The eighth annual Bluegrass Blizzard weekend takes place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 11-12, at Bismarck State College.
Washburn-area band Cotton Wood opens the show for two concerts starting at 7:30 p.m. in Sidney J. Lee Auditorium, Schafer Hall.
Featured band is the award-winning Brand New Strings, a five-piece group from Knoxville, Tenn., with Mandan native Preston Schmidt on fiddle.
Brand New Strings won the 2009 International Band Championship of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America. The group signed a recording contract with Los Angeles-based Rural Rhythm Records in 2010 and has produced two albums.
Schmidt won the separate titles of North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming State Fiddle Champion and placed in the top five at the National Old-time Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, Idaho. The BSC graduate ('07) was named a Rising Star in 2011 by the BSC Alumni Association. He completed his education at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 2010 and works as a freelance recording engineer/producer.
"Big country bands are calling him to play," said Jill Wiese, show promoter and Cotton Wood bassist. "He's building a name for himself."
Tickets are $15 and available at Eckroth Music, String Bean, Jacobsen Music and Nightlife Music in Bismarck, Cappuccino on Collins in Mandan, Chase Drug and Java Rose in Washburn, and Corner Express in Center.
Schmidt's band will perform a free concert at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 11 at Mandan High School.
The weekend also includes workshops for musicians from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 12 at BSC Leach Music Center. The cost is $5. For more information, call Jill Wiese at 701-315-0017. To learn about the bands visit Cotton Wood and Brand New Strings.
The concert is funded in part by grants from the North Dakota Council on the Arts and Dakota West Arts Council.
About Bismarck State College
Bismarck State College, an innovative community college in Bismarck, N.D., offers high quality education, workforce training, and enrichment programs reaching local and global communities.
Washburn-area band Cotton Wood opens the show for two concerts starting at 7:30 p.m. in Sidney J. Lee Auditorium, Schafer Hall.
Featured band is the award-winning Brand New Strings, a five-piece group from Knoxville, Tenn., with Mandan native Preston Schmidt on fiddle.
Brand New Strings won the 2009 International Band Championship of the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America. The group signed a recording contract with Los Angeles-based Rural Rhythm Records in 2010 and has produced two albums.
Schmidt won the separate titles of North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming State Fiddle Champion and placed in the top five at the National Old-time Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, Idaho. The BSC graduate ('07) was named a Rising Star in 2011 by the BSC Alumni Association. He completed his education at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 2010 and works as a freelance recording engineer/producer.
"Big country bands are calling him to play," said Jill Wiese, show promoter and Cotton Wood bassist. "He's building a name for himself."
Tickets are $15 and available at Eckroth Music, String Bean, Jacobsen Music and Nightlife Music in Bismarck, Cappuccino on Collins in Mandan, Chase Drug and Java Rose in Washburn, and Corner Express in Center.
Schmidt's band will perform a free concert at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 11 at Mandan High School.
The weekend also includes workshops for musicians from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 12 at BSC Leach Music Center. The cost is $5. For more information, call Jill Wiese at 701-315-0017. To learn about the bands visit Cotton Wood and Brand New Strings.
The concert is funded in part by grants from the North Dakota Council on the Arts and Dakota West Arts Council.
About Bismarck State College
Bismarck State College, an innovative community college in Bismarck, N.D., offers high quality education, workforce training, and enrichment programs reaching local and global communities.