What's Going on at WMF27 in Florence Oregon 01/28-01/30/2027

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The last weekend in January will again be a hot one at the Florence Events Center.

Over two days, seven outstanding groups will bring smokin’ hot bluegrass, heartwarming new and traditional folk, and foot-stompin’ Americana as the Florence Winter Music Festival returns.

The festival starts on the 28th with the open mic “Take the Stage!” hootenanny. There will also be open jam sessions, performance and songwriting workshops, and great food and drink throughout the event. Once again, weekend passes to all activities go on 'early-bird pricing beginning on June 15th, 2027.

“Our line-up of world-class performers includes Friday night’s headliners, John Reischman And The Jaybirds with the amazing Burnett Sisters Band returning to kick off our festival performers. Saturday afternoon will be fantastic with three bands: Tuesday String Band returning from last year, along with The Rosa Lees and Fog Holler. Saturday night will open with the Rick Faris Band and we will close out the festival with a performance from Chris Jones and the Night Drivers.

Show tickets are available at the Florence Events Center's box office, 715 Quince Street, and its website, EventCenter.org.

A REAL DOWN HOME HOOTENANNY!

A now-annual favorite, the community open mic “Take the Stage!” all-comers music confab will be unleashed from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.  This  good ol’ fashioned gathering is -- free and open to all ages and abilities. Come sign up, sing and play for 10 minutes on stage, collaborate, and make new friends.  Spectators can expect to have fun cheering on  friends and neighbors on the Florence Events Center flat floor stage.

Take the Stage! is staged in the friendly confines of Rooms 1&2 of the FEC Flat Floor area.  Casual seating is provided, and performers will be provided with mics.  No drumsets or electric instuments. 

Oregon Pacific Bank’s Free Community Concert 

4:30 - 5:30 PM (Hwy 101 Florence) 

featuring: Fog Holler 

(no ticket necessary).

The Burnett Sisters Band

 Returning after an amazing performance in last years festival!, Bluegrass, old-time, and folk music lovers alike can’t get enough of The Burnett Sisters Band, as siblings Anissa, Sophia, and Anneli with Geary Allen from London, England are all gifted multi-instrumentalists who are well-known and well-loved in the traditional music circuit. The band brings a youthful energy and modern flair to each performance, while remaining true to the traditional roots of the genre. Their on-stage chemistry is unmistakable – the type that only close siblings can have, evident in exchanged glances and spontaneous smiles – and their musicianship is undeniable.  

https://www.burnettsistersband.com/

John Reischman And The Jaybirds

Bluegrass Unlimited calls John Reischman “one of the world’s undisputed masters” of the mandolin, His dozens of original instrumentals are considered the creme de la creme for session players and covers. The Jaybirds comprise a group of the very best in bluegrass: Patrick Sauber (guitar), Trisha Gagnon (bass, vocals, songwriting) Nick Hornbuckle (five-string banjo) and Greg Spatz (“world-class bluegrass fiddler”). Their 2025 album The Salish Sea is a wonder to behold. 

https://thejaybirds.com/

Photos link https://thejaybirds.com/press/ 

Tuesday String Band

Returning from our 2026 festival, Tuesday String Band is made up of Western Oregon University (WOU) music students and alumni who are all dedicating their lives to careers in music. They love entertaining crowds with fast pickin’, witty banter, and string  band versions of songs from a wide variety of styles. The band plays upwards of 100 shows per year throughout the Pacific Northwest and they have performed at several major Bluegrass festivals, including the North Cascades Bluegrass Festival.

In just under two years as a band, the group has already been featured in print in Go! Eastern Oregon, The Polk County Itemizer-Observer, and The Bluegrass Express. They've been recorded on the air with KBOO, KMUZ, No Simple Road, and Monmouth Monthly. They even represented WOU and the City of Monmouth on the televised KGW News segment "Rod on the Road." The group has grown a following of over 10K on their social media pages. The River in Independence, OR. They are on a mission to keep the string band tradition alive and to educate the next generation of pickers, and they're proud to be a contributing member band with the Oregon Bluegrass Association. 

https://tuesdaystringband.com/

The Rosa Lees

From deep in the hills of southern Oregon come the foursome of mighty women players -- bringing old time bluegrass music with a fresh sound. Jesse Watson (fiddle), Bekkah McAlvage (guitar), Rachel Bukland (banjo, fiddle) and Holly Hurley (bass) follow in the footsteps of bluegrass pioneers Rose Maddox and Hazel Dickens. Expect four-part harmonies and some hard driving rhythms within the guise of traditional tunes.  

https://www.therosalees.com/

Fog Holler Band

Fog Holler’s monochrome crew members -- Casey James Holmberg on banjo, vocals; Tommy Shulz on guitar, vocals; Noa on bass, fiddle; and Clare Armenante, fiddle aren’t afraid to take their exceptional skills out to play -- and then push the boundaries until one forgets there ever WERE boundaries. Murder ballads, power waltzes, Buck Owens’ licks -- it’s all here and more. Come hear what Cathy Fink calls “The next generation of the many shades of bluegrass.” 

https://www.fogholler.band/

Chris Jones & the Night Drivers 

Deeply rooted in tradition but never bound to it, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers deliver original music with tight arrangements and engaging humor. Chris Jones: Lead vocals, rhythm and lead guitar, and songwriting; Mark Stoffel: Mandolin; Grace Van't Hof: Banjo, ukulele, and harmony vocals and Nelson Williams: Bass and harmony vocals, debuted on The Grand Ole Opry stage in 2022. The band have recorded five critically acclaimed albums to date, and are repeat performers at Merlefest in North Carolina, the Walnut Valley Festival in Kansas, and with international touring including Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

https://chrisjonesgrass.com/ 

The Rick Faris Band

Rick Faris' band comprises four top-notch artists who can set the stage -- and the bluegrass world -- on fire with their energy, humor and blazing instrumentals. Faris 

is a veteran musician and songwriter with major awards from the IBMA (Songwriter 2024, New Artist 2022, and multiple awards with Special Consensus band) and was named the SPBGMA Bluegrass Songwriter of the Year in 2026.   Faris' young bandmates are Gibson Davis (banjo), Maddie Dalton (bass), and Henry Burgess (mando) who will make instant fans out of those who think they don’t like bluegrass.  Patrons of our Winter Music Festival in January 2026 will remember Gibson as the unassuming "banjo angel" who stepped in to play for both The Burnetts and Authentic Unlimited -- in the same show! 

https://rickfaris.com/the-band

Linda Leavitt of Cascade Bluegrass and Tom Nechville, proprietor of Nechville Banjos, will anchor the action in Gallery Five. There you’ll find jams, pickin’ sessions, playing advice, and tall tales of festivals past including sparkling bluegrass reminiscences and spirited conversations! They’ll also be on hand for Take the Stage to keep the musical energy flowing.

https://cascadebluegrass.com/

https://www.nechville.com/ 

Throughout the Winter Music Festival you can expect plenty of informal jams, performer interactions, super merchandise sales, excellent food and drink, and great vibes. For more information on the Florence Winter

Music Festival visit WinterMusicFestival.org.

Tickets available on-line at https://aftontickets.com/fec

under the tab EVENT TICKETS.