Backyard picking in Kingston

From its origins in the mid-1980s as a backyard party hosted in a garlic shed, Pickamania has evolved into an annual festival celebrating acoustic music of all genres.

Catherine Waneck, owner of Black Range Lodge in Kingston, told the Bulletin that September 5, 6 and 7 is one of the most lively weekends in Kingston, with local museums open and vendors on-site providing food and beverages.

Waneck said the music is mostly bluegrass.

“Different shades of bluegrass, folk, a lot of original songs,” she said.

Some of the bands performing include the Hard Road Trio, which is a well-known Las Cruces band. Waneck said they are getting back together for a reunion concert for Pickamania.

KWRG host Scott Brocato will emcee the event. Brocato, who is an award-winning radio host with more than 35 years of experience, told the Bulletin he is looking forward to emceeing.

Brocato will start hosting at 2 p.m. Saturday, introducing modern bluegrass and swing music from Albuquerque-based band Acoustic Gap, followed by the Hard Road Trio. Songstress Wil Maring and her partner Robert Bowlin will perform next, performing folk and bluegrass.

Next, the duo of flat-picking guitar champion Peter McLaughlin and Chris Brashear (fiddle and mandolin) will offer an original blend of “southwestern” bluegrass music, shaped by the landscapes and legends of the West. Saturday evening will culminate as Pickamania’s all-star musicians combine their talents in a crowd-pleasing “Super Jam”.     

          Brocato will begin emceeing again at 11:30 a.m., with an open mic offering the stage to local and regional musicians.  At 12:30, a band from Austin, TX, called Tif & Mollie, will bring high-energy indie folk/rock, mixing guitar and cello, loops and percussion to the stage. They’ll be followed by a band called ABQ Skeleton Crew, who perform a selection of folk, rock, blues and traditional songs with instrumental combinations including guitar, fiddle, dobro, ukulele, bass, accordion, keyboard, hammer and mountain dulcimer, banjo, cajon, autoharp and the occasional household appliance.

The event kicks off on Friday, September 5 at 6 p.m. with Americana music and country originals from a local band called Gary Harvell and Kingston Main Street. Then a six-member western swing band from Albuquerque called The Roswells will hit the stage.

This year there will be an adjacent dance floor available.

Tickets are available at the door and online. For more information: www.sierracountyarts.org/