In this part of the roots music world, everything seems to be coming up bluegrass, including the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Associations 50th Anniversary celebration at the Tri-State Labor Day Bluegrass Festival in Kendallville.
Since its humble beginnings back in 1976, the group has worked hard to build its ranks and support this homegrown musical tradition as well as the musicians who make it.
Thanks to proceeds from these Bluegrass festivals—now a much-loved staple on the Northern Indiana music scene—member donations, and various programs, the association continues to support local and touring bands. It also provides scholarships for the next generation of musicians, and enhance the infrastructure of the beloved campground in Noble County they call home.
In addition to festivals, the group also hosts free monthly events that are open to the public, bringing people of all ages together to enjoy live music and keep the Bluegrass tradition alive.
Julia Meek discusses the association’s rich legacy, the beloved genre they continue to preserve and the secret of their staying power with its president Joe Steiner and vice president Jim Winger.
Event Information:
Tri-State Labor Day Bluegrass Festival
Noble County Fairgrounds, Kendallville
Thursday, September 6 to Sunday September 9
Tickets for sale at gate:
Weekend tickets $45 member/$50 nonmembers
Daily tickets: Thursday - Free community night
Friday - $15 Saturday - $35 Sunday - $20
Kids under 16 FREE with adult ticket
Find Camping rates/rules and full music schedule at the NIBGA website.
This is a transcript of our conversation:
Julia Meek: Joe Steiner, Jim Winger, welcome.
Jim Winger: Hey, great to be here.
Joe Steiner: Glad to be here.
Julia Meek: Now you are 50 years in the bluegrass business. Congratulations! That is half a century of powerful music-making and traditions preserved. In a word, how's that hitting each of you about now?
Jim Winger: Camaraderie.
Jim Winger: Oh, it's wonderful to be together with bluegrass people, you know, it's something we look forward to.
Julia Meek: I got it, and the camaraderie--it has to be a beautiful thing. You're making music that you all love, and you love each other as well.
Jim Winger: Yep, that bond of friendship-it's great.
Joe Steiner: Absolutely. It's great.
Julia Meek: Now, last time we met, you two had just switched the president-vice president positions. This is five years ago. Things were jumping in the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association.
You are on track with your Tri-state Bluegrass Festival two times a year and other live events that happen throughout the year across the Midwest. What's your secret for keeping that flame alive here in our heartland.
Joe Steiner: We just keep working to get interesting groups in, get interesting events going on, like workshops, and just keep pushing, getting, getting the word out there, advertising.
Jim Winger: Yeah, and I think the other side of that is also getting the audience to participate, which is something that many genres don't do, right?
The audience comes and sits on a chair and then gets up and goes home. Bluegrass is participation.
Julia Meek: On both sides of that stage, yes, you're saying, that makes sense. And that's really we would have to say is what, what you're going to blame the last 50 years of your success on is that kind of interaction. But is it even easy to consider doing that in this day and age?
Joe Steiner: Oh yeah, as far as getting the audience involved, yeah, very, very much so in in bluegrass music.
Our festival really is about camping and having people participate in jam sessions around the campfire.
Julia Meek: Goes with the organic side of your music.
Joe Steiner: That's right. It grows out of the audience itself, really. The people that are interested in the music generally become interested not only from a listening perspective but also a desire to play themselves.
Jim Winger: I think the other thing that happens is that bluegrass tends to be a camping festival, so that people are there more than an hour or two hours or whatever.
They're there for the day or the week, and as a result, they do understand or begin to understand that other people are very welcome. That it's an open group. Invites are common. Eating together is common, you know.
And if you go to a professional camp place, probably don't know who's next door, just like you don't know who's in the next block at your house at Bluegrass, you meet people and you over time get to know them and where they're from.
You eventually might know their kids.
Julia Meek: Great point. The generational aspect of this whole thing and your 50 years of success is all about carrying on the traditions. And meanwhile, Bill Monroe called it the music of the mountains, the music of the people. What do you call it, Jim?
Jim Winger: I think that he gave a very good way of putting it. Mine is the, the music of the RV or the music of the campground, (all chuckle) because we don't have too many mountains in our area here, but that works.
