Details
- Sign-up to be in the band scramble any time after 10am on Saturday. The signup sheet will be located at the Showcase stage.
- Band assignments will be announced at 3:40 on Saturday.
- Participants have 40 minutes to prepare one song /one tune.
- Participants will perform their tunes at a contest performance on the Showcase Stage at 4:30 on Saturday.
The band scramble is a time honored tradition at bluegrass festivals. If you’re not familiar with them, here’s the deal: Anyone who plays an instrument (at any level) can sign up to participate. Names will be drawn for the bands. Ideally, each band will end up with a bass, a banjo, a mandolin, one or two guitars and possibly some instrument hardly anyone has heard of. Hopefully there will be some some singers among them. It’s not an exact science and it’s mostly a lot of fun.
The newly formed bands have 40 minutes to meet, come up with an instrumental and vocal tune that they all happen know (or can learn quickly). Then they take it to the Showcase Stage for a live contest performance.
It’s a great way to meet folks, mingle and get up on stage. And it’s kind of like musical potluck—you never know what you’re going to get! Even if you’re not ready to join the scramble and brave the stage, just watching the show is worth the price of admission. It’s like a bluegrass reality show (if there was such a thing).