Louis Molinary is convinced that the Stones wouldn’t really care if he wasn’t able to make his mortgage next month.  The fifty-something real estate developer from Charleston, SC  is quick-stepping into the festival alongside me, headed back to the picking tents.  He tells me he’s new to bluegrass music and wants to hear some more, he said.. Until last year, when a longtime friend finally convinced him to come, Molinary had been more of a fan of The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin.

“I saw The Stones, like five times, I think,” he said.  “I literally was a hippie.”

Attending MerleFest for his second year in a row was a no-brainer, he offered, as we arrived at the picking tents.

“I just didn’t realize how talented the musicians in bluegrass music would be.  All of a sudden a regular person walks up to these picking tents and sits down. And he can play the fiddle like no bodies’ business. And then just gets up and walks away. I mean -- it blows my mind..”  Louis said, reaching up to scrub his own scalp with his hands as if to ensure he were awake and not actually dreaming.

“I went for the first time last year, and I fell in love,”  he said.  “All the different varieties of bluegrass are here….It’s like Bluegrass boot camp, for a new fan,”  he continued, as we arrived at the picking tents.

We stood behind a group of musicians, some professional, some not. In the center of the group was a young boy, about 10 or 11, playing violin.  He was obviously a student, yet appeared to be leading the jam.

“See those guys playing with that kid?  They’re all just making sure they play something the boy can play, too. Man.. Look how they are with him?  That’s the kinda people you want to be around, I tell you..”   Molinary said, never taking his eyes off the musicians.  “I really am sorry that I didn’t get into this a long time ago..“

Describing himself as a business person ‘underwater’ in his real estate holdings as a result of the current economy, Louis seemed to appreciate the sentiments expressed on stage by the professional performers at MerleFest.

“I can’t remember who said it this weekend, but they said, and to everybody (he added, with a flourish of his hand,) ‘We all came here on different ships, but now we’re all in the same boat. So let’s work it out..’

“I mean.. That’s from the heart, you know?”  Molinary said.  “You’re not gonna hear that from the Rolling Stones..“

Louis may have been on to something.  My Saturday visit to the 22nd annual MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC revealed time and time again, what makes this festival special, and different from others.  Without a doubt, it all begins and ends with music.  But MerleFest, founded as an annual way to honor the music and legacy of  Doc Watson and his son Merle, is also about people.

I observed the warm hug North Carolina mentality of just about everyone present, from the boy scouts handing out programs, to the senior citizens fanning themselves from lawn chairs under every tree. After about an hour there, I felt like I was on someone’s front porch, sipping iced tea and blissfully commiserating about how to endure the heat -- together.  It felt like a safe release of tension, musical and otherwise, while in the cocoon of familial comfort.

It’s been a tough winter for all of us, in more ways than one.  Even Mother Nature seemed hell-bent on sweeping away the last memories of winter, with near-record-setting highs in the upper 90s.  In the dead sun, it was brutal, at times.

The heat appeared to inspire – and undoubtedly – perspire -- the artists.  But regardless of the weather, bluegrass played at MerleFest is world-class.

“The artists are top of the line, every single year. You are never disappointed with the lineup.,”  said JP O’Connor, of Floyd County, Virginia.  “You can count on MerleFest to deliver the goods.” He added.

Attending his 9th consecutive MerleFest, O’Connor also cited the family atmosphere as a big reason why he and his family can continue to come year in and year out.

The Bryan Family of Wilkesboro, NC also appreciated the family atmosphere at MerleFest.  They seem to use MerleFest as a true annual family reunion, with over 20 family members attending this year, with ages ranging from 18 months to 80 years.  The family, in its’ various incantations, has attended MerleFest for twenty years.

“What started us coming was our Grandfather making us come,” said one family member.  “He had to teach us about good music,” offered another.  The youngest attendees don’t require Poppa David’s insistence that they attend. “Oh.. These two love to come,” offered their aunt, sitting nearby.  “His favorite band is Donna the Buffalo.”

I marveled at the significance of “Poppa David’s” actions.   Year after year he packed up his family and headed to MerleFest as a way of ushering in the warmth and bounty of Spring.  I’m sure there were lean years for the family, as well as those of plenty.  But one of the constants was this festival, and bluegrass music.   He knew, as do countless others, how the music already binds us together.  Merlefest for his family, as well as many other attendees, is like a rejuvenation of the spirit.  It’s like Grandma’s fried chicken when you’ve had a really bad day.

Speaking of family, musicians and brothers, Joshua and Clayton Britt, along with the rest of The Farewell Drifters played their first MerleFest set this year, performing Saturday afternoon.  Picking with fans earlier in the afternoon, it’s easy to see why this band is garnering, even more, attention from the festival going public.  They played crisply on the Cabin stage, despite the extreme heat.  With influences ranging from Jerry Garcia to Tony Rice, to Steve Martin, The Farewell Drifters appear to have even more high-profile MerleFest appearances to come.

