The return of the Lehigh Roots Festival June 1-2 will offer a lesson in the different types of bluegrass music.
This years festival brings 22 bands and artists that represent a wide spectrum of bluegrass music in a two-night, three day music event at the Elks Lake at 1601 Montana Rd., festival organizer Mike Jewell said. He and his wife toured American roots festivals throughout the country to find local, regional and national artists that could bring a different taste of bluegrass to Iola to raise money for the Iola Elks lodge.
Its total variety, Jewell said. We offer an experience you cant get anywhere else.
Youve got your traditional bluegrass, which exposed its American roots back in the 1920s and 30s, that reflects the hillbilly life in the Appalachian mountains. At the Lehigh Roots Festival, youll hear traditional bluegrass artists like Tyler Gregory of Lawrence, a storyteller inspired by the music of that era as well as American folk singer Woody Guthrie, and other traditional bluegrass musicians.
Then theres newgrass, or progressive bluegrass music infused with electric instruments, and other genres like rock or rap, and related subgenera. Barstool Revival will play late at night because their rap lyrics may not be appropriate for all ages. Jewell said he watched them bring a midnight crowd to its feet with a Nelly song, with 60-year-olds dropping it like its hot.
Want to hear a little dirty blues, with references to socially taboo subjects like sex and drugs? Husky Burnette Bands got that covered.
How about an intense speedgrass band? Check out Whiskey For the Lady, a rampaging Kansas City band that describes itself as gypsy punk thrash grass.
But if you prefer something a little more familiar, the Coal Creek Band offers country and southern rock music. Performer Caleb Ryan Martin is nominated a Americana/Roots Artist of the Year for the Arkansas Country Music Awards in June.
And local performer Hannah Andersen, a teenager who won last years talent show at the Allen County Fair, presents a pop flair via the mandolin.
These people are just so talented, Jewell said. We try to pick the best of the best.
THE LEHIGH Roots Festival grew from the annual Lake Festival, a showcase for local bands with a mostly rock and roll feel as a fundraiser for the Elks. Though most of the artists were local, eventually it became the same bands playing each year and the festival drew to a close.
It got harder to find more new bands, Jewell said. We had to go farther to festivals to find them and get out of our comfort zone.
Jewell mixed things up three years ago and created the Lehigh Roots Festival, capitalizing on a growing popularity of American roots festivals that celebrate bluegrass music. Jewell and his wife travel to festivals and research artists and bands before hiring them for the local event. Theyve tapped artist as far as Memphis, Colorado, Arkansas and Oklahoma as well as some a little closer to home.
The festival features two stages, a larger stage with all the flash and lights and production, Jewell said, and a more intimate, old-fashioned amplified acoustic stage.
Attendees can come Friday and Saturday evenings to watch bands perform on the big stage and can stick around all night and day Saturday to hear performers jam on the smaller stage or even around a campfire.
