Early in the day during the Birdfest and Bluegrass Festival in Ridgefield last weekend, the jamming/picker locations were empty, but the spirited sounds of bluegrass could be heard at Overlook Park.
The American folk pop duo Phoenix headlined in Ridgefield for the Birdfest and Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5.
The already award-winning husband and wife duo of Tim and Kathy Crosby are currently nominated for Duo of the Year Folk/Americana at the Josie Music Awards. The Josie Music Awards are the largest awards event in the independent music industry, taking place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 27. Along with the duo’s nomination, Tim Crosby is nominated for Musician of the Year Multi-Instrumentalist.
The duo first found each other when Kathy hired Tim Crosby to be a fiddle and mandolin player in her bluegrass band some 25 years ago, they recalled.
Sharing their love of folk music has taken the couple to large venues in Nashville and Las Vegas, among other places, but they both expressed their love for small-town events where the spirit of bluegrass can be heard throughout the city. A Northwest native, Kathy Crosby said she enjoys seeing people they’ve known for decades at events like the Birdfest and Bluegrass Festival.
“We played the Old Liberty. We’ve done this for several years, and it’s just a fun little town,” Kathy Crosby said, adding that after their performance they enjoy the jamming sessions around downtown Ridgefield. “We’ll just wander through and just listen to the interactions because this is very interactive music. … A lot of people start playing because they hear the community aspect of the music, and this event just really showcases that.”
Tim Crosby referred to the genre as “social music.”
“I remember the first time I ever came here, before it all got developed out there, and it took a while to get to it and it was like a Twilight Zone episode because you drove in and you immediately started seeing people you knew playing music everywhere,” Kathy Crosby said.
Tim Crosby said he was originally inspired to play bluegrass after listening to Flatt and Scruggs, who played the theme music for the television show “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
“I branched out into similar sorts of stuff, but I’ve never played an electric guitar,” Tim Crosby said.
Tim Crosby said he could never pick a favorite among the 48 instruments in their repertoire, but Kathy said she’s been having a lot of fun tying a ukulele into their sound, with her favorite instrument still being the classic banjo.
