For most families, the Delaware County Fair is about livestock, races and food, but for the Baldwin siblings and Wachtman siblings, the fair is all about Bluegrass as they performed three shows this week.
Lilia Baldwin, 15, Isabelle Baldwin, 13, Pierce Baldwin, 11, Alec Wachtman, 18, Benji Wachtman, 15, and Ava Wachtman, 12, performed twice Sunday and once Monday on the WDLR stage together as SoundPost. The band is comprised of homeschooled students from Delaware who all had the same music teacher, Buffy Golden, and played in the same orchestra.
Alec Wachtman, the oldest member of the group and a violin player, said the band has been playing together for years, and it slowly morphed into a bluegrass band.
“We got into bluegrass from our violin teacher,” he said. “Ava was 5 and she just wanted to play violin, and mom roped us all into it. So, we’ve all been playing violin. Our teacher was originally teaching classical stuff, and later on, she got us into bluegrass and fiddle-type stuff. We like that more.”
Alec Wachtman added he was personally inspired by the recent resurgence of folk rock after the success of groups like The Lumineers, and Mumford and Sons.
He said smaller groups of the band have played at events like weddings or farmers’ markets, but the band’s Sunday afternoon performance at the Delaware County Fair was its first official gig.
“For the longest time, I’ve wanted to walk on stage and say ‘hello everybody!’” Alec Wachtman said. “I’m really excited to have an opportunity to play on stage. It’s a really great experience to give back to the community. This is a really great opportunity to start a side-musical career, and it’s great to start it here at the Delaware County Fair.”
Lilia Baldwin, who plays cello in the group, said she’s been coming to the fair for years and was excited to play for the community.
“Having gone here all our lives and to finally be part of it and to contribute to it is pretty cool,” she said.
Isabelle Baldwin, who plays violin, said she was grateful and proud to be playing on the same stage as other bands during the fair.
“It feels good to be recognized and feel like we’re good enough to play on stage,” she said.
Pierce Baldwin, the youngest in the group, said he was a little nervous ahead of the performance, where he played a six-string banjo.
“This is my first time playing with the band,” he said. “But I’m going to put on a happy face. If everyone else is having fun that’ll make me have fun.”
The group performed twice Sunday and once Monday afternoon.
More information about the band is available by emailing [email protected].
