N.J. Folk Festival at Rutgers Saturday
There’s going to be some fancy pickin’ and strummin’ on the grounds of the Eagleton Institute in New Brunswick on Saturday.
That’s because bluegrass is theme of this year’s 42nd New Jersey Folk Festival.
“Normally we have an ethnic theme but this year it’s a little bit of exception: we have a musical genre,” said Angus Gillespie, professor of American Studies at Rutgers and the Folk Festival founder. “By having a bluegrass theme, we’re tapping into a small but very passionate audience.”
There’s a joke about how passionate the bluegrass crowd is.
“The definition of a bluegrass musician is that he’ll drive 300 miles to hear himself play,” Gillespie quipped.
Actually, there are several bluegrass scenes around the state, said Dan O’ Dea, the festival’s music director and the leader of festival performers Dan O’ Dea and Eagle Ridge.
“People get tired of hearing the same old stuff,” O’Dea said. “They want to stretch out and try new sounds and what’s better than going back to the roots of American music?”
Musicians from the Bluesgrass and Oldtime Music Association of Little Silver; the Stony Brook Friends of Old Time Music of Somerville and the South Jersey Irish Seisiun of Audubon will participate in open jams throughout the day.
“It’s open to whoever wants to join in,” O’Dea said. “People from the audience can bring their instruments.”
The fest will feature several mainstagers with national reputations in the bluegrass field, including Tony Trischka & Skyline, and Jersey bands influenced by the bluegrass sound, like the Dark City Strings from Asbury Park. The music is in the air as breakout bands like Mumford & Sons, the Avett Brothers and the Lumineers have elements of bluegrass.
“Young people are playing styles of music similar to bluegrass and they’re not hardcore about having it be it traditional,” said O’ Dea, the host of a weekly bluegrass jam Mondays at Finnegan’s in Hoboken. “A lot of young folks aren’t worried about it not being particularly traditional.”
Case in point, the Dark City Strings.
“These guys have a great following,” O’Dea said. “They bring out a lot of young folks, so it’s pretty cool.”
The pet-friendly Folk Festival runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine, on Saturday. More than 15,000 annually from around the state come to the grounds of the Eagleton Institute on the Douglass Campus of Rutgers to take part. In addition to music, there’s lots of other attractions, arts and crafts and plenty of food, too. The nearby Cook College Ag Field Day takes place simultaneously and there you can get the eyeful of Cook’s many critters, including horses, pigs, cows and sheep.
It’s all become a part of Rutgers Day, a campus-wide open house that features events, performances and demonstrations, that also takes place on Saturday.
You might learn a thing to two.
“Bluegrass is still kind of a minority taste,” Gillespie said. “If you love bluegrass you’ll play it whether you’re being paid or not.”
Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com
NEW JERSEY FOLK FESTIVAL
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday (rain or shine)
WHERE: Eagleton Institute Grounds, Douglass Campus, Rutgers University, George Street and Ryders Lane, New Brunswick
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: www.njfolkfest.org
AG FIELD DAY
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (rain or shine)
WHERE: G. H. Cook Campus, College Farm Road and Dudley Road,
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: agfieldday.rutgers.edu
RUTGERS DAY
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday (rain or shine)
WHERE: various locations at Rutgers University,
New Brunswick and Piscataway
ADMISSION: Free
INFO: rutgersday.rutgers.edu