Charm City Bluegrass Festival

The Charm City Bluegrass Festival was founded in 2013 as the Charm City Folk & Bluegrass Festival when Jordan August and Phil Chorney, partners in the Baltimore Music Agency, wished to "put on bluegrass for everyone to see, whether it was on the porch, at a show, or a bigger party,"[2] as a way to highlight Baltimore's rich history of bluegrass music. Its name was shortened to the Charm City Bluegrass Festival in 2017. The inaugural festival was a sold-out event held on the grounds of the Union Craft Brewery and featured a line-up headlined by Tony Trischka and Tim O'Brien (musician).[3]

For the second installment August and Chorney, moved to the much larger grounds of Druid Hill Park.[4] The line-up featured Jerry Douglas, Noam Pikelny & Friends, Sierra Hull, Chris Eldridge & Julian Lage, and Cris Jacobs and saw the attendance almost double from the first year.[5]

In 2015 for the event's third year, the festival again returned to Druid Hill Park and expanded its line-up by adding a second stage. The 2015 line-up included The Travelin' McCourys, The Wood Brothers, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, Cris Jacobs, the Seldom Scene, and many others.[6]

In 2016 the Charm City Bluegrass featured a line-up of Ricky Skaggs, Keller Williams and the Traveling McCourys, Steep Canyon Rangers, Cris Jacobs, Sierra Hull, Cabinet, Colebrook Road, Man About A Horse and Ampersand Stringband. The 2016 installment also featured the addition of the Bluegrass Academy to the festival, where performers gave lessons and discussed their music with fans for free in a dedicated tent. The festival took place April 30, 2016.

Following the 2016 edition, the Charm City Bluegrass Festival was awarded an International Bluegrass Music AssociationMomentum Award for Event of the Year.

The fifth installment of the Charm City Bluegrass Festival in 2017 again returned to Druid Hill Park with a line-up headlined by the Lone Bellow, the super-group of Adam Aijala and Ben Kaufmann from Yonder Mountain String Band and Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn from Leftover Salmon, Cabinet, Seldom Scene, Cris Jacobs, Dust Bowl Revival, Lonesome River Band, and many more.

In 2018 a documentary, "Charm City Bluesgrass: A Renewed Baltimore Tradition," directed by Marc Shapiro and filmed by Caplan & Green Productions, was released highlighting the festival's continuing role in keeping alive the long tradition of bluegrass music in Baltimore. The documentary's release was celebrated with a screening and concert at Baltimore radio station WTMD.

The 2018 version of the festival marked the first time th event was expanded to two days was headlined by The Travelin' McCourys, The Devil Makes Three (band), The SteelDrivers, and included the Jeff Austin Band, Billy Strings, Caleb Stine, The Larry Keel Experience, and Trout Steak Revival, among many others.

In 2019 the Friday night headliner was Jeff Austin in one of his final live performances before passing away that June. The rest of the lineup was filled out with The Bridge (band), Deer Tick (band), Town Mountain, and others.

The festival was canceled in 2020 & '21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It returned in 2022 with a two-day event at Druid Hill Park, and lineup featuring Hiss Golden Messenger, Yonder Mountain String Band, Larry Keel, the Lil Smokies, and others.[7]

For its tenth anniversary the festival is returning to where it started on the grounds of Union Craft Brewery in Baltimore, May 5 & 6, 2023. The two day event has bill topped by The Infamous Stringdusters, Cris Jacobs, and The Steel Wheels.[8]

• 2014 - Baltimore Magazine: "Best Festival"[9]
• 2015 - Baltimore Magazine: "Best Music Festival Readers Choice"[10]
• 2016 - International Bluegrass Music Association: "Momentum Award for Event of the Year" [11]

• List of bluegrass music festivals
• List of country music festivals
• Bluegrass in Baltimore: The Hard Drivin' Sound and its Legacy

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