NAMPA — Dust off your best cowboy hat and polish up your boots for a day of great music at the Country Harvest Hoedown presented by Roberta Pearce. Pearce’s group of young musicians, the Idaho Junior Jammer Fiddlers, offer an eclectic mix of music for your entertainment. From old fiddle favorites to classic swing and foot stomping Celtic, the show features a variety of audience pleasing tunes.
Two performances of the 29th Country Harvest Hoedown are set for Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Nampa Civic Center.
“The audience has really enjoyed hearing the Jammers play multiple sets, so I’m continuing that tradition again this year,” Pearce said.
The show will feature the Junior Jammer Fiddlers and the Little Hoe-downers; Harmony Corral, a youth vocal group under the direction of Christie Cremer; the Jeffries Express; and state and national fiddle champions.
“This has been such an outstanding year for our contest fiddlers,” Pearce said. “I have really focused on giving those kids who have placed in local, regional or national contests a chance to show what they can do.”
One of those contest winners is Pearce’s own daughter, Katrina Nicolayeff, who won the Grand National Fiddle Champion title in Weiser in June and just won the Grand Master Fiddle Champion title in Nashville, Tenn. in October. The title of Grand Master Fiddle Champ earned Nicolayeff a chance to play on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Two of Nicolayeff’s students: Dylon Fehrs, Idaho and Northwest Small Fry Champion and Makaela Shippy, Idaho and Northwest Junior-Junior Champion, will be featured along with larger groups of musicians who placed in the Idaho Open Fiddle Contest, including the twin fiddle and Celtic winners.
Pearce will open her show with her annual tribute to America’s armed forces, followed by a couple of French-Canadian tunes, “Red River Card Polka” and “Tulsa.” The old time set will continue with a fiddle-only medley of “Arkansas Traveler,” “Liberty” and “Soldier’s Joy.” This year’s version of the “Orange Blossom Special” is what Pearce calls “Classic Disney” and is sure to transport you to the happiest place on earth. The Jammers continue the show, pairing up with the Harmony Corral for swing tunes “Miss Molly” and “All of Me.” The swing set will include a special tribute to Pearce’s mother-in-law Peggy Pearce, who passed away in June; the Jammers will perform her favorite tune “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
The evening will conclude with the Celtic set.
“This is the most challenging set of songs the Jammers have played,” Pearce said. This set includes “B Minor,” “David’s Jig” and “Pringles Reel” and a hauntingly beautiful rendition of “Bye Gone Days,” written by Irish champion fiddler Eileen Ivers.
Always an audience favorite, the Little Hoedowners, Pearce’s beginning fiddle group, will perform “Boil the Cabbage,” “Cotton Eyed Joe,” “Cripple Creek,” “Yankee Doodle,” and “Rye Whiskey.” This year, Pearce’s youngest fiddlers include 2-and-a-half-year-old Betsy Reeder and her own grandson, 3-year-old AJ Nicolayeff. The vocal group Harmony Corral will feature songs by country artist Reba McEntire and The Dixie Chicks’ “Some Days You Gotta Dance.” Harmony Corral is adding some spice to their numbers by featuring dancers Katherine Irwin, Rebecca Pearce and Erin White.
Pearce believes in giving back to the community. Every year she offers free Saturday matinee tickets to veterans and elderly people who live in nursing homes. She also schedules the Jammers to play at the state veterans home and hospital, as well as other local homes during the holiday season.
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