Annual bluegrass fest grew
out of weekly jam sessions
Art Stevenson & High Water look forward to hosting the 9th annual Northland Ballroom Bluegrass Festival Aug. 22-23.

WHAT: 2008 Northland Bluegrass Festival
WHEN: Aug. 22-23
WHERE: Northland Ballroom
COST: $20 a day (no advance ticket sales)
INFO: 715-884-6996 or highwatermusic.com/northlandBGFest.htm

Annual bluegrass fest grew
out of weekly jam sessions

A direct offshoot of the Northland Ballroom weekly jam sessions is the Northland Bluegrass Festival, scheduled this year for Aug. 22-23.

Art Stevenson and High Water held the first festival in 1999, the same year they started the weekly jams.

“It started as a one-day event, but in 2000 we had a two-day program,” Stevenson said. “For a while I was billing the fest as the biggest bluegrass fest in Wisconsin, in terms of our attendance, which is usually 500 to 700. We present a blend of traditional bluegrass, old time music and ragtime guitar picking. Some of the best names in bluegrass and old time music have performed at the Northland Bluegrass Festival: Tommy Brown, Gerald Evans, Nob Hill Boys, Becky Schlegel, Tom Paley, Forge Mountain Diggers, Chirps Smith and Dave Landreth, and many more.”

Andy Hoff inherited the weekly jam and festival when he bought the Northland in December 2005. He relies on his employees and a corps of returning volunteers to keep things flowing smoothly during the festival and the two days of music leading up to it.

“We have a lot of volunteers, family members, friends come out and help. It’s been pretty much the same people every year. Regular employees are eager to work the extra hours,” he said. “People know the festival’s around the corner and they get the itch. When bluegrass is around, you can feel it this time year. We try to provide good food, a comfortable setting. We like the look of the building. It kinda gives you a barny, Northwoods hoedown feeling.”

Camping is allowed during the fest.

“There are tents, mobile homes, campers,” Hoff said. “There are the rough ones that want to sleep right on the earth in a sleeping bag with nothing over them. And, of course, there’s the hotel just down the road in Iola. Wherever you can find a spot you sleep is about what it comes down to. A good time.”

The festival unofficially starts on the 20th with the Wednesday open jam. A free Early Bird show is scheduled for Thursday night, and then the real fest begins at noon Friday, with music to midnight both nights.

“It’s more of a hangout that week,” said Gavin Schaberg of Sloppy Joe, a perennial at the festival. “Lots of casual jamming. It can be really good, really high quality stuff. When there’s no music on the tent stage, there’s lot s of music around campfires.”

If you’re looking for one last summer music festival fling after the Northland Ballroom Bluegrass Festival, Sloppy Joe hosts its annual Labor Day weekend Jackpine Jamboree at the Wildlife Music Park and Campground in Birnamwood on Aug. 29-31. slopgrass.com/jackpinejamboree.htm.