True North Music presents the Fall into Autumn Virtual Festival

This special live streamed virtual music festival will feature a line-up of exceptional bluegrass, Americana and folk/roots artists from the USA and UK. The live streamed concerts will run from 7pm - 10.30pm approx (UK time) on Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th October (don't forget UK clocks change early on Sunday morning!). To watch, just tune in at our Facebook page - facebook.com/truenorthmusicuk - or on our YouTube channel at Youtube.com/TrueNorthMusic

We've been running our popular True North Music concert series for five years now, showcasing some of the finest talent in bluegrass, Americana and folk/roots at around 50 gigs in Meltham, Marsden and Sheffield. Due to the coronavirus crisis, we sadly had to cancel all live concerts since March. But we're keeping the flame of live music burning with this virtual festival, with these wonderful American and British musicians performing for us from their homes via the magic of the internet! Many of them were scheduled to perform for us in real life this year, and some have already appeared at one of our Yorkshire gigs, almost all of which have sold out. We’ll also have some ticketed music and dance workshops happening on Zoom so that you can really join in with the fun (full details coming soon).

Here’s the confirmed performance line-up:

*The Honey Dewdrops* - exquisite Americana/folk duo from Baltimore with gorgeous original songwriting and beautiful vocal harmonies

*The Horsenecks* - footstomping UK/USA duo based in Portland, Oregon, playing old time tunes and classic bluegrass songs on fiddle, banjo and guitar

*Mishra* - a mesmerising blend of UK folk, Americana and Indian music from Sheffield, UK featuring the hugely talented Kate Griffin and Ford Collier, both previous BBC Young Folk Awards finalists

*Rachel Baiman & George Jackson* - this talented USA/New Zealand couple is based in Madison, Tennessee and blends contemporary Americana, exceptional songwriting and ripping bluegrass fiddle tunes

*Stillhouse Junkies* - barnstorming bluegrass, Western Swing and acoustic country on fiddle, guitar, double bass and mandolin, from this Durango, Colorado trio

*Jake Blount* - a sensationally talented young African-American banjoist, fiddler, singer and scholar whose exceptional debut album garnered sizzling reviews this spring

*Vera van Heeringen & Jock Tyldesley* - Vera is a hugely talented guitarist and songwriter and evocative singer. Jock is an acclaimed fiddler specialising in the Cajun and old time Appalachian styles. They’ll be performing their blend of old time Americana and folk from their home in the Welsh borders

*Bill and the Belles* - appearing here in their duo format, Bill and the Belles from Tennessee are influenced by classic country, bluegrass and old time music, with gloriously smooth vocal harmonies and exquisite musicianship. Kris Truelsen (guitar, vocals) is an amazing musician, songwriter, event organiser and radio presenter, and Kalia Yeagle is a sensational fiddle player and singer who also teaches old time music at East Tennessee State University.

We're also delighted to have received funding from Arts Council England to help support this event. This award from the Project Grants: Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund will also help us to organise two additional concerts in early 2021. It will allow us to guarantee reasonable minimum fees to the participating artists, and to invest in some equipment to help us bring you better quality live streamed events. As you can imagine, the impact of Covid-19 and the cancellation of all True North Music’s planned tours and concerts since March, has been devastating both for ourselves and for the grassroots artists we work with. We very much appreciate this support, which will help us to continue our work to promote grassroots live music, both here in our local community and further afield! The live stream will be free for all to enjoy but please donate if you can afford it. This will help us to pay the musicians as much as possible during this very challenging time. Details for donations will be published nearer the time.

Please add the event to your calendar on 24 & 25 October and stay tuned for more updates, including full info on our participatory workshops! Visit our website at truenorthpromotions.co.uk and follow our page at facebook.com/truenorthmusicuk

For more information visit http://truenorthpromotions.co.uk/