THROUGH THE LENS: Washington State’s Wintergrass Kicks Off the 2024 Festival Season

Ever wanted to attend an indoor winter roots music festival that’s all under one roof? If so, the Wintergrass fest in Bellevue, Washington, is for you.

This year held Feb. 22-25, Wintergrass features four performance stages in the Hyatt Regency, but has a lot more to offer besides. There are numerous workshops, three to five every day, led by many of the featured performers, plus educational programs for both children and adults. Finally, much like Folk Alliance, there are many impromptu jam sessions that pop up in every nook and cranny throughout the hotel. Be it in the lobby, hallways, stairwells, or lounge areas, there is music flowing wherever you wander.

Veteran ND photographer Peter Dervin was at Wintergrass for two of the four days; here’s his report.

Wintergrass by Peter Dervin 

I was excited to kick off my 2024 music festival season with Wintergrass, an indoor festival located near my home where the weather was not a factor. Established in 1994, this year’s event was titled “Whispers of the North” and focused on artists and music from above America’s northern border. 

As usual, my aim was to catch as much live music as possible. I was excited to see both familiar artists and those new to me. My first performance epitomized both parts of that mix, and was about as far from Washington State as you can get: a “From China to Appalachia” set in which Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer added their banjos to Chao Tian’s Chinese hammered dulcimer. It was an ear-opening, bicultural way to begin.

Then I went with two performers I was the familiar with. First was Anna Tivel, whom I first saw a few years ago at Idaho’s Treefort Music Fest and have been a fan of ever since. Her new songs were augmented by guitarist Jon Neufeld, whom many may know from his work with Martha Scanlan. Tivel’s songcraft carries you away, so damn good!

Next was banjoist and fiddler Jake Blount, whom I first heard at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2022, and I’ve been looking forward to his new project. With Simon Chrisman on hammered dulcimer and Nic Gareiss providing foot percussion, Blount’s set provided one of the highlights of the entire weekend. I was mesmerized by their performance.

After Le Vent du Nord’s jammin’ set featuring the Francophone music of Quebec, I ran into an old pal, Lisa Berman of the Crooked Jades from the San Francisco Bay Area. I first met Lisa when she was banjo tech for Warren Hellman, founder of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and picker with The Wronglers. We were able to share some time together as we both headed over to catch Mark Schatz and Bryan McDowell. McDowell played banjo and Schatz did some mighty fine hand-clapping percussion. So glad I was able to catch this music with my friend Lisa.

Hearing legends Laurie Lewis and Nina Gerber in a duo guitar performance, along with some fun stories, in an intimate setting was nothing short of fantastic. With their music still in my head I hustled over to catch The Paperboys, who performed to a packed room, of people dancing the night away; the many smiling faces in the audience was inspiring.

I continued my musical high with Väsen + Hawktail.  Väsen, with Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin, have been performing for over 40 years, whereas Hawktail has been together “only” since 2014. Combining disparate elements of their respective repertoire was yet another amazing performance. There was one moment when Hawktail was playing what you would have thought was progressive rock that simply knocked it out! It was intense. Kinda like that Doors line, “We couldn’t get much higher.” 

So what could take me to even more lofty heights? Well, the Tony Trischka Earl Jam set lived up to all the hype I had been hearing all day. With Trischka leading Michael Daves (guitar), Jared Engel (bass), and Brittany Haas (fiddle), the crowd was fully enveloped into the music of Earl Scruggs. Later, fiddler Stuart Duncan, also playing the fest with Mighty Poplar, joined them. Watching Stuart and Haas trade off fiddle licks was icing on the cake. What a way to end the day.

My goal for wrapping up my final day was to check out some new music by artists and musicians I had never seen before. That included Whiskey Deaf, a local band that had not played Wintergrass since 2018. They were a fun way to kick off the day. I then caught a bit of Mr. Sun, which was quite enjoyable. Biribá Union, combining beatbox vocal rhythms with cello and bass guitar brought an urban sound to the festivities.

With their French Canadian sounds, Genticorum was memorable. Seeing John Reischman & Old Acoustic was thrilling. With Trent Freeman on fiddle, Bryan McDowell on guitar and Max Schwartz on bass in tow, watching Reischman play his 100-year-old Gibson mandolin was truly spectacular.

All in all, it was an memorable way of catching up with so many friends and hearing so much invigorating music. Many thanks to the staff and volunteers who make Wintergrass happen each year.

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.