2013 Yulegrass is a Musical Christmas Present

We arrived at One Longfellow Square feeling a bit worried because a huge blizzard was on its way – but who cares about that when you’re going to hear live music? The place was packed with people of all shapes and sizes, young and old. We grabbed a seat in the front row. The beautiful and talented Portland fiddle player and vocalist, Lauren Rioux, gathered a marvelous cadre of musicians for this year’s Yulegrass lineup. Included were world-famous banjo master, Tony Trischka; award winning, flatpicking guitarist and singer, Scott Law; the bouncy and joyous Amanda Kowalski on stand-up bass; and the incomparable Mike Block on cello and vocals.

The performance was high-spirited, beautiful and atypical. We heard an adapted Woody Guthrie tune called “Christmasy Night” and Merle Haggard's “If We Make it Through December.”

Lauren’s young student, Claire Scott, came up on stage to sing moving, musical renditions of two poems set to music. The first was the Longfellow poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” and the second was “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rosetti. She played fiddle, and joined the others for a few more tunes such as John Lennon's song, “Happy Christmas – War is Over.”

Mike Block’s cello hung from a shoulder strap which allowed him incredible mobility. He is a world class musician with a great singing voice and a hilarious sense of humor. Scott Law’s face was bright with warmth, and his flatpicking was mesmerizing. Of note was his solo guitar performance of “The Christmas Song.” Lauren has an elegant presence and Amanda was pure energy. The whole ensemble did a wonderful acoustic version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”

We could see why Tony is called the godfather of the modern banjo – he's incredible. There was a high-spirited feeling of love and warmth between audience and performers all afternoon. The show ended with a sweet ol’ timey tune that Tony learned by way of Ruth Crawford Seeger, and Mike Seeger of the New City Ramblers – “Tell 'em I’m a Child of God.” We all sung along and left feeling fed in heart, and ready to face the rest of the Christmas season. Ho ho ho!