For the second year in a row, Kathy Kellish’s old family farm on Pompey Center Road will swing and sway to the sound of music at the 2012 American Music Festival. This weekend Kellish and her partner, Rick Harding, host their second American Music Festival showcasing a wide array of acoustic entertainers.
After kicking off with a 5 p.m. jam session Friday, May 18, followed by evening performances from the Hamilton Ramblers, Folk Strings and Dusty Pascal, the second annual festival welcomes some of the best fiddlers in the Empire State to its stages on Saturday, May 19.
Fiddlers Day will feature vibrant violin work at 1 p.m. Saturday by Diamond Joe Davoli, Susan Barrington, Tom Fay, Keith Hunt, Liz Friedel, Lacey Lee, Toby Weinberg and members of The New York State Old Tyme Fiddlers Association.
Sets of bluegrass and acoustic Americana will be performed Saturday by Diamond Someday, Lake Effect Bluegrass, Bob Halligan, Jane Zell, Harvey Nusbaum and Greg Hoover, a Waverly native who will play tunes such as “Storyteller in a Rodeo” from his recent CD, “Players and Friends.” On Saturday evening an old-fashioned barn dance will be staged.
On Sunday, the American Music Festival concludes with a Gospel Day, starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 20.
Admission costs $20 for a weekend pass, $10 for Friday or Saturday day pass, and $5 for Sunday only. The Kellish Hill Farm Music Barn is at 3192 Pompey Center Road, 20 minutes from downtown Syracuse and just 4.2 miles from Route 92 in Manlius. Look for the big yellow wheels out front; kellishhillfarm.com; 682-1578.
For the past four years, the Kellish Hill Farm music barn has hosted performers from near and far. While the Kellish family has lived on the property since 1948, the farmhouse dates back to the early-1800s.
