RockyGrass 2006 Sunday

RockyGrass draws crowd when it comes to contests. The instrument and band competitions are a little like a big hillbilly high school's talent show powered by the secondary plasma conduits from the starship Enterprise. So many of the entrants are savants, incredibly young to boast such mature talents.

I'm usually amazed when the contest finalists take their last, 3 song shot at impressing the judges. So many of these folks deserve careers in music. I always wish them well.

Contest Winners
(spelling not guaranteed)

• Banjo - Brian Anderson
• Guitar - Rob Piercy
• Mandolin - Colby Maddox
• Fiddle - Lisa Sapin
• Dobro - Greg Booth
• Band - Long Road Home

Vendor of the Day - The Colorado Case Company

Steve Simmons of the Colorado Case Company makes some of the toughest gig bags and accessories you can ask for. Over three-quarters of his business is making custom cases for individual instruments. Owners trace the instrument's silhouette on paper, mail it off, and get the case back in 3 to 4 weeks.


Good products. He doesn't get a lot of repeat business - mine's almost 10 years old and hasn't ripped yet.

T Shirt of the Day - "Sex & Drugs and Flatt & Scrugs"

I see, to my chagrin, that I have terribly overlooked The Stone Cup. They not only tolerated my multiple-outlet needs, they make the best medium roast coffee in northern Colorado. Latte lovers seem equally enthusisatic. Despite my egregious oversight, they gave me free access to wireless Internet access. Class act.

And the Day Begins . . .

Sundays at RockyGrass share a traditional feature with many other fests - a rollicking gospel set, usually timed to inspire true God-fearing hangovers. Thi morning's devotional was brought to life by one of the finest bluegrass gospel musicians. Doyle Lawson listens to these guys for inspiration, Blue Highway.



Blue Highway Does a Capella Gospel

RockyGrass's spiritual side took a turn to the East with Abigail Washburn's beautifully understated set. Backed by fiddle and cello, Abigail's essential, pure voice soars gracefully among and between the notes of every melody. The best example may be "Keys to the Kingdom", heard here last night as a lush five-part a capella harmony encore by Washburn's other band, Uncle Earl. But this early afternoon edition was adorned only by her ethereal voice and Casey Diesssen's tasteful, introspective fiddle. Blending old time tunes salvaged from 78 rpm records and her own compositions in Mandarin Chinese, Abby's set closed the spiritual cycle between earth and the cerulean Colorado sky.



Abigail Washburn

After too long an absence performing at RockyGrass under his own name, Darrell Scott and his Bluegrass Band took control of the midafternoon tempo and redefined "eclectic". The setlist included tunes sampled from the back pages of Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell , and Kris Kristofferson mixed with Scott's own powerful originals, many from his new CD, "Invisible Man". Backed by Casey Driessen (fiddle), Nick Forster (mandolin) and Matt Mangano (bass), Scott's set certainly wouldn't have pleased Bill Monroe's sense of bluegrass, but it sure matched the sensibilities of this 21st century audience.



The Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band

An old Firesign Theatre record asks, "How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?" By Sunday afternoon I was heat-befuddled and losing my sense of personal substance (there are Buddhists who spend years in a cave to learn this - I have a bluegrass alternative) but torn between the excellent Darrell Scott and the thoroughly entertaining Bearfoot Bluegrass, the Alaska band that has seemingly grown up at RockyGrass. Their set in the newly-remodeled Wildflower tent, home to the MoonGrass shows, began before Darrell's ended, so what to do?

Lacking the fluids and electrolytes needed for rational thought, I did what anyone would do in my place: I asked my grandaughter, on duty in the Kid's Tent. "Easy", she replied, "Bearfoot's guitar player is hot. Go take pictures of him." But when I got there, he wasn't even perspiring.



Angela Oudean, Annalisa Tornfelt and Mike Michelson of Bearfoot Bluegrass

The afternoon schedule rapidly gained momentum with the introduction of The Wilders, a retro-country unit hailing from Kansas City. If your tastes run to old-style honky-tonk torch-and-twang, it doesn't get a whole lot better than this. Think of Junior Brown unplugged. Then accelerate.



Ike Sheldon of The Wilders



Phil Wade of the Wilders

Late afternoons at RockyGrass, the sun begins to sink behind the highest branches of the Planet's trees, offering an inverted promise of relief from the heat: the oncoming cool of the evening contrasts the increasing heat of the performances. As the Fest's final evening loomed, the crowd began to gather itself for a trio of acts that span virtually the entire history of bluegrass.

First up was the typically superb Tim O'Brien Band. This time featuring Bad Livers graduate Danny Barnes on banjo and electric guitar, Tim's set leaned heavily toward his Cornbread Nation and Grammy-winning Fiddler's Green releases. The opener, "A Mountaineer Is Always Free" brought water-chilled festivarians out of the St. Vrain river and swelled the population of the dance area. Tim's cover of Randy Newman's "Sail Away" was followed by a Danny Barnes composition, "Rat's Ass," and a stunning fiddle duet between Tim and the omnipresent Casey Driessen, "First Snow." To anyone around from Saturday night's closer, Tim exhibited some Steve Earle influence with "The Republican Blues."

Even in his Hot Rize days, you could always count on Tim for the true comedic touch. Today's joke, "They wanted to start a TV show, "CSI: West Virginia." But they couldn't develop a plot. All the DNA was the same and there were no dental records."



Tim O'Brien

And then it was time for the real Uncle Earl.

Earl Scruggs took the stage surrounded by the best. Longtime sidemen Hoot Hester (fiddle, vocals)and John Gardner (drums) joined Brad Davis AND Bryan Sutton on guitars, Rob Ickes working the Dobro, Sam Bush, (called to the stage for "John Hardy Was a Desparate Little Man" and never left) and the rock-steady Gary Scruggs all supported the man who, with Lester Flatt, invented the bluegrass sound Bill Monroe would turn into a genre. The set began with introductions by frontman Gary and the crowd rose to a standing ovation at the mention of Earl's name.

Musically, the set spanned the range of Scruggs' 50+ years as a musician, covering tunes by Dylan ("You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"), the Carter Family ("You Are My Flower"), and The Mississippi Shieks ("Sittin' on Top of the World"), salted with plenty of traditional tunes ("Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms", "Sally Goodin"). Of course, the set had the mandatory Scruggs signature pieces, "Ballad of Jed Clampett" (sung by Bryan Sutton) and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", a tune that wears better today than the the original 1967 film, "Bonnie & Clyde."

In 18 songs the Earl Scruggs setlist covered the living history of bluegrass music, then and now.

Since the last time I saw Earl, he's a little more faded, a bit more dependent on son Gary to help him with cues and directions. He is, after all, 82 years old, nearly the last living master of his generation, a widower now, and facing the coda of a remarkable career.

When the last notes of the encore rang out, the audience, sensing the possibility that this may have been a last chance to say so, warmly gathered Earl into their embrace, and rose to their feet to say "I love you" with both hands.



Bryan Sutton and Earl Scruggs



Earl and Gary Scruggs

Sam Bush has made a lot of traditions of his own, and now can add a string of Sam Bush Bluegrass Band performances at RockyGrass to that list.

In what seems to be an eternal booking, Sam appears at RockyGrass each July to perform a set of "real" bluegrass tunes, using as little electrification as possible. As at his Telluride sets, the Bluegrass Band's shows tend to grow into mammoth cluster-plucks that often require each of the 11 dimensions of string theory to contain.

Sam's new record, "Laps in Seven", contributed several tracks to this evening's set. "Where There's a Road" and "Ridin' the Bluegrass Train" are infectious, radio-friendly, and a good energizing launch to what turned out to be a two hour set.

I have to confess to a terrible lack of detail: I don't know the name of Sam's latest guitarist/vocalist. First name Steven, but damned if I know the last name. No matter his ID card, this guy brings the real thing to the band, adding a swift, fluid acoustic lead and a fine sense of vocal harmony.

I've been a fan since first seeing Newgrass Revival at Telluride about 25 years ago. Bush was the first acoustic musician I had seen who successfully blended the achingly-precise rules of bluegrass with pure rock sensibilities. He can cover the bases with "Bringing In the Georgia Mail", nod to his own past with "Whisper My Name", and revive a name of an old friend, autoharpist Byron Bowers, when co-writing "When You Learn a Song, You've Got a Friend for Life." There's even a political comment with his contributed verse to "The White House Blues"

Bush is in the White House
Doin' his best,
Clinton's retired,
He's takin' his rest,
And now we're screwed,
We're screwed.

But my favorite part of every Sam Bush performance is the jam. Bush, who deservingly shares a Grammy with Emmylou Harris for her "Live at the Ryman" record, is at heart a seriously respected musician who can organize a crowd of musicians. This is no mean feat, friends.

