CORNWALL, Ontario – The seventh annual Woodsmoke Bluegrass Jamboree was held at the NAV Canada Centre in Cornwall Friday April 6 and Saturday April 7, 2018 from 7-10:30 p.m. respectively. Multiple bluegrass acts took the stage over the course of the two-day event
Organizer Darwin Thom, himself a bluegrass musician of 25 years, says that the idea for the festival occurred to him practising with some fellow musicians one evening, including Ottawa-born Giles Leclerc of the Dusty Drifters. They realised that Cornwall and area had no festival celebrating bluegrass music in spite of an appreciation by the local population. Leclerc and his band have performed at each subsequent Jamboree to support the event. Thom shared that he was trying to maintain the acoustic sound and centre mic setup and atmosphere of traditional bluegrass music, and found the theatre at the NAV centre perfect to capture that.
Bill Henry of Woodsmoke House Band has also been part of the Woodsmoke Bluegrass Jamboree since its first annual festival, and says it is a great opportunity for bluegrass musicians and audience members to come together, and that performers often stay overnight and sit up late into the night enjoying each other’s music, company, and the sense of community that it brings. He also shares that Woodsmoke being the first music festival of the year in the Cornwall and area, that it is the first opportunity for many musicians from different areas who have befriended each other to catch up and share their love of music.
Organizers and musicians look forward to continuing their annual tradition of sharing their love of bluegrass with the community in future festivals.
