Tumbleweed Music Festival returns to Richland on Sept. 1-3

Mare Wakefield noticed him the first day of class.

A songwriter, she was enrolled at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

She was taking ear training. He was, too.

A native of Turkey, he had a tough-to-pronounce name, and the instructor struggled to read it aloud from the class list.

“I hear this voice say, ‘That’s me, but I’m going by a nickname here. Call me Nomad,’ ” Wakefield recalled. “I thought, ‘Who is this Nomad?’ It really made an impression.”

Turned out Nomad was a versatile and accomplished young musician. The pair began dating and eventually married.

Now, they perform as Mare Wakefield and Nomad.

They’re based in Nashville, but the acclaimed Americana duo has earned numerous fans in the Tri-Cities through performances at the annual Tumbleweed Music Festival in Richland.

They’re returning this year for the festival, which runs Sept. 1-3 at Howard Amon Park.

Tumbleweed celebrates folk music, bluegrass, blues and the like.

It starts at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 1 with a concert featuring up-and-coming young performers.

It then kicks into high gear Sept. 2-3, with more than 100 performances and almost three-dozen workshops by musicians from eight states and British Columbia.

A benefit concert featuring Fine Company, Kerry Grombacher and The Great Sänger and Didele is at 7 p.m. Sept. 2.

On Sept. 3, a contra dance closes out the festival at 8 p.m.

The benefit concert is $10 for general admission and $8 for teens and seniors. Kids 12 and younger are admitted for free.

The dance is $8 for general admission and $5 for teens and seniors.

All other performances and workshops are free.

The festival, in its 21st year, is put on by the Three Rivers Folklife Society. It’s open to all ages.

Wakefield said she loves the spirit of the event. She and Nomad know many of their fellow performers.

“It feels more like a family (than anything),” she said.

While Nomad grew up with Turkish music, classical and jazz, Wakefield has loved folk music for as long as she can remember.

When she was 11 or 12, she made her first foray into songwriting by making up her own lyrics to the Janis Ian song, At Seventeen.

“My first real songwriting experience was technically a co-write with Janis Ian. She didn’t know it,” Wakefield said with a laugh.

In her own music these days, “my goal is really to take people on a journey. Connecting with people and sharing an experience — that’s really what it’s all about for me,” Wakefield said.

At Tumbleweed, she and Nomad will play music off their upcoming album, Time to Fly, plus plenty of old favorites and “maybe a couple of singalongs.”

Expect a fun time, Wakefield told the Herald. “We like to have fun,” she said. “We’re really looking forward to being back.”

For more on Tumbleweed Music Festival, including the full performance and workshop schedule, go to 3rfs.org.

This story was originally published August 27, 2017 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Tumbleweed Music Festival returns to Richland on Sept. 1-3."