Spirit of Grey Fox virtual festival this weekend

The annual Grey Fox festival in New York has long been considered one of the nation’s best, offering high quality bluegrass, old time, and acoustic roots music in a carefully organized setting for more than 35 years. Needless to say, many regular attendees are missing their friends and all the festival fun this weekend when they would normally be pulling in to Oak Hill, NY. But such are the times.

As a partial antidote, the festival organizers are hosting a free, online version this year, called Spirit of Grey Fox, featuring some special live performances by favorite artists, along with pre-recorded sets from years past. Viewers can join the virtual fun on YouTube, Nugs.net, or Facebook at no charge.

Since there is no admission fee to enjoy all the music, Grey Fox is asking folks who are enjoying the programming to make a donation to the IBMA Trust Fund. This is among the most worthy charitable organizations you might consider as a fan of this music, as all funds donated are used to assist bluegrass music professionals in times of need. Many, many thousands of dollars have been distributed to artists and business pros facing difficult times, and they are always deserving of your support.

Donations can be made through the Grey Fox PayPal link, their Venmo account (@Intlbluegrass), or paid directly to the Trust Fund.

The video stream has been active since yesterday afternoon, and is running right now. Still to come today are sets from The Hillbenders (2018), the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band (2015), Nickel Creek (2014), and Greensky Bluegrass (2015). Saturday offers music from Earls of Leicester (2016), Steep Canyon Rangers (2019), and last year’s Grateful Ball, with more on Sunday featuring Dry Branch Fire Squad (2018), The Gibson Brothers (2015), and more.

A complete schedule can be found on the Grey Fox web site.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.