Kathy Mattea to headline Bluegrass Festival

The Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival is set to begin Oct. 3 and again a well-known artist will be headlining the three-day festival.

Courtesy of www.mattea.com.

About 17 artist and groups are expected to take the stage down in the Guthrie’s Cottonwood Flats, including Kathy Mattea taking the stage 9 p.m. on Saturday evening.

Mattea, a country music and bluegrass performer, began her professional career with a recording artist in 1983 and since has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks charts. This total includes the number one hits “Goin’ Gone”, “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses”, “Come From the Heart” and “Burnin’ Old Memories”, as well as twelve additional Top Ten singles.

Before Mattea takes the stage she will be welcomed by the Kruger Brothers, who will be making the trip from Switzerland. The international flavor continues with Louvat Brothers (Belgium) and Blue Side of Lonesome (Japan).

Naturally, it would not be a Bluegrass Festival without the Byron Berline Band.

Berline, the brainchild of the festival, is a three-time national fiddle champion and current resident of Guthrie. During his travels throughout the world, Berline has been a kind of unofficial bluegrass ambassador to China, Mexico, Australia, Germany, and most points in-between.

While speaking to bluegrass fans worldwide, Berline saw the need for a festival where national and international players could perform and mix freely. This type of event would be new to the bluegrass world and would appeal not only to the musicians themselves, but to bluegrass and other music fans worldwide.

In 1984, while still living in Los Angeles, Berline visited Oklahoma and ran into Joe Hutchinson, now a state representative. Since Hutchinson was then involved in organizing the Powder Horn Park Bluegrass Festival, and had worked on other musical events in the past, he was more than interested in Berline’s ideas about an international bluegrass festival in Oklahoma.

But it was over ten years later before the wheels were set in motion. A small group became committed to producing such festival, and in 1996, Hutchinson was able to help in earnest by sponsoring the incorporation of the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival (OIBF), Inc. Formally incorporated as a charitable organization under Oklahoma statutes, OIBF consists of volunteers and willing professionals who have raised funds, solicited charitable donations, and given time and money to make the festival a success.

“The organization was formed to promote bluegrass music and the State of Oklahoma,” said Doug Hawthorne, chief researcher for the Oklahoma Department of Tourism, and member of the OIBF Advisory Committee. “We gathered specialists from different areas of business and industry, and they all pitched in to make the festival a success.”

Specialists from event-planning, tourism, economic development, fund-raising, public safety, volunteer management, and of course, the bluegrass music business itself, were involved with the project. And although the OIBF looked at several possible sites for the festival, Guthrie was chosen because of its central location, easy accessibility, and historic charm.

“We looked at various sites and it was determined that Guthrie was the best location to hold the festival,” Hawthorne said. “The Guthrie Chamber of Commerce , city manager, and mayor presented profitable reasons why Guthrie is the perfect place.” Hawthorne said that the OIBF anticipates audiences of 15,000 initially, with growth to around 100,000 in the future.

The CCC Stage Schedule for 2013 is as follows (main stage ‘Land Run Stage’ info listed below):

Signup begins Wednesday – Just come to the stage and ask…..

THURSDAY – Open Mike for Noon to 6 PM – No open mike during the Random Band Scramble.

FRIDAY – Open mike from Noon to Midnight

SATURDAY – Songwriters Workshop at NOON to 1PM with RANDY PEASE
– Door Prize Drawing around 3PM
– Open mike from 1 PM to Midnight

Everyone is welcome to come sign up for a half hour set. We welcome all levels of musical skill. Acoustic instruments only, please. Songwriters most welcome.

Oct 3 – 5