Bluegrass cruises: UPDATE (2)

The bluegrass cruise is rapidly developing, combining the delights of travel with the delights of sustained contact with bluegrass music and musicians. At least three major events of this type have already taken place this year. The title of first in the field belongs to the annual ETA Bluegrass Cruise. Next year's trip on the Costa Magica (18-25 February 2007) from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, will be the ninth, featuring Cherryholmes, the Mark Newton Band, Michael Cleveland, Audie Blaylock & Redline, Wildfire, Tim Graves & Cherokee, Carolina Road, the Lovell Sisters, and Chasin' Steel.

Rhonda Vincent & the Rage now head the programme on a set of cruises to the Mexican Riviera, the Bahamas, and Alaska; see this link.

The 3rd Annual Bell Buckle Music Cruise, featuring the 2005 Athy Festival headliners Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike and nine other bands, sailed to Coco Cay and Nassau, Bahamas, from 30 January to 3 February, on the Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas. Next year's Bell Buckle cruise will be on 5-9 February.

The July 2006 Alaska Bluegrass Cruise sails on the Norwegian Star from Seattle to the dramatic scenery of Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Glacier Bay, and Victoria. Dates are 9-16 July; the featured artists are the Claire Lynch Band (Claire+David Harvey, Missy Raines, and Jim Hurst), John Reischman and the Jaybirds, and Lost Highway; and the programme includes concerts, workshops on all instruments, vocal harmony, and songwriting, and jam sessions.