Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival '06

Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival 7/12th-16th
Getting in late afternoon, a light drizzle falls all day, then heavy rain while setting up my tent it stops, when I do. Time to meet the neighbors, Nina & Aaron, his brother Chris and Zoe, I do the walk of the site, I set my chair on a spot halfway up the hill over looking the main stage, first come, should have been here a week ago. Some Kerrville folks here, too. Looking forward to unwinding and independence from my mind. Praise good music and folks. Late night, it time to cruise the campsites,listening to folks play, mostly friends playing together, meeting up with each other from where ever they are from, I do come across some nice pickin’,a stand-up bass, and a hot mandolin player
two fast guitar players, along comes a grey haired dad and his 12 year old son, the boys strumming chords on his guitar a little outside the circle, then all the musicians welcome the young man into the circle, and the dad with a banjo proceeds to set the place on fire. Delightful first night of music, beer and new friends, up a little past midnight, falling asleep with music in my mind.
Thursday, Hit & Run, from Colorado, standard tradition bluegrass, crafted original tunes, finishing with ‘Mabeline”, then Cadillac Sky from Ft. Worth, a hot Tejas group with two national champions, a hot mandolin player and singer, this group is on it’s way to big, then Hot Buttered Rum, I missed them, yet heard lots of cheers, Mollie O’Brien & three gals from Uncle Earl, with heavenly harmonies, then Tim O’Brien & Molly O’Brien, brother & sister, family voices with good tunes, Red Stick Ramblers, from SW Louisiana, packed the dance floor, heads bobbing, got all of everything out of me, dancing for a couple of hours, then the Austin Lounge Lizards, missed them,but saw them in Kerrville, finishing the first night was Railroad Earth, hot, hot, hot, starting off at 11:15pm, playing late into the next day, a great jam band from Jersey, great balance of power, moving well with each other in & out of songs, even better with a double scoop of mint chip and chocolate in a waffle cone.
Friday, Day 2, starting off with Chatham County Line, fun young group from North Carolina, the Master’s Stage provided shade and intimate listening, the Song Swap was impressive with Jeremy Garret and his inspired country music, Jimmy Roger style, the boy can tell a story or two, then a Banjo style workshop with Bill Keith, master musician, Danny Barnes from Seattle, Larry Gango from Montana and Abigail Washburn from Uncle Earl, she a big hit with her voice and Banjo style, ‘round peak’, old mountain music from the hills, and off to the Dance stage, it was hopping all weekend, Magnolia, Lil’Anne & Hot Cayenne, with dance lessons from Michelle Kaminsky had everyone and me on the floor, back to the Main Stage with the Gibson Brothers doing Louvin Brothers material, then Del McCoury Band, always wanted to see him, he did not disappoint, they finished with “When I am 64” you know the Beatles song right, and Bela Fleck sitting in, too!, I'm not finished yet, Jerry Douglas with drums and electric guitar, he is a master Dobro player, with his own eclectic brand of bluegrass, jazz and interpretation, the closing act, was some of the best music all night, Tim O’Brien’s Cornbread Nation with Bela Fleck, Pat Flynn, Darrell Scott and a really, really good fiddle player Danny Driessen, hot fun into the late night, and early morning.
Saturday,Day 3 Abigail Washburn, with Bela Fleck on banjo, Casey Driessen on fiddle and Ben Sollee on cello start our day, with original music in English and Chinese from her album ‘Song of the Traveling Daughter”, she will be going to China this fall and lead the first ever US music tour to go to Tibet with the Sparrow Quartet including Bela Fleck, one song sticks out, “I got the key to the Kingdom, and the world can’t do me no harm.”






A standing ovation to start this day, then the Red Stick Ramblers get the main stage, even sporting ties, after two great nights on the Dance Stage, the Abigail again in the Master’s Tent doing songs in Chinese, Jordan McConnel of the Duhks from Winnipeg sits in. I have heard of this band, they are up and coming, then King Wilkie, young, energetic, then a nap before the Big Night, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, I could be in this group, he worked with the Staley Brothers then formed his own in ’69, he remains true to the best tradition of Bluegrass, then always the great Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, an eleven time Grammy winner, Chet Atkins once credited Skaggs with “single-handily saving country music”, a headliner at most venues, he began playing mandolin at the age of 5, he even played with Bill Monroe, then at 7 with Flatt & Scruggs, with his help and others, now a new generation of musicians from around America, they are keeping Bluegrass alive, I know in Portland we have allot of excellent bands, check out bubbaguitar.com for more information, then Mountain Heart, they have a distinct, dynamic sound, one of the new super group, they move in and out of songs together, like a dance, building each song with a rich texture of varied sounds and style, yeah, it’s time for Steve Earl & the Bluegrass Dukes, I am sooo excited joining him is Tim O’Brien, Casey Driessen, Darrell Scott, Bela Fleck and others, how much fun can I have today, I must have died and gone to heaven, Steve does mostly doing his older stuff, fine by me, ‘Slow Train’, his politics, words, a man that speaks his mind, go man go! Two Standing Ovations. Steve for President ’08!!!
Sunday Morning, awake, I am not in Heaven, so time to catch the Sunday Morning Gospel show with Dry Branch Fire Squad, established in 1976, they are the long time host band here, playing traditional, old-time and gospel, fueled with musical vision, biting cultural commentary is the band’s leader Ron Thomason, his dry wit, slow delivery and stories were funny, sad and his sense of humor starts this Sunday. He talked about Death with Dignity, the War, God, his Farm and Friends, a truly good man. He said “if we did not have the Government, how would we know we were doing things right”. Time to take down the tent, get ready to go deeper into to Northeast, where accents are getting thicker, traveling South to NE, quite diverse changes in voice. I start my day going the wrong way, who cares, listening to ‘like a fox on the run’ yes it's OK to be lost.
Heading out on Rt. 3 to Ancram, a good breakfast needed after 4 days camping, then North on Rt. 22, beautiful NY country drive, hoping to stop in Pittsfield, Mass., for the night, then I go though Copake, then take 295E, then Rt.41N for a moment, then RT.20E into Massachusetts, Pittsfield, I drive around for about a 1/2 hour, this town does feel right, onward then, where to go, pass Dauton to Rt.8n to Savoy, 116E to 8A north, this road following the creek, small blacktop road to Claremont, on the Mohawk Trail, lots of kayaks on the Deerfield River, pass Shelburne Falls, and the Bridge of Flowers, sounds like a place to go, I go by, returning the next day, with views of three states to the north, then on to Greenfield, this feels right, I shower, shave and publish my rant, where did the angst go? It’s on paper, still. The mind is a magical thing!
Greenfield, I asks a local where to go for a bite, he says Bill’s is good, been around a while, it looks OK, but up the block is the People’s Pint, local, home-made beers, a music circle playing Celtic music, I order the Ploughman Classic with Vermont x-tra Sharp cheese, apple, house-made sausage and bread, along with a couple of pints, Pied IPA, then Farm Brown Ale, they have hand crafted soda, and cider as well, even a beer called Poet’s Seat Pale, and lots of good desserts too, Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp, Lemon Cheesecake with Wild Blueberry-Port Sauce, sounds good, it is.
A great way to start my journey though the NE, on my way to see a Moose, at the top of Maine.
60.1/133.1 miles traveled