In addition to guitarist Steve, this year's incarnation of the Bluegrass Band included Chris Brown (drum!), Scott Vestal (banjo) Sam on mando and fiddle, and the formidable Byron House on bass and harmony vocals.

By the time the 1st encore started (a reggae-inflected "Wabash Cannonball"), the Sam Bush Bluegrass Band had adopted Tim O'Brien (fiddle)), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Jeff Austin (mando), Hoot Hester (fiddle), and Rob Ickes (Dobro).

The second, Fest-ending encore broke out "Nine Pound Hammer". One last traditional tune to complete the 2006 edition of the Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival. All the players in Sam's band and everyone from the "Wabash Cannonball" reappeared as Sam said "We got time for one more." Before it was over, Casey Driessen (fiddle) and Chris Eldridge (guitar) entered the fray. By the end, even the most sated afficionado was overwhelmed, exhausted. In three days the 2006 RockyGrass plumbed the depths of tradition and scaled the cliffs of potential. This is, to my mind, is the right and proper function of bluegrass festivals: nurture the past, seed the future. By any definition, this festival succeeded on both fronts.

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RockyGrass 2006 Saturday Part 2

The afternoon's heat continued to build, at least on stage, with Darol Anger's Republic of Strings mesmerizing the midafternoon crowd with contagious virtuosity. Day in day out, Darol remains one of my favorite fiddlers. He brings a scholarly investment to each performance. I especially enjoy his references to Swedish fiddle music.



Darol Anger

Traditionalists extraordinaire Blue Highway brought out their best game to follow Republic of Strings. These guys, a fully mature touring unit in the prime of health, blast out a setful of tight arrangements expertly played. Excellent four part harmonies and a sense of humor spice a brilliantly-paced setlist. High note - a completely hilarious impression of Ralph Stanley performing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog." And for the encore, BH had the good sense to bring out Sarah Jarocz for a kickass version of "The Road is Rocky."



Blue Highway's Rob Ickes

For a band that was supposed to have just one brief incarnation, the g'Earls of Uncle Earl have shown amazing stamina and longevity. When the poser pit holds such knowledgeable listeners as Sharon Gilchrist, Edgar Meyer and Casey Driessen, you can guess something memorable is about to happen.  The g'Earls didn't disappoint. With four- and five-part harmonies and seemingless endless arrays of instruments, Uncle Earl transforms old-time tunes into neo-traditional rave-ups that get any crowd into the tempo. From the sweet melancholy "The Last Goodbye" through blazing fiddle standards "Julie Anne Johnson" and "Black-Eyed Susie", Uncle Earl's impressive range of styles, techniques and taste is impressive. And since we're also talking about beautiful women, lots of pictures are called for:



Rayna Gellert



Abigail Washburn



Erin Coats

Following the g'Earls, the schedule continued to build momentum and memories. The Manzanita band re-formed for the first time since its 1979 Great American Music Hall performance. Lacking Ricky Skaggs, this ensemble adds Dan Tyminski (guitar, vocals)  and Barry Bales (bass) of Union Station, and Gabe Witcher (fiddle) from Jerry Douglas' touring unit. This was a completely wonderful set, recreating the youthful spirit of the original, ground-breaking recording but played with the world-class virtuosity you'd expect from this group of stellar musicians. Darol Anger joined in for the Tony Rice classic "Manzanita"; the rest of the set was pure musical exhilaration punctuated by sheer silliness, as when Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas took advantage of Tony's frenetic solo during "Nine Pound Hammer" and carefully tucked Rice's pant legs into his boot tops.



Dan Tyminski, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas



The Manzanita Band, and a view of the RockyGrass Stage

Saturday culminated in a much-anticipated set by Steve Earle and the Bluegrass Dukes. I'm a big fan of Steve's work, including his regular band, the "insanely loud" rock unit the Dukes. This foray into acoustic instrumentation and bluegrass arrangements showcases Steve's sense of musical detail and lyrical sophistication. And he seemed to be on is best behavior - we didn't hear "fuck" until the 9th tune of the 18 song set. His politics and anti-war stance are well known, and there's no need to rehash them here. A special moment came when Steve brought Peter Rowan to the stage, crediting Rowan with helping Steve recover his career after serving prison time. Rowan brought out his authentic Bluegrass Boy harmony vocal and a mandola for "Ben McCullough", "Hometown Blues", "I'm Looking Through You" and the monster encore number, "Copperhead Road." The remainder of the set was similar to Bluegrass Dukes sets of the past couple of years, even to pre-song patter, with the exception of a surprise setlist appearance of the Lowell George classic "Willin'". "Carrie Brown" did not cause heads to explode, but the new fiddle/banjo coda is a jaw-dropping display by fiddler Casey Driessen and Darrell Scott's nimble pickin'.

Speaking of Casey, I am more and more impressed by his spontaneous genius. Throughout the weekend he has been nothing short of dazzling, stepping in to add precisely the right notes at the right time, or saving the continuity of a tune, as he did for Steve when a mid-tune guitar change nearly led to a disruption in the musical flow. Much as I like and admire Darol Anger, my vote for all around best fiddler this weekend goes to Casey Driessen. See his shows, buy his new CD (it is the redefinition of fiddle cool).



Steve Earle and the Single-Mic Bluegrass Dukes

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RockyGrass 2006 Saturday Part 1

So far we've avoided the predicted 100 degrees, thanks largely to some unforseen clouds that are keeping the heat down to merely sweltering instead of the blistering we'd expected. But festivarians are finding ways to stay ahead of the thermometer, like sailing the St. Vrain in an inner tube.



Tubing the St. Vrain River

Today's schedule started with a pair of fresh young bands that bode well for the future of acoustic string music. The Boston-based Crooked Still took the stage with an immediately-likeable approach to performance. "Bluegrass" cellist (and snappy dresser) Rushad Eggleston's crisply-bowed melody lines serve as a wonderful textural counterpoint to Dr. Greg Liszt's four-fingered banjo rolls (move over, Pete Wernick, there's a new Dr. Banjo in town). Aoife O'Donovan's floating vocals are reminiscent of Shawn Colvin or Margo Timmons. In fact, there's a definite Cowboy Junkies vibe in play here. Even their murder ballads are pretty. Interesting band - worth watching, I think.



Crooked Still

The impressive RockyGrass debut is definitely the Infamous Stringdusters. The biggest band to take the stage so far, this sextet features players with impeccable pedigrees and mentoring, such as guitarist Chris Eldridge, son of Seldom Scene banjoist Ben Eldridge, and bassist Travis Book, formerly of the Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band and Burl Galloway's Broke Mountain Trio. Five of the six contribute vocals to each performance. Fiddler Jeremy Garrett has a true bluegrass tenor while Dobro player Andy Hall adds Douglasian fills and rhythms.



Jeremy Garrett & Andy Hall of The Infamous Stringdusters

Still on tap is Darol Anger's Republic of Strings, Blue Highway, the g'Earls of Uncle Earl, a recreation of the Tony Rice classic Manzanita record featuring Jerry Douglas, and a sure-to-be-profane-and-loving-it set from Steve Earle and the Bluegrass Dukes. More on all that in Part 2.

Vendor of the Day - Peak to Peak Batik

Eric Maiorana, the creative force behind Peak to Peak Batiks, is a familiar face at Colorado festivals. His blends of musical themes and the layered dyes used in the batik process produces some astonishing images in ready to go clothing.



T Shirt of the Day

"Of course we serve vegetarians. That's what cows are."

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RockyGrass 2006 Friday, Part 2

Ordinarily the real heat at RockyGrass is on the stage: this weekend is threatening to set temperature records - global warming on Planet Bluegrass.  But the Planet does offer some neat relief - the St. Vrain River. And as festivarians might expect, playing with the river rocks leads to spontaneous art.



Rock Art

One of the event's main sponsors, New Belgium Brewing, makers of Fat Tire, brings more than just adult beverages to the weekend. Complete mechanical nonsense is also available.



New Belgium Spinner

The afternoon's schedule kicked offf with the Alaskan unit, Bearfoot Bluegrass, followed by the Tony Trischka Bluegrass Band featuring Roland White on mando and vocals. White's presence gave this ensemble an authentic traditional feel, especially with the standards "Molly and Tenbrooks" and "Pike County Breakdown."  But no band boasting Tony Trischka and Darol Anger can always color inside the lines. "Rhumba on the Banjo" sounded exactly what you'd expect from the title. Trischka has also reworked the standard "Salty Dog" by reversing the chords and polishing the arrangement into "Doggy Salt." Watch for a new CD release in January '07.



