Youth Bluegrass Festival

03/27/2014

It is a sad announcement but we are not holding the Youth Bluegrass Festival and KCBS BBQ Competition for 2014.

09/29/2013

Even with rain the Community First BBQ Competition and Youth Bluegrass Festival was a great success. Thank you teams, youth bands, volunteers and audience for making this year's event so much fun.

09/28/2013

We have Clint Schumann from Butler selling BBQ sandwiches and fried potatoes at Forrest Park. Come on up and have lunch at the Bluegrass Festival and BBQ Competiton.. It May be raining but we have tents so we can stay dry..

09/28/2013

We are still on for the Youth Bluegrass Festival. We have tents set up and the wind isn't blowing. BBQ competitors are cooking and the food vendors are ready to go. Come on out and join us.

09/27/2013

BBQ Teams will start filling the Forrest Park throughout the day. This evening at 6:30 will be the Ice Cream and Pie Social along with the concert starting at 7pm. This will be the only performance of the StringBeans from Butler so come on out and join us.
Please keep in mind that the park will be shut down for BBQ Quiet Time from 10pm to 7am so if you are not a park of the teams you will be asked to leave.
Biscuits and Gravy will start being served at 8am on Saturday so stop by early for some breakfast.
See ya this weekend.

09/25/2013

Welcome team number 18 "Fit For A King" from Springdale, Arkansas to our BBQ Competition. We are happy to have you!

09/25/2013

Welcome KCBS BBQ Teams To our Competition. We still have a few spots available if you want to get in. Call Kristin at 660-679-1688.

Smoke River Barbeque Appleton City, MO
Gettin' Basted Saddlebrooke, MO
2 Smokin J's Kansas City, MO
Burnt At Both Ends Freeman, MO
Man VS Que Blue Springs, MO
Plumb Smokin BBQ Adrian, MO
B &B Barbeque Montrose, MO
Burnt Fingers BBQ Lee's Summit MO
R Butts R Smokin Blue Springs, MO
Caveman Cuisine Carthage, MO
Matilda Q BBQ Peculiar, MO
Pork A Lips Harrisonville, MO
BLOOD TYPE Q Urbania, MO
A Good Rub Springfield,MO
Wildcatters Q Crew Oklahoma
Smokin Roys Butler, MO
Rollin Smoke Appleton City, MO

09/24/2013

We want to welcome back the Farnum Family from Galena Missouri to perform on Saturday September 18.
Biography:
The Farnum Family from Galena, Missouri, is a six-piece family band that plays a lively blend of bluegrass, gospel, Irish, novelty and old-time western music.
They love to perform tunes that will have you tapping your foot and singing right along, or perhaps take you on a trip down memory lane. And a few songs will even make you laugh out loud!
Since forming their family band in 2004 they have played venues in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and many times in their home state of Missouri. Besides their many church dates, they enjoy performing fairs, festivals, historic theatres and other family oriented venues. They average about 100 live performances per year... not bad for a part-time family band!
They were first invited to play at Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival and Southern Gospel Picnic in 2006, and have since been invited back in ‘07, ’08, ’09 and 2010 for similar festival events. By a special recommendation, the entire Farnum Family was awarded a scholarship to attend the O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat in Midlothian, Texas in October of 2009.
Band Members:
Daniel, at 20, is doing a great job on the upright bass and lead vocals, and sometime plays around with the penny-whistle & bones. A fan of Marty Robbins, Josh Groban, Bar-J Wranglers and the Sons of the Pioneers, his rich baritone voice is featured on many of our songs.
Benjamin, at 18, makes his mandolin ring as he plays rhythm, melodic fills and intricate leads. His skills on the mandolin are exceptional playing bluegrass, Irish or Texas Swing! He also plays lead & rythm guitar and enough harmonica to be dangerous... He also sings harmonies with his siblings.
Hannah, at 15 years old, handles a good percentage of the instrumental leads for the family band. She has a confident style playing bluegrass, gospel, Irish or Texas swing! She also sings some sweet gospel & bluegrass songs. Hannah takes fiddle lessons from her teacher, Ricky Boen, star fiddler with the Sons of the Pioneers. She is also an award-winning fiddler of some acclaim, having placed 3rd at the 41st Annual Old-Time Fiddle Championship at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.
Nathaniel, now 13-years old, joined the group in August of 2006 and sings occasional gospel & specialty numbers with his siblings. He is learning to play the resophonic guitar, and often adds a touch of Irish percussion on the bodhran. He has also been known to play the spoons & washboard.
Maggie, at 9-years old, also plays the fiddle, and often makes her stage appearances with 7-year old Matthew, both singing on gospel & novelty tunes. With her big sister, Hannah, the two often accompany each other on some sweet fiddle duets.