With Saturday night’s headliners of Sam Bush and Emmy Lou Harris still a few hours away, throngs of fans headed for the Hillside stage for The Wayback’s and John Cowan’s second annual ‘album hour.’  This event seems poised for an eventual move to the main stage. It’s just too good to be limited by the space available at the Hillside stage area.

Harkening some fans to think of Phish’s Halloween tradition of reinterpreting entire albums by other bands -- with reverential creativity, this year the album hour selection was The Rolling Stones: “Sticky Fingers.”

“It was our managers’ idea, from last year – as we were leaving, I think,” said drummer Chuck Hamilton, as he signed autographs later in the day.

Fans have quickly come to appreciate the musical surprise of the ‘album hour.’ Facebook, MySpace and the Merlefest website taunted listeners with clues, leading up to the reveal – on stage.  The extraordinary talents of Emmy Lou Harris were well-deployed as she joined the band for a stellar rendition of “Wild Horses.”   Sam Bush frankly rocked the guitar. He seemed inspired by the material and looked to be having a helluva time, as only Sam can.   One forgets sometimes, how good he is with a guitar, in addition to a mandolin.

No clues were offered as to what next year’s album hour might be.  “We gotta keep you guessing,” quipped bassist Joe Kyle Jr. “It’s more fun that way.”

But the evening belonged to the headliners.

I lost count of the number of fans for whom the presence of Emmy Lou Harris tipped the scale, as to which day to choose to attend.  Still others cited Sam Bush as the reason they came year after year.

Or, maybe it’s a little of everything, rolled into one.  Music, of course; it’s the beginning and the end.  But it also more than that, I think.  It’s how well the environment of MerleFest allows the people and the music to find that connection, be it through a songwriting contest, or a picking tent, or getting an autograph signed.  Or maybe the magic is in the people themselves, in the audience, on and, off stage.  Emmy Lou Harris said it best, “Playing music for people who appreciate it, is especially nice.”

Sophomore efforts from fledgling music festivals are often very telling as to where the event seems poised to go, in its’ bid for survival in the summer festival market.  I remember the first year of All Good – when Deep Banana Blackout’s drummer dodged falling stage rigging, as a big storm approached.  My husband’s a taper, we have a recording of it.. All of a sudden, the storm was just ‘there,’ and in a big, angry, way.  Then the rigging came crashing down.  It was a lot like a freight train in its sudden ferocity.  Those kinds of storms aren’t funny at all.  Those are the kinds of storms where you start scanning the horizon, searching for the smartest place to hide.

The Second Annual DelFest, in Cumberland, Maryland, got ‘one of those storms,’ on Saturday afternoon.

Walking with my three year old son, John, to see Joe Craven’s kid’s show at the pavilion, the weather looked as it had all weekend, cloudy, sometimes threatening, and quite hot and humid.  It was all the ingredients necessary to cook up a good storm.

In the period of about five minutes a light misting rain turned into a freakishly intense thunderstorm, with stiff winds, and at times, ping pong ball sized hail.  We were to learn later, through the National Weather Service, about 5 minutes prior to the first drops of precipitation coming  down, there were but 2 very small and decidedly non-threatening looking green blips on radar - one approaching from the South/West, and the other from the North/East.  It looked like rain was coming, nothing more.

Chris Bowman, a professional stage manager working the event, told me that the organizers were well aware that some light rainfall was approaching, and on the radar it looked just like that.  He made a point of explaining that the entire organization had been watching real time Doppler, the entire festival weekend.  Then, Bowman added, “these two little green "blips" on the radar (there weren't any of the orange or red patches which forecast a weather event) created a massive storm --with 3 documented tornadoes touching down -- in somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 minutes.” Bowman, who had to rescue his own girl friend from under collapsed staging added, “there was no way that we could have possibly predicted this weather event.”

Huddled with about 30 other parents and kids under the pavilion, we were all quite dry, at first.  Then it seemed as if the storm took a shift in gear and got a great deal ‘meaner.’  The hail got quite heavy, the wind picked up even more, and we started watching debris fly through the air..  We could see campsites being decimated nearby.  The temperature dropped about twenty degrees in minutes.

Holding my son, and distracting him from the seriousness of the weather, I wondered about my husband, who was taping at the main stage.  Happily, I would learn that he got his rig down, and out of there, before he had to endure the hail.  We heard later, of tapers not so lucky, trapped in the storm with only a large tarp to protect them against the elements.  At least one taper reported ‘bloodied knuckles’ from holding the tarp during the onslaught of hail stones.  And some tapers lost thousands of dollars in soaked recording gear.