You know, I remember seeing Bill Monroe, and he was very open. He talked to us before he went on stage. Lynn and I went backstage. He sat there and talked to us, and he welcomed us to his event.
Now, I don't know very many artists that are willing to come out and say, "Hey, thank you for coming. It's great. Sit down. I'm going to give you a great show,
Julia Meek: One on one. That's awfully awesome. What about you, Joe?
Joe Steiner: I think Bill Monroe did hit it right head-on. You know the music of the people, but I'd go one step farther. I'd call it the music that brings people together.
Jim Winger: Absolutely, absolutely.
Julia Meek: Okay, you you all are true blue to the secret of your own success, I think we're talking right here right now, and the infectious quality, the genuine quality of the music-is that a fair way to say it?
Joe Steiner: Yeah, mm-hmm.
Jim Winger: I think so. Yes. Along that line, I know a friend that we met one time who camped next to us up in Michigan, and she had never played with just strangers, so to speak.
She was a beginning player. She came over and joined our camp, and we started picking. And now she's come to her fifth festival here in Kendallville.
She said, "I'd never miss it in my life. I don't care whether my husband comes or not." [all laugh]
Julia Meek: We certainly have the fire and the camaraderie that you mentioned at the beginning, Joe. It's just totally self-fulfilling, self-generating, self-maybe infusing.
Joe Steiner: Yeah, infectious. It's it's very much infectious.
Julia Meek: Just try not to react to it, right?
Joe Steiner: Right.
Julia Meek: Okay. Also to note, what your group does with bluegrass, elevation as well as preservation, is incredibly important to the genre, to your group, to the well-being of, of so many Midwest sensibilities.
How hard is it in this fast-paced 21st techno century to even keep it going at all?
Joe Steiner: It certainly is a balancing act. There's so much technology, and that's affected the music industry.
ink there is a certain segment of music, though, that hearkens back to the old days and actually tries to get into things that predated the technical aspects.
Electronic processing is great, but there's a lot of people out there who are into the kind of things that you can only do acoustically face to face.
Jim Winger: We also did a couple other things, a lot of things going on that the young people are involved in that didn't used to be as much involved with, and I think the club has worked very hard to get younger people involved.
Julia Meek: That certainly, certainly makes sense, Jim. Now both of you are dancing around the social media and the electronic differences that we have right here, right now, that we didn't have 50 years ago.
Just real quick show of hands: more help than hurt, or is the jury still out?
Jim Winger: I think it can help, but you have to guide it.
Joe Steiner: It's been very helpful from an advertising perspective.
It's so easy to get access to information, and that includes us as, as well as any other.
Jim Winger: Well, that's true, Joe. And, and we used to produce 15 to 20,000 flyers before the festival. And today we do it with Facebook and other kinds of advertising online.
Julia Meek: You can do a lot higher numbers too, probably.
Jim Winger: And a lot more people are seeing the event, and we're known throughout the country, I think, as a result of that.
We have had groups, bands, and groups from England, France, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, and most of the United States come to this festival.
So this is not just a county event. This is a worldwide opportunity to come to Bluegrass in Kendallville.
Julia Meek: Seems like good news travels fast. Bad news might also.
And by the same token, anybody of any age that wants to learn anything about a musical genre, but more importantly about playing that musical genre, can do it online.
Do you think, is that doable with bluegrass music?
Joe Steiner: You betcha. The caveat there, though, is anybody can experience anything on the internet, anybody can put anything out there on the internet. [all chuckle]
So you know, people have to be somewhat cautious, you know, when they're learning as far as getting the right guidance to find the instruction.
Jim Winger: I think it's kind of boring to play by yourself with the camera. I think it really helps if you can find somebody with you, and two or three people get together and do that.
There's a different vibe when you do that versus doing it on the internet.
Julia Meek: You would suggest to have that connection, even lessons, whatever you needed to do. That would be the starting point, and then you can go find groups like y'all.
Joe Steiner: Yeah, absolutely and that's, that's just the smart thing to do. That's the smart thing for people to do. Do their own research.
Jim Winger: I mean, human beings are set up for people interaction. If you isolate yourself to a mechanical device, you're missing the world.
