Rootstown en CC Het Gasthuis slaan opnieuw de handen in elkaar voor de 2de editie van hun Folk & Bluegrass event Aarschots Folk en Bluegrass Festival met als doel het promoten en organiseren van zowel lokaal, nationaal als internationaal folk- en bluegrasstalent. Na het succes van de 1ste editie (meer dan 500 bezoekers op een weekend) zorgen we voor de 2de editie opnieuw voor een echt feest met een mix van Folk & Bluegrass uit de stal van Rootstown en bevriende partners. Als extraatje voorzien we meerdere workshops met folkinstrumenten ism Westelfolk alsook een workshop harmony-vocals met de bandleden van Reedy River String Band (USA). Daarnaast organiseren we samen met de Aarschotse scholen en Apojo workshops folkinstrumenten in elf lagere schoolklassen, en ook dansinitiaties in lagere schoolklassen en leefgroepen van Apojo.  Met als kers op de taart een heus Kids- en G-Folkbal op vrijdagnamiddag 19 juni voor Apojo en alle lagere scholen uit Aarschot.  

English:  

Aarschot Folk and Bluegrass Festival (2nd Edition) – 19/20 June 2026

Rootstown and CC Het Gasthuis are joining forces once again for the second edition of their Folk & Bluegrass event: the Aarschot Folk and Bluegrass Festival. Our mission is to promote and showcase local, national, and international folk and bluegrass talent. Following the success of the first edition—which drew over 500 visitors over the weekend—this second edition promises to be a true celebration. Expect a vibrant mix of Folk and Bluegrass curated by Rootstown and our partners. Highlights & Workshops This year, we are offering several exciting extras: Instrument Workshops: Multiple folk instrument workshops in collaboration with Westelfolk. Vocal Workshop: A harmony-vocals session led by the members of the Reedy River String Band (USA). Community Outreach In collaboration with Aarschot’s local schools and Apojo, we are organizing folk instrument workshops across eleven primary school classrooms, as well as dance initiations for students and Apojo residential groups. The “cherry on top” will be a grand Kids and G-Folk Ball on Friday afternoon, June 19th, specifically for Apojo and all primary schools in Aarschot.

A guitar duo from France, paying their dues  to Mr Doc Watson

Mathis & Benoit met twenty years ago while performing at concerts in the South of France. They discovered a common passion for acoustic guitar and authentic American music, and started playing together around the kitchen table, at parties with  friends and in cafés.
At that time Benoit worked as a postman, and took advantage of every available moment to improve his guitar skills, and played locally with various Rock & Blues projects. Mathis took to the road and played with his own bands and collaborated with major artists like the Moroccan singer Oum, Native American legend Pura Fé, French harp master JJ Milteau, Eric Bibb, Big Daddy Wilson, Angie Wells, Carla Bruni as a composer, musician and producer.

Whenever they had time between two tours, they warmed up their fingers working on the songs of Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly, Doc Watson, and others, mainly acoustic blues and folk-rock. It was much later that they found their common interest in country and bluegrass.  It was a revelation for both of them! Mathis took online lessons with Chris “Critter” Eldridge through the Sonic Junction website, and particularly appreciated the pedagogy of this master of flat-picking who teaches standards, fiddle tunes and country songs. Mathis convinced his buddy to work on some standards and little by little they learned all the nuances of the style.

Unfortunately American roots music is poorly represented in France, and the few musicians who are passionate about this style rarely have the opportunity to meet and exchange during jams and festivals. This is why our two friends play with so much passion, and have developed such a unique and personal sound.
While listening to Doc Watson’s records, they realized that the artist had recorded most of the songs they worked on: Whiskey for Breakfast, Nashville Blues, Banks of Ohio, Little Sadie, Rock, Salt and Nails…they immersed themselves intensely in the music and biography of the North Carolina master, and for them it was an obvious choice: For their first joint recording after 25 years of playing around the kitchen table, they’re releasing a tribute project to Doc Watson.

