By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- The second annual Niles Bluegrass Festival aims to provide casual listeners with some great music, while also satisfying the appetite of the avid bluegrass fan.
With the addition of an interactive picker's tent and some prominent bluegrass bands in the lineup, the new and improved festival will be a great way to kick off a summer full of live music in the City of Niles.
The festival, which is being sponsored by the Niles Riverfest Committee, will take place from June 4 to 6 at Riverfront Park in downtown Niles. The entire weekend of events is completely free and features performances by more than 13 bands.Tom Majerek, the entertainment chair of Niles Riverfest Committee, said it was his aim to make the festival even more fun than last year.
Special Consensus is a Grammy nominated band that has been featured on the Nashville Network and National Public Radio programs.
The international touring band performs original compositions, traditional bluegrass standards and songs from other musical genres in the bluegrass style.
The addition of the picker's tent is one of the most exciting features of this year's festival.
The tent, which will be located just south of the children's playground, will feature bluegrass workshops and jam sessions.
This gives novices an opportunity to get lessons in the art of bluegrass music and allows more advanced players to sit alongside some of the professionals for jam sessions.
Majerek thinks the interactive aspect of the picker's tent will be a welcome addition to this year's festival.
The tent will be open all day Saturday and Sunday and will feature workshops by many of the festival's performing artists.
On Saturday, the picker's tent will include a mandolin workshop by Scott Smith of Twenty-Three, a dobro workshop with Rick Schpok of Time Travelers, a banjo workshop by Dr. Robert Smith of Hard Times and members of The Deep Fried Pickle Project will lead a workshop on how to make your own washtub bass.
On Sunday, the tent will feature a guitar workshop with Dean Worthington of Twenty-Three, a banjo workshop with Greg Cahill of Special Consensus and Larry Allen of Twenty-Three, a mandolin workshop with Paul Hoffman of Greensky Bluegrass and Smith (Twenty-Three) and an additional dobro workshop with Schpok.