This storm went on by my rough estimation, for about an hour total.  There was a lull midway, when I reconnected with my husband, and we went to the campsite to assess the damage. Thanking the Greek God Dionysian for the power of kiddie videos, we deposited our soaking wet son into a car seat and hit ‘play’ on Thomas the Train..

It was still raining, quite windy, and obvious even before ‘act two,’ that we’d have to leave early.  Our campsite was destroyed.  And that really described most of the campsites we could see.  We silently started collecting what of our belongings we could find, and positioning them at the back of the car, to try to pack them, soaking wet and all.  As the afternoon progressed, we heard stories of at least one tent taking a direct hit from a tree.  And several people were hit by lightning.  We could hear the ambulances as they arrived.

Then round two of the storm hit, with a vengeance.  Suddenly, very heavy amounts of ping pong ball sized hail began to fall again.  This was worse than what had come before it. Larger items started going airborne.  Our car, where we’d taken refuge, was hit my something large and metal, and  we still don’t know what it was.  It bounced off the hood and went on its’ way.

We were to learn, later, of the nearly-tragic destruction of the main stage area, including sound tents, merchandise tents, and vendors.  I read blogger accounts of moms with babies being sheltered admirably by the Sierra Nevada Beer merchants. I learned that many or most of those beautiful Martin Guitars on display were damaged or destroyed.  I can only imagine how much product vendors lost to the water alone.  Asking Bowman about initial damage reports from backstage, he replied,  “my computer & printer,  Joe Craven's computer, Sam Bush's & Old Crow's gear, which we were frantically trying to save from being destroyed, and my girlfriend’s car took a direct hit from falling stage rigging."

There were a lot of people who ‘just had to leave,’ after this.  My family was one of them.  So I can’t offer you a full musical review of what happened this year.  But I’d go again, despite what happened this year weather-wise.  What happened could not have been predicted, and manifested so suddenly, there wasn’t time to notify anyone.  The folks at DelFest did all anyone could have predicted appropriate, given the radar imagery, and available time before the storm’s arrival.  It blew up right above us, essentially.

But  in the storm’s aftermath, the true spirit of DelFest fully blossomed with the mountainous task of rebuilding staging and returning music to the festival happening within a mere five hours later.  That couldn’t have been easy, given the conditions. The entire crew deserves a beer, for that alone. That, and dry clothes, likely..

Should DelFest maybe be a bit over cautious next year and announce rain showers as they approach the festival site – even if they look benign?  It might be a good idea.  But I don’t fault them for their decisions this year.  We all pulled a ‘bad card,’ weather wise.  Or from a more positive standpoint, we who attended are all lucky that this wasn’t far, far, worse. 

Truly integrating two disparate musical genres into a third doesn’t occur all that often.  And when it does, it’s often lopsided in favor of one genre – over another.  It’s unbalanced, and noticeably so.  But when an organic musical marriage does happen, it can be like dynamite.  Happily, such is the case for Asheville, North Carolina’s Toubab Krewe.

Formed in 2005, the quartet has quickly established itself within the jam band circles, yet isn’t really a jam band.  Concocting a hearty musical stew of American and West African influences, Toubab Krewe seems focused on studying and respecting the West African music they love - as they continue to recognize and pull from their own American musical backgrounds.

The result, for me, is one of the more interesting new bands to come around since the first time I heard Medeski, Martin, and Wood.  The work ethic is immediately apparent, with superb and historically-informed performances by Teal Brown on the drum set, David Pransky, on bass, Luke Quaranta on percussion , Justin Perkins on the Kora (a harp-like instrument with either 12 or 21 strings, and a half gourd base), and Drew Heller on guitar and Soku, or Malayan fiddle.

Each member has  spent not only time studying in West African nations, but also was immersed in the culture, and living in the homes of their teachers, often for months at a time.  The dedication, work ethic, and respect of the band for the West African music is obvious.  And the effort seems to be made cheerfully and with humility.  But the result is not a cookie-cutter copy, of either culture’s music. More like gumbo.  Guitarist Drew Heller told “Honest Tune” magazine,  “In a way, our music is both familiar and foreign to West Africa and America.  It exists somewhere in between.”

The band’s recent visit to Richmond, Virginia’s Brown’s Island showcased those artistic value statements well, as their energetic set of music fit in well with the bustling overhead railroad tracks, and the urban sounds that were never far away.  The audience was a mix of urban office workers, families, and fans of the band.  It was a free city-sponsored show.  It was a glorious night of music on the James River.  One or two audio tapers were present.

