Tamarack's Annual Appalachian Music Festival Set for Saturday, June 2

According to Tamarack Events Director Kelly Elkins, the event is free and open to the public. She encourages everyone to bring lawn chairs. “Tamarack is open for business as usual with shopping and dining, but we bring live music to the festival meadow all day long and include some artisans in the mix.”

The event clicks off loud and clear at noon with the Fayetteville, WV-based band, The Wild Rumpus. Proclaiming they have one foot stompin’ in the past and one in the present, The Wild Rumpus is ‘wildly’ popular “Their mix of bluegrass, swing, country and rock and roll is a big hit in West Virginia and in the Southeast,” said Elkins. Andrew Adkins leads the group of Allan Sizemore and Clint Lewis.

At 1 p.m. Aurora Celtic from Aurora, WV, shifts gears into a traditional and original blend of Celtic sounds. Alice Fleishman, Mike Broderick, and Aaron Martin make up Aurora Celtic.

Local favorites the Raleigh County Ramblers perform at 2 p.m. Tish and Greg Westman, Tamarack’s resident wood artisans, along with Jackie Williams meld the poignant string sounds of the bowed psaltery into music new and old.

Folk singer and song writer Kathleen Coffee, a teacher, activist, poet and musician will perform at 3 p.m. Her mantra is “Music is medicine.”

The Boatmen follow at 4 p.m. Led by Randy Gilkey on guitar, keyboard, harmonica and vocals, the band is also comprised of Nick Durm on bass, Matt Mullins on acoustic guitar and Robert Gross on djembe and percussion.

Andy Park and the Kountry Katz bring on what’s been called ‘emograss’ at 5 p.m. Formerly of the Voodoo Katz and Crazy Jane, Park has been playing music since his teenage years. He plays banjo, mandolin, fiddle, lead guitar and sings, accompanied by Deron Sodaro on upright bass, Mark Davis, percussion, and Jamie Adkins on pedal and steel guitar.

Jamaica-born Shayar shares his reggae sound at 6 p.m. With five albums and international tours to his credit, he promotes “Roots, rock, reggae with a universal message.”

The event concludes with Mercer County’s Option 22. Called ‘sonically robust,’ this eclectic music soars on guitar, banjo, didgeridoo, and varied drums. Option 22 offers nontraditional sounds on some traditional and some nontraditional instrumentation.

Also on the festival meadow, various Tamarack artisans will demonstrate and sell their handcrafts: Mark Schwenk, blacksmith; Stephanie Danz, stained glass; Ginger Danz, fine art; Rick Rio, jewelry; Zendik Arts, recycled paper jewelry; and more.