Yaak Wilderness Festival features world-folk violinist

World-folk violinist Tim Snider headlines the Yaak Wilderness Festival on July 19.

Caroline Keys and Friends, Yaaktastics, 17 Mile and Wild Honey Bluegrass are also part of the event held at the Yaak River Tavern and Mercantile, 30 miles north of U.S. 2 on Montana 508.

Snider wanted to play violin from a very early age. An Itzhak Perlman performance on Sesame Street when he was just three-and-a-half years old was his earliest musical inspiration, and it was classical music that first provided the impetus to learn his instrument. Over the years other influences came into play, from exposure to rock music (he dropped the violin and picked up a guitar), a Ben Harper gig turned him onto songwriting, and sojourns in Spain and Cuba introduced flamenco, salsa and Afro-Cuban rhythms into his repertoire. Returning to college, he spent a year studying jazz, and rediscovering his love of classical music – and went back to the violin.

Snider has shared bills with artists as diverse as Steel Pulse to Robert Randolph and the Family Band, as well as touring a large chunk of the world playing his own music, a world-folk-jazz-pop hybrid that’s aimed at the heart, the brain and the feet. On his new album, “Let Go, Jump In the River,” recorded with the assistance of a large group of musical friends, Snider brings his influence together in ways that are vital and powerful. 

The music begins at 2 p.m. Visit www.yaakvalley.org, $10 for adults, $5 for ages 13-18, children free. Call 406-295-9736 or email info@yaakvalley.org