Having never heard the band before, I was immediately struck by the percussion, of course.  Layers of rhythm that was immediate, intense, and intriguing, from the first note.  If it were a wine, it would be a Cabernet, for sure.  Yet I could also hear a certain ‘Western-ness’ to the playing, too, a slightly higher level of aggression about the note.  A touch of American Rock and Roll, perhaps?

It would appear these musicians are musically-ambidextrous, and able to blend each cultural element together seamlessly.  It never felt forced or fake. Guitarist Drew Heller’s 60’s surf music playing style roots some compositions firmly in the west.  Justin Perkin’s amazing abilities with the Kora, seat many compositions firmly in the Dark Continent. Thick, intricate rhythms surround both.

I heard a brisk and tightly played festival set of music in Richmond, well worth the hour I had to drive.  I shall hope to find more opportunities to catch Toubab Krewe again. 

The day Michael Jackson died was a particularly beautiful one, here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Blue skies, just enough clouds, and uncharacteristically low humidity greeted the audience along with the stunning natural scenery of the Ginter Botanical Gardens, in Richmond, Virginia.

Arriving early to set up audio taping gear, we noted that the pre-show music was that of Jackson’s, but didn’t yet know why. Gradually, word began to move through the audience, and with that wave of new awareness, so did -- the volume on the pre show music. It was no surprise to witness such a reaction, given the long history the band has with covering the music of Jackson. The culmination of which was surely their Monster Mash-Up last Halloween, with a musical coupling of Thriller with Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall.'

Once onstage, the band wasted no time addressing their reaction with a tight jam of Jackson’s 'Smooth Criminal' included in show opener, 'August.' They returned to Jackson’s work with the opener of set two, with 'Wanna be startin’ something,' artfully ensconced within 'All in time,' and a raucous encore of 'Billie Jean.' But the bulk of the evening belonged to their own material, with a very elegant exception of their cover of Blind Faith’s 'Can’t find my way home,' late in the first set.

Watching and shooting the show I was struck at how special this specific performance was, and not because it occurred within hours of the world learning of the death of Michael Jackson. The band surely addressed this loss musically, but then quickly returned to the business at hand.

For me, what was so striking was the band’s performance in such a small, intimate venue, like Ginter Botanical Gardens. It’s a gorgeous place, words don’t do it justice. Guitarist Brendan Bayliss even noted the awe-inspiring grounds by comparing it to “Mr Miyagi’s backyard.” Standing there, amongst the prize-winning roses, the 19th century glass arboretum, the pond, and the topiaries, my eyes also found the road cases, with Umphrey's McGee stamped on them. I mean, that’s not what backstage usually looks like.. Is it?

My own unofficial headcount had the audience at about 800, maybe? I kept thinking that this could easily be the last time I see this band in such a small venue. And whomever is responsible for booking this group into such a special venue, deserves a beer. I’ll buy, and I don’t even drink beer..

Two razor-sharp sets of music including favorites, 'Uncle Wally,' 'Wife Soup,' and 'Jimmy Stewart,' under the stars of the Richmond skyline positively insisted that you listen, they were so good. Splendid sound quality for an outdoor show, especially. And lights that made a mere botanical garden band shell look like.. well.. a VENUE..

Was this evening’s performance inspired and informed by the shock of the announcement about Michael Jackson, as one particularly emphatic fan tried to convince me, in the ladies room..? Or was it more the culmination of everything that came before it in this band’s previous ten years: practice, focus, dedication to craft, and maybe, just a little luck? I pick the latter. . And these guys are only just getting started..

Packing up recording gear after the show, my husband and I overheard a taper trying to explain to his younger friend what the Mr. Miyagi comment – meant..‘You know – wax on, wax off..?’ he said, as he held his hands in mock fence-painting style. “Oh – I get it!” The friend said, as they both -- with no prior arrangement -- karate-chopped the air in unison as they walked away.

It appears that Mr. Miyagi trains bands, too.

Nineteen year old Adam Oberlin has been looking forward to this show for weeks. The recent Hampton, Virginia high school graduate got tickets from his parents, who are also Primus fans, from “way back,” according to Adam’s mom, Stacey. “It’s awesome that Adam digs this, too,” offered the father, as they all sprinted past me for a good location at the stage, as a family.

It’s strangely accurate that a Primus fan might -- have a child that old.. Not so strange, really, that a Primus fan would buy their kid concert tickets to see Les Claypool. And Adam got a great graduation present, in turns out. Claypool delivered a strong set of high energy, and punk-injected funk, along with Brooklyn-based Oh death presenting an opener of delightfully-weird Goth-Grass music, at Norfolk, Virginia’s beautiful downtown venue, The Norva.

