This weekend — the first of June already! — is the Yellow River Festival, which celebrates the river and the first thirty years of the county.

As far as I know, no one living here in those mid- to late 1800s wrote anything in my repertoire, and yet I’m confident at least some of the tunes I’ll be playing were played around here around that time. Some are older, some perhaps from around that period, and some modern but with much traditional influence.

I recently learned that of those Indiana settlers who immigrated, about 50% were German, 10% Irish, and the rest much smaller percentages from elsewhere. Bach is the only German music I’m aware of knowing; I love playing his tunes. There’ll be a good bit of Irish music, including tunes that have become part of the American tradition as well. I’ll play some originals, too, and — just for fun, and because surely there were some Scandinavians in those smaller percentages — some Swedish and Norwegian tunes.

I’ll be playing for a brown bag lunch at the Marshall County Historical Society at noon on Friday June 4, and again at the festival grounds from 11 to noon on Saturday June 5.

Check out the Festival website for more musical options and other activities, including, new this year, an education stage.