FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Common Ground on the Hill Announces
The 45th Annual Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention
WESTMINSTER, MD - Saturday, June 11, 2016, 9 AM - 7 PM
Bluegrass, old-time and Celtic music and Southern Appalachian clog dancing take center stage at the 45th Annual Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention. Not just for fiddlers! This year's Convention ups the ante, with prizes including a mainstage performance at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival (8/18-21), performances at the Common Ground on the Hill Festival (7/9-10), instrument prizes including a guitar, mandolin and fiddle from Eastman Instruments and a banjo from Gold Tone, plus a total of $3,000 in cash prizes.
Founded in 1972 by siblings Megan Shook and David Green, the Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention was originally held in Harford County. The Convention settled at the Carroll County Farm Museum more than 20 years ago. Now produced by Common Ground on the Hill, the Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention provides a venue for musicians to meet, compete and play together, and for the public to encounter this traditional form of entertainment. With the current resurgence of interest in roots-style music, the Deer Creek Fiddlers' Convention provides a cross-generational experience. Musicians move between impromptu groups formed under trees across the Farm Museum grounds in jam sessions known as "shade tree picking." Combined with the music, a juried arts and crafts fair featuring Maryland artists, food and a children's area provide a day of Maryland tradition for the whole family.
"It's a competition, but that's not at the heart of the thing; the competition sort of serves to bring people together to do this. There's as much good music out under the trees as there is on stage," said Walt Michael, founder of Common Ground on the Hill. "It's a chance for musicians in the area to meet each other. I've seen bands form as a result of people seeing each other. It's a pretty cool thing."
This event is sponsored by the Maryland State Arts Council, the Carroll County Arts Council, Appalachian Bluegrass, Eastman Instruments, the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, Beard Guitars, Gold Tone, and Zauner and Mtimet, P.A.
On-site competition registration from 9—10:30 AM; competition begins at 11 AM.
Tickets: $12; $10 Senior 65+/Teens/Students with ID; Children 12 and under free. All tickets available at the gate.
Information and competition pre-registration at http://www.commongroundonthehill.org/deercreekfestival.html
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/deercreekfiddlers
The Carroll County Farm Museum is located at 500 S Center Street, Westminster, MD 21157.
Common Ground on the Hill is a multicultural community of musicians, artists, writers, lecturers, actors, and dancers, sharing skills with students of all ages and with one another. In this way, we believe that we can improve ourselves, our communities and our world as we meet, share and celebrate our arts and cultures on "common ground." Based on the campus of McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, since 1994, Common Ground on the Hill includes 2 monthly concert series (in Baltimore and Westminster); the venerable Deer Creek Fiddler's Convention; the Common Ground on the Hill Roots Music and Arts Festival; two individual Traditions Weeks of courses in art, dance, music, film, human arts, and discussion classes; Common Ground on Seminary Ridge in Gettysburg, PA; Common Ground on the Border in Arizona; and the Ira & Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education. Common Ground on the Hill is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
