The Santa Fe New Mexican from Santa Fe, New Mexico • 80

uegrass Js(i weve chosen a more domestic life. Both Big Twang and Higher Ground have performed in the festival before and both Forbes and said they like playing the event because it fits into their busy family and work lives. Its a big deal when Big Twang ventures out of Kansas to perform, Macy said. We try to play gigs that we can take families to, so we can stay true to that balance. woman Any Old Time String Band.

Stecher was playing guitar, fretless five-string banjo, mandolin and fiddle before he was 15. He moved to California to study with sarod master Ali Akbar Khan and has recorded over the yetfrs with Scotlands Alasdair Fraser, Delta bluesman Fred McDowell, Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa and Bahamian folk guitarist Joseph Spence. Steelier and Brislin, who excels on vocals, guitar and banjo, began performing duets in 1985 and released their first album, A Song That Will Linger, three years later. Our music is very much of the moment, Stecher said in a 1991 interview with Dirty Linen magazine. Basically our key is set, the tempo is the same, but the phrasing is not always the same.

Kate will sing a note and my harmony part will be curvilinear, or shell curve around and Ill hold it straight, or well both curve but not at the same speed, so theres nothing happening in parallel. One of the reasons 1 was attracted to singing with Kate is that she doesn't want the security of knowing whats going to happen next. The duo earned Grammy nominations for two albums on Rounder Records: Our Town (1992) and Heart Song: The Old Time Country Songs of Utah Phillips (1997). They take the stage at Santa Fes bluegrass festival this evening, Aug. 24.

We play traditional American country music, but the bluegrass fans really like what we do because we sing a lot of songs that could be sung with a whole bluegrass band, Stecher said. In fact when we play as a bluegrass band, we do the same material. Stecher also performs with the bluegrass band Perfect Strangers. His next album with Brislin will be a collection of songs recorded at various concerts dating to the late 1980s. Mountain music, continued from Page 41 who perfected the three-finger banjo picking style characteristic of the sound were playing old-time music with an improvisational edge.

Jeff Forbes, fiddler for New Mexico bluegrass group Higher Ground, said that although the general publics interest in bluegrass music has ebbed and flowed, the music has always stayed close to its roots. Thereve been several rebirths of this music there was the 60s bluegrass revival, Forbes said. Then it waned again throughout the 70s, but with Alison Krauss there was another rebirth in the early 90s when she started doing original material in the bluegrass style, and the music began grabbing people like me with its very' polished sound on a very high technical level. And just this last year theres been another spurt of interest with Nickel Creek." Higher Ground emphasizes playing original material, lending a unique and modern edge to their traditional sound. The group has existed in its current lineup since 1999 and often plays bluegrass festivals throughout Colorado and New Mexico.

The newest addition to the five-member group is singer Diane Lujan, from Santa Fe. Singer Macy of Big Twang said her life was altered the first time she heard the banjo and the fiddle together. 1 felt that no two instruments were better paired, she said. The music strikes a chord, an esoteric chord its indescribable. Macy didnt always have the comfortable country life she now has playing with Big Twang and living in Belle Plain, just outside of Wichita.

In the late 80s she formed crossover country group the Dixie Chicks. Before the Dixie Chicks made it big with their album Wide Open Spaces the biggest-selling country album in history the all-female group was a little operation run out of Macys home in Dallas. Running the band was all 1 did wondering How can 1 make this happen? It was successful, but the music wasn't really what I wanted to embrace at that point. The others wanted to go mainstream country, and Ive always been a roots person. 1 did choose the road less traveled, and Ive never regretted it, Macy said.

Macy recorded three albums with the group before she and the Dixie Chicks parted ways. She currently splits her time among restoring a 17-acre arboretum with her husband, playing with Big Twang and teaching high-school math at the Wichita Collegiate School. Macy said that when her students began telling her about the bluegrass group Nickel Creek, it was almost staggering to me to hear that my music was becoming popular. She said she feels this resurgence in the popularity of bluegrass music is a backlash from the overproduced records. Its simple and from the heart, Its not formulated, fabricated and marketed.

The five-member Big Twang includes two-time National Banjo Champion Jeff Scroggins. Its a fabulous set of musicians, Macy said. We could all be on the road with major performers, but FESTIVAL SCHEDULE All events are at the Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds on Rodeo Road, one mile east of Cerrillos Road. Campgrounds open at noon today, Aug. 24, and camping is free.

Today, Ang. 24 8 p.m. Jody Stecher Kate Brislin Saturday, Aug. 25 10 a.m. Diio contest 11 a.m.

Higher Ground Noon The Shady Creek Band 1 p.m. Stecher Brislin 2 p.m. Big Twang 3 p.m. Ron Spears 4 p.m. Elliotts Ramblers 5 p.m.

The Shady Creek Band 7 p.m. Big Twang, 8 p.m. Ron Spears and Within Tradition Sunday, Aug. 26 9 a.m. Gospel Extravaganza with the Shady Creek Band, Ron Spears Elliotts Ramblers Noon Band Scramble p.m.

Old-time band bluegrass band contests Contests workshops throughout the day i i Jody Stecher Kate Brislin Bluegrass, folk old-time country music 8 p.m. today, Aug. 24 $10, free for 12 under with parent 471-3462 Santa Fe Traditional Bluegrass Music Festival Today, through Sunday, Aug. 24-26 Santa Fe Rodeo Grounds, Rodeo Road Three4fay pass $35, Saturday Sunday $10 505-298-8727 www.lnetserv.comswp 44 Aug. 24- 30,2001.