Between Food and Livestock Hill, fairgoers might hear the ring of a rocking fiddle above the din of crowds and animals. They may then catch sight of the Long Shots, an Asheville, North Carolina, band back in Rhinebeck for their fifth year as performers.
The charismatic frontman, Haakon Oyen, a Pine Plains native, plays three shows a day, sharing the group’s passion for “old-time” music, a technically demanding genre of folk music that predates bluegrass.
Oyen lives in Asheville now but left Dutchess County in 2011 for Montana, working to monitor grizzly bear populations for the United States Geological Survey.
“He ran away from home at 17—in the best way,” said Oyen’s mother, Sarah Blodgett.
The band met in Asheville after Oyen moved there to pursue a career in music. But now, staying connected to the fair through his stepdad, Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy, he hopes to move back to the Hudson Valley full-time. His performances are a homecoming of sorts, since Oyen used to sell peanuts at the fair as a kid.
With guitar, banjo and upright bass accompanying the fiddle, Oyen knew that the band had to play the hits. “Breakin’ Up Christmas” is his current favorite, an uptempo, danceable track from Appalachia. He said the band had already played it three times at the fair.
“It feels more like work than playing music,” he said about playing to the impromptu crowds on the midway. “This is way scarier [than tracking grizzlies].”
The Long Shots play at 1 p.m., 3 p.m., and 5 p.m. daily and sell t-shirts and CDs. Watch video of the Long Shots at the fair here.
This article originally appeared in The Daily Catch. With minor changes, it is reprinted here with their permission.