Extra day of workshops at Bühl 2017

Chris Jones & the Night Drivers: (l-r) Mark Stoffel,
Jon Weisberger, Chris Jones, Gina Clowes

Ten days ago the BIB carried news of the 15th International Bühl Bluegrass Festival, to be held next May in south-west Germany. Our good friend Walter Fuchs, longtime director of the festival, now reports:

Next year the Bühl festival will have an appendix, 'cause the Chris Jones Band will stay a day longer and on Sunday [21 May] from 9.00 a.m. till 5.30 p.m. they will have a 'Bluegrass Day' giving lessons to musicians about picking and singing and improvising. You see the festival is improving.

Chris (a former lead singer and guitarist for the Special Consensus) founded the Night Drivers in 1995, and to date they have won eight IBMA awards. Mark Stoffel, originally from Munich, has been the band's mandolinist for nine years and recently became an American citizen. Though Chris has shared the stage with the Chieftains, he and his band have yet to tour in Ireland (verb. sap.).

In February 2017 Walter's son Patrick, who succeeded him as director of the festival, will be in Berlin as its representative at the annual Country Music Messe.

Update 9 Dec.: Made to move, the new twelve-track album by Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, will be released on 17 Feb. 2017. It can be sampled and pre-ordered on iTunes.