Tony Trischka Bluegrass Band



A finely-crafted set by Mountain Heart was warmly received by the sun-baked crowd. Always pleasing musicians, they've come a long way since being named up-and-comers in 1999 by the IBMA. Indeed, their stylistic range has broadened to embrace the more adventurous acousticity. But sometimes, instead of eye-opening, ear-popping innovation, MH's extended explorations sounds more like the soundtrack to a Michael Flatley production.

The Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet ratcheted the intensity level up to galactic standards. Tony Rice appears much more at home in the current lineup, while newcomer Sharon Gilchrist demonstrates a welcome sense of self confidence in her solos. Bryn Davies, in addition to sweet harmony vocals, has blossomed into a predominant upright bassist. Rowan himself, looking more and more like Mark Twain every year, sang impeccably throught the band's 11 song set. The quartet was joined by Richard Greene, who added a poignant fiddle break to "Play, Vasser, Play,"  Rowan's tribute to the late Vasser Clements. Perhaps the most intense moments of the set came during an upright bass/guitar faceoff between Davies and Rice during the encore "The Wild Mustang." Watch for a new CD from the Quartet this fall.



Tony Rice and Richard Greene



Winners of the Best Blue Jeans Contest, Sharon Gilchrist and Bryn Davies

As the afternoon waned, the crowd settled back to enjoy the rare assembly of Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg and Edgar Meyer . This gifted trio recreated their 1994 release "Skip, Hop and Wobble" plus a sprinkling of newer pieces by Barenberg and Meyer. The effortless expertise of these musicians is always awe-inspiring.



Douglas, Barenberg and Meyer

The first 'tweener of the weekend featured to precocious Sara Jarosz . Now 15, she changed instruments for each tune on her three-song list, wowing the audience with her skills on mando, banjo and guitar.

All this was merely prelude to the headlining Yonder Mountain String Band, returning to the RockyGrass stage after a 6 year absence. After an extended introduction by each of the Uncle Earl girls, YMSB immediately launched a opening salvo of neatly segue'd tunes culminating in the Hartford classic "Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie." Offical "5th member" Darol Anger shared the stage for the entire set, a presence that always raises the quality of performance no matter which band he plays with. The Yonder setlist included extensive jams on "Easy as Pie" and "Steep Grade, Sharp Curves", which also featured an audience-participation tribute to RockyGrass's late emcee, Buck Buckner. An unrestrained "Keep on Goin' > Death Trip > Keep on Goin' " jam brought out additional guests Casey Driessen on fiddle and the peripatetic Bryn Davies, who literally shared Ben Kaufman's bass in an extravagant solo. The crowd, usually following the "sit down and listen" rule, was on its feet from the first note and danced until the final encore tune, "Troubled Mind".

"Life is way too serious to be serious about . . . Turn off the TV and go out and pick."

Buck Buckner

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RockyGrass 2006 Friday, Part 1

The end of July? Must be time for the 34th annual RockyGrass festival. Located in the heart of a scenic pocket of the Front Range, this Rocky Mountain tradition is produced by Planet Bluegrass, the same force behind the Folks Festival, Festival of the Mabon, and the possibly misnamed Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

The Planet Bluegrass property is bounded by the swift St. Vrain River and sheer red rock cliffs. Within this multi-acre pocket of the known universe 3,500 festivarians gather each summer for the more traditionally-minded of the PB fests.

As is customary, the opening act for RockyGrass is the winner of the revious year's band competition. This meant the stage was first graced by the energetic old-timey sounds of Town Mountain, a product of the fertile Asheville, North Carolina music scene. Mixing original tunes with traditional and proto-bluegrass standards, this quintet recalls the roots of this genre while extending its boundaries in a respectfully creative way. How's this for an ecelctic philosophy: "Jimmy Martin - the James Brown of Bluegrass."



Robert Greer of Town Mountain


Next up is fiddle legend Richard Greene, an alumnus of Monroe's Bluegrass Boys and co-conspirator with such elder influences as David Grisman and Peter Rowan. This time around he's backed by the Barton Brothers, a talented trio featuring mando, banjo and double base. Greene's solid footing in the foundations of bluegrass and the Barton's Californiated acoustic produce an interesting hybrid that got more than a few of the audience on their feet despite the heat of this summer day in the Rockies.



Richard Greene

The afternoon's schedule promises to be a hot one, as the high temp is expected to reach the upper 90's (really brutal at an altitude of over 5,000 feet) and sets by the Tony Trischka Bluegrass Band featuring Roland White and an anticipated set by the Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet.

All this is only preparation for this evening's lineup of Douglas, Barenberg and Meyer followed by first-time RockyGrass headliners the Yonder Mlountain String Band.

VENDOR OF THE DAY:



Adam Carlos of Hands of Music. Adam specializes in uniquely  music-fan-oriented art. He captures images of the hands of musicians and transforms the photos into exquisitely-detailed monochrome drawings. With subjects ranging from Bill Monroe to Steve Earle, and using media as varied as tee shirts and lithography, Hands of Music has something to offer every festivarian.  

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Grey Fox mail list debates Steve Earle

There is lots of post-festival discussion on the Grey Fox listserv of Steve Earle's politics and language in his Saturday night set at Grey Fox. I focused on the political content in my own posts on this blog, but the factor that generated the most complaints was the performer's salty language.



Several of the posters said they shared Earle's political views but were uncomfortable with the use of words such as "motherfucker" at a family festival. Other posters have replied that (1) Earle played in a late-night slot when the kids were in bed, (2) everyone should have known what to expect, (3) Earle sings and writes great bluegrass-style music, and (4) if people didn't like it they were free to leave.

It will come as no surprise that I am in the second camp, though I think it is great that people are speaking up and a dialogue is underway. Here's a photo that may be my one small contribution to the debate.

Not Exactly Festival-Related

But I thought this was fun. Star Wars on a Banjo.

The contest winners are in

Thanks to all who entered the Uncle Earl footwear contest. The correct answers are:

A Erin Coates
B Kristin Andreassen
C Abigail Washburn
D Rayna Gellert
E KC Groves

Congratulations to: Sue Rokos, John Walkenbach, and Tom Gannon, the first three to send in the correct answer. Festival Preview t-shirts are on the way.

Uncle Earl footwear contest

This is all I'll have time for today. Uncle Earl was one of the hits of the Grey Fox festival, mainly for its infectious style of old-time string-band music, but also for the fun outfits and stage presentation.

Here's a little contest. Match the Uncle Earl girl with her footwear. The performers, in no particular order, are Kristin Andreassen (guitar), Rayna Gellert (fiddle), KC Groves (mandolin), Erin Coates (bass) and Abigail Washburn (banjo). The shoes are up to you to figure out.

Email your picks to Festival Preview. The first three correct entries get a Festival Preview t-shirt.

Crooked Still by request

To give some coverage on the getaway day Sunday show, here are some photos from the Crooked Still set.


Aoife O'Donovan sings "Angeline the Baker" by request from a little girl in the front row.

Rushad Eggleston was incorrigible with goofy stage comments and unbelievable cello accompaniment.

Greg Lizst and Corey Dimaria rip it up.

Aoife closes the set with guest vocals by John McDonald of King Wilke.

Birthday on the hill

It's post festival now--I'm in a motel near Albany with plans to do a family history tour upstate with my brother for the next few days. Reviewing Zen Curmudgeon's great post about High Mountain Hay Fever (I didn't realize Dry Branch had hosting duties two consecutive weeks--no wonder Ron looked so tired by the end of Grey Fox), I realize that I haven't posted any of my photography from the festival.

Here's a small tease, the Saturday evening birthday ceremony celebrating 30 years on the hill. As Mary Doub is quick to point out, that is not 30 years of Grey Fox, but consecutive years of one festival or another (Berkshire Mountain Bluegrass, Winterhawk, and Grey Fox) on the Rothvoss Farm.

In the photo, that's Tim O'Brien, Kit Swaggert O'Brien, Ron Thomason, Mary Doub, and Mary Burdette, left to right.

Steve Earle reconstruction

It's Sunday morning and Dry Branch is on stage, opening the short Sunday program. Crooked Still and King Wilkie are coming up, but it's all over by 3 or so. I've got my camp packed up, all my devices are recharged, and I have a moment to post about Steve Earle's get closing set last night.

I have seen the Bluegrass Dukes four or five times now, but each time I am more impressed. Most of the material was familiar, not surprisingly weighted heavily toward political songs. Rich Man's War, Jerusalem, the Civil War suite of Ben McCulloch and Dixieland. He opened with the Burritos' Vancouver Might Be Just My Kind of Town (I know that's not the right name, but I have always loved the song) and closed with Christmas in Washington ("Come Back Woody Guthrie").

Not surprisingly, Earle was complete unapologetic about expressing his views. "Some people say that artists shouldn't speak out. I thought that was our job. I'm sorry if there are some people here that might not like it, but I'm going to do everything I can every day to bring the troops home--now," he said.

