HENDERSONVILLE – The first-ever Winter Ramble, a homegrown music festival at venues across Henderson County, is scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 27.
“If you go to New Orleans, you see New Orleans music. When people come to Henderson County, I want them to experience the music that’s from here,” organizer Ryan Taylor Price told the Times-News Feb. 24.
That means mountain music, roots, bluegrass, country, folk and Americana.
It’s a cultural festival as much as a music event; there are 11 venues and around 30 performances, including not only music but film, dance and storytelling, Price said.
Folk Americana trio Letters to Abigail is set to play at the first-ever Winter Ramble music festival, scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 27, 2026, at venues across Henderson County.
Planning for the festival started in the summer, when the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority approached Price with the “napkin idea” of putting together a musical event to boost business and tourism in the county.
The lineup was finalized as recently as December, Price said.
Some shows are free and others have a cover charged by the venue.
“I’m excited. You never know how something like this is going to go but there’s been a great response from the community,” Price said.
Vocalist Kelli Redmond, guitarist James Harrell and upright bass player Dakota Waddell of the “harmony-driven folk Americana” trio Letters to Abigail are playing at Flat Rock Cinema 3:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and Southern Appalachian Brewing 3 p.m. March 1.
“It’s a special thing to get to play a place where people are just dialed in for the music, (where) there’s no bar noise and we’re not background,” Redmond told the Times-News Feb. 23.
The group just finished recording an album and are looking forward to playing some of their new material, Harrell said.
“There’s somebody playing in every brewery, every weekend (in Henderson County) and that’s a cool thing. The music community has certainly grown, but it’s nice to have somebody bring in some music (acts) from outside,” Redmond said.
But by all accounts, the festival is also designed to boost and showcase local acts and reinforce the existing musical community.
Country western musician Taylor Corum is set to play at the first-ever Winter Ramble music festival, scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 27, 2026, at venues across Henderson County.
Redmond and county western/bluegrass guitarist Taylor Corum told the Times-News that Price recruited them while mingling at local jams and open mics.
“I’m just tickled to death to be part of this year-one experience,” Corum, of Greenville, said Feb. 23.
He’s playing Trailside Brewing 6 p.m. Feb. 27. Normally he plays as a duo with his musical partner Rhys Hester, but at the Winter Ramble, he’ll be playing solo.
It’s harder to book gigs as a solo act, “because they’re up there talking about broken hearts and talking too much,” he said jokingly.
“Keep it moving! There’s a time and a place for a slow song, a time and a place for a ballad, but (I’m) going to keep it lively,” he said.
Bluegrass five-piece Unspoken Tradition is set to play at the first-ever Winter Ramble music festival, scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 27, 2026, at venues across Henderson County.
Ty Gilpin plays mandolin with the five-piece “modern original bluegrass” band Unspoken Tradition.
Along with his bandmates, brothers Audie and Zane McGinness, on guitar and banjo, Tim Gardner, on fiddle and Sav Sankaran, on upright bass, he’s set to play 3:15 p.m. March 1 at Marked Tree Vineyard.
The band got its start around a dozen years ago in the Shelby area where, “when you’re born, you get issued a five-string banjo,” Gilpin told the Times-News Feb. 23. They’ve been playing the bluegrass festival circuit up and down the eastern seaboard and as far west as Colorado.
“In the bluegrass and folk world, this isn’t that uncommon of a setup. It kind of harkens back to a more traditional style of festival,” Gilpin said.
He hopes the festival boosts the local economy and brings people out of the house and together during the winter.
“Hats off to (the organizers) for the effort at a very risky time of year, because you can have a blizzard at the end of February,” he said.
Ryan Taylor Price is one of the main organizers behind the first-ever Winter Ramble music festival, scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 27, 2026, at venues across Henderson County.
He hadn’t originally planned to play in the festival but when the opener for Trey Hensley, a sold-out show, had to cancel, he decided to step in, he said.
That show is 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at Marked Tree Vineyard.
It’s hard to base the new festival on the template of other multi-venue festivals like South by Southwest, especially on the small scale Price is working on. There aren’t many 400-seat venues, much less a thousand-seat venue, he said.
There’s no wristbands or umbrella entry fee for the festival. “I didn’t want there to be a barrier,” this isn’t Bonnaroo, he said.
“I’d rather do it like this for three or five years, until there are so many people that you have to charge admission. I’d rather that be the problem,” he said.
Find showtimes and more about the performers at winterramble.com.
More: Henderson County restaurant, venue and farmstand J&M Farms will stay open year-round
More: Trailside Table restaurant opens inside popular brewery along Ecusta Trail
George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at GFRussell@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Winter Ramble to bring folk, roots, bluegrass to Henderson County