For the Love of it All: An Interview with Jill Turpin of Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots Festival

Festivals come and festivals go. Sure, there are the usual suspects in certain genres that have stood the test of time. Newport Folk with its rich history in the craft of song. Bending and redefining the rules of what “folk music” is. The giants who have grown exponentially, seemingly to big to ever falter, like Bonnaroo and Coachella. And in the bluegrass realm, fests like Grey Fox, Freshgrass, Rocky Grass and Winter Wondergrass have made it equally as exciting to see artists on stage as it is to sit in your camp ground and pick with new friends. Well, there is a new kid on the block this year and if there is one thing we can say about it, that is: it is all about the love of the music and those creating it.

Jill and John Turpin are two folks who love festivals and what they stand for but also had the vision enough to ask one simple question: what do the artists playing these festivals love about them? And so, that question was answered and then answered some more from the musicians and songwriters that she met along the way and the idea for Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots was born. What strikes me the most about Jill, John and this event as opposed to other festival curators is their genuine love and passion for the atmosphere that they are looking create. Its not necessarily about selling the most amount of tickets to ensure the most amount of fans and audience members will be filling lawn chairs in front of stages…its about giving them a reason to truly want to be in those seats watching the magic unfold in front of them. This is because the artists performing at the event are enjoying themselves just as much as the audience is. It is that drive to create something that takes the best parts of larger festivals and mixes it with the more intimate feel of a house show that we here at RLR feel is going to set GMBR apart from other festivals this summer.

And, I’ll be honest I could sit here and wax poetic about how much respect, love and appreciation I have for the crew that is putting this festival on this August but I think the conversation I had will Jill Turpin speaks for itself in terms of the palpable excitement and crystal clear love she has for all the artists, vendors and people involved. When the people behind the scenes foster that much excitement and intense love for all aspects of such a show, well it just bleeds out and seeps into every teeny aspect of it and you know it is going to be special for anyone able to witness it.

Read on for my interview with Jill where we talk all about the why, the where, the who and all that goodness about Green Mountain Bluegrass and Roots. If you aren’t already heading to their website to grab your tickets, well by the end of this conversation you will be.

RLR:​ First and foremost, some folks who may understand what it takes to pull together an event like you all are pulling together might immediately say “what is wrong with you? are you crazy?!” You know, “why are you doing this to yourself?” So tell us, why are you doing this and where do your roots stem from with this type of music? What is driving you to bring this music to southern Vermont?

JT: ​Yes, everyone says we are crazy. But, we have been musicians for our whole lives. Starting with ‘folk’, pretty much. Then it went to Grateful Dead and I played classical music growing up. So every kind of music you can possibly imagine, we have played it and it has always been a part of our lives. John and I have known each since we were ten. We have had this communal love of music forever.

Bluegrass came into our lives in college. John lived out in Colorado, so he started listening to bluegrass and going to festivals like Telluride Bluegrass, then would come back east and hang out and we started playing bluegrass. . Then we just starting going to every type of bluegrass show that we could find. We have shared music our whole lives with each other, with our friends and family and now with the general public by way of this festival. It’s our passion. The Southern VT part comes into the story a little later!

RLR:​ And how about the artists that you are looking to highlight during the weekend of the fest?

JT:​ When we moved to NJ about 15 years ago, we couldn’t find much live music to see that we liked. My brother had developed a relationship with the Foghorn Stringband out in Oregon and when they came east, we put on a show for them at a local bar. From there, we got requests from other bands to do shows in between Philly and NYC. They would come, do the show and then we would hang out and play music afterwards. We started developing these great relationships with these amazing bands, including Mandolin Orange, Lonely Heartstring Band and so many others. It was awesome but what was also so cool was that all of these people in NJ, who didn’t know this genre of music would come and love it. It was thrilling to hear people so psyched and appreciative of the music we were introducing them to. Now they teach us, like “hey, did you see so so is playing in NYC on Thursday?”

The other thing that happened during this experience of getting to know these musicians is that we got to see a different side of them besides just what they play on stage. We would hear them practicing in our living room, or playing their version of a traditional song by the fire at 2 am and that’s what really got us. These artists are so amazing. They live and breath this music. It’s so genuine. AND they all know and love each other and love to play music with one another and we as the audience, love to listen! We love to see what happens when you take musicians from different bands and watch them play together in an intimate, comfortable and relaxed setting and that is our goal with GMBR. We want to set up a living room in a field surrounded by mountains in VT, invite people who love this music and environment and see what happens. We say, and it’s true, this festival is for the musicians. We set the stage and turn them loose to do and play whatever they want and we, as the audience, just sit back and enjoy the ride.

RLR:​ Thats really a breath of fresh air. I am especially sure for the artists performing…

JT: ​We asked the musicians what were their favorite parts of playing or going to a festival. Why they love that? What makes them really psyched to play a festival? That’s kind of how we set this whole thing up.

