By David Harry

Staff Writer 

In Hiram, down by the river is where the bluegrass grows.

The banks of the Ossipee River will be the site of the 11th annual Ossipee Valley Bluegrass Festival going on now through Sunday.

The festival at the Ossipee Valley Fairgrounds originated from what organizer Bill Johnson called “a harebrained idea.”

“We rented the grounds and got some bands just to see what happened. It kind of exploded from there,” he said. 

Since then, it has swelled to a four-day party of dances, contests for songwriters, banjo and guitar pickers and a lineup of more than a dozen bands.

The festival has grown from 1,500 fans in its first year to 4,000 last year, and Johnson said he hopes attendance will increase as families see the festival’s value.

 “We have a very liberal view of what bluegrass is,” Johnson said.

This year’s festival includes the Boston Boys, who bring a punk influence to the stage and include bassist Sam Grisman, the son of mandolin player David Grisman, who frequently collaborated with the late Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead.

Another bassist of note, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Chris Hillman, also will play the festival.

Hillman said music fans can expect to hear some of The Byrds songs that led to his induction into the hall with the band in 1991, but he will be playing guitar and mandolin when he performs them with his old friend, Herb Pedersen.

“I’ve known Herb for 45 years, longer than anyone I’ve ever worked with,” Hillman said.

Hillman and Pedersen were founders of The Desert Rose Band, which topped the country charts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. So was guitarist John Jorgenson, who is an old friend of Bill Johnson.

“I would imagine we will snag Jorgenson too,” Hillman said of the prospects for a mini Desert Rose Band reunion at the festival.

The band was peaking just as The Byrds achieved hall of fame status. 

Hillman said the success was entirely unanticipated and the band split up amicably.

“It was just a joy and we all parted company as good friends,” he said.

Hillman said he and Pedersen the duo will draw from a set list of about 65 to 70 songs. 

“The start and end may be the same, but individual songs are subject to change. I’m like Peyton Manning out there,” Hillman said.

Born in southern California near San Diego, Hillman said he came to love country and folk music through records his sister brought home.

His first guitar came from a store in Tijuana, Mexico, and cost $10. By age 19, Hillman was learning how to play bass as he joined Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke in The Byrds.

“I had no idea how to play bass,” Hillman said. “Crosby was supposed to play bass and he didn’t want to. I just bluffed my way in there.”

Hillman had become an accomplished guitarist and mandolin player by then, and said he regretted setting the mandolin aside as The Byrds soared up the pop charts.

In the four years he played with the Byrds, Hillman said he did not play mandolin, but picked up the stringed instrument again as began to collaborate with Gram Parsons in The Flying Burrito Brothers.

The festival boasts a lineup a hall of fame member and the Grammy award-winning Jorgenson, but Johnson said it is the workshops for songwriting and plying instruments, as well as the contests that set the festival apart.

After the stage has emptied, the music continues into the night at jam sessions throughout the camping areas.

“My goal is to get it to run itself so it can survive,” Johnson said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 241