Corn Potato String Band and Clawhammer Banjo Workshop

Our friends at Creative360 are sponsoring a folk music concertby the Corn Potato String Band as well as a clawhammer banjo workshop on Sunday, February 6th. Here is some information regarding this concert and workshop - check it out!

The Corn Potato String Band
“Impressive fiddle work... authentically raw and homespun” -The Scotsman
“They blew the audience away. A half-hour of standards, obscurities and charming banter later, the decidedly hip
multi-instrumentalists received one of the most thunderous ovations of any opening act I've witnessed in quite some time.” -PopMatters




The Corn Potato String Band has delighted audiences with their driving fiddle tunes and harmonious singing across the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and India. They’ve performed at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, the Ark/Ann Arbor, and on the Main Stage at the Wheatland Music Festival. Band members Aaron Jonah Lewis, Lindsay McCaw and Ben Belcher are all multi-instrumentalists dedicated to
continuing the music and dance traditions of the Central and Southern US. In addition to being champion fiddlers, they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and deftly handle many different antiquated styles including ballads, “hoedowns,” country “rags” and southern gospel, specializing in twin fiddling and double banjo tunes. The Corn Potato String Band has earned high praise in traditional American music circles, keeping old time fiddle and banjo music from a one-way trip to the dustbins of history.
Sunday, February 6 / 2:00 – 3:45 pm
Adults: $15 prepay, $20 at the door · Students: $10 prepay, $15 at the door
Clawhammer Banjo Clinic with Aaron Jonah Lewis of The Corn Potato String Band
This clawhammer banjo clinic has something to offer everyone from the total beginner to the advanced player. Aaron Jonah Lewis will focus on the fundamentals of frailling, especially right-hand technique with an emphasis on rhythm and feel. We will certainly learn a useful new tune or two and will cover the use of drop-thumb, hammer-ons and pull-offs as well. We will also discuss the role of the banjo in a jam setting as well as how to play along to a tune you’ve never heard before. As time and interest allow we will also explore a number of different tunings. All ages welcome. Preregistration required by 2/3.
Sunday, February 6 / 12:00 – 1:30 pm / $35

Save the Date! Heart to Heart and String Thing Concert!


Save this date! Saturday, November 6th at 7pm, FMSM is sponsoring a concert by Heart to Heart and String Thing at Creative360, 1517 Bayliss St. in Midland. The suggested donation is $10, so mark your calendar NOW and plan to be well-entertained by these fabulous groups!

A Message from Steve Weckle

From Steve Weckle: ISO Mtn. Dulcimer group in tri City area? my friends and I would like to learn the Mtn. Dulcimer. I attended the Mtn Dulcimer workshop at Midland Folk Fest- now I wanna keep learning.

FMSM Board Meeting Announcements

The FMSM board met on Wednesday, June 16th, and since there was no opportunity for an election of board members, the board members whose terms were up as of July 1, 2021 were asked if they would be willing to serve another 3-year term. All three consented (Cilla Jones, Cliff and Bell Atwater, and Johnny Hunt), which brings the current number of board members to eight. There is one open position on the FMSM board, so if you are interested in finding out more about this vacancy, please make this known to johnnyhunt57@yahoo.com, who will relay your interest promptly through the proper channels. 

 The 2021 Midland Folk Music Festival (August 26-29) planning is going along very well, save for the reality that COVID has drastically affected our membership numbers. To continue to serve the folk music universe both locally and beyond, it is imperative to rebuild our membership and attract both previous and new attendees and campers to the festival. The financial goal of the festival is just to break even financially, and so, to continue to offer the MFMF each year, we need to both retain past attendees as well as to get the word out more effectively to others who are unaware of how much fun it is to be part of things. Call a friend, e-mail a neighbor, and invite an acquaintance to attend the 2021 festival! Sharing is caring, so be daring and unsparing in declaring without scaring or being overbearing. :-)

Sad News to Share

Sad news to share... guitar wizard Dan Kirchner has passed away from COVID-19. Dan taught for many years at the Midland Folk Music Festival, and was as pleasant and as talented a person as anyone could ever hope to meet. FMSM would like to extend its sympathy and love to his wife, Lorraine, his family, and all those who mourn his passing.