BRUNSWICK — Thomas Point Beach, 29 Meadow Road, presents “The Bluegrass Special,” an event that revisits a beloved musical tradition, as musicians and audience members gather together for firstclass family entertainment over Labor Day weekend, today through Sept. 2.
In 2008, the Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival retired after 30 years. According to a news release, park owner and manager Pati Crooker heard the requests of fans everywhere, and in 2011 created an encore of sorts in an all new family musical event, “The Bluegrass Special,” aptly named for a classic Bill Monroe song.
This year the event will expand with a fourth day dedicated to the fellowship and roots of Bluegrass. Today will kick off the events with bingo games, a potluck and social supper, and an open mic show that will feature the Maine bluegrass band Back To Basics.
The stage becomes fully alive on Friday with headliners Dailey and Vincent from Nashville taking the stage. Friday’s schedule also welcomes first-timers to the Thomas Point stage, The Cleaverlys from Arkansas, the all-female Della Mae of Massachusetts, as well as crowd favorites, Mountain Heart from Nashville and Lost and Found from Virginia.
Throughout the weekend, the stage show mixes Maine favorites like Evergreen and the The Katahdin Valley Boys with Bluegrass legends and some of the most influential and accomplished artists in Bluegrass today, the release states.
Jesse McReynolds celebrates 65 years in the music industry and will lead the Virginia Boys on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will showcase Larry Stephenson and headliner Rhonda Vincent and the Rage.
Another female power house will grace the stage on Sunday, when 2011 International Bluegrass Music Awards Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley performs.
Sunday will also headline one of today’s top traditional bluegrass bands. The Gibson Brothers were honored as Vocal Group of the Year 2011 and Album of the Year 2011.
Although the line-up is jam packed with nationally known favorites, some of the lesser known names are the ones not to miss. Snap Jackson & The Knock on Wood Players from California will perform both Saturday and Sunday.
Inspired by Flatt & Scruggs and the Stanley Brothers, 10- year-old Johnny and brothers Robbie (13) and Tommy (14) join together to create Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. The boys are nominated for a 2012 Emerging Artist of the year award at IBMA this fall and have been seen nationally on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Rounding out the line-up on all three days will be friends from Canada, Acoustic Heartstrings, and on Sunday, the hard-driving Lonesome River Band, and Thomas Point Beach favorite, Leroy Troy and the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, both from Nashville.
Performances begin Friday, Saturday and Sunday at noon and end at 11 p.m. each day. When the stage shows are over, there will be acoustic performances and field picking under the stars.
Four-, three, two- and single day tickets are available at the festival gates. Single day tickets are as follows: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, $50 (after 5 p.m., $40); weekend tickets include free camping and are $145 per adult (fourday) and $135 per adult (threeday). Children younger than 12 are free and teens (13-16) pay half the adult rate with an adult.
A single-day camping area is available for $20 per night.
In addition to music, “The Bluegrass Special” will have food and gift vendors on site, and workshops and children’s activities throughout the weekend.
For more information, call 725-6009 or 1-877-TPB-4321or visit www.thomaspointbeach.com.
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