The Charm City Bluegrass Festival celebrated 10 years on May 5 and 6 at Union Craft Brewing, the Baltimore brewery that hosted the first festival in 2013.
Featuring more than 20 artists on three stages, the Baltimore-born festival offered up the gamut of bluegrass, from the traditional pickers Steel Wheels to the progressive bluegrass sounds of Saturday night headliners The Infamous Stringdusters to a reggae-tinged Grateful Dead tribute from Grateful Dub.
After a sold-out inaugural festival at Union Craft Brewing’s original brewery on Union Avenue in Hampden in 2013, the festival moved to Baltimore’s iconic Druid Hill Park. Festival promoters decided to celebrate 10 years at the brewery where it all began at its newer, larger space known as the Union Collective. The weekend featured music inside the taproom, on Union’s patio and on a large outdoor stage.
In addition to nationally touring acts The Magic Beans, Steel Wheels and The Infamous Stringdusters, the festival featured local and regional acts Caleb Stine, The Honey Dewdrops, The High and Wides, the Hampden All-Stars, and hometown favorite Cris Jacobs. Arguably the most anticipated and best-attended set of the weekend, Jacobs played a tribute to the late John Prine, featuring his four-piece band along with sit-ins from festival artists-at-large Allie Kral on fiddle and Chris Luquette on guitar, the Honey Dewdrops, Stine, and fiddle extraordinaire Patrick McAvinue.
Baltimore can trace its bluegrass roots back to the 1930s, when Southern Appalachian musicians began migrating to the city seeking work. The music they brought with them made Baltimore a bluegrass haven in the 1950s and 60s.
Continuing in that tradition, the festival has featured legends Tim O’Brien and Tony Trischka; 14-time Grammy award winner Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder; Grammy award-winning dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas; Keller Williams and The Travelin’ McCourys; Del McCoury; Steep Canyon Rangers; Sierra Hull; The Wood Brothers; and Noam Pikelny and Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers.
It was named Event of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association and Best Music Festival by Baltimore Magazine.
Caleb Stine performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. The group Hazel Raven performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. The Hampden All-Stars with The Honey Dewdrops perform at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. The group Wood Belly performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. Cris Jacobs performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. The High and Wides perform at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. Cris Jacobs, sitting in with The Infamous Stringdusters, performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. Artist-at-Large Allie Kral performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. Ahn Phung of Twisted Pine performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. The Chatham Rabbits perform at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro. Ahn Phung, sitting in with the Magic Beans, performs at the Charm City Bluegrass Festival at Union Craft Brewing. Photo by Marc Shapiro.
