This month, I received two bits of good news related to my local old-time music community. The news has led me to find a decent groove this month playing banjo and fiddle. Two of my favorite local festivals announced they will return this year after having been canceled the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, the Lake Erie Folk Festival (LEFF) announced it will return to the Shore Cultural Center in Euclid, Ohio, on April 30. This festival was actually the last musical event I attended before everything shut down . I had interviewed organizer Laura Lewis prior to the festival for its fifth anniversary. LEFF only missed 2021, due to the pandemic. Usually held in February as a way to scare away the winter doldrums in Northeast Ohio, the organizers moved the event to April to avoid spikes in pandemic numbers. Second, the Raccoon County Music Festival announced it too would be coming back this year, returning to Century Village in Burton, Ohio, on Aug. 20. This h
How to learn to stop worrying and love the twang. A journey into old-time music.