RANGELEY — Eleven of the top bands in bluegrass music, including some of Maine’s best performers, will play at the Saddleback Mountain Bluegrass Festival.

The Aug. 12-13 event will be held on the slope in front of the base lodge of the Saddleback Ski Area.

Friday’s events start at 3 p.m., Saturday’s at 11 a.m.

Tickets are $45 at the gate.

For more information, call toll-free 1-877-864-5441 or visit www.saddlebackmaine.com.

* Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder: This year marks the 52nd year since Skaggs struck his first chords on a mandolin, and the 14-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music.

* Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper: Cleveland is an eight-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Fiddle Performer of the Year Award; his band is a four-time winner of IBMA’s Instrumental Group of the Year Award.

*Crooked Still: This young band offers a genre-blending sound that combines the talents of five musicians who are not content to limit themselves to any one style of music.

*The Farewell Drifters: This band creates harmonic roots music that draws influence from the traditions of folk, bluegrass, film scores, 1960s revolutionary pop and young Nashville peers.

*Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings: Famed fiddler Darol Anger and his numerous cohorts mingle bluegrass, jazz, classical, pop and various world music.

*Della Mae: This all-girl traditional bluegrass band features a two-time national fiddle champion.

*The Toughcats: This Maine band is known for its lively performances that often induce a stoic crowd to get up and dance.

*Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection: Brown and her band combine the precision of classical music with the spontaneity of country and bluegrass fiddle.

*The Pineland Fiddlers: This touring ensemble is made up of a dozen string musicians from central Maine ranging in age from 8 to 16. Their repertoire includes old-time New England fiddle tunes as well as the jigs and reels of Canada, Ireland and Scotland.

*317 Main Street Student Ensemble: This Maine ensemble is comprised of student musicians who work throughout the summer under the direction of Joe Walsh, mandolinist for the Gibson Brothers.

*Mason Strunk: Mason, grandson of singer-songwriter Jud Strunk, has opened for legendary comedian Bob Marley and singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards. He performed at last year’s Saddleback Bluegrass Festival.

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