Bluegrass Set for This Weekend

Fiddlers are set to jam on every corner during the 12th-annual Old Town Bluegrass Festival.

The fest is scheduled to run March 16-18. More than 200 RVs and 8,000 spectators are expected to fill the town with musicians, instruments and a love for the pure acoustic nature of jamming on a street corner, according to fest spokesperson Melody Brunsting.

"(This is) known as the best free festival on the west coast by bluegrass fans," she wrote in an announcement."

This year's festival features 12 scheduled bands and dozens of impromptu performances throughout the six-block town, according to Brunsting.

Dan Crary and Thunderation are scheduled to headline. Crary, a legendary flat-pick player known as a master guitarist for his unique style.

Singer-songwriter Steve Spurgin and mandolin-violin player Martin Stevens are scheduled to appear in Thunderation.

Spurgin is a BMI award winning songwriter that has penned songs for the publishing companies of Reba McEntire and Gene Watson.

Bluegrass Etc. with Dennis Caplinger returns to co-headline the Friday and Saturday shows.

Bluegrass Etc. is a nationally known band that includes Caplinger, John Moore on mandolin, guitar and vocals, and  Bill Bryson on bass and vocals.

"(Bluegrass Etc. is) a crowd pleaser and known for their stage personality and high energy," Brunsting wrote.
Sunday's headliner brings back an old festival friend, Scott Gates, along with Chelsea Williams, who went viral on YouTube.

Gates performed first at the festival in 2008 with this teen band, "Pacific Ocean Bluegrass." Concerts are free Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on two stages. Saturday's lineup includes Crary and Thunderation, Bluegrass Etc., Silverado Bluegrass Band, Kanan Road, Old Haywire, TheWimberlys and the Third Street Band.

Sunday's free concerts include Salty Suites with Scott Gates, The Murphy Family Band, Bluegrass Brethren with two Sunday morning gospel performances, Keeping Fire, Horizon Ridge, Third Street Band and the Bayou Brothers.

The Festival kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday with a concert in the Old Town Temecula Community Theater featuring Silverado Bluegrass Band, Bluegrass Etc and Dan Crary and Thunderation. Tickets are $15.

Free workshops during the weekend are held in the Mercantile and help instigate the free flow of jamming around town.

Band members lead the workshops and provide the audience a chance to play with their favorites.

For more information call (951) 678-1456  or visit www.temeculacalifornia.com.