Americana celebration in the Comstock

Virginia City will celebrate American music, dance, traditions and history with its first Americana Festival on Friday and Saturday.

More than a dozen bands and entertainers will appear starting at 5 p.m. Friday with a traditional Maypole dance and concluding Saturday evening with a concert by Grammy-winning country and bluegrass musician Tim O'Brien.

Friday night also features a family Contra Dance with music provided by Train Wreck. It begins at 7 p.m. at the Ramada Inn.

Events are focused at the historic Piper's Opera House at B and Union streets, and the Ramada Inn at 100 E St. But expect to see musicians of all sorts in impromptu jams around Virginia City's downtown.

A free shuttle service provides transportation between venues.

"Our goal is to have this be a destination festival," said Cindy Gray, a director with the Nevada Bluegrass Project and Sierra Acoustic Music. "It's a perfect fit. Americana is Virginia City. ... Piper's Opera House is every bit as grand as the Ryman Auditorium (in Nashville)."

Americana is sort of country, sort of acoustic, sort of a lot of things people will recognize, Gray said.

"...There are so many threads in American popular culture that make up Americana music."

The Americana Festival will share the spotlight Friday night with the grand re-opening of the restored downstairs at Piper's Opera House. The elegantly decorated Piper's Corner Bar opens for business at noon after being closed for nearly 100 years. A re-opening reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. and features a no-host bar and music by acoustic band, Westwind.

Saturday includes a full day of concerts, demonstrations and an evening barbecue, culminating in O'Brien's concert.

A multi-instrumentalist, O'Brien sings and plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and mandocello. The West Virginia native has released 10 solo albums and won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Traditional Folk Album, for Fiddler's Green. He also has been honored by the International Bluegrass Music Association as Male Vocalist of the Year in both 1993 and 2006.

Saturday afternoon demonstrations include Civil War reenactments, cooking, Appalachian buck dancing and a bluegrass "petting zoo" that allows children to handle banjos, guitars, mandolins and fiddles.

In the Victorian strip tease demonstration, a performer wearing full Victorian costume removes and explains each piece down to pantaloons "to show how many layers these poor women had to wear," Gray said.

Ticket prices for the Americana Festival range from $10 for the Friday evening Contra Dance, to an all-inclusive weekend pass at $70 for singles or $110 for couples.

For tickets or more information, call 348-4692 or go to nevadablue

grassproject.org.