Bernie Cunningham, lead singer and instrumentalist for The Allegheny Drifters, talks about his love for bluegrass music. He will be participating in the January Ice Jam festival this weekend at the Butler Days Inn.

Butler County is filled with a variety of people doing interesting things.

This weekly feature offers snapshots of some of them by asking them five questions.

The latest installment appears below.

———

This weekend, more than 30 bluegrass bands and countless spectators will gather at the Butler Days Inn for the annual January Ice Jam festival.

Among them is Bernie Cunningham, lead singer who plays guitar and other stringed instruments in the band The Allegheny Drifters.

Here, the 58-year-old Fombell resident discusses bluegrass and the festival.

QUESTION: How did you get into playing bluegrass?ANSWER: When I was 19 I went ... to a bluegrass festival. It was actually at my aunt Minnie’s farm and Country Roads Ranch in Stumptown, W.Va. It was a beautiful place way back in the mountains. They had two stages there. All of the big name bluegrass acts were there. ... I had been playing rock and roll, but when I saw the guys playing the mandolins and banjos and stuff, I just kind of fell in love with it.

QUESTION: What instruments make up a bluegrass band?ANSWER: The instruments usually in bluegrass are all acoustic instruments. A basic band is made up of an acoustic guitar, an upright bass, a banjo, mandolin and a good fiddle player if you’re lucky. Occasionally a Dobro player. Actually, nowadays it’s supposed to be politically correct to call (a dobro) a resophonic guitar.QUESTION: You have played guitar, mandolin, bass and banjo. Which is most difficult?ANSWER: I’ve always just believed that all the instruments are kind of the same. You need to practice. If you don’t practice, that’s where the difficulty comes in.

QUESTION: What are some unique characteristics of bluegrass?ANSWER: I think it’s more social. ... and families are involved: The mother and father will be playing the instruments. The first thing you know the kids will pick something up and start playing. It’s really family oriented.QUESTION: What is the atmosphere like at Ice Jam?ANSWER: It is open to the public. ... You can walk up and down the hallways, look into people’s rooms (where music is being played). There are some community rooms. A lot of people just go in there and jam. The big ballroom — I’m going to guess has 500 to 600 chairs in there they all fill up on Saturday.... And it’s all ages. There are a lot of kids going around the hallways with instruments. We have a good friend that plays bluegrass and I believe he’s 86 years old now. The band he has he’s had together since 1953.Bands will perform at the January Ice Jam festival every half hour from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Jan. 13 and from 1 to 11:30 p.m. Jan. 14. For more information, go to www.januaryicejam.com/.