“It’s just about the perfect double-bill,” suggested Jake Steitz, an active duty sailor stationed in Norfolk, originally from Brooklyn. “They [the bands,] are both out there, but in a good way,” he said. Jake, a 24 year old radar technician, said he’d seen Oh Death three or four times back home in New York, and thought the band had really progressed noticeably in just the last few years. “I saw them just before going to boot camp,” he said, “they were great then, but this is waay better. And Les [Claypool,] is up next? Are you kidding me? PERFECT NIGHT,” he said with a flourish.. “PERFECT.”

I must agree with Jake. The pairing of the freakishly-talented Claypool and that of Oh Death, made for an evening of nerve - jarring, feather-ruffling, thought-provoking musical THICKNESS. No easy passes on this night, with the opening notes of Oh Death’s set – till the last of the “sprinkles on the cupcake,” as Claypool so described his own show-ending encore.

Oh Death is a band I’d only heard ‘of’ and not ‘heard.’ I try not to research a band too much before hearing them the first time, and this night was no exception. I walked in thinking bluegrass, given the name of the band – but as many of you already know, I got so much more.

Writer John Ziegler called Oh Death’s music, “an unsettling, strange sound,” and indeed it is, upon first listen. Called Goth-Metal, Metal-Grass, or Thrash-Grass, the New York band is all electricity and psychological static. Combine a backwoods honky-tonk from the late 1950’s with a punk bar from the late 1970s, and the energy is competitively similar.

I seemed to be the only person not already indoctrinated, as the venue was jumping throughout the entire opening set. Guitar, banjo, fiddle, trombone, all combine together with Oh Death, into one large spicy gumbo, combined with punk’s requisite Molotov cocktail of drums and bass. Touring in support of their second studio release, “Broken Limbs and Skins,” the band performed with manic- precision, roaring thru their material as if possessed by the spirits of Jack Daniels, Sid Vicious, and some kind of demented Bill Monroe.

The twisted sounds of Oh Death were more than appropriate introduction to the evening’s main attraction, Les Claypool. Where Oh Death combines punk sensibilities with that of bluegrass and Americana music, Claypool’s punk roots are married to funk and in a larger sense – jazz.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Les. The writer, film maker, wine maker, and legendary bass player was in fine form, rolling deftly through songs from his current cd, Of Fungi and Foe. It’s a musical salad tossed with elements from music written for a video game, Mushroom Men, to additional tracks from independent film Pig Hunt. Claypool served up several tracks from the new cd, including Red State Girl, the story of the ‘Sarah Palin admirer, with ‘powder on and up her nose.’ And the un-nerving Boonville Stomp, that felt like the alternative sound track to The Blair Witch Project.

Claypool and Oh Death may have indeed been the perfect double-bill, as Jake the Sailor proclaimed. My truest barometer of the evening came just as the show ended, and young Adam and his parents were leaving the venue.. “It was fucking awesome!” boomed his mother. “Stacey!” replied her husband, in a mock-chastizing tone. “Well.. It WAS, wasn’t it?” said Adam, grinning, as the threesome hit the streets, after the show..

The demographics of a show that contains any member of The Grateful Dead is not as easily predicted as you may think. Wednesday night’s show at Innsbrook Pavilion, near Richmond was peppered with the usual suspects, to be sure.

But amidst all those vintage tye-dies, and tour shirts one also found mom’s grooving away with kids who had their heads down – engrossed in Nintendo. There were cougars, and their older sisters even, decked out in original bohemian glory, inspiring Becky Stevens of Richmond to proclaim, “You can always tell which women came to see BOBBY. They DRESS for him.” One can never predict whom they will meet at a show like this. Tonight was no exception.

Dr. Geoffrey Cooper is a wine maker, and a Deadhead. “I made wine as an amateur for many years,” said the jovial Cooper, shortly before RatDog took the stage. “Then I bought land in 1998 – and started selling commercially, the next year,” added Dr. Cooper, who also has a day job as an eye surgeon in the Richmond metro area.

The long-time tape trader boasts of a collection of about ‘a thousand’ live Dead shows, including an F.O.B. [front of board,] recording of The Grateful Dead’s final show, at Soldier Field. “The last show I ever taped,” said Cooper.

He sees many similarities between wine and music. Both manifest as part of “creativity within a given form, for one,” said Cooper. “Music has variations within a theme, so does wine,” he added. “The pleasures of wine and music have brought people together since the dawn of man,” he said.

The musical pleasures of RatDog seemed abundantly obvious to the fans in attendance, as well. While a shorter set, since the stage was co-headlined with moe. – Weir and his band delivered the time-honed goods that were wanted, including crowd-favorites Odessa, and Playin’ in the Band. Al Schnier joined the band at the end of the set, for an energetic version of Going Down the Road Feelin Bad. moe.’s opening set was equally-chocked full of fan-musts. Akimbo, Waiting for the Punchline, and a particularly surprising version of Recreational Chemistry.

