Common Chords: Rotterdam
This July 4th, Bluegrass Ambassadors (501(c)3) in partnership with Henhouse Prowlers are heading to the Netherlands for the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival, widely considered Europe’s premier celebration of bluegrass music. The festival is a powerful reminder that bluegrass itself grew from musical traditions that traveled across cultures and continents, blending influences from Europe, Africa, and beyond into something new.
In that spirit, we’re using this moment to turn the exchange outward again. While in Rotterdam, we’ll collaborate with Dutch and African artists, create space for immigrant stories, and work with local students, celebrating the idea that music continues to grow when traditions meet, listen, and create together.
Our relationship with the Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival goes back more than ten years, and at the heart of it is our connection with festival organizer Guido de Groot. Guido believed in AND contributed to our vision from the start and has secured additional funding to help bring this innovative programming to life. Your support will help close the remaining gap, giving us the resources to do the research, learn the songs, and build the connections that allow this program to touch people in a way only intention, care, and heart can.
Common Chords: Rotterdam will support a range of educational and collaborative projects, including:
Custom-built education programs at two Rotterdam schools that weave American roots music together with Dutch music and language, encouraging students to see themselves as future artists and collaborators.
An open, cross-cultural music session at the Fenix Museum of Migration, where musicians from around the world come together to share songs, stories, and traditions. Attendees will have the chance to hear personal experiences of migration, learn how Rotterdam has shaped their lives, and witness how music can connect cultures in real time.
Two cross-cultural performances at the festival demonstrating different aspects of the collaborations the Henhouse Prowlers’ Bluegrass Ambassadors program is known for:
A fully planned and rehearsed collaboration with (REDACTED until official festival announce). (Redacted) is a wildly popular arist in the Netherlands and his original music is deeply rooted in Dutch folk traditions. On top of that, he has long been drawn to bluegrass. Together we’ll bring our traditions and innovations into the same space, creating new music shaped by each other’s influences.
An on-the-spot collaboration with the Congolese group Kin'gongolo Kiniata, who create experimental Afropop electro-funk using instruments upcycled from urban waste. Their music, featuring Lingala lyrics centered on hope and resilience, brings an entirely different sonic world into the mix. Together we’ll create new music live on stage, embracing the vulnerability and excitement that comes when musicians meet and collaborate for the first time.
Donate here:
Your support will help make Common Chords: Rotterdam a reality.
Every gift brings us closer to a week of music, collaboration, and stories that will connect cultures and inspire people of all ages.
We genuinely think this program, right now, will be one of the most important things we’ve ever done – and you can help us realize it.
🌍 Donors contributing $2,500 or more are invited to join us in person at the events both during and outside the festival, intimately experiencing the performances and collaborations firsthand – reach out for more info.
Bluegrass mixed with…
Check out these incredible artists we’ll be collaborating with!
Second collab artist TBA soon!
Cross-Cultural Collaboration at Rotterdam Bluegrass Festival 2024
Henhouse Prowlers & Kader Tarhanine (🇩🇿 Algeria)
What is Common Chords?
Over 15 years of diplomatic ventures spanning 30+ countries, the Henhouse Prowlers, a bluegrass quartet from Chicago, have exemplified an unwavering belief, that the exchange of music stands as the most potent means of nurturing connection and empathy among diverse communities. The Common Chords series, overseen and presented by their nonprofit Bluegrass Ambassadors, celebrates this idea as a diplomatic mission in itself.
At the heart of this program is the desire to learn and then document the history of these meaningful musical connections around the world. Along the way, the Prowlers will learn to sing and perform this music, giving the band a deeper understanding of the music and culture itself, all while reflecting back to the originators the timelessness and importance of their creations. Ultimately, the group will bring these experiences back home to the U.S. in the form of accessible educational programs and mixed media to be showcased at schools and gatherings across the country – and around the world.
The outcome? A deep mutual respect and natural evidence of the powers of unity and understanding that exist in all of us – common chords and collective humanity.
The next foray: Rotterdam 🇳🇱 July 2026