Tag Archives: À râse dè têre

VBF 2019 International Bands: À Râse dè têre

It’s time to start highlighting the amazing roster of bands for 2019. We’ll begin with an international ensemble from Belgium: À Râse dè têre.

À Râse dè têre (literally meaning “at ground level” in Walloon language) was created in 2005. They play dance tunes called “arguèdènes” in the Walloon dialect spoken in southern Belgium. Traditionally, the melody line is orally transmitted and the accompaniment is improvised. A flugelhorn, cornet, euphonium, and helicon form a balanced ensemble that is well suited to this musical genre in vogue from the mid-19th century until the turn of the 20th century. The group is composed of four passionate amateur brass musicians: a museum curator, a psychologist, a postman and a police officer. They received their initial musical training in Belgian village bands before improving their skills in music academies or conservatories. They learned numerous “arguèdenes” on the job when they were young bandsmen, alongside older musicians. They want to perpetuate this rustic and old-fashioned music and thus prove that it can also be charming and full of subtleties. The band leader is Géry Dumoulin. This is the first time that À Râse dè têre has performed at Vintage Band Festival.

À Râse dè têre

Vintage Band Festival Seeks Homestay Volunteers

Vintage Band Festival 2019 takes place August 1-4, 2019 in Northfield, Minnesota. During that time we provide housing for all of the bands that travel to Northfield from outside the state of Minnesota. This is particularly important for our international musicians who are the first to arrive in town. We will be welcoming bands from Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Finland for the 2019 festival week.

This year we need to find housing for approximately 25 musicians for five nights (July 31-August 5) That means we are looking for families to offer homestays for 1-4 musicians depending on available space in their homes. The German and Belgian groups are quartets, the Swedish band has seven members and the Finnish band has ten members. We are looking for housing only as the musicians will eat meals elsewhere during the day wherever they are performing.

The households that offered homestays for our festival in 2016 reported having a marvelous time with their guests and our musicians told us how grateful they were for the hospitality provided by Northfield families. This is a wonderful cultural exchange opportunity for everyone.

If you are willing to be one of our host families for 2019, please send us a message at vintagebandfestival@gmail.com and let us know how many people you have space for. We will be in contact with you promptly and begin making plans for the musicians’ arrival on July 31.