09/24/2013

Blue Mound Sound will be playing on Saturday September 18. We are so excited to have this band!
Biography:
Blue Mound Sound is a family band that's been playing since 2010.
We like to play bluegrass, gospel, and Celtic music. The band consists of banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and bass instruments with close vocal harmonies.
Band Members: (will have more information on Saturday)
The band consists of the four oldest daughters, ages 18 to 14, with mom on bass. The band has been mentored by Larry Smith in Stockton, Mo and have come to thoroughly enjoy bluegrass music!!
We have been coming to the Youth Bluegrass Festival every year since the beginning and are excited at the opportunity to take the stage!!! See you all there!

09/24/2013

The Second Band to play Friday night and also Saturday will be Charlie and The Girls from Ellis Grove, Illinois....
Biography:
We are the Hall Family.Our family band is called "Charlie and the Girls". We are from Ellis Grove, a small town in Southern Illinois.
We play and enjoy Bluegrass and Gospel music. We learned to play Bluegrass instruments in 2007. We are very blessed to have been given this musical ability. We enjoy sharing this gift with others. Music has a way of lifting a persons spirit, that is one of the things we like to do most. We enjoy sharing the gifts that God has given us with others. Come to an event, sit back and relax, forget about your problems for a little while, tap your foot and sing along !
Since 2007, Bluegrass and Gospel music have provided many great opportunities to travel and meet some wonderful folks at Festivals, Picnics, Churches, Fairs, and Family gatherings.
The highlight of 2012 was when we placed 4th in the KSMU Youth in Bluegrass Contest at Silver Dollar City, in Branson, Mo.
Band Members:
Charlie is 20 years old.
He plays rhythym guitar and sings lead vocals, and harmony.
He works full time as a sub contractor, and hobbies are hunting, fishing, shooting, riding and training horses, western swing dancing with his sisters, singing and playing music.
Emily is 18 years old.
She plays banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, bass and piano.
Her main duties in our band is playing banjo alternating with mandolin. She sings lead vocals and harmony. She enjoys teaching and singing, playing her instruments, gardening, baking, reading, riding horses, hunting, shooting, and western swing dancing with her brother.
Rosemary is 15 years old. She plays fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass. Her main duties in our band is to play fiddle alternating with mandolin and occasionally bass. She sings harmony vocals and occasionally we get her to sing lead. She enjoys photography, riding horses, baking, reading and playing music.
Kabbie is our mom, she plays and does a great job on the upright bass. She also sings harmony on some of our songs, and occasionally sings lead on a song. She loves music, singing, baking. She also enjoys her 7 children, and 7 grandchildren.

09/24/2013

Here is the Bio of the first youth Band to play Friday Night September 27 at 7:00pm......
The StringBeans from Butler Missouri is a Country/Bluegrass Band featuring the great sounds of acoustic string instruments. The band members Aarika Gardner, Dalton Dolbow, Lena Dolbow, Ethan Gardner, and Hally Dolbow create their own unique sound by playing traditional instruments.
Biography:
We got together to play for fun at the 2013 Bates County Fair Steak Dinner in Butler MO put on by the Fair Board. Due to our schedules we didn't get a formal practice together until the night before. Even though we "winged it", we had a BLAST. We were overwhelmed with the amount of compliments we got from the audience. All the wonderful support of our community was just the encouragement we needed to pursue developing our band and committing to more engagements. Keep an eye out because we have an exciting future ahead of us.
Band Members:
Aarika is the leader of the band and plays guitar, piano, and is starting to crank out the tunes on the banjo. She is 17 years old and a senior at Butler High School. She is a member of NHS while being involved with many different clubs, music, and a star volleyball player.
Dalton Dolbow is 17 years old and passionate about working the family farm with his grandfather. He is an avid rodeo competitor excelling in chute do**in and team roping. Dalton is a flat picking guitarist while also excelling at mandolin and fiddle.
Lena, 15 years old and a Butler High School Freshman, jams on the mandolin but also plays guitar, bass and on occasion fiddle. Whenever she gets the chance she loves to ride her horses, play volleyball and hang out on the farm.
Hally, 13 years old, and Ethan, 14 years old, are 8th graders at Butler Junior High. Hally likes to rock the fiddle and is able to fill in wherever needed on the mandolin, guitar, bass, and banjo.
Ethan plays classic cello, but is successfully turning it into a Bluegrass staple. He has also taught himself to play Upright Bass and is doing a great job keeping up with the girls.
Checkout their page to find out where they will be playing next.

09/23/2013

BBQ Teams, Judges, Volunteers, and Friends,
As of 3:00 Monday Afternoon we have 16 entries (including call ins)for the 2013 Community First Bank BBQ Competition for September 27-28 in Appleton City which makes us a KCBS QUALIFYING COMPETITION... We still have six 20X20 spots available in the park with electrical, but the RV spots with electrical are full. If you do not see your name on the list but have already mailed your entry, do not worry we will make room for you. We do have spots for Motorhomes and RV's on the street without electrical close to the cooking sites. Please call before sending your entry so we will know how many additional judges we will need.

Check out our website http://www.youthbluegrassfestival.com/bbq_competition for a list of teams and additional information.

Thank you for helping to make our first year a qualifying competition.

Youth Bluegrass Festival