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Community Corner

Fiddlers' Convention Draws All Ages, Helps Keep Bluegrass Alive

The Deep Creek Fiddlers' Convention was Saturday at the Farm Museum.

Victor Furtado has been playing Colonial-American style banjo for nearly three years, and has begun teaching two students in his hometown of Fort Royal, Va. 

When he's not there, he travels around playing at festivals like the Appalachian String Band Music Festival in Clifftop, Va. and the Elk Creek Festival.

He's also only 11.

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Furtado is one of nine children in his family, all of whom play instruments in various styles, including jazz and bluegrass.

"We started them with classical music," said father Tom Furtado, "at around 3 years old on the Suzuki method. When they were closer to 10, I took them to the Galax Old Time Fiddlers' Convention in Galax, Va. They really fell for that. The music is lively and fun and crosses a lot of cultures and generations."

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Furtado and his father continue to visit festivals in the tri-state area, including the Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention at the Carroll County Farm Museum this past weekend. Entering its 40th year, the show is run by Common Ground on the Hill, an artistic organization that features diverse festivals throughout the year, the most-well known being "Traditions Weeks" in July.

Walt Michael, the executive director and founder of Common Ground, said that children like Furtado are the lifeblood of continuing the traditions of bluegrass, Irish and Appalachian music featured at the convention.

"You'll find that some of the younger people play better than the older people," Michael said. "It ends up not being a whole lot about age but rather the amount of talent."

Children can also earn some money for their talents, according to Michael. The show is juried and features diverse categories, including one specifically for a younger crowd. Contestants can earn up to $300 in cash prizes.

"We just want to make sure it doesn't go away," he said. "It's a Maryland tradition of different generations playing music."

Michael said it's good to see two generations interacting to continue the tradition of bluegrass, such as duo Tom Mindte, 54, of Rockville, Md. and Brennen Ernst, 17, of Lucketts, Va.

The two met three years ago, over amateur radio, an interest the two share in which the hobbyist can build radios and locate other individuals over specific radio bands.

After that, Mindte began to teach Ernst the basics about mandolin, banjo and guitar, which Mindte learned from Buzz Busby, the man considered to be the father of the D.C. bluegrass movement. Ernst said he had never played anything but piano before meeting Mindte.

"He has a lot of music no one else has and gives me access to it," Ernst said. "I just started playing like I heard on the records and CDs."

Mindte said that bridging the gap between the younger and older musicians is a positive step for revitalizing old bluegrass styles.

"When I started out at [Ernst's] age, there weren't any people playing old time bluegrass music," Mindte said. "It's good to see young people playing it now."

Lou Janesko, 57, of Silver Spring, a fiddler and guitarist who said he's been performing at festivals like the Fiddlers' Convention off and on since 1969, said that children are the only way musical traditions are passed along.

"If you go to an art museum, like the Smithsonian, that's a visual representation of human history," Janesko said. "If you go to the festivals, it's the musical history of the human race. Where the kids come in is with traditional music. It has to be carried along, otherwise it's lost."

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