He also weighed in on the peace sign controversy. "Is the sign back up?" he asked, referring to the large illuminated sign hanging in the trees off to stage right. Sure enough, it was burning brightly.

He also said that his political bent is nothing new. "If people didn't think my earlier material was political, they weren't listening very closely," he said, launching into Copperhead Road, his hit song from early in his career about a Vietnam vet who returns home to drug dealing.

But besides the politics, the reason his message is so potent is the quality of the songwriting and bluegrass musicianship. Earle explained that he grew up around bluegrass and even though it took him many years to come back to it, it is his favorite musical style. That came through in the inspired playing of the Bluegrass Dukes--Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, Casey Driessen and Dennis Crouch.

He introduced O'Brien as "the man who saved my ass when I pissed off Del McCoury in the middle of a tour," a more candid description of that fiasco than I have heard Earle cop to before. It was obvious that the Bluegrass Dukes love playing with Earle, all clustered around a single microphone. Several times, O'Brien made comments about how much fun he was having. As much as I love Tim as a lead performer, his harmony vocals, side instrumentals and band leadership are brilliant in a backup role.

To showcase the band, Earle stepped off stage for two great O'Brien-Scott numbers I hadn't heard before. Other Earle material in the set included the two-song coal mining set, Harlan Man and Mountain, Carrie Brown, Hometown Blues, and serveral covers, including the Parsons-Hillman classic Sin City and Willin' from Little Feat. The crowd cheered him back for a series of encores, ending with Earle and his solo guitar leading the audience with Come Back, Woody Guthrie. If there were any red-state bluegrassers still on site, they were probably back in camp long before Earle wrapped up at about 2 am.

High Mountain Hay Fever, Westcliffe, Colorado

From Zen Curmudgeon: Dan's at Greyfox (a fest on my "someday" list), doing his best for real time blogging. I've been in the uplands of southern Colorado, in Westcliffe, a town so far upslope they export sunlight and import oxygen. It's also the home of the High Mountain Hay Fever Bluegrass Festival.

Hay Fever is a charming festival hosted by traditional bluegrass stalwarts, Dry Branch Fire Squad. (Pete Wernick would have no problem with this fest's name or lineup.) Located at the end on Main Street and overooking a gorgeous valley in the Wet Mountains, the main stage performers mount a stage built inside a huge yellow striped tent capable of accomodating hundreds of folding- and camp- chair seated enthusiasts. Across the street, in the town's bowling alley, the "workshop stage" hosts more intimate sessions with room for only a few dozen spectators. Fire Squad's Ron Thomason books some of the best in old time and trad-grass acts.

This 4 day event's highlight day, Saturday, came during a welcome reprieve in Colorado's recent half-decade of drought. Last year, extreme dry weather and wildfires cast a smoky pall of woodsmoke over most of southern Colorado. In fact, I traveled past the ground station set up to supply helicopter tankers used in fighting the encroaching fires.



This year's weather was a relief to ranchers and fire crews with nearly constant rainfall for the weekend. This did complicate the task of the Old Blue sound crew, who performed admirably despite the challenges of amplifying acoustic music in a tent under constant assault of downpours and constant audience chatter.

The day's lineup ranged from the quirky (Leroy Troy) to traditional (Hart Brothers, Cedar Hill) to the old-timey clogothonics of Heidi Clare and Atagallop (Heidi's new CD, I Declare, is absolutely worth the price).

and the retro-entertainment of Karl Shiflett and the Big Country Show.

Headlining this year was the Seldom Seen ,

whose lead singer and front man, Dudley Connell, appeared earlier in the day accompanying Sally Love.

There's a definite appeal to this festival. The bands are of the old school, playing technically difficult music with ease born of skill and long practice. The audience is sincerely appreciative, a factor that seems to draw the best performances from every band on the up close and personal main stage. Set in one of the most scenic and yet un-touristed parts of Colorado, High Mountain Hay Fever deserves a spot on every bluegrass fan's calendar.

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Saturday night

Well, I had a nice afternoon and early evening showing my brother and his girlfriend around. The flip side of that is that my blogging went dark for about six hours. Maybe I'll reconstruct it later--I have notes from the Grey Fox memories workshop that I'll definitely what to post. But now I'm back on it with Mountain Heart on stage. I did catch about half of Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, including the final three or four songs.

Ricky talked about his history on the hill and quibbled with the date assigned to him in the first appearances listing in the program. Boone Creek played here in 1976, he said.

When Ricky does Monroe songs like Uncle Pen and Beautiful Kentucky Rose, I don't think there is a better bluegrass band out there. The Grey Fox audience recognized it, too, returning the love that Ricky was sending out.

I'm going to see some of Mountain Heart up close and personal to see how they grab me. When I last saw them in Tacoma, I thought they had great instrumental chops, but wasn't sure I got their identity as a band. Of course, I'm most excited about the Steve Earle set coming next. I'll certainly be ringside for that.

Sister act

In my coverage of last year's IBMA conference in Nashville, I featured a young band looking to break into the festival circuit. The Lovell Sisters, three teenage bluegrassers from Georgia, were getting a tryout in the Grey Fox suite during the conference. They charmed the small audience, and got a verbal commitment to play the 2006 festival.

Now here it is and the Lovells are on the main stage and are living up to their promise. Their musicianship, singing and stage presence point to be bright future for these girls. After their breakthrough here, I would expect to see them on many other festival stages in the years ahead.

King Wilkie is coming up next. I'm still waiting for brother Walt, who is going on two hours late as I type this.

Stealth appearances

I had a chance to chat briefly with Bela Fleck, who said with a sly smile that his presence here was a "stealth appearance." Yes, the Flecktones were off this weekend, though they leave for a tour of Spain on Monday. I wanted to ask him for his views on the Wernick-Ferguson debate, but didn't push it other than to get his agreement to do a future interview. Actually, it was the interview-by-email that I did a year ago that got me started in this direction, so I'll certainly want to follow up at some time soon.

The other stealth performer with Abigail Washburn was The Duhks' guitarist Jordon McConnell. Abby explained at her workshop that she will be touring the next several weeks with Ben Sollee opening for The Duhks, and that McConnell will be sitting in on her sets. I caught the end of the workshop, enough to see Abby tell some stories about her experiences in China, including of singing a Chinese folk song to a cabbie in Beijing and how he stopped the cab in busy traffic to jump out and demonstrate the proper body language while singing. "Singing is not about the notes but about the spirit," she said.

Late start on Saturday morning

Sorry to say I got a slow start this morning and can't report on the Abigail Washburn 11 am set. She is up again on the workshop stage at 1, so I can see then what guests are on hand. Right now, the Red Stick Ramblers, one of the Dance Stage mainstays is taking their main stage set. These guys are a hot band with a Cajun feel, definitely worth a listen. Also there is a "low notes" workshop on now with Mike Bub and Rushad Eggleston. Hopefully I will catch a bit of that, too.

I stayed around camp longer than expected this morning to hang some more with Chris. A few of the Hit & Run Bluegrass players, who are camped next to us, came over for a bit of picking. Man, I wish I had brought my mando after all. I was thinking that I was streamlining my traveling load, but a clear mistake in retrospect.

My brother Walter and his mate Tanya will be visiting for the day, arriving from their home in New Jersey around 2. That will undoubtedly also cut into my blogging for today, so I'll apologise in advance. There are a lot of highlights today. Some of my favs King Wilkie and Crooked Still are on this afternoon. The Lovell Sisters, a set a teenage sisters I first saw last fall, have the potential to surprise a lot of people today.

The big trend of the day is what I would call red-state bluegrass. One of the nice things about the bluegrass world is that diverse views on politics, religion and culture are well accepted. Today, Ricky Skaggs, probably the most prominent of the traditional values set, anchors an extended program of mainstream Nashville bluegrass. That includes two of the hottest bluegrass acts on the country charts, The Grascals and Mountain Heart, and the leading male vocalist of the genre, Larry Sparks with his Lonesome Ramblers. It's going to be a great evening of bluegrass, though with a distinctly red-state spin.

But then it will be topped off by the most outspoken of all blue-state bluegrassers, with Steve Earle and his Bluegrass Dukes, who take the stage just before midnight to balance things out. Maybe Grey Fox is the fair and balanced festival. I did hear a story that management had attendees take down a huge illuminated peace sign that had been erected yesterday in the trees near the stage. The rumor I heard is that management felt that the sign was politicizing the festival and that there is a segment here that is not anti-war. That seems reasonable to me. I don't think we should take the politics out of bluegrass, but we shouldn't let it polarize the community.