A personal fan of Dr. Cooper’s wine – here in Virginia, I couldn’t resist asking what he’d serve Bobby, should he ever cross his winery’s threshold. “That’s easy,” said the winemaker, with a smile in his voice. “A viognier. We make a a viognier that’s elegant, powerful, with a subtlety that’s very unique,” Dr. Cooper said, finally. “That’s the perfect wine for someone like Bob Weir.”

Have you ever had ‘make-up sex?’And I mean the ‘grown-up’ kind – full of the peaks and valleys of intimate knowledge of the other, with an understanding of the significance of the recent pasts’ dissonance… It’s sex with the knowledge that one nearly lost this person, and is lucky to have retrieved their relationship from the brink. Sex with someone you LOVE - or maybe ‘loved’ in the past. Sex that’s like physical history in action and re-action - with all the emotional lights left on.

Make-up sex has it all, really.. The emotional revelation that precedes it, where all parties finally break down and admit blame – or agree not to.. The anxious energy before each realizes the other also wants to make up. It’s the fragility of egos opening wide, revealing new truths as each layer is pulled away. It’s weepy at times, nerve-jarring pins and needles, others.. And there’s the unspoken fear of being ‘shut down,’ by their partner – with their ‘pants down,’ figuratively – and literally.

There’s also the frantic, haste-filled stage of makeup sex -- either the best or the worst kind , depending upon whom you ask - all sweaty hands and fast heartbeats. It may not be perfect, but that doesn’t matter.

Perhaps it’s the sincerity of the moment, and not so much style?

Make-up sex can be ponderous at times, too. Parties can try too hard, ultimately realizing that they haven’t made up at all, and the magic either can’t or shouldn’t try to be repeated, with palpable frustration of all involved.. And there is a slower, more reflective kind of make-up sex, with lots of eye to eye gazes and slow smiles.

And finally, there’s the transcendent kind of make-up sex, where your heart almost stops from the entirety of the experience, both stylistically, and emotionally.

All these elements appear to be in play with Phish’s new release, aptly titled ‘JOY.’

After catching shows in Hampton, Knoxville, St Louis, and Saratoga Springs, I’d heard many of these tracks live, and later on soundboard recordings and audience tapes. I’d already formed a list of what new songs I thought ‘worked’ and what I thought still needed to be worked through in live performance. Then I dropped JOY into my cd player for a truly concentrated -- listen.

For the most part, Phish studio releases are an afterthought, for me. Sure, I buy them all, mostly to understand what the basic composition is about. I find it easier to appreciate all the various places the band takes a song to -- live, after studying the basic composition. But that’s usually where it ends for me.

Phish’s first release in five years, produced by Steve Lillywhite is, as the Associated Press review called it, ‘their most ambitious,’ to date. It is not perfect. But that’s not really the point.

Joy plays like a Twelve-Step confessional at times, and a good-natured raucous party, as well. Make-up sex.

Most tracks are written by Trey Anastasio and longtime Phish lyricist, Tom Marshall. Page McConnell’s ‘I been around,’ seems destined for plenty of visits to encore and set ending positions on the setlist. And Mike Gordon’s cleverly written lyrics and the bouncing bass line on his composition, ‘Sugar Shack’ round out the disc.

The analogy of musical make-up sex works for me with JOY. It’s the album that could easily never have been. Yet, with a palpable.. um… joy, it is indeed a reality. In the recent NPR interview, the band discussed some of the earliest suggestions that a reunion, and new recording would eventually happen. Notably, was a gift of a custom made album of music given to lead singer, Anastasio, by the other members of the band as a birthday present.

[It was] “An album that they had made for me that was songs that I could overdub onto, but more importantly, it came in this amazing package that was a triangle that opened up and inside of it was an actual album with album cover art. And they had done a photo for the cover. And it was unbelievable, and very, very, very moving,” Anastasio told NPR’s Ari Shapiro.

And like the ‘lover’s mix tape,’ in the form of that custom album, poetry also played its’ part. And indeed the lead track, Backwards down the number line, originated in a poem written by Tom Marshall, and was also given to Trey on his birthday..

The most obvious radio release on a disc with several songs that ‘could’ make it on commercial radio, Backwards down the Number Line sticks with you lyrically almost from the first listen. Full of introspection, it feels like an ode to friends past and present. Several musical on and off ramps abound in this song, for the appropriate use for improvisational starting points in live performance. This one will be fun to watch season at shows.. It’s already so good, now.

