The Morehead Old Time Music Festival was a campout event started by Clack Mountain String Band in 2005 as the Morehead Old Time Fiddler’s Convention in Morehead, KY. The annual gathering included both adult and youth competitions for fiddle, banjo, dulcimer, dancing, singing and string bands; as well as workshops, vendors, performances and nightly square dances.
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Local Press
THE DAILY INDEPENDENT - Old Time Music Festival with International Flare
By JORDAN SIMONSON For The Daily Independent. Jul 31, 2016
Muddy tire tracks circled the concrete stage at Jaycee Farm as several traditional bands played to a small crowd who braved the threatening weather last Friday and Saturday. The Morehead Old Time Music Festival started in 2005 as the Morehead Old Time Fiddler’s Convention. Each year offers campers and day-goers live concerts, music contests, educational workshops and nightly square dancing.
“I love going around listening to all the music,” said Jacob Keyser, 14, of Catlettsburg about the two-day festival. Keyser placed first in the youth banjo contest with his rendition of “Texas.” “There are a lot of good musicians here.”
Several Morehead musicians acted as judges on the second day for the various contests that evaluated players for their groove, time, melody and choice of traditional songs. “One of the wonderful characteristics of this festival is the emphasis on regional music,” Raymond McLain, director for the Kentucky Center for Traditional Music, said. “[The musicians] are given credit to play original tunes in the original style.”
Among the bluegrass natives stationed in lawn chairs, visitors from Asia, Austria, Canada and several states in the U.S. clapped along to the traditional music. “I love the county music,” said 75-year-old Nancy Hampton, from Illinois. “I was born in the Smokey Mountains and raised with the Grand Old Opry. The music I’ve heard today is very similar to what I heard at home growing up.”
One of the first bands to play on Friday, Sarah Wood and Thomas Albert, surprised the crowd when they started their cover of “Tian Mi Mi” sung by Wood in traditional Chinese. “It was very good,” Hua Guo, an exchange student from Guangxi University, said of Wood’s performance. “Tian Mi Mi is a very sweet song. Everyone in China can sing it.”
When the contests and performances ended, improvised group jam sessions popped up among the tents and campers, encouraging dancers and singers to add their own old time flair to the ionic picking sounds. “I love this festival,” said McLain. “It draws in so many people to celebrate and enjoy Eastern Kentucky music.”