“Pick a song at random from the immense repertoire of traditional American music, and you’re likely to hear a version of Doc’s. It was an obvious choice for us to revisit his songs, the pleasure of playing a familiar music, to open a dialogue with other musicians in the times of the internet and to make this legend known to a new generation” affirm Mathis Haug and Benoit Nogaret. 

The idea of paying tribute to Doc Watson is first and foremost the pleasure of playing his songs. Performing his repertoire allows them to introduce this little-known musician and to highlight the themes of  his songs: murder ballads, homesickness, love, alcohol, miner and hobo songs. All of Doc Watson’s songs can be played in many different ways: on guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo…This is why they decided to invite Christian Séguret, a renowned bluegrass musician (who interviewed Doc himself ) to record two songs on fiddle and mandolin, the mandolin having belonged to Ralph Rinzler.

Here’s to you Mr Watson, was recorded live in studio in early spring 2021, and our 2 musicians took pleasure in revisiting these 6 tracks while respecting Doc’s spirit.
On Roll on Buddy, Worried Blues and The Cuckoo Bird, the acoustic guitars interact in response to Mathis’s vocals, developing a unique sound that has been forged over the years of playing around the kitchen table, at family parties, and festivals. On the Murder Ballad Little Sadie, Benoit’s guitar plays the soaring melodies and solos, while bringing tension to the unfolding murder story.
Liza Jane is one of those Good time songs that Doc loved to play to thrill his audience. The rare ballad, Rock, salt and nails (of which there is only a beautiful version available on the Web), tells of disillusion and disappointment in love and showcases Mathis’s soulful voice.

Fans describe Roberto’s music as emotional, elegant, heartfelt: head, heart and hands in perfect combination.

They also describe his guitar playing as unique, focused on beauty and the eternal in everything, a way of playing that makes you close your eyes and travel to beautiful places.

Roberto has a deserved reputation for warmth, patience, and extraordinary teaching skills. He runs his own Acoustic Guitar Camp and he is part of the leading online instruction company TrueFire.

In addition, he is the author of several instructional books and videos.

He is the winner of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s 2003 Homegrown CD Award

www.robertodallavecchia.com

Jesper is playing a Gibson F5L, a Stiver F5 Custom and a Gibson A2 from 1924/25.

The festival was established in 2007 and is now widely regarded as the leading bluegrass festival in Ireland. The festival weekend comprises of 3 fully-seated and ticketed evening concerts, a range of informal pub gigs and sessions, a specialised squaredance, a range of workshops, a gospel hour concert, a luthier showcase, an intercultural education exhibition and a record fair.

Over the past 17 years, Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival has operated under the ethos of creating a welcoming environment for both musicians and music fans, while showcasing the beautiful town of Westport.

In 2023, the festival has launch a new flagship project whereby for the first time ever we have created partnership and future collaboration between the festival, the University of Limerick – Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, East Tennessee State University – The Home of Bluegrass, and the Old time and Roots Music studies of Higher Education and The Centre of Popular music at Middle Tennessee State University

The festival organising committee are looking forward to welcome musicians and music fans alike to the beautiful town of Westport in County Mayo, Ireland for the 2024 festival which will take place at the weekend of June 7th – 9th.

Ob Banjo-, Gitarre-, Dobro- oder Mandolinen-SpielerInnen, Bassisten oder Fiddlerinnen – jährlich Anfang Oktober sind bluegrass-begeisterte Hobby-Musiker aus ganz Europa eingeladen, ein Wochenende in traumhafter Umgebung an den bayrischen Alpen unter Gleichgesinnten zu verbringen, in Intensiv-Workshops alles rund um ihr Instrument zu erfahren.

In gemeinschaftlicher Camp-Atmosphäre musizieren und Freundschaften knüpfen.

The festival is organised by Roch’événements, a non profit association, and managed and staffed by up to 300 volunteers, who have developed solid professional expertise in event production since starting out in 2006.