Down County Jump at The Race Brook

From Friday, June 13 through Saturday, June 14, The Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield, Massachusetts, presents a weekend long music festival dubbed Down County Jump. Top-notch local and national touring musicians will perform early Americana styles.

On Saturday, festival headliners Michael Daves on guitar, Tony Trischka on banjo, and Bruce Molsky on fiddle will regale audiences with old time and bluegrass styles with enough room for modern interpretation and improvisation.

Trischka, mentor to Bela Fleck, broke the banjo world open by combining traditional Scruggs style with jazz and pop. Molsky is known as the foremost exponent of old time fiddling, while Daves is highly regarded as one of the best proponents of bluegrass guitar.

In a phone interview, Daves distinguished between styles they will play. “Old-time predates bluegrass. There’s very little improvisation, and it’s most often instrumental fiddle tunes. The fiddler leads the melody, plays it repeatedly, and everyone finds this amazing groove.”

“Old-time musicians tend to be more straightforward about the melodies, whereas bluegrass musicians tend to use those traditional melodies as a jumping-off-point for improvisation. Tony and Bruce play at such a high level. There is a musical conversation that encompasses so much musical understanding and finds common ground,” he added.

Down County Jump returns to Race Brook Lodge June 13 and 14.Provided

Scholarly in his knowledge yet down to earth, Daves grew up in Georgia, was raised by musician parents, and attended Hampshire College in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts where he studied with jazz maestro Yusef Lateef.

Though he tours the world with high profile musicians like mandolinist Chris Thile, Steve Martin, and The Steep Canyon Rangers, Daves now lives in Adams, Massachusetts, having relocated there with his wife, luthier Jessi Carter from Brooklyn several years ago.

In addition to performing and recording, Daves teaches guitar and bluegrass singing. He’s inspired by the “high lonesome” bluegrass sounds of legendary artists like Del McCoury, Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley.

“There’s an openness to their sound. It’s intense with mournful bluesy wailing and smearing, sliding notes over a breakneck speed. It borrows from African American traditions like blues and gospel and mixes with Appalachian ballad styles, which has roots in the British Isles. It’s a uniquely American form from people who were listening to one another for centuries.”

The Down County Jump will be his first show at Race Brook Lodge. For tickets and information, go to: rblodge.com