July 31 Bluegrass Trivia Question

Additional Bowden Comments

No winner!! HA!

Yes the correct answer is B. Smokey Green was involved in the first festival at Corinth, I think as a partner. The NEXT year, he started his own festival in Fort Ann. Berkshire Mt./Hillsdale was a year later than that. The Corinth Festival was inspired by the Country Gentlemen’s Festival in Webster Mass. We met the Corinth organizers there. Except for Woodstock, all the others are real events, just later than Corinth. Bluegrass Ramble Picnic is not a weekend festival, it’s a one-day.

Corinth NY is a little bitty paper mill town on the banks of the UPPER Hudson River, way up past Saratoga and almost to Lake George. Some bluegrass fans from Corinth attended the County Gentlemen’s Festival in Webster Mass, and were so impressed they decided to organize something in their hometown. It was held on a small farm field literally on the banks of the Hudson (the kids used to swim at the town beach). From the get-go, Corinth had big name acts and the festival rocketed in popularity through the next few years. Pretty much everybody but Monroe played there. That’s where I first saw Bela Fleck (he wasn’t in any band then, just a fan camping out). A great TRADITIONAL bluegrass festival. It got so big that it basically wore out the few friends who were producing it.

As the Berkshire Mt. Festival grew in Hillsdale NY, and Peaceful Valley Festival grew in Shinhopple NY, I guess Corinth decided they could bow out. My mom and dad and sister and I became very close friends with the Corinth organizers for quite a while. I remember my family also became fast friends with a family from north of Plattsburgh; dad “Pete” was a prison guard up there at Dannemora. BTW, I attended the festival at the Nevele Hotel in Wawarsing NY the single year it was held. A very weird experience! The menu in the hotel restaurant was completely kosher! A lot of bluegrass fans missed their bacon and sausage at breakfast.