Ocean County Bluegrass Festival celebrates the Pinelands’ musical legacy on Feb 8
Get in touch with your roots. Roots music, that is. There will be plenty of banjo to be had at the 42nd Annual Ocean County Bluegrass Festival in Waretown.
The event takes place at the Albert Music Hall on Feb. 8.
Nine bands will each play half-hour sets, including Heidi Olson and The Night, Last Whippoorwill Bluegrass Band, Man About A Horse, and Lonesome Turnpike Ramblers.
The Pine Barrens are New Jersey’s Appalachia and bluegrass is a part of the area’s folk music heritage. As is the 350-seat music hall, which was built by the Pinelands Cultural Society in honor of the Albert brothers’ weekly jam sessions at their deer hunting cabin.
As always, musicians play for free and the event is staffed by volunteers.
The venue draws scores of fans from across the region. The bluegrass scene is surprisingly active and has attracted a younger generation in their 20s and 30s, says Justin Stevenson, who plays mandolin for Man About A Horse.
“Albert Music Hall has a huge influence,” he shared.
Tickets for adults cost $10 and just $1 for children 11 years and younger. Proceeds will benefit the Pinelands Cultural Society and the Albert Music Hall Scholarship Fund.
Sunday, Feb. 8, noon to 5 p.m. (doors open at 11 a.m.) – Albert Music Hall, 131 Wells Mill Road, Waretown, N.J.
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This post is part of our South Jersey Event Picks
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