While US bluegrass lovers are celebrating the return of live music outdoors, our friends in Europe are not so lucky. Vaccine implementation is lagging behind, and bluegrass festivals and shows are cancelled for the most part this year in response.
But the folks at one of the biggest festivals across the pond, the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival in The Netherlands, have come up with a great way to keep the music going, and help the organization recover some of the financial losses resulting from having to miss two years in a row. They have compiled an album from the best moments on the Rotterdam stage over the years, Pickin’, Hammerin’ & Hollerin’, which will only be offered this week, the usual festival date. It features performances from both US and European artists like The Jaywalkers, Flats & Sharps, Tony Trischka & Mike Marshall, Blue Grass Boogiemen, Henhouse Prowlers, and several others.
This project is available on audio CD and on 180 gram blue vinyl in limited edition, with orders accepted from June 21-27 on the festival web site. The LP has 10 tracks, while the CD boasts of 19. For the real Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival diehards, there is also a Hell Yeah@Home festival package available, which contains both the LP and CD, a cap, a beer opener and more surprises to give fans a taste of the festival feeling at home.
Then this weekend, the festival will offer free live streams created especially for Rotterdam:
- June 25 – 8:00 p.m. Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley
- June 26 – 8:00 p.m. Henhouse Prowlers
- June 27 – 8:00 p.m. Delaney Davidson
More information on all this can be found on the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival web site. Let’s hope to hear that they will be back to live bluegrass again soon in Europe!