Julia Meek: Good point. And that device had its place kickstarting you, and then you're on your own with your instrument and your bluegrass heart. [all laugh]
Joe Steiner: Yes!
Jim Winger: Yep!
Julia Meek: Okay. So, another fun fact: bluegrass really is claiming a modern resurgence. Statistically, you have proof. Why do you think that is?
Joe Steiner: I think it's a back to the basics type of thing. People just enjoy, and and I see a lot of younger people who are into not only bluegrass but even the old-timey music, which predates bluegrass.
They want something that they can just pick up and play with their friends without a lot of overhead that they have to invest in.
Jim Winger: Yeah, I think that's true, Joe, and I have a granddaughter who I think fits that. She is a Suzuki-trained person, so therefore she plays sheet music and plays with orchestras.
But one of her struggles is learning to play bluegrass because you have to do that by ear, and people really enjoy playing and not having to know exactly what the heck the song is, right?
They just pick up the instrument and start listening and play along, and it is something that is unbelievably fun.
Julia Meek: Again, does that go back to well, there's one thing: where there's a will, there's a way. But the infectiousness, the music itself, does it make it easy to learn?
Jim Winger: I think it does.
Courtesy/NIBGA
Joe Steiner: And especially when you think that there's no right or wrong.
Yeah, I think you kind of alluded a little while ago to the fact that there may be different interpretations, but I think it's generally accepted in the acoustic music world.
There is no right or wrong and so, you get people like Billy Strings and the Avett Brothers who are doing their own interpretations.
You still put the stamp bluegrass on it, but it's very different than what Bill Monroe did. And I think that encourages people to, to become part of this community that creates this kind of music.
Julia Meek: And speaking of those genre crossover stars, especially which are helping groups like yours out, spreading the good word about the fun of playing bluegrass.
Let's talk about that genre blending and bending that goes on every time somebody crosses over.
What kind of support or resistance might this cause within your ranks, for example, of true-blue bluegrass lovers?
Joe Steiner: [laughs] Yeah, what, what a good question.
Jim Winger: [also laughs] You're awesome! [all laugh] I think Joe and I are in a little disagreement there, but overall, I think we both are are in line with what you're trying to say.
And it is that yes, those people have a problem but take somebody like Billy Strings. He was a rock and roll guitar player, and that's what he did.
And he tried to make money at it, and then he turned around and started playing bluegrass. What amazed me is that he was at Charlotte, Michigan, which is up south of Lansing, and walked out in the parking lot at about midnight.
And suddenly, people were playing music around him. They had no idea what he was playing. He didn't know what they were playing, but they all played together, and it sounded like wonderful music.
You know, and he was a young man. I saw him when he first started in bluegrass, and he was an unbelievable picker playing bluegrass from a rock and roll world--but wow!
Julia Meek: Then he's the sort that gives it an easy way to go. Not only a good name to, to be the genre hopper, but it makes it easy to like?
Joe Steiner: Yes, it makes it easy for a lot of different people to like this type of music, and you know what a tremendous creative talent we've got here. You don't want to box that in. You need to make a place for these people to thrive.
Jim Winger: Yes, yes, definitely.
Julia Meek: Is there any new-fashion development on the scene that surprises even you two, who seem to be pretty much unflappable?
Joe Steiner: Yeah, one thing that has really impressed me--I've been around this music for decades now--and I remember when we first started getting into this music, my friends and I.
We'd see a lot of people taking these old standards, old jazz standards, old rock and roll standards, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
It really impresses me that we continue to see people reinterpreting those in a bluegrass context even today.
So many albums have been recorded--full albums recorded--of just covers of rock and roll songs or jazz songs and even those type of songs appearing on other albums. And still today, great recreations of that.
Jim Winger: Absolutely and you know many of the stars that we've seen over the years basically did that.
They were playing somebody else's rock and roll or a different type of music, and they made bluegrass out of it, and it became a number one hit among the bluegrass fans.
Julia Meek: And the fact that it continues to be such an easy and when you think about it, maybe obvious, but if you don't, who knew--hook that you could use?
