Shake off those winter blues during the Gardner Winter Music Festival at South Middle School, a two-day whirlwind of Appalachian tunes, dance, and history.
On a dreary winter day in 1978, Worley Gardner and Sloan Staggs lamented the season’s lack of opportunities to jam out with fellow musicians. Indignation turned to inspiration, and so was born the Gardner Winter Music Festival. After nearly 50 years, the festival sees upwards of 300 musicians and 500 total attendees traveling from near and far to boogie away the February blues.
The festival has evolved quite a bit since that fruitful conversation between Gardner and Staggs, but the core values have remained the same: to celebrate and share traditional Appalachian music. Beginning on Friday, February 21, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, February 22, at 10 a.m., drop by South Middle School for fiddlin’, square dancin’, and plenty more. Entry is $3 on Friday and $5 on Saturday.
The first time Jacob Lambert attended the festival, it was his birthday, and he had bought his first banjo just a week prior. As a music teacher at Monongalia County Schools, he hoped to learn traditional Appalachian instruments and tunes to pass along to his students—not realizing he would one day embrace the role of festival coordinator. “That year, I spent my birthday at the festival just being bad at banjo,” he says. Lambert attended some workshops and jams, then set out to strum his way through old-time Appalachia.
After fine-tuning his banjo skills, Lambert founded the Brookhaven Appalachian Music Ensemble, a club at Brookhaven Elementary School for fourth and fifth grade students to practice traditional instruments like the fiddle, jug, washboard, and hammered dulcimer. It started with just five members and has since grown to around 30—and each one of them has a serious commitment to the art, says Lambert.
“We’ve performed at the West Virginia University International Street Festival representing Appalachian culture, we’ve performed multiple concerts through the school, we’ve performed at art festivals. It’s become a real thing, and the kids are really excited about it,” he says. “I’ve even had multiple students ask, ‘Hey, can I skip recess to come play the banjo?'”
During more than two dozen workshops offered at this weekend’s festival, attendees can share the students’ passion for pluckin’ with beginner fiddle lessons or experiment with tutorials on the mandolin, the lap dulcimer, spoons, Appalachian flat foot dance, square dance, and more. Lambert says the workshop schedule is a key point of this year’s festival, with new opportunities like a Cajun jam sesh and a jam room just for singing. Another new addition is a room dedicated to recording oral history for an audio documentary on Appalachian music traditions and the festival’s enduring impact in Morgantown and beyond.
“My favorite thing about the festival is just the amount of community happening in every corner,” says Lambert. “Every time you open a door, there’s someone excited to see you. The amount of camaraderie and community that has been built around this festival is just incredible.”
In addition to the Brookhaven Appalachian Music Ensemble, the festival’s stage will host local and traveling artists including the WVU Bluegrass and Old-Time Band, Aristotle Jones and Osage Gospel N’ Soul Community Choir, and Morgantown Irish Session.
Do you have an old guitar that’s collecting dust after a short-lived interest in lessons? Junior Appalachian Musicians accepts donations of acoustic stringed instruments, unused strings and rosin, capos, cases, and instrument racks—call 276.773.0573.
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