News

Nitrograss headlines Sandburg folk festival

Nitrograss performs on Memorial Day at the Sandburg Folk Festival.

By Bill Moss, Published: May 23, 2017

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site will host the 31st annual Carl Sandburg Folk Music Festival on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29. This free festival offers live music performances from 11 am to 3:30 pm. The folk festival honors Carl Sandburg and his preservation of traditional folk music as found in his collection The American Songbag. The festival’s performers each skillfully demonstrate the tradition of performing live music to tell stories while capturing the heritage of America through song.

• At 11 a.m., Don and John Humphries perform folk music from Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag.
• At noon, The Gypsy Swingers perform uptempo jazz in a style reminiscent of the European swing jazz scene.
• At 1 p.m., Nitrograss performs old-time and bluegrass music on banjo, mandolin, bass and guitar. Two-time national banjo champion Charles Wood has appeared on the David Letterman show performing with Steve Martin and Earl Scruggs.
• At 2 p.m. Peggy Ratusz and Daddy Longlegs perform swing, jazz and slow burning Blues. Peggy Ratusz has placed in the top ten or been voted the very best in Blues in WNC for 8 straight years. In 2016 she captured additional 1st place wins in categories for Best Vocalist and Artist Who Gives Back. Her band includes Duane Simpson, one of Asheville's finest guitar players; internationally acclaimed bassist Shannon Hoover and “Big” Tez Sherard, drummer for platinum recording artist Edwin McCain.
• Steve and Jean Smith will be performing Hammered dulcimer music at the historic barn area from 11:00 am -3:00 pm.

Carl Sandburg began playing the guitar in the early 1900s to enhance his lectures and performed during the era of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and was the mentor for Burl Ives. The festival began in 1987, and is supported by the National Park Service, Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara, Eastern National and a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council administered by the Arts Council of Henderson County.