The Brackendale Art Gallery is known for its intimate live concerts and the sixth annual Bluegrass Festival promises to bring audience participation to the forefront with four workshops run by the likes of mandolin master John Reischman on Saturday (May 3).The first three workshops focus on guitar, harmony vocals and mandolin before Reischman and the Jaybirds pull it all together with a band workshop before headlining the evening."I'm glad it's working out this way," said Reischman."A lot of times instrumentalists want to focus on their own instrument and learn new tunes and licks and everything but it's a good idea to take a look at what makes the whole ensemble sound good and what other musicians want to hear from you as the rhythm player and supportive player."The BAG has been struggling to plan a gig with Reischman for many years because of scheduling conflicts so it's a bonus that he and the band will be available to instruct local musicians during the already popular event, said organizer Cam Salay. "People love the workshops," said Salay. "Any level of player will get something out of it. Lots of people have played for years but haven't got a lesson in years. "You get to sit in a group and talk about guitars and learn a few licks and that."Reischman said the band will be mixing up songs from their latest Juno Award nominated album Stellar Jays (Roots and Traditional Album of the Year) with their previous three releases. While bluegrass isn't one of the most popular genres it's very accessible to fresh ears, said Reischman."That's actually one of the most gratifying things - when you play a concert and you end up speaking to someone in the audience who isn't really familiar with the music at all but is really won over by your performance." The festival will get a taste of country as well with a Friday (May 2) performance by rising star and ex-Paradise Valley resident Ridley Bent, who will be sharing the stage with bluegrass band Viper Central."He's kind of on the upward swing so we're really lucky to get him," said Salay of Bent, who is a fixture on C小蓝视频 radio."I'm pretty surprised we got these guys because you only get the door at the Art Gallery. "He leans more toward country, but he's really different, he really does his own unique thing. I know him from a long time ago so I said 'You got to play at the Art Gallery man, it's one of the best venues in 小蓝视频' So he's just doing it because he used to live here and he loves the Art Gallery."Ridley Bent and Viper Central perform Friday at 8 p.m. and John Reischman and the Jaybirds perform Saturdayat 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20 each day and are available at the BAG or Mostly Books.The guitar workshop run by Viper Central's Lorraine Cobb is at 1 p.m., the harmony vocals workshop starts at 2 p.m. and the mandolin workshop, run by Mark Vaughn of Viper Central, is at 3 p.m. Cost is $10 each. The Jaybird's band workshop starts at 4 p.m. and costs $15. For more information contact Cam Salay at 604-898-2338.
