Coming up July 17th-19th will be Washington state’s 33rd annual answer to Telluride; the Darrington Bluegrass Festival. Surrounded by the Mt Baker National Forest and less than an hour from North Cascades National Park, the Darrington Bluegrass Music Park sits at the base of Whitehorse Mountain, which is supposed to have been the inspiration for Bill Monroe’s Whitehorse Breakdown. (What could be more bluegrass than that?) The small town of Darrington is less than a two hour drive from Seattle, but it feels like a whole different planet. With more than 30 years of practice, the bluegrass festival is more than an institution there and it has taken its place as the granddaddy of all bluegrass festivals in the Pacific Northwest.

This year’s festival will feature three days of music from 14 bands and campsite jamming that will probably start days before the performances do. The Urban Monroes are very pleased to be performing there along with Dailey & Vincent and Dale Ann Bradley. So all of us in the Urban Monroes invite you to come on out and if you see us there, be sure to say howdy.