This article is a contribution from our friend, Tony Watt, up in the Boston, MA region. Tony is a pro guitarist and a top bluegrass instructor in the northeast, teaching both privately and as an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
So I was reading Bluegrass Today about two weeks ago (as I do every day), and I was shocked to read that the Armuchee Bluegrass Festival wasn’t happening this year. This was of particular interest to me because I attend Armuchee whenever I can, and I was planning on being there this year on Wednesday and Thursday before I bring a group of Berklee students to play at the Earl Scruggs Festival near Asheville.
So I called my dear friend and picking buddy, Tom Barnwell, in Atlanta, and asked him what was going on. He looked into it for me, and here’s what he sent me:
I just got off the phone with Chuck Langley — the man at the helm of the Armuchee Bluegrass Festival. Chuck’s family founded the festival 53 years ago and has run it ever since, so if you want to know what’s happening this year, he’s the one to ask.
This year, the Armuchee Bluegrass Festival is back in the same place and time as always, but with a twist: there will be no stage shows — just a massive, all-weekend jam session in the bluegrass park. Ongoing park renovations mean the stage area can’t accommodate a seated audience, but that just means it’ll be one big picking party.
The Armuchee Bluegrass Festival is a true icon in the bluegrass world — one of the longest continuously running festivals in the country, and the oldest in Georgia. Nestled in the Georgia mountains yet within easy reach of Atlanta, it has long served as a meeting place for the urban bluegrass community around Atlanta, and the vibrant rural scenes of north Georgia, north Alabama, east Tennessee, western North Carolina, and beyond. Known for some of the best jamming anywhere, Armuchee has never missed a year in its entire history.
The park opens on Saturday, August 23, and stays open through Labor Day weekend. Admission is free, and camping with power and water is $30 per day. Randy is the on-site contact at 470-413-1392. As always, there will be a potluck dinner on Thursday, with a couple of meat dishes provided. Bring a dish and eat for free, or pay $5 if you don’t.
The park’s address is 899 Turkey Mountain Rd, Armuchee, GA 30105.
