrow closes out the festival on Sunday. John Reischman & the Jaybirds will bring their phenomenal musicianship and affable personalities for shows on two days (Saturday and Sunday), and together with some of the other headliners will share some of their skills in workshops.
The up & coming young duo Cahalen Morrison & Eli West are turning heads all across the Roots Music World with their new release “The Holy Coming of the Storm”, which we are more than proud of, being that they were introduced to each other by one of our festival organizers. Cahalen and Eli will play two shows over the weekend.
Northwest Bluegrass legends Prairie Flyer will be playing their final performances as a band at Blue Waters 2011, bringing to close a highly successful musical ride which has been going for longer than Blue Waters has. Prairie Flyer was born out of our own thriving Inland Northwest Bluegrass scene and played our very first festival. But the next generation of Northwest Bluegrass will be in great hands in the form of two young, highly-charged bands also on the lineup: Northern Departure and the Bluegrass Regulators.
Tickets go on sale in the next few days, and will be available at last year’s prices ($35 weekend pass) until May 31st. If you’ve been looking for a bluegrass festival that still feels like a Mom & Pop festival but boasts a world-class lineup, beautiful location, and plenty of great jamming, come on out to Eastern Washington for the 10th Annual Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival.
The water is blue. The grass is too.
More information is available at www.bluewatersbluegrass.org or www.facebook.com/bluewatersbluegrass.
