BooGrass returns to Waitsburg Plaza Theater

WAITSBURG - The Plaza Theater, originally named The Neace Theater, was built in 1929.

"The plaza is an especially fun place to hold our bluegrass concert event," said Touchet Valley Acoustic Music Project founder Kate Hockersmith. "It has great charm, acoustics and the history of the building is close to the history of bluegrass music which became popular with "Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys" in the early 1930s."

This year, TVAMP brings BooGrass to the Plaza Theater on Sunday, October 27 at 4 p.m. Hockersmith said the concert began in 2017 to highlight local bluegrass music and TVAMP's youth bluegrass bands. It is also a fundraiser for TVAMP to raise money for free youth music classes, tickets, and travel for festivals and international tours for youthful musicians.

Many local kids have learned about bluegrass music through TVAMP, including Daniel Foley, who started at TVAMP when he was around ten. This last year, he was hired as an intern for the program.

"I have participated in past BooGrass shows and will perform this year as a member of Skyline Strings," said Foley.

When asked if the band was preparing any Halloween music for the event, Foley said, "We are working hard to find songs this week. It is harder with bluegrass because they don't really exist, so we try to find songs where somebody dies or there's a ghost."

John Hockersmith, Kate's son, brought youth bluegrass to Waitsburg with the Blue Mountain Troublemakers in 2003. That band inspired Hockersmith to start TVAMP in 2013 and joined the local nonprofit Rural Youth Enrichment Services that year.

TVAMP provides music lessons and teaches kids to play bluegrass and Americana music at its studio on Main Street in Waitsburg. It offers youth access to instruments, travel, and live performance opportunities. The Troublemakers traveled to Sasayama, Japan, in 2007, Switchgrass Delta traveled to Ireland in 2019, and Foley said he hoped a new trip would be planned soon. Skyline Strings, the Epique Minstrels, Coyote Gulch from Lowden, and Jasper Mountain will be playing at the event.

BooGrass wil be on the Sunday before Halloween, Oct 27, at 4 p.m. Tickets are available at the door: Adults $10 and children are free. There will be a Silent Auction at the concert, to raise funds for RYSE, a 501c3 non-profit organization supporting youth programs in Waitsburg including TVAMP, Waitsburg Urban Forestry, Youth and Government, Friends of the Waitsburg Pool, and Friends of the Fairgrounds.