Several musicians from the Neighbor Islands attended Bluegrass Hawai'i's first Pickin' Weekend, held in September 2009. After watching a YouTube video of that event, about two dozen bluegrass lovers and musicians from Portland, Oregon now plan to attend the April 2010 weekend. The video may be seen at youtube.com/watch?v=_UYzCRB1264.

Bluegrass lovers from the U.S. Mainland may find this event particularly appealing, as camping at the beautiful 400-acre Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden is an activity that non-residents rarely experience. Camping permits are not available to individuals, but only to non-profit groups such as Bluegrass Hawai'i.

Particularly popular during the September 2009 event was an all-weekend door prize raffle that featured CDs and merchandise donated by a variety of generous Mainland bluegrass artists, including Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road; Curtis Burch, Bobby Osborne, Dean Osborne, J.P. Mathes and the American Bluegrass Masters Tour; Hazard Community College's Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music Ensemble; Larry Stephenson Band; Jeanette Williams Band; Casey Henry & The Murphy Method; Richard Greene; Eddie & Martha Adcock; 3 Fox Drive; Casey Driessen; Frank Poindexter; Bull Harman; Patty Clayton; Kevin Willette; and the Down The Road Band.

Organizers hope to hold a similar raffle at the April event. Mainland and international bluegrass and traditional acoustic bands seeking new audiences in Hawai'i are invited to donate merchandise to the fundraiser; the organization's mailing address is Bluegrass Hawai'i, P.O. Box 861688, Wahiawa, HI 96786.

Bluegrass Hawai'i was founded in 2003 by Caroline Wright, an O'ahu resident, occasional contributor to Bluegrass Unlimited and former editor of Bluegrass Now magazine. She is also the co-author of Still Inside, the forthcoming authorized biography of flatpicking guitar pioneer Tony Rice, to be published this April by Word of Mouth Press.

Visit www.BluegrassHawaii.com or call 808/206-3459 for more details.

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