2013 Hudson Valley Garlic Festival

On Sptember 28th and 29th The Homegrown String Band will be returning to our favorite food, music, and arts festival, the one and only Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, NY. This year we will be performing three sets each day on the Pavilion Stage located right in the middle of the festival ground.

From "The Market" to Montrose

2013 Rocky Point Harvest Fest - photo by Charlie Bevington

This year's Rocky Point Farmers Market  Fall Festival was a huge success, a big crowd and perfect weather along with great food, drink, and music. A big thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. It is really nice to be part of a hometown event, like "The Market," that helps to bring the community together while supporting local agriculture and arts.

The Homegrown String Band will take to the road for the next two weeks with performances at the Hendick Hudson Library, in Montrose, NY on September 22, 2013 and at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, NY on September 28 and 29, 2013. The band will be back on Long Island for the Setauket Fall Festival, which takes place October 5, 2013 on the grounds of the Emma S. Clark Library.

Rocky Point Farmers Market Harvest Festival

This Sunday, September 15, 2013, the Second Annual Rocky Point Farmers and Artisan Market Fall Festival will take place at Depot Park in downtown Rocky Point. The park is located at the corner of Prince Road and Broadway, adjacent to Thurber Lumber and Gracie's Restaurant. The festival will feature the usual offerings by food, farm, and craft vendors, as well as a pig roast, courtesy of Naturally Grass Fed, and music by none other than Rocky Point's own neo-traditional, high energy, old-time 20th century family string band, The Homegrown String Band, and Long Island's number one beach, surf rock band, Shecky and the Twangtones. The festival will be starting at 8 am and continuing on throughout the day till 4 pm. The Homegrown String Band will be performing from 11am 'til 1 pm. The Twangtones will take the stage at 2 pm and play 'til 3:30pm.

Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby Live - CD Review

I really like this CD! I wasn't sure what to expect when I popped it into my player. What happens when you add pianist Bruce Hornsby to a powerhouse bluegrass ensemble like Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder? I was half expecting some newgrass in the vein of New Grange, an album that featured Tim O'Brien, Darol Anger, Allision Brown, Mike Marshall, Todd Phillips, and Philip Aaberg, but the CD cover, complete with an image of what looks like Bill Monroe pickin' to the chickens, seemed to shout out traditional bluegrass. Truth be told; what it is is a little of both. On tracks like How Mountain Girls Can Love, Toy Heart, and Little Maggie, Hornsby proves that a keyboard can be seamlessly integrated into a traditional bluegrass band. At times Bruce's piano, very capably, takes on the role of a mandolin or 5 string banjo, but at other times his jazzy style takes the band well into newgrass territory. A great CD by Ricky Skaggs, Kentucky Thunder, and bluegrass piano pioneer Bruce Hornsby!