Allie Kral

Santa came early this year.  I must have been a good girl because Sept 6-9 2013, everything I asked for was left under the trees at Shoe Fest.  I had a taste of Nederland CO here at Camp Shaw in Manteno IL.   I saw some of the best dub stop music all weekend long.

The good old boys of Poor Man’s Whiskey, featuring former Cornmeal fiddler Allie Kral, kicked things up a notch at the Fox Theatre on Friday, June 14th with two full sets of northern California bluegrass-based rhythms. The show was billed as Poor Man’s Whiskey playing the music of Old & In the Way, an early seventies bluegrass super group featuring Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead notoriety, bluegrass pioneer Peter Rowan, and a who’s who of string pickers in David Grisman, Vassar Clements, and Jerry Garcia Band alumni John Kahn.

This past Memorial Day weekend marked the 13th anniversary of Summer Camp Music Festival, and annual event that takes place at the celebrated Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Illinois. Since the festival’s beginning in 2001, it has grown rapidly into a bona fide heavy-hitter event by delivering major artists of multiple genres year after year.

It is with a heavy heart that after 10 years with Cornmeal, we say goodbye to Allie Kral.  Her powerhouse presence on stage and musical chemistry with the band will be greatly missed.  We wish her the best in her musical endeavors and cannot thank her enough for the hard work and personal sacrifices she gave throughout her 10 years on the road. Cornmeal will be conducting a nationwide search for a fiddle replacement in the coming months and looking to get back on the road as soon as possible.

With so many bluegrass offshoot outfits actively touring in the States, sometimes it’s hard to decide whose show to go to on a Friday night. Especially in the bluegrass supported state of Colorado, where fans cannot get enough of its dance-ability and energetic tempo, its one of the most popular options for the live concert-going scene. While longer existing outfits have the option at playing large seated venues, most fans seem to come to dance.

In a rare New Year’s Eve performance, Cornmeal took the stage at Durty Nellie’s in Palatine, IL on 12/31/2010.  Born and raised in the area, the hometown crowd embraced the progressive jamgrass bluegrass five piece band that cranked out some covers and beloved originals. 

There was a buzz in the air of Boulder Colorado, October 9, 2010.  On the cool fall Saturday night, people were celebrating life, friendship, and the end of a very destructive fire that burned outside of Boulder early last month. Lasting nearly a week, the Boulder Fourmile Canyon fire was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history; destroying 169 homes, and scorching nearly 8000 acres of land.

“Get Lost in the Great North Woods” is the perfect way to describe Hoxeyville Music Festival.  The 8th annual festival was held in the Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan.  Each year Hoxeyville has grown and improved this year followed suit and featured a bigger and better lineup than ever before, cleaner and more organized festival grounds, and the largest crowd to date at around 4,000 people.  One of the greatest things about Hoxeyville is the family atmosphere, whether it was a grandparent and grandchild watching a mid-day set, lon

The early Saturday morning sun heralded a very warm day to come, but the sky was clear and looked like it would be a beautiful day. After uploading the photos I took from the day before onto my computer, I sat at my campsite and typed in Day Three's festival memories. I hauled my computer over to the VIP Chill Tent for lunch and while waiting to connect with my other photographer, I sent out Friday's report.

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