The real nugget for me on Joy is track two – Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan. I can’t stop listening to it. Bluesy, raw, blistering solos from Anastasio, pureed with the lyrical desperation of a Twelve Step meeting. There is something different about Anastasio’s voice here, or maybe it’s the gravity of the lyrics, given his recent personal issues? Drummer Jon Fishman is the key however, centering this composition as a percussive, straight-ahead no apologies rock and roll song. And I can’t wait to see what Kuroda does with it..

The much gentler title track, Joy, also shows Anastasio’s further improved singing chops. He’s breathing differently, and I mean that with respect to vocal performance. It’s some of his best singing to date. His vocal texture sounds at times like a proud parent and at once also a grieving brother.

Ocelot, another of the tracks that could receive some level of commercial attention, is a great story song that’s already becoming a favorite to hear live. Light starts out a little like ‘End of Sesson,” but quickly morphs into a more pop-style. Kill Devil Falls showcases the ever present Phish sense of humor, and will surely sound better and better with live reinterpretation. And epic in scope, anthematic in delivery, Twenty Years Later could be the sleeper track of them all.

But unlike make-up sex, the reunion and creation of this new release was not done in haste or devoid of introspection, despite the birthday gifts of that custom made album, or the poetry.

Keyboardist Page McConnell continued in the same NPR interview, “It's much more complicated than that, I think, because Trey and I had been talking on the phone quite a bit just about our history and our relationship. And that sort of happened over the course of two years leading up to that, maybe. It was just a gift. There were no strings attached.”

Even if those gifts weren’t given as a means to ‘court’ the reunification of the band, the end result remains. Phish is back, and performing with clarity and focus not seen since the mid-90s. And they’re recording in the studio perhaps better than they ever have.

The past five years since Coventry -- the epic, emotional, and mud-clogged ‘phinal show,’ back in August of 2004 have been seminal for each of band members. All are fathers, now. All are in their 40s and appear to be approaching the music from additional parts of themselves. The original spark and creativity is still present.. But only a few listens of this newest release also reveal a more mature and more focused Phish.. There is a clear-eyed reflection of the past, a reconciliation of it. There is a sense of joy about the now, and for the future. The band seems driven to achieve, because as Tom Marshall wrote so long ago, “It’s later than you think.”

How much of Phish 3.0 is due to their affiliation with super-producer Steve Lillywhite? His resume speaks for itself, working with artists like U2, Peter Gabriel, and The Dave Matthews Band. Lillywhite produced Phish’s 1996 release Billy Breathes, garnering their first ‘radio hit’ of sorts, with Free, reaching number 11 on the mainstream rock charts.

Lillywhite does appear to be credited with the inclusion of the magnum opus “Time Turns Elastic,” a song not originally intended to be a Phish composition.

Anastasio told NPR, “When we got to the studio, our producer said it wouldn't be a Phish album without one of those big epic Phish tunes. And we arranged it with the four of us, bit by bit, as a Phish tune.”

Originally penned as an orchestral piece, one that will be performed soon, by the New York Philharmonic, retooling it for the quartet took, according to Anastasio, ‘about 260 takes.’

And for me, it shows. Time Turns Elastic, or “TTE” as some are starting to refer to this composition by, tries by my estimation to be the new millennium’s You Enjoy Myself. It misses the mark. It’s like forced make-up sex between people that haven’t really worked through their issues yet.. Or like trying to replicate lightning when it should be a spontaneous event, free of artificial manipulation.

I heard this composition several times on tour this summer. And there are parts of it I like, to be sure. But – it’s just not seasoned enough.. Or maybe it’s because it wasn’t ‘supposed’ to be a Phish song? I’m not sure. I think there are numerous places within this track that will prove as fabulous jumping off points for live improvisation. Alas, I didn’t hear the song used, yet, in this fashion – during performance. I shall hope for a wider live exploration of TTE in the coming months. For now, I hit ‘next’ when the track comes up on my iPod..

But TTE is about where my disappointment ends with this disc. Even the most casual of listens will reveal a well --  joy, in the band’s performance, and a return to the meticulous instrument proficiency that long time phans can still remember from the early to middle 90s..

From Anastasio’s near-imprisonment for drug possession, to the potential destruction of their own private friendships, these men seem to have recognized that they’ve come thru the fire, so to speak, and are by all accounts, the better for it.. Keyboardist Page McConnell distilled this emotional awareness for NPR.

“What we have is a second chance here to do this. And it was so successful for those first 22 years or so, and then it went away. And if it hadn't come back, that would have been a lot. But then to be all to come back and have a second chance at it and to tweak some of the things that weren't exactly right,” McConnell, said.

