Grass on the Black brings bluegrass home to Medford
By Brian Wilson, The Star News
“Paddle faster, I hear banjos!”
While in Urban Dictionary and elsewhere, that phrase is described as a warning, that “hillbillies” are in the area, organizers of the inaugural Grass on the Black music festival are hoping that the distinctive twang of banjos, and three and four-part harmonies, will bring people running to downtown Medford.
Grass On The Black, a Medford Area Bluegrass Festival, is scheduled for Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10, with performers at eight different venues, featuring a dozen different performers and groups in downtown Medford.
As with America itself, the roots of bluegrass stretch back to the musical traditions of English, Scottish and Irish ballads, and traditional dance tunes. This was liberally mixed with the blues and jazz traditions brought by African Americans moving north, and bringing those sounds with them.
All these influences came together in the rural Appalachian region, in the 1940s, where it was tempered with labor struggles, poverty and hardscrabble existence, as well as joy and beauty.
Bluegrass is a music that can find its way into the soul and have toes tapping, while singing along to the harmonies. Unlike modern country and other styles of music, bluegrass primarily features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the off-beat. Notes are anticipated, creating the highenergy characteristic of the music, and a style welcoming to each musician taking their turn in improvising and playing with the melody.
“If you’re new to bluegrass, it’s just such a cool genre of music,” said Marilyn Frank, owner of Marilyn’s Fire Station located in Downtown Medford. “It’s so relaxing and it touches on everything from country, to gospel, to folk.”
Frank attended her first bluegrass festival in River Falls, with her daughter in 2016, and became hooked on the distinctive sounds and general welcoming atmosphere. Frank wanted to bring that sound to Medford, for more people to experience it.
She talked to other tavern and business owners, and found that the excitement about bringing a festival to the Medford area was contagious. Working with the Medford Area Chamber of Commerce, the support of the City of Medford Hotel/Motel Room Tax fund, and a number of local business and community sponsors, they were able to bring it to realization.
The event draws its name from the Black River, which has its headwaters a few miles north of the city and flows through downtown Medford, while meandering through the rustic countryside of Taylor County.
As interest grew, the number of venues increased beyond the core of downtown Medford, to include the entire community. Organizers worked with Medford Motors, to provide a van for a shuttle service around to the different venues in the city, as well as working with Krug Bus Service.
Bands will be set up outside under tents wherever possible. There will also be special activities, such as line dancing lessons and demonstrations, including Gary Edinger doing square dance calling in downtown Medford.
Streets in the downtown Medford area will be closed for the event, with food trucks Organizers hope that the success of Grass on the Black will make it an annual summertime tradition in Medford, to be held on the weekend after the Fourth of July. Next year’s event is already scheduled to take place, July 8 and 9, 2023.