On that subject, I'll mention how much I was struck by some of Ron Thomason's political speech yesterday. Normally, the home-spun story-telling leader of Dry Branch Fire Squad, steers pretty clear of controversy, but his song about welcoming home a soldier in a coffin was highly charged. He also tossed in some comments about homophobia and shook his head about his home-state senator, Wayne Allard (R-CO).

Tim O'Brien also had a brief political moment with his clever "Republican Blues" song, which he introduced with a warning that some people might prefer to step out for a 3-1/2 minute break. Now I'm off to look in on the workshop.

Closing down Friday night

The big news from the Jerry Douglas set is that Bela Fleck made his appearance. He's back on stage now, one of Tim O'Brien's many guests as Danny Barnes leads the group on Cripple Creek. I have a lot of stuff in my notes but I'm running really low on steam--a woman next to be in the pit poked me awake, she said she thought I was going to fall over. Well, it is 1:45 am. So all my brilliant observations are going to have to wait. See you on Saturday.

FestivaLink tour

I met Ann Blonston, president of FestivaLink, backstage for a tour of its recording trailer and a chat about our mutual business plans. Despite my public criticism of FestivaLink's pricing structure, I am really quite supportive of what they are trying to do. I think it would be good for everybody if there were a standard channel for legal festival recordings. Initially it could arrive as a parallel infrastructure to the robust tape trading community. Later, it would begin to supplant some of the less virtuous forms of tape trading.

So I like what Blonston is trying to do and think that my own publishing strategy is potentially complementary. After our visit, I can say that I like Blonston personally too. She has a track record and a reputation in the acoustic music industry. She says all the right things about her motivations and approach to the business.

One news item that emerged from our discussion is that FestivaLink will partner with Martha's Vineyard Radio to promote streaming and downloadable sets from the Newport Folk Festival. With that festival in early August, that leaves limited time for signing artist agreements. That was the same situation she faced with Grey Fox, where there was limited time for artist relations. I didn't press her for what names she has agreements for, but I get the impression that some of the bigger names are not on board.

Blonston explained that frequently the problem has been with artists' record labels, who might prefer to control the market for all artist recordings. That's understandable, and it is just one of the many problems FestivaLink will face as it grows its business. I wish it the best of luck.

Del McCoury is on the main stage, and the requests are being called out. I think I'll go catch the end of the set.

Blog has been acting up, may be up now

I lost several posts from earlier, including a nice report from the Danny Barnes workshop. Maybe I will recreate it later. Now here is a quick post from the Darrell Scott, John Cowan, Pat Flynn trio set. I remember asking John Cowan about the trio some months ago, but I forgot how he mentioned they just pulled in a bunch of favorite songs each of them brought. He gave What a Day for a Daydream as an example.

Sure enough, that was the encore, and the set included great stuff like Jackson Brown's Barricades of Heaven and Little Feat's Fat Man in the Bathtub. Darrell Scott is a perfect stand-in for Lowell George, by the way. Also You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, All Along the Watchtower and Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line. Also originals like Scott and Cowan's Six Red Birds.

Pat Flynn talked of the great thing about festivals is meeting people you haven't seen in years as he introduced Bela Fleck's mother and step-father in the audience. No Bela sighting yet, but there is every reason to think he will be here tomorrow. By the way, Abigail Washburn has two gigs scheduled for the morning--what is billed as a solo set at 11 on the main stage and a "Traveling Daughter" workshop at 1 on the Masters Stage with Casey Driessen, Ben Sollee, and Jordan McConnell, who is The Duhks' guitarist.

Short one with Uncle Duster

As it turned out I didn't catch much of Hot Buttered Rum, but I did see a lot of The Infamous Stringdusters. Another very appealing band of young men playing traditional music. They sound as good doing straight-ahead Bill Monroe as anybody, and they bring a lot of original touches as well.

They brought out Uncle Earl as special guests for a nice boy-band-meets-girl-band version of Under the Weeping Willow Tree. The two bands have toured together a lot and there was a lot of joking about whether the combination would be called Uncle Duster or String of Earls.

Actually the Earls are up again on the main stage but I'm going around back for Danny Barnes's workshop on the Masters stage. Later.

Friday morning with Chatham County Line

After the late start yesterday, I'm getting a break from the Grey Fox scheduling format, where many bands do two main stage sets, either Thursday-Friday or Saturday-Sunday. That means I'm getting a great early show of Chatham County Line, Hot Buttered Rum and Infamous Stringdusters. What fun. The skies are blue and what a day of music to come.

I just enjoyed CCL, which I've only caught in bits and pieces before. Here I saw an uninterrupted set. These four young guys from North Carolina are very appealing. The highlights are Dave Wilson's songs and vocals and John Teer's mandolin and fiddle work. Banjo, guitar and bass fill out the all-acoustic quartet. Several of their songs are about being lonesome for Carolina. They also featured new tunes from their just-released CD Speed of the Whippoorill.

Hot Buttered Rum is just coming up. Back later.

Thursday night is hopping

After the dramatic sunset, there was an even better moonrise coming up over the ridge about 45 minutes later. Not quite full, but enough to get the crowd juiced, especially once Railroad Earth came on to close out the night. They play standard bluegrass instruments except for the drums, but they're plugged in and the sound is very Dead-like. I got out of the VIP pit to get the feel for the crowd. The dancers have taken over the front 10 rows or so. Feels like a Dead show too. My favorite song so far was the somewhat obscure Band number Canadian Driftwood, which I hadn't heard for years.

Earlier, I kept track of the set list for the Austin Lounge Lizards, since I like these guys a lot and this is the third time I've seen them this year. Here it is:

1. Hey Little Minivan
2. Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mother on Drugs
3. Can I Have All Your Stuff When You're Dead
4. Old Blevins
5. Stupid Texas Song
6. The Dogs, They Really Miss You
7. Leonard Cohen is Working a Day Job, They Say
8. My One God's the One
9. 80 Hillbillies in a Haunted House
10. German Rap
11. Buenos Dios Budweiser
12. The Drugs I Need
13. Go Ahead and Die

A couple of those may not be the right names. They are all funny and the stage shtick is a lot of fun. I forgot how much the new guy, Koryy Simeone adds a new dimension with his manic fiddle and mandolin playing, not to mention the talent for rapping in German.

Earlier, Tim and Mollie O'Brien offered a folkie set that set the table for lots more Tim throughout the weekend. I also hope to get him for a chat maybe tomrrow. As I mentioned earlier, Uncle Earl was delightful with lots of new matierial. I got closeup photos of all their shoes, which I may be able to post tomorrow as a quiz.

That's all for Day 1. Even though its geogrpahy can't compare to a Telluride or Strawberry, Grey Fox is quickly becoming a favorite festival for me. I'm set up in a group camp with Chris Shuler, who I met here last year. It's about a three minute walk from my tent to the main stage. Then I have a cozier relationship with the management here than anywhere else, my early banding problem notwithstanding. The blogging facilities are limited compared with Telluride, but it seems like I'm able to get possission of the single available Ethernet line without too much trouble.

Bye for now. See you on Friday.

Wernick fires back

After the recent exchange of opinions between musician Pete Wernick and festival impressario Craig Ferguson in this blog and an Internet radio station, I was looking forward to hooking up with Wernick at Grey Fox, where he performed on the main stage this afternoon with his jam-camp students.

I was ready with my tape recorder to do an interview, but it turned out that Pete was way ahead of me, having spent much of the previous night composing a written response to Ferguson's reply, which was published in Festival Preview yesterday, I will publish the complete text of Wernick's latest message in the next post.

Instead of an interview, we chatted over vegie burritos in the hospitality tent, joined also by Ken Irwin, the president of Rounder Records. The gist of it is that Wernick doesn't want to let the matter drop. Words mean something and Telluride isn't bluegrass. He recognizes that he may not be endearing himself to Planet Bluegrass, but he feels the matter is important enough to press the issue.

Tim and Mollie O'Brien are starting on the main stage. There was just a stunning sunset. I'm running out of power on the computer. Later.

Bela Fleck to guest with Abigail Washburn

Uncle Earl is midway through a delicious set featuring lots of new material from an upcoming album. Right now Erin Coates, the new bassist formerly of Hit & Run Bluegrass, also playing here, is being introduced. But on the last introduction, of Abigail Washburn, looking great in her red dress ("she was the only one the did not get the black dress memo," said KC Groves), she mentioned who would be playing with her in her Saturday morning solo set. Ben Sollee, cello, no surprise. KC Driessen, fiddle, they're friends. Someone I guitar, I missed who it was. This is getting to be a full band. And Bela Fleck, banjo, big surprise.

Well, we know that Bela has done stuff with Abigail before, including producing her solo album. But you might think Bela would be busy with the Flecktones. Yet he is turning up at Grey Fox unannounced.