Jim Winger: Yep, yep, absolutely.
Julia Meek: Now speaking of hooks and special events and all of the things that come with well your kind of music and with your festival right on the very, very near horizon.
You have events planned, especially because this is your 50th anniversary, both on and off stage, by the way, for players and audiences alike. What can folks expect at the fairgrounds this Labor Day weekend?
Joe Steiner: Well, of course, there's the stage show, and getting back to what we had talked about, the traditional versus the more progressive. Our lineup consists of both types of bands. We do see more proportionately more progressive bands in our lineup.
Courtesy/NIBGA
Julia Meek: And you have four days of bluegrass musical goodness to be celebrating, right? So that's a lot of performance. So tell us some of the highlights. [all chuckle]
Joe Steiner: Well, uh, let's maybe just pick a couple. Traditionally, and I will add, it gets harder to find the traditional bands because people are out there doing their own thing, which I think is great.
But there are some bands out there who stick to the traditional model, and one of those, one of the best of those is Kevin Prater. And we, yeah, we've got him, they're not only performing but also doing a vocal harmony workshop.
Yeah, so we're really proud of that. Now, on the other side of things, we've got groups called the Sugar Mules, the Booze Hounds Band, and Miles Over Mountains. Yeah, so it's Watershed Ramblers, the Sugar Mules, and Miles Over Mountains.
A little bit more on the progressive side, and you know more appealing maybe to a general audience.
Jim Winger: Yeah, I think Joe, also, you, you bring up we do have a star in in Prater, and that he has traveled all over the U.S. basically east side of the country in Canada.
Kevin Prater, he is, I would call a star in the genre. All of our other bands, let me tell you, they're all professionals. They're going to give you an audience reaction.
They're going to embrace what they do, and they're going to be out in the audience with the crowd later on, or out in the parking lot.
It's something that these groups do, and Joe's right. There's both styles of music, and they are still bluegrass oriented.
Joe Steiner: And I want to tell you about a jam with the band feature that we have at our festival.
very night, one of the bands that played will also then, after the concert, go to a particular location and just start a jam session. We've got the Booze Hounds doing that.
Sugar Mules will be doing that, and a great group named Hillbilly Chic will be doing that on Saturday night. [Julia chuckles]
Jim Winger: Now don't laugh. That is a group, that is. I
Julia Meek: I love the name, and that's what I am laughing about! [chuckles]
Jim Winger: We had people come up and say, "When are they coming back? I can't believe you're going to wait a whole year to hear them.
All of these bands are playing a night, and, and they're, they're having not just the musicians' pick, but right, other people?
Joe Steiner: Oh yeah, we've continued doing it because it's very popular.
Julia Meek: That's a dream come true for any level of fandom out there to be able to play music with that person they just heard on stage!
Jim Winger: Absolutely! You know, even if you just hold the guitar up, it's, it's great. [all chuckle] You get chills up and down your spine—"I played with...!”
Julia Meek: [chuckles] Yes, and it's true, yes, indeed.
Joe Steiner: It's absolutely true. What a way to try out your chops.
Jim Winger: That includes our, our president, who'll be right there. [all chuckle]
Julia Meek: You'll play with him, or he's going to be playing with them?
Jim Winger: He's going to be playing with them. [again chuckles] He slips off that time of night and goes down to the jam.
Julia Meek: I hope so--oh, that's why he knows all about it, I see!
Jim Winger: That's exactly right. He's an experienced man.
Julia Meek: And a word on the venue itself, the Noble County Fairgrounds in Kendallville. Just why will it still and always be home, sweet home, to you and yours?
Joe Steiner: Well, I actually cannot give Jim enough credit because I, I know that he was one of the people that actually found this facility and did a lot of that legwork to, to look for it.
Julia Meek: Way back, 50 years ago, or nearly so?
Jim Winger: About 30--1990 as a matter of fact, when we met with the guy that was in charge of the fairgrounds at that time and he says what do you, what do you want?
And I said well we're going to do a bluegrass festival. He says, "What's that? And I said, "We're going to get people out here and described what it was.
And he said, "Well, okay, I'll trust you. And suddenly, we had found a home.
