This past March 24 and 25, the 8^th annual Charleston Bluegrass Festival was held at the Woodlands Nature Preserve in the Plantation District area of Charleston, SC. While this is the third time the festival was held at the Nature Preserve, this year the location was moved in the 6000 acre Preserve. More on the move later.

I have personally attended the last three festivals and can honestly state that this was the best overall lineup of performers that I have witnessed. Each year the bar gets raised and each year it gets better. This is not by accident. This year’s two-day festival featured 19 acts of which 17 got to perform their allotted slots, one (New Ghost Town) had their set cut short by the rain, lightning and thunder storm Saturday afternoon and another (Swamptooth) had their set cut out and moved to an after-festival campsite performance for those lucky enough to spend the weekend camping. What makes today’s Grass music and its various styles so entertaining is the level of talent in today’s musicians. They take their craft serious and play with a passion for the music. Every band, it seems, pays tribute to so many rock artists with the bluegrass renditions of their songs. I have heard everyone from Hendrix, the who, Talking Heads, Elton John and the Doors played on the string instruments of today’s bands. This festival’s artists did not let us down with their selection of cover tunes.

Whether it was traditional Bluegrass, New Grass, Jam Grass or Country Rock, every performer brought their best. I believe that is why this year’s festival stands apart from the seven predecessors. I must confess that I didn’t arrive early enough on Saturday to catch the Majors Family band and Southern Flavor band. However, I have seen the Southern Flavor band before and really enjoyed them. I trust that the promoters saw something in the Majors Family band that said they must be seen!

Eddie White is the man behind the Sewee Outpost and their weekly Barn Jam in Awendaw, SC and the driving force of the Charleston Bluegrass Festival. He recognizes and rewards talent. Six of the acts call S. Carolina home while other performers hail from N. Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Colorado.

The festival began at 5pm on Friday with Heehaw Junction from Charleston and went until midnight when Mollie Tuttle and Golden Highway gave a Grammy winning performance. Saturday began with the youthful Majors family band and concluded with headliners Keller Williams and the Keels, Larry and Jenny, and  Leftover Salmon brought the festival to the finish line by turning in a rousing performance until 11 pm! I will share the line up and more about each band further down in the article.

What makes a festival work is blending great performances with a comfortable setting and great support services. This year’s festival was moved a mile away and further inland to satisfy the neighborhood surrounding the original site. Both last year’s site and this year’s wrapped around one of the many lakes and ponds on the property. This was evident by the many kayakers on the water, just off from the two stages. It was an easy walk from stage to stage although the ground below your feet was undulating and showed the scars of many recently cut down smaller trees. Imagine the land being nestled between the lake and a merchandise village. Among the vendors were local craft brewers Commomhouse Ale Works, Holy City Popcorn, several food trucks and an interesting offering of clothing, jewelry, hats and CBD products.

If you’d like to learn more about each artist, here’s the lineup. Google each artist to learn more about the band, their history and their tour schedule. You’ll find most of them on your preferred streaming service.

Friday-

Heehaw Junction from Charleston

Jackson Grimm from Asheville, NC

Palmyra from Virginia

Clay Street Unit from Colorado

Fireside Collective from Asheville, NC

Wilson Springs Hotel from Virginia

Mollie Tuttle and Golden Highway from Nashville

Saturday-

Majors’ family band from S. Carolina

Southern Flavor band from Charleston

Dallas Baker and friends from Charleston

Admiral Radio from Columbia, SC

New Ghost Town from Charleston

Swamptooth from Georgia

Reedy River String band from Greenville, SC

Randy Steele and High Cold Wind from Tennessee

Keller Williams, Virginia and Larry and Jenny Keel, Appalachia

Leftover Salmon from Colorado

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