Meanwhile the band-audience mutual love-fest is happening on stage as Uncle Earl moves into I Don't Need No Man. Beautiful. Time to move on to my next post, which is catching up with the Pete Wernick narrative.

Wernick elaborates

Pete Wernick answering Craig Ferguson regarding the suggestion of changing the name of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Craig says:

"I don't think anyone really thinks the Telluride Bluegrass Festival consists of entirely bluegrass music."

Exactly. That’s part of the problem. Almost all events calling themselves bluegrass festivals DO present either exclusively or predominantly what loyal bluegrass fans would describe as bluegrass.

Why should any event call itself a bluegrass festival when it presents predominantly other forms of music.

If an opera festival presented more than half music that wasn’t opera, or a jazz festival presented mostly music that clearly was not jazz, or you went to see a baseball game and 2/3 of the time were devoted to people playing soccer, not baseball, it wouldn’t just be “doctorates” that might notice that, and object.

Calling something bluegrass when it’s not compromises the meaning of the word. The word means something, and what it stands for is a precious thing that is worthy of keeping a clear label for.

Back in 1973 [I think that’s the right year] Fred Shellman, bless his soul, started a festival and decided to call it a “bluegrass” festival. A misnomer then as now. He featured the NewGrass Revival then, and every year until they disbanded at the end of 1989. They were the only band featured each and every year.

Many of the other bands have had a progressive take on bluegrass (such as Fred’s original band, with Kooster McAllister) all the way up to String Cheese Incident, or Leftover Salmon, Alison Krauss, or Yonder Mt. String Band, who’ve all been featured quite regularly in recent years. Bands like this owe a huge stylistic debt to the New Grass Revival, and Bill Monroe would certainly not describe those bands as Bluegrass.

I would call Yonder Mt. bluegrass, but I think they are more aptly called newgrass. They are much closer in style to NGR and Sam Bush than to Bill Monroe and the BG Boys. It shows in everything about them –- repertoire, arrangements, even appearance.

The people who started the first small bluegrass festivals in the 1960s were very concerned that real bluegrass music be preserved. I was at the first several of these amazing events, and there was a fervent spirit that bluegrass music should be supported and not be allowed to die. A number of leading bands back then had altered their music to include electric instruments, and there was a sense that bluegrass might get marginalized, and artists like Monroe and Ralph Stanley would be left behind.

Thanks to the early bluegrass promoters and groups of the 1960s, the new magazine Bluegrass Unlimited, the ongoing efforts of Bill Monroe, (the Father of Bluegrass) well into his 80s, and since 1985 the International Bluegrass Music Assn., the worldwide bluegrass community began to flourish. All these people were proud to present and promote real bluegrass music, with very consistent notion of what was presented as “bluegrass”.

While certainly The TBF would in some cases present real bluegrass (Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley one time each, Del McCoury Band several times, and Hot Rize throughout the 1980s), there would also be rock bands, hybrid bands with electric guitars, pianos, and drums, folk-type artists like James Taylor or Shawn Colvin with plugged in bands, and often with nary a fiddle, mandolin, or banjo in sight. One year I counted the total number of bands out of about 30 on the festival which included a banjo. The number was under ten. At a four day “bluegrass” festival??

So the so-called bluegrass festival has consistently presented less than half bluegrass.

OK, for years I could make the case that the name is inaccurate, but I could never think of better name.

When I thought of the name NewGrass Festival this past year, I thought, how appropriate. That band, the NewGrass Revival, launched this festival over 30 years ago, and Sam Bush has been at every one. To my reckoning, he’s hands-down the Father of NewGrass, having started the NewGrass Revival in 1971 while still a teenager, and has carried on this style full-time for 35 years now.

At the festival he typically sits in with different bands every day. He’s often thought of as the central figure of the festival, and I think most people would agree he embodies and has embodied the spirit of the festival, since long before the current captains were even aware of the festival.

The term Newgrass has been around a long time, but it has not yet been established as an actual marketing category. But it obviously fits a lot of bands, certainly many on the typical lineup of the TBF. One reason I like renaming the festival after Newgrass is that it would firmly establish itself for what it is, the festival that -- more than any other -- launched the term NewGrass, and even more important, the innovative but roots-based spirit of “newgrass”.

I am not trying to hassle Craig, but rather just trying to help preserve the meaning of the word “bluegrass”, and to give proper credit to the festival for what it is, and to Sam Bush for his magnificent creation and contribution.

Craig says:

"We do get the very occassional complaint. Pete is right about a lot of things. Yes, the locals in Telluride refer to The Festival simply as "bluegrass", yet they sure know what it "is". And agents, artists and managers around the country simply refer to it as The Telluride Festival. Really, The Telluride Newgrass Festival is just as "accurate" a name as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Not that I can define either genre, but I would say that we're more likely to have bluegrass then newgrass these days."

I disagree, and here’s the data, going through this year’s lineup:

Thursday, June 15

NOT BG - Tim & Mollie O'Brien
BG? Wayword Sons
NG Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband
NG The Drew Emmit Band
Not BG Neko Case
BG/NG - Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton
Not BG Bonnie Raitt

NOT 3 BG 2 NG 3


Friday, June 16

BG The Badly Bent
BG David Grier & Mike Compton
NG The Greencards
Not BG - Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers
NG - Jerry Douglas Band
?? Not BG The Decemberists
Not BG Béla Fleck & the Flecktones
Not BG - Drive-By Truckers

NOT 4 BG 2 NG 2



Saturday, June 17
BG/NG Tony Rice & Bryan Sutton
NG - Shawn Camp
NG - John Cowan Band
NG - Yonder Mountain String Band
Not BG - Telluride Troubadour
Not BG - Missy Higgins
NG The Sam Bush Band
Not BG - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

NOT 3 BG 1 NG 5

Sunday, June 18
Open
NG 10:00 - 11:00 - Edgar Meyer & Mike Marshall
Not BG 11:15 - 12:15pm - Linda Tillery & the Cultural Heritage Choir
NG 12:30 - 1:45 - Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet
BG 2:00 - 3:15 - Del McCoury Band
NG 3:45 - 5:00 - Tim O'Brien Band
NG 5:30 - 6:45 - Nickel Creek
Not BG 7:15 - 8:30 - John Prine
Not BG 9:00 - 11:00 - Barenaked Ladies

NOT 3 BG 1 NG 4

TOTALS

not bluegrasss or newgrass: 13
Bluegrass; 6
Newgrass: 14
0f 33 acts


BLUEGRASS

Del McCoury
Badly Bent
Grier and Compton (some bluegrass)
Wayward Sons
Rice and Sutton (some bluegrass)
Thurs. nite jam with Sam Bush (some bluegrass)
Tim O Brien (some bluegrass)

McCoury is the ONLY NATIONAL NAME BLUEGRASS BAND OUT OF 33



NEWGRASS

Sam Bush Band
John Cowan Band
Yonder Mt. String Band
Jerry Douglas
Nickel Creek
Meyer and Marshall
Rowan and Rice quartet
Ryan Shupe and Rubber Band
Drew Emmitt Band
Greencards
Shawn Camp
Sutton and Rice
Tim O Brien Band (maybe part bg??)
Sam Bush thurs. nite jam.

Craig says,
"Perhaps the most linguisticaly accurate name would be the "Telluride Bluegrass Invitational", nearly all genres are "at home" at The Festival; but at the end of the day, there's a reason bluegrass remains the name. Traditional bluegrass, as the ever opinionated doctorates might describe it, remains the nexus of the festival, from my point of view, - a place we always return to."

I think it’s clear that it’s NewGrass and Sam Bush that the festival returns to, pretty much as a featured Saturday night tradition every year.


But really, Telluride Bluegrass is more a direction then a genre; and, I know this kind of escapes Pete. "

Craig seems to be saying there is a term “Telluride Bluegrass”, and it’s a direction.

I’m just trying to make the point that the word “Bluegrass” is and has long been, a definite genre, NewGrass is certainly a genre, and NewGrass is a much more appropriate, straightforward term to describe to the world and festivarians the genre of music the festival is all about.


Yet festivarians around the globe are quite clear on the at once definable and yet undefinable eclectic musical combinations expected to be found at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival by the annually gathering Festivarian Nation.

Festivarians aside, the people around the globe who go or have gone to any of the 600 annual appropriately-labeled “bluegrass festivals” over the last 40 years have a clear idea of what bluegrass festivals are, and Telluride doesn’t fit the definition. This is clear to any real bluegrass fan. If you don’t know whether to believe me believe me, just find one and ask.

The June Telluride Festival, in all its diverse musical glory, needs a new name to be accurately labeled. It’s the home of the NGR and Sam Bush, the Father of Newgrass. It’s the original purveyor of newgrass/jamgrass and many other offsprings of bluegrass. So why not call it the the Telluride Newgrass Festival??