The thing about Kendallville and why we'll probably always be there is it's 65 acres, which is rare for fairgrounds, and half of it is trees, shade with power and water.
Let me tell you, that place is a goldmine for Noble County and Kendallville. I hope that they're able to keep that together.
Joe Steiner: It's just a very comfortable spot to hang out. Shady, campfires. Yeah, it's hard to imagine finding a better facility.
Courtesy/NIBGA
Julia Meek: It is, and for folks that have not been there, yeah, you do have to experience it to believe it. So we encourage that, quite honestly, that's what we are doing.
Now, some of this region's drivers of growth, like Debutants, and the Matchsellers, are going to be at the festival this year.
They continue to rally a new generation of performers. Jim, you alluded to that, and the new ones that are out there right now doing what they're doing with Hoot Camp and their other really drives to get people, young’uns, in on this.
How does this show up on your radar in your group?
Jim Winger: Well, that shows up with young people coming to the festival that didn't used to go along. And I started to talk about my granddaughter a little while ago.
She was a professional-type musician that played in orchestras, and then she discovered bluegrass. And she found out even though she was a very professional player that she couldn't play bluegrass, and she had to retrain herself into that genre.
And it is really fun to watch her grow and do that, and she is determined to become an expert bluegrass fiddler. And she's found other people who join her.
So, it's not just her; she's found groups, and not from Fort Wayne, but from Michigan and, and Ohio. And she greets with these people and meets with them.
And as a matter of fact, I think they formed a band to perform on stage one time, so it's an interesting genre to watch.
Courtesy/NIBGA
Julia Meek: It is, and you're watching the numbers too, Joe. What are you seeing?
Joe Steiner: Of course, we're doing analytics, you know, on website hits and that kind of thing. And, and we are seeing a lot more hits from younger groups of people, and and we're very much trying to cultivate that.
And this time at this upcoming festival, we have our Big Bluegrass Showdown between the Matchsellers and the Debutants, which is one of the things we did to make the festival exciting.
Bluegrass is an exciting music to start with, but yeah, we're really looking forward to that event, and that'll be a lot of fun.
And, and we see that with the younger groups, you know they're more into the entertainment part of this and making it an event for people.
Julia Meek: That is a good point, and they know how to do it. So, you've got a double push coming from those young, from the next generation.
Joe Steiner: Right.
Julia Meek: Good for you. Now I am curious. Where else, what else are you seeing, can you be tracking new growth?
Jim Winger: We track, we track down into the numbers of exactly where people are coming from, how long they stay on the website.
So, the technology is something that we do use behind the scenes. So we're able to measure those kinds of things with technology that we couldn't do before.
And we can see even what age groups we're reaching to, which is important.
Julia Meek: That's excellent. And last question, guys: Going forward, how are you planning to amplify these bluegrass, newgrass pastures of plenty for the next 50 years and beyond?
Joe Steiner: I want to keep pushing new sounds. I want to keep appealing to new folks to join our community and to come up with new creative ideas.
To reinterpret older songs and to write new songs. I want to have groups like Hillbilly Chic or what a "Hillbilly Chic" might look like 20 years from now.
People that'll take old-timey music, bluegrass music, jazz music. Take all those things and blend them together and help build this community that we've got going.
Jim Winger: Joe, I guess I'm the kind of guy that's been around for, since 1990, at that location, and what I'm looking for is a campfire with my friends and family that's going to sit there and play music that we've played probably for 20 years.
It is absolutely awesome, and I believe in it. And so do a lot of other people up there. But Joe's right. We need to have people grow, and old people like me got to quit standing in the way. [all laugh]
Joe Steiner: We like to keep the old, encourage the old, and also bring in the new. That's what we're all about.
Jim Winger: Thanks, Joe.
Julia Meek: Joe Steiner and Jim Winger are president and vice
president, respectively, of the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association.
Thank you for sharing the story of this wonderful labor of love, you two. Continued success. Celebrate on.
Joe Steiner: So long, Julia. It was great to spend a few minutes with you here today. Appreciate it.
Jim Winger: Yeah, it was, it was enjoyable. I really liked it, and you're a wonderful lady. Thank you.
