Bluegrass Box

Wood & Wire

Thu., Camp Ben McCulloch stage, 9pm

Red Wine

Fri., Bluebonnet stage, 4:15pm

The Deadly Gentlemen

Fri., Bluebonnet stage, 7:30pm

Sat., Hill Country stage, 11am

Del McCoury Band

Fri., Discovery stage, 8pm (workshop)

Sat., Hill Country stage, 3:50pm (performance)

Della Mae

Sat., Hill Country stage, noon,

Sun., Camp Ben McCulloch stage, 12:15pm

While not strictly a bluegrass festival, Old Settler's remains the year's main event for Central Texas bluegrass fans. The appearance of the Del McCoury Band every year in Dripping Springs remains the primary reason. The bandleader marks his 75th birthday still leading the most awarded bluegrass act of all time. He's joined by his sons, Ronnie and Rob, for a special workshop, "Del @ 75," on Friday evening. A prime discovery at last year's festival, Boston's Della Mae, five women with impeccable chops and heavenly harmonies, earned a Bluegrass Grammy nomination for 2013's This World Oft Can Be. The cream of the Austin's bluegrass scene, Wood & Wire are a youthful quartet with the ability to play things straight up traditional or jam with their contemporaries. This year finds them traveling outside Texas to New York and Colorado. Another quintet from the fertile Boston scene, the Deadly Gentlemen defy convention. In spite of using traditional bluegrass instruments, their music is rootsy and full of spunk. Traveling the furthest, Italy's Red Wine has been together since the mid Seventies. One of Europe's premier bluegrass acts, they earned bonafides touring with banjo master Tony Trischka.