On the scene at Grey Fox

Well, it took several hours of hassling over backstage access but I'm now set up on a hardwired Ethernet link backstage at the Grey Fox Festival. It's now 5 pm and there has already been a lot of great music--though I haven't seen a lot of it. Up-and-coming bluegrass bands--Hit & Run Bluegrass and Cadillac Sky--had the first two sets.

The mist was briefly more like rain for the half of the Cadillac set I saw. No matter. I have my nice rain shell. I'm always amazed how unphased Grey Foxers are by rain. For anyone on the fence for tomorrow or the weekend, don't worry about the weather. They say there will be plenty of sun ahead. Anyway, Cadillac put on a fine set for the hardy crowd.

I missed Hot Buttered Rum and most of Chatham County line (from my blogging post, I can't hear the stage well). I did see Ron Thomason's opening workshop and I'll have some things to say on that later. Right now, I am going to catch what's happening ion the main stage--Pete Wernick's Jam Camp--since I will be chatting with Pete a little later about the Telluride brouhaha.

There is just one line so it is not reliable to know when I'll have it, but see you next time.

Ferg replies to challenge

I asked Craig Ferguson, president of Planet Bluegrass, if he had a comment on Pete Wernick's recent suggestion that the Telluride Bluegrass Festival should be renamed as Telluride Newgrass Festival. I just received this email:

Hey Dan,

Let see, Pete and I have discussed this often in the past, more than enough for my tastes.

I don't think anyone really thinks the Telluride Bluegrass Festival consists of entirely bluegrass music. We do get the very occassional complaint. Pete is right about a lot of things. Yes, the locals in Telluride refer to The Festival simply as "bluegrass", yet they sure know what it "is". And agents, artists and managers around the country simply refer to it as The Telluride Festival. Really, The Telluride Newgrass Festival is just as "accurate" a name as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Not that I can define either genre, but I would say that we're more likely to have bluegrass then newgrass these days. Perhaps the most linguisticaly accurate name would be the "Telluride Bluegrass Invitational", nearly all genres are "at home" at The Festival; but at the end of the day, there's a reason bluegrass remains the name. Traditional bluegrass, as the ever opinionated doctorates might describe it, remains the nexus of the festival, from my point of view, - a place we always return to.

But really, Telluride Bluegrass is more a direction then a genre; and, I know this kind of escapes Pete. Yet festivarians around the globe are quite clear on the at once definable and yet undefinable eclectic musical combinations expected to be found at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival by the annually gathering Festivarian Nation.

:)

Report from the hill

Here's a live report from Grey Fox on Wednesday morning. Me, I'm still in sunny California, but will be in the thick of it before the music starts tomorrow. I have hopes that I'll be posting live from the site. I'll be back then.

The following is from Rich Stillman:

Hi Pickinsaute, this is Rich from Lessons on Wheels. Yesterday was
gorgeous, blue skies and not a drop of rain. People came in complaining
about big storms all around us but nothing even threatened here. A front
moved in last night and it looks like we'll have rain for a little
while, but a gentle drizzle, not the gully washers that the Hill is
known for. Once the front passes I think we'll be in for good weather
for at least a couple of days.

Am I a weatherman? No, but I play one on the Internet.

For anyone who wants banjo lessons - come by Lessons on Wheels today if
you think you're going to be too busy to take lessons the rest of the
festival, take one today while there's nothing else going on. As a
special incentive, I'll give $5 off whatever lessons you take today or
tomorrow before the music starts. I'm located in the blue and white
striped tent right between the Slow Jam tent and the Kid's Academy.

See you on the Hill.
Rich Stillman
Lessons on Wheels

FestivaLink highlights "had-to-be-there moments"

One thing I noticieed in the press release FestivaLink sent out today is the increasing focus on the special moments that occur at festivals. The recordings "capture the spontaneous genius, surprise players, and one-of-a-kind solos that make these live events so special," it says.

"Of particular interest were the Waybacks/Weir and Avett Brothers sets. These “had-to-be-there” moments were so special because it was only the second outing ever of the Waybacks/Weir combination and only a very limited number of performances are planned. The Avett Brothers deliver intense punk rock energy with traditional bluegrass instrumentation. It’s a combination that has made their set FestivaLink's top selling download to date."

I still think FestivaLink's chance of making inroads against tapers is limited by its pricing. But it is true that I would pay a premium for a really special performance.

Wintergrass stages its summer fest

Seldom Scene and Hot Buttered Rum headline the Adventure Bluegrass Festival, July 28-30 at Rock Creek Campground in Stevenson, Wash. The event is produced by the same group, Acoustic Sound from Tacoma that runs the great Wintergrass festival in February.

That one is run all indoors so this is a chance to show how to run an outdoor event. The program includes band & instrument contests, a band scramble, and dances Friday and Saturday night. Tent & RV camping with hot showers is available. The festival advises bringing bikes, kayaks, kites, roller blades, hiking boots.

The summer program doesn't have quite the star power you get at Wintergrass, but it is a nifty lineup of regional and national talent. In addition to the headliners, the lineup also includes Country Current, (US Navy Bluegrass Band), Great Northern Planes, Copper Canyon Band, Fog Horn Stringband, Hakanson Family Band, Misty River, Misty Mamas & The Dwyers.

Strawberry set lists are posted

Steve Zimmerman is the guy who keeps the set list archive at strawberrymusic.com. It's a unique resource for a festival to provide, and it has been immensely helpful to me in covering recent Strawberry festivals. He sent out notice today that set lists from the Spring festival are now available. He gives credit to Marty Lefkowitz and his accomplices at the Hog for collecting all of the set list information during the festival.

Here's a typical entry from the recent festival.

John Hiatt and the Mississippi Allstars
Saturday, May 27, 2006 at 8:17PM - Main Stage
Dallas Dobro Intro (00:00), Perfectly Good Guitar (00:00:03), Buffalo River Home (00:04:33), Like Your Dad Did (00:10:24), Lincoln Town (00:16:32), Cry Love (00:22:33), Master of Disaster (00:29:03), Ain't Ever Going Bak No More (00:36:22), Tiki Bar is Open (00:43:28), Is Anybody There? (00:49:35), Real Fine Love (00:58:03), Lipstick Sunset (01:02:36), Paper Thing (01:07:19), Riding Wth The King (01:12:28), Memphis in the Meantime (01:21:21), Have a Little Faith in Me (01:29:16), Slow Turning (01:34:02)
Performance Title: "John Hiatt and the North Mississippi Allstars" / Artist(s): Chris Chew, Cody Dickenson, Luther Dickenson, John Hiatt

Thanks to Steve, Marty, and everyone who has a hand in the project.

Dr. Banjo calls for Telluride name change

Pete Wernick, a fixture in the Colorado bluegrass community, has challenged Craig Ferguson of Planet Bluegrass to substitute the word "newgrass" for "bluegrass" in the name of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which held its 33rd annual event last month.

In a interview with Steve Sikes-Nova on Live365.com Internet radio, Wernick said his proposal would serve two purposes: to correct for the common misperception that the music played at TBF is all bluegrass, and to give recognition to the unique role the festival played in the development of newgrass and jamgrass musical styles.

"Telluride has been a catalyst for the development of newgrass, an outpost for the creative forces that made it happen. Telluride didn't redefine bluegrass, but really created newgrass," said Wernick, the former member of the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize and past president of the International Bluegrass Music Assoc. who is also well-known as Dr. Banjo.

"Every year that goes by, people are getting miseducated on what the word 'bluegrass' means. And that actually hurts--you have people who are confused, some who get mad. Words mean certain things, and if you change too many of them, you should rename it rather than change the meaning of the word," he said.

Wernick, whose new band is called Flexigrass, added that it is common usage for attendees and townies to refer to the festival by the shorthand name "Bluegrass," further corrupting the definition of the musical genre.

Wernick said that he has made his suggestion directly to Ferguson. "He thinks I am teasing him, but I am actually dead serious. Changing the name would properly honor Sam Bush and the New Grass Revival, who played the festival every year of their existence," he said.

Wernick's comments came in the course of a 90-minute interview on Sikes-Nova's program, which streamed Friday night on the Newgrass, Prog and More channel on Live365.com. In an email, Sikes-Nova said the program will be repeated at other future dates. Check the schedule for details.

In the interview, Wernick also discusses his new band Flexigrass and his jam-camp and banjo camp educatonal programs.

Festival Preview has asked Planet Bluegrass for a response to Wernick's challenge. I'll post it later if a reply is forthcoming.

Winter Park Folk this weekend

When I attended the Folk Alliance conference earlier this year, one of the most active showcase rooms was run by Jami Lunde of Awnry Girl Productions, producer of a house concert series in Hot Sulpher Springs CO. What I didn't know is that Jami also books the artists for the Winter Park Folk Festival, running this Saturday and Sunday in Hideaway Park in the Colorado resort village Winter Park.

