Articles and Features

 

 

SUPERGRASS PROUDLY PRESENTS

KIDS ON BLUEGRASS

 

 

Under the direction of

FRANK SOLIVAN SR.

 

Do you know of any children that would like the chance to perform on the main stage at Supergrass in the Kid on Bluegrass Show?

 

For the second year in a row the Supergrass bluegrass festival will offer an opportunity for kids between the ages of three and eighteen, to join together for three days of rehearsal under the direction of Frank Solivan Sr., to create the very popular show called Kids on Bluegrass. This program began in approximately 1990, when several young and very talented kids decided that there should be a place for kids to play on stage. After presenting the idea to the CBA, a small group of kids took the stage at Fathers Day Bluegrass festival in Grass Valley, California and a new program began. In those days they were called Kids on Stage; today they are the Kids on Bluegrass.

 

What began as a small program with just a few kids has over the years grown into a group that now often has 45 to 50 kids at the Grass Valley festival. Its popularity has also grown and now often fills the audience. Those young kids that first graced the stage so many years ago now grace the stage at many festivals across the land as well as the I.B.M.A. Awards shows. Frank Solivan, II, Mike Tater Jr., Joe Ash, Abigail Washburn, Britney Bailey and the Barton Brothers and more recently, Annie Stanninec.

 

The dream of these early kids to be able to play on stage is the same dream of our bluegrass kids today. Just to have the chance to play on stage in front of a “real” audience. The CBA opened that door to the kids and Frank Solivan, Sr. took the opportunity to show the kids how to do it. Today, we have a wonderful group of incredibly talented kids coming up, some that no doubt will be gracing the stages all over the bluegrass country in the next few years!

 

There are some requirements for performing in this wonderful program. Kids must be between the ages of 3 and 18. All kids (and parents) must meet with Frank Solivan and be prepared to play or sing a song or two. The kids are incouraged to practice throughout the year in preparation for this time. Children must be able to play or sing their songs without parental help. They must have the songs completely memorized. They should have a good understanding of their instrument, have fairly good timing, be able to play backup chords to support other players and parents and child must be willing to commit to the rehearsal schedule. At the first rehearsal, Frank and his team will work with the kids to develop a list of possible songs that can showcase as many kids as possible. Not every child will be able to solo but the idea here is to make sure that all the kids participate. Frank will create many separate bands that will showcase whoever will solo. The kids learn how to teach each other, support each other, use of the mic, move to and from the mic, connect with their audience move on and off stage and many other things necessary for good stage performance.

 

There are many rewards to having participated in this program. Children learn how to perform, they learn trust in one another, they learn how to share, how to teach each other, how to work together how to shine and how to help each other shine. They learn when to be leaders and when to be followers and they make friendships that will last a lifetime. They also learn that they are an important part of Bluegrass music.

 

Our current group of Kids on Bluegrass is an astounding group of kids some of whom have gone to the I.B.M.A. to represent the CBA and the Kids on Bluegrass in the Kids on Bluegrass show that has taken place in Nashville for the past two years. Angelica Grim-18, Aissa Lee-9, Scott Gates-14 and Paige-12 and Aimee Anderson-9 and Molly Tuttle-13, were well prepared to represent the CBA and there is no doubt that the Kids on Bluegrass program paved the way for their confidence and showmanship at this great event. In that show there were a total of 22 incredibly talented kids from all over the country that have had the opportunity to perform on stage at festivals in their own areas. Clearly, programs like this should be developed at every bluegrass festival so that our children will be able to carry on this tradition of bluegrass music.

 

To see if your child is ready to take part in this wonderful program at Supergrass Bluegrass Festival, just check in with Frank Solivan Sr. Director of the Kids on Bluegrass Program. The Kids on Bluegrass performance will take place on the main stage on Sunday February 4, 2007 at 11:45 AM and will be followed by the gospel set of Lost Highway, Kenny and Amanda Smith and the Issacs.

 

Please come and support this incredible group of kids and just imagine which one of them you might see on stage in the future of your bluegrass music.

 

 

KIDS ON BLUEGRASS

 

Put an instrument in their hands, and give them the chance to sing,

Give them a place to gather and they will learn together,

Teach them to work together and they will teach each other,

Give them a stage and hear their music.

Shyness gives way to confidence and fears turn to joy.

She’s only eight but her voice radiates the richness of what will come;

He’s only nine but has mastered instruments that be-devil his elders;

At sixteen, the beauty of her voice is only exceeded by that of her spirit.

Give them a chance to sing and watch them grow,

Give them a stage and listen,

Listen and you will hear the magic of their music,

And the spirit of the Kids on Bluegrass

 

Written by

Sharon Elliott