RLR:​ So, you mention Jersey where you live now. But why Manchester, Vermont? What is the story with that area?

JT:​ We are in real estate in NJ and work a lot. When John’s not working I am and vice versa, we also have two kids and we were missing out on quality family time. We started looking for a get away and we would pack the kids up in the car and drive to different areas within a 5 mile radius of NJ. One day I decided to take the kids to see where I went to college, in Amherst, Massachusetts after seeing a friend on Lake Bomoseen. I drove through Manchester late that night, I’ll never forget it, I was listening to the Mandolin Orange album, Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger and the town looked so beautiful, even in the middle of the night and, and I had an “a-ha” moment. I was like “this…is…the town. This is it.​” That album as my soundtrack didn’t hurt! Then we started looking at houses in Manchester and the surrounding towns and just fell in love.

There is so much here for everyone and the people are really wonderful. They just have this incredibly supportive and cool small town vibe, but yet it has so much to offer. From food to art to commerce. We just loved it. These hill towns and all the towns around Manchester all have their own personalities and are incredible, as well but having Manchester as the hub is great. Our house is about 20 min away from Manchester center but we always find our way into town and I can find anything that I want there. Be it buying fresh fish, or an amazing butcher or an incredible movie theatre with interesting films, not just blockbuster hits. Plus the hiking, swimming, skiing, biking, it is just an amazing area in every season. It’s 4 hours from New Jersey and New York City and a very easy drive (if you time it right!). It’s a great destination for anyone, young people, families, friend or couple get aways and we just think people should know about it who don’t already. We feel like having this festival in town is a great way to bring people out and get to know the town. Good for the town, good for all of us and hopefully this is just the beginning.

RLR: ​Looking at the current lineup, it almost reads like a “who’s who” of roots music right now. I think the oldest person on the line up right now is in his mid-50s and most of the artists are in their 30s or even younger. What made you gravitate towards this as a line up? A line up with this fresh batch of artists that pay homage to tradition but are infusing it with their own fresh and modern take on this style?

JT: ​Definitely songwriting. Traditional bluegrass and Americana and roots tell such strong stories. It’s so evocative in so many ways. From the murder ballads to the love songs and everything in between. It’s all history and that is something that just draws so many people to bluegrass music.

But this new crop of musicians, they’re all incredible songwriters that are also so evocative. Their harmonies, their storytelling. Its amazing. It reminds you of some of the storytelling in traditional roots music. That’s also something we think about when we think about Manchester. There is so much history in this area and such a rich historical culture. It almost feels like a southern area and so much of bluegrass is southern in its roots. This area of Vermont sort of has that feeling too. It felt like such a perfect pairing. And these musicians aren’t just virtuosos on their instruments, their songwriting is paying homage to what really started this music. That is definitely what all of these artists have in common, to us, their songwriting and ability to paint a picture of a place and time. They are all just ‘the real deal’. They have such a soul and that comes out in their playing and their songwriting.

RLR:​ The artists in this line up thus far, looking at the musicians and these types of festival I think collaboration is going to play a big part in the way the weekend plays out. If you could see 3 or 4 of these acts on stage at the same time, whats your dream collaboration to see unfold at the festival?

JT:​ I don’t know if I should say it…I mean, because it’s going to happen! Everything having to do with this festival has been six degrees of separation. I got to know Bobby Britt because he stayed with us, with his band Town Mountain. I heard him play the fiddle and I was like “oh my god he is incredible”. I stayed in touch with him over the years. Now he is promoting a new record he recorded with a lot of the other musicians that are on the line up.

With the Lonely Heartstring Band, we were watching them at Rocky Grass and I was sitting next to Mike Witcher, who plays in Horse County and we started talking to him about the festival and now he is coming with Jordan Tice and Horse County. It’s just such a small world. The way we did everything with this festival was just thinking about who these musicians would want to play with. Andrew (Marlin) just did an album with Rachel Baiman of 10 String Symphony and has produced Mipso’s earlier albums. It just seems like it all is so pure and such a small world. Its that six degrees of separation.

I was talking with Rayna Gellert. She was the first artist I contacted directly. It was really sweet correspondence back and forth. And after we booked her she said “oh yeah, I was just playing with Andrew and Emily (of Mandolin Orange). They came by my house the other night and telling me that they knew you.” It’s just been like that. So and so, knows so and so and it has this really good, positive feeling about it. It’s NOT the business of bluegrass and booking, it’s surrounding artists with artists they love and that’s just how we are doing it.

RLR:​ Alright, last one. Give me the elevator pitch/twitter post of why people need to be in Manchester, Vermont from August 16-19 at this festival. The abbreviated, in your face, THIS is why you need to be there!

JT: ​Because these musicians are amazing. Every single one of them has given us chills. They are the truest in this genre of music. They love what they do. We are approaching this the same way with the artisans and the food vendors as well. They are all true makers. Everyone involved in this festival is doing it because they have a passion and they love what they are doing.