This is the third year for the free event they call "the little festival that could," and the lineup is getting pretty impressive, with Shawn Colvin, John Gorka, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart, The Mammals and Chatham County Line among others. If I were anywhere nearby, I know where I'd be heading this weekend. Of course, I'd also like to be in Winnipeg. Lucky thing that I will be at Grey Fox a week later.

Grey Fox weather forecast

With the recent flooding in the East, many people have been concerned about the chances of a washout at Grey Fox. Not to worry, say GF maillist weather experts Gregg and Jackie, who posted the following forecast:

"There have been some minor shifts since the last update, however at this
point the weather for the festival period looks warm to hot with typical
precipitation, no major fronts or low pressure in the immediate area.

"The site crew and folks rolling into line later this week should have
good weather. For the end of this week/weekend, forecast is mostly sunny
with highs in the low 80s during the days, and mostly clear with lows in
the upper 50s at night.

"The 6-10 day outlook for 7/9-7/13 shows normal precipitation and above
normal temps, with low pressure to the east in NE and dry to the south
west of the area. The models are in reasonably good agreement for this
period of time.

"The 8-14 day outlook for 7/11-7/17 shows below normal precipitation and
above normal temps, extending well west of the area (ie this looks good
for days 15 & 16). The models are in good agreement for this period of
time."

Grey Fox old-timers know that rain is always a possibility, however. All you have to know is the lyrics from Tim O'Brien's "Kelly Joe's Shoes," which I'm pretty sure is about Grey Fox:

Today it rained at the bluegrass fest
It was squishy squash through the fields all day
I rinsed 'em out in the cool lake water
I washed that mountain mud away

Attendees are advised to bring a rain slicker, but the best suggestion may be from another list member, Flann O'Brien, who offers: "No need for rubber boots, just go barefoot and wear shorts or somthin similar, then you don't hafta worry bout getting your clothes muddy."

FestivaLink adds Grey Fox

FestivaLink, the paid service for live festival recordings, announced it will offer recordings from the upcoming Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. I have blogged previously with my thoughts about the FestivaLink service, which debuted a few months ago at MerleFest. I think it's a great idea for festivals to make live recordings available for a fee, but I think the price ($15.95 for a single set in FLAC format, $10.95 for MP3) is too high to attract a sizable audience.

Following my earlier post, I exchanged emails with FestivaLink's president, who offered a justification for why the price needed to be so high. I can understand her points, but I continue to believe that the pricing will severely limit the market for an otherwise needed service. I'll say again that I would happily pay $25 for an MP3 three-pack or $99 for all access to recordings from a single festival.

TBF Best of Fest Poll Results

The TBF All-Star Band (including Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Bryan Sutton, and Edgar Meyer) nosed out Barenaked Ladies in Festival Preview's Strictly Unofficial Best of the Fest Poll for the best performance of the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

Sixty two festival attendees submitted ballots. The full results in 30 categories are listed below.


Best Performance
------------------------
1. TBF All-Stars
2. Barenaked Ladies
3. Sam Bush Band
4. John Prine
5. Bonnie Raitt


Breakthrough Performance
-------------------------------------
1. Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband
2. Drew Emmitt Band
3. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings


Best Performance for a Band Led By a TBF All-Star
----------------------------------------------------------
Sam Bush Band


Best Performance By a Colorado-Based Act
----------------------------------------------------------
Yonder Mountain String Band
(Write-in votes for Boulder Acoustic Society and Shanti Groove)


Best Bluegrass
---------------------
Del McCoury Band


Best Jam Band
---------------------
Yonder Mountain String Band


Best Singer-Songwriter
-------------------------------
John Prine


Best Rock
--------------
Barenaked Ladies


Best Male Vocals
------------------------
1. John Prine
2. John Cowan
3. Tim O'Brien


Best Female Vocals
-------------------------
1. Bonnie Raitt
2. Mollie O'Brien
3. Neko Case (tie)
Sharon Jones


Best Group Vocals
-------------------------
1. Barenaked Ladies
2. Del McCoury Band
3. Yonder Mountain String Band


Best Group Instrumentals
----------------------------------
1. TBF All-Stars
2. Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
3. Sam Bush Band


Best Mandolin
-------------------
1. Sam Bush
2. Chris Thile
3. Mike Marshall


Best Guitar
---------------
1. Bryan Sutton
2. Tony Rice
3. Bonnie Raitt


Best Banjo
--------------
1. Bela Fleck
2. Noam Pikelny


Best Fiddle
---------------
1. Casey Driessen
2. Sam Bush (tie)
Tim O'Brien


Best Bass
--------------
1. Edgar Meyer
2. Victor Wooten


Best Other Instrument
-----------------------------
1. Jerry Douglas (dobro)
2. Jeff Coffin (woodwinds)


Best Closing Act
----------------------
Barenaked Ladies


Best Duet
-------------
Tim & Mollie O'Brien


Best Group Workshop
------------------------------
Mandolinians


Best Workshop Performance
---------------------------------------
Hit & Run Bluegrass


Best Guest Performance
---------------------------------
Peter Rowan, Yonder Mountain & Drew Emmitt with Sam Bush Band
(Write-in votes for Sean & Sara Watkins with Barenaked Ladies)


Best Tweener Performance
-------------------------------------
Casey Driessen


Best Entertainer
----------------------
1. Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies)
2. Sam Bush
3. Sharon Jones


Bluegrass Babe
----------------------
Bryn Davies
(One person objected to the category on the grounds it was sexist.)


Telluride Dude
--------------------
Chris Thile
(One person objected to the category on the grounds it was sexist.
Write-in votes for John Cowan.)


Festival Rating
--------------------
The Best Ever 12%
Among the Best 58%
About Average 22%
Disappointing 2%
Other 6%


How Many TBFs Have You Attended?
----------------------------------------------------
1 13.4%
2-4 15.4%
5-9 25.0%
10-15 30.8%
16-25 11.5%
25+ 3.8%


Memorable Moments (includes entries from test ballot and final ballot)
-----------------------------
* Bonnie Rait sings "Angel from Montgomery"
* Sam Bush explains his abscence Friday.
* barenaked ladies making fun of everyone wearing cowboy hats, dirty
dancers, and famous shit.
* Sam Bush asking if anyone has heard any good gosip latley?
* The Allstars entire performance!!
* Bare Naked Ladies song about TBF
* Sharon & Dap Kings - how did she do it?
* All performances on small stage in Elk Park. Loved the small venue
* SIxers: stopping song to orate a movie quote. "...2, 3, 4!"
* Anahuwack in town park w/Vince Herman & Bryn Davie
* Colin of The Decemberists sitting in the poser pit while some
random guy played his guitar
* [Sixer's bassist] gets stopped by an uninformed security backstage.
"Whoa drunk naked guy, STOP!"
* Neko Case and her first Telluride raianbow.
* John Prine's "Angel from Montgomery" moved me and several of my
tarp friends to tears. Steven Kellog's song, "Such a Way" is
beautiful... that was the first time I heard it. All of the Godesses
on my tarp were swaying and smiling during that one.
* Peter Rowan and the BLUEGRASS BABES! So hot!
* Linda Tillery's encore, "What's Goin' On"
* Yonder bring EVERYONE on stage at the Sheridan. Sharon Jones
getting the booties shaking.
* On Father's Day Jerry Novonty danced to John Prine's "Angel from
Montgomery" with his daughter Rachel. One of the most memorable and
beautiful moments that I have seen at a festival.
* Barenaked ladies comments to musicians supposedly watching from the
wings.
* You got it , Sixer's bass player [runs through crowd in underwear]
* Someone in Ryan Shupe's band plays the banjo fretboard with his
foot. And really, who hasn't wanted to streak the Telluride Bluegrass
Festival? Too bad he didn't start a conga line.
* My name was called for the Martin guitar raffle.
* TBF Allstars, when Sam and Tim Played a Duet on Fiddle
* Baremaked Ladies having us sing w/"if I had a million dollars:
* Sam Bush talking about his hospital visit
* Entire barenaked ladies - whole show rocked!
* Jerry D and Bela F not accepting the "pick off" challenge from the
Decemberists.
* Every closing set was absolutely ridiculous (in a very good way)
* Sam Bush explaining to the fans what happened to him on Thursday night (collapsing after the All Stars set, rushed to the Montrose Hospital, then learning the chest pains were due to a virus and that Sam was ok). It was an essential reminder to all of us about our own mortality.
* person from the audience dancing with Sharon Jones
* bummer that my most memorable moment is a bad memory, ryan shupe was so loud it hurt my ears. a maximum db level should be determined and enforced by tom or mark.