Wind Blowing Across a Field (newest book)
Road to Sweet’s Mill (first book) free mp3 downloads
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North Fork Contra Dance • March 28, 2025
North Fork Community Dance
6:00–9:00 PM
North Fork Town Hall
33060 Road 228, North Fork, CA 93643
$10 door
Auberry Library Children’s Concert (free)• March 29, 2025
Friends of the Auberry Library present
Evo Bluestein Children’s Concert
2-3 pm, free
at Auberry Public Library
33049 Auberry Rd, Auberry, CA 93602
Sunset School Dance Week • April 7-11, 2025
Sunset Elementary School, Fresno, CA
“I never knew folkdance could be fun because everything I do is just play on my phone. If we had a choice to learn another dance, I think I would want to.” –student
Liberty Charter week 1 • April 28-May 2, 2025
Liberty Charter School, Madera, CA
4th grade
“Dance class helped me get through my morning and it gave me something to talk about to my friends and family. Thank you for everything you have done for me.” –student
Liberty Charter week 2 • May 5-8, 2025
Liberty Charter School, Madera, CA
8th grade
“Thank you for showing me the ‘swing’ because maybe when I grow up there’s going to be a dance and I might be the only one who knows how to swing.” –student
Concert with Terry Barrett & Evo Bluestein • May 18, 2025
Woodward Park Library, Fresno, CA
Sunday May 18, 1:30 pm
Terry Barrett and Evo Bluestein
Renowned musicians Terry Barrett and Evo Bluestein will present a wide range of stringband music on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, autoharp and banjo. Together, the two musicians represent a vast repertoire of American folk music.
Barrett and Bluestein have been performing together since the 1970s. Bluestein is a celebrated multi-instrumentalist, who performed for Fresno audiences and internationally with the Bluestein Family.
Barrett is known as a master fiddler and mandolinist, who performed for many years with legendary musician Kenny Hall. In a formal apprenticeship to study and document Hall’s vast repertoire, Barrett was awarded a California Arts Council grant. Hall passed away in 2013, making Terry the number one bearer of Hall’s tradition.
Oldtime stringband music or just “oldtime music” is the roots of American country music–the historic combination of African and Anglo-Celtic traditions that combined in this country over four hundred years. It is the roots of bluegrass and modern country music.
Wilson Dance Week • May 19-23, 2025
Woodrow Wilson Elementary School
Sanger, CA
Barn Dance Friday night!
“At first I didn’t want to go to dance class but after the first day I found that dancing is thrilling.” –student
Hidalgo Dance Week • May 26-30, 2005
Hidalgo Elementary School, Fresno, CA
Barn Dance Friday Night!
“Thank you for teaching us dances. Also for showing us that there are more things to do, not just be on your electronics.” –student
May 23, 2025 Auberry Library Presentation
Friends of the Auberry Library (FOAL) Presentation
Sweet’s Mill Historic Video Project
Evo will discuss the history of this international music and dance festival that has taken place in the mountains of Fresno County for over 60 years. He will also show video clips of the diverse performances, filmed between 1995 and 2010.
In 2017, California State University Press published Evo’s book Road to Sweet’s Mill, the most comprehensive history of the festival to date. The Sweet’s Mill video project is the next phase of Evo’s archival and historic endeavor.
Evo Bluestein is highly regarded as one of the Central Valley’s most accomplished archivists/writers, exemplified by his book Road to Sweet’s Mill, published by The Press at California State University, Fresno. Also published by CSUF are Rings Like Silver, Shines Like Gold–recounting his parents’ contributions to Fresno life (Gene Bluestein, CSUF professor emeritus and Ellie Bluestein, lifelong social activist), and Wind Blowing Across the Field, a collection of 25 life stories by distinguished American musicians.
Evo is deeply familiar with the festival, having been in attendance throughout Sweet’s Mill’s 62 years of existence. Initially, it was a gathering place for American folk music and dance enthusiasts. Eventually, word spread, and the Festival developed into an influential world music and dance event, drawing people of all ethnicities and musical backgrounds. The videographers recorded world renown musicians and dancers of all persuasions (flamenco, Mexican, aerial dance, contemporary, fire dance, jazz, swing, folk: French, English, Irish, Persian, Bulgarian, Greek, and more).