Minnesota Bluegrass August Festival

August 8 - 11, 2024                                                 El Rancho Mañana, 27302 Ranch Rd, Richmond, MN 56368



August Fest Tickets

Vendor Registration



2024 Bluegrass & Old-Time

Instructional Camps
(aka "Jam Camp")

August 6-8, 2024

Attention All Bluegrass and Old-Time Players! 

This year we will feature both bluegrass and old-time music instructional camps in advance of the festival.

This is your chance to take your playing to the next level and learn how to play with others in an ensemble setting!

Join our all star instructor lineup for Bluegrass or Old-Time Instructional Camp (also known as Jam Camp). Bring your bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, or fiddle to this fun, intensive event and get more out of your playing!

This year, premier Minnesota Bluegrass band, The High 48's will be the instructors of Bluegrass Jam Camp!

The prominent Old-Time and dance ensemble Earl White String Band will be leading the Old-Time Jam Camp!

Requirements: Students need to be at least 12 years old and participation is limited to bass, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle players. Registration is limited for each instrument group. Select one of the two camps.

For more information or questions, please contact Martha at 715-505-2062 or galep@wwt.net

Camps Begin: Tuesday, August 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Cost: $125 until June 30  ($150: July 1 – July 31)

Registration Deadline: July 31st

What to Expect: Classes and breakout sessions covering work in instrument groups (all divided into the 5 standard bluegrass/old-time instruments: guitar, banjo, bass, fiddle and mandolin), ensembles, seminars on lead and harmony singing, music theory, song arrangement, jam etiquette, and more.

The camp will close out with all students performing their recitals on the Main Stage at 5pm on Thursday, August 8.

Camping Info: If you want to camp at El Rancho Mañana during the Jam Camp, you need to reserve your site directly with ERM for Tuesday and Wednesday. For rates & information, visit El Rancho Mañana's website


Register for Jam Camps

ABOUT THE HIGH 48's - Bluegrass 

Since forming in northeast Minneapolis in 2006, The High 48s have been making music that combines the soulful sound of classic bluegrass with a modern attitude.

They’re a band with one foot in tradition and the other in the world of music today, and one of the very few who can find an overlooked bluegrass classic in a song by M. Ward or the Clash then throw down hard on a standard by Bill Monroe.

The High 48s are also a band of songwriters. Here, too, they take a modern approach, heeding the well-worn advice to writers: write what you know. Their songs ring true to their lives as northern city-folk rather than an imagined “sweet, sunny south” of coal mines and dark hollers.

In addition to keeping up a busy performing schedule, the High 48s are passionate about music education and are in demand as instructors. The band teaches one-on-one lessons, group workshops and jam camps around the country, including Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-time Music Association’s Grass Seeds Academy, an annual bluegrass jam camp for kids.

The band have also been regular instructors at the International Music Camp, MN Bluegrass & Old-time Music Festival Jam Camp, Blue Ox Music Festival, Brian Wicklund’s Fiddle Pals Camp, Bluegrass in the Schools Programs and more

ABOUT EARL WHITE STRING BAND - Old-Time

Fiddlin Earl White has been a prominent figure in the Old-time music and dance community for more than 50+ years. He is one of few Black Americans playing and perpetuating the music that was once an important part of black culture and black communities across the US. He is an original and founding member of the famed Greengrass Cloggers and received his first fiddle in 1975. Earl’s energetic, rhythmic, driving style is attributed to many years of dancing with the Cloggers to the delights of Tommy Jarrell, the Highwoods Stringband, the Plank Road Stringband, and the Horseflies, to name a few. His fiddling is as heartfelt as his dancing of earlier years.

Currently, Earl leads the “The Earl White Stringband” with the superb accompaniment of Victor Furtado-banjo, Danny Knicely-guitar, Adrienne Davis-guitar, Mark Schatz- bass, and a host of other great musicians. Find Fiddlin Earl White and the Earl White Stringband on YouTube.

My teaching style is geared toward ear training. I use a call and response approach. Students are also directed to reference sources for listening and immersive experiences.





Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time Music Association
P.O. Box 16408, Minneapolis, MN 55416
info@minnesotabluegrass.org

612-216-8624

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Our Mission: To preserve and promote bluegrass and old-time stringband music in and around the state of Minnesota.


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