Seeing Anastasio solo in October, and the five Phish shows I saw this summer I feel qualified to say the band looks happy, healthy and ready for whatever comes next.  The gratitude hung in the air like patchouli.

Anastasio told NPR, “We're aware of how rare it is for a band, after 27 years, to have all the original members, and to be still be playing together. It's a very, very precious thing.”

2009 has been one helluva year, hasn’t it?

We all started out in January, with the electric energy of a pending Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  And we also had the knowledge that Phish was gonna tour again.  I for one, recall standing outside on NYE, and holding my hands wide to embrace what was ‘next.’

But this sense of joy hadn’t come easily, in either venue.  Certainly the most expensive political campaign in American history, the nation greeted the New Year with near-equal parts jubilation and despair.  And like the do-rags of the Crips and Bloods, your mood essentially matched what color you preferred, be it red or blue.

And for Phish, and most possibly Trey Anastasio specifically, the recent past also revealed signs of turmoil and conflict, and the feeling of near exhaustion from having just made a ‘hard climb.’  But thankfully, the sum of his recent journey -- was manifesting in a consistently positive direction, for all involved.  Plus, I think he ate a lot of Wheaties..

By this time last year, I’d already seen Trey Anastasio’s Classic TAB tour closer in Richmond.  It was evident then, how much clarity had returned to Trey’s playing. And it was equally evident how much clarity had returned to Trey.  I prowled the rail with my camera all night, watching for a sign that this new Trey was really a ruse.  I didn’t find any.  He assaulted his Languedoc, and kept it coming straight into the audience for well over two hours.. But yet on that October night in 2008, you could see something different, especially round his eyes. He’d ‘seen’ things anew.  Recently.  He played like he had something to prove..

Flash-forward to the reunion shows in Hampton, with scalper tickets going for more than $1000 each, in some cases.  The insanity of the scene in 2004 seemed to have only grown bigger, and more un-Phish-like.  A few news outlets valued tickets to the three night stand at Hampton Coliseum as just as hard to obtain as those for the recent Presidential Inauguration.  Signs held up offering $500 for one ticket to the Friday night show were openly laughed at. The reunion was abound with “musical carpetbaggers,” anxious to make the Phish scene, and see what all the fuss was about.  Remind you of all those fair weather political wonks, of either party?

The ticket on-sale debacles of the summer fueled more bad energy between longtime phans and the ticket scalpers and brokers.  But by Fall tour, many of those kinks were sorted out.  The carpetbaggers had moved to the next big thing, and some semblance of normal started to return.  More fans started to get lucky on the ticket lottery again.  There were fewer instances of non-tapers snatching up all the taper tickets than had happened during summer tour.  Some of the ticket brokers even took losses on tickets to shows like Detroit.  I read anecdotal reports of unused, and apparently unsellable extra tickets found on the ground at some venue entrances.  This is not to say that the Phish phenomenon has ended.. Not in the least.. But the scene seems to be normalizing, at least to the extent that it’s possible.

With a preschooler in the house, I felt particularly lucky to have made six shows this year.  I ended my own musical year with the fall tour closer in Charlottesville, Virginia, the home of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and James Madison. And as I stood watching the show, I had moments of my own clarity, about how our collective experiences at shows this year, all watching this group of men re-create themselves, as individual musicians and as friends, paralleled what was happening this night in Charlottesville, and to some intangible degree, the nation at large.  I found myself wishing that everyone would find a live stream of the show, and just chill out.

Mark Skeens, of Hickory, North Carolina, could perceive a sense of continued regrowth at Charlottesville that had begun anew at Hampton, just a few miles away and several months, earlier.  Attending his 144^th show, the thirty-something manager for a retail/wholesale based auto parts supplier suggested that a ‘1995 vibe was present in C-ville’ on Saturday night.

“Charlottesville was a good show with a very solid set list.  You could see the progression of the band from where they were 10 months ago,” said Skeens.  “The energy levels are high on stage, and there was lots of good banter between all the band members. Lots of smiles, and probably most important -- we had a FIST PUMPING TREY!! he said, with a smile.  “The vets will understand that last part,” Skeens added, laughing.

Cheryl, from Boulder, Colorado, was attending her third Phish show; her first two having been the Red Rocks performances from this past summer.  And she wanted to hear two specific songs.  Divided Sky, and David Bowie.

“You can't even imagine my shock and disbelief when they were both played in the first set; which left me completely open and ready to listen to anything else after that,” she said.   I think I even said to my friends, "Okay, we can go now" after both were played - before set break! Of course I was kidding, but I was already so happy, so anything else was gravy.”

The newly-minted Phish-head from Colorado initially thought she recognized more of the songs than she actually had.  “I just counted, and I knew 13 of the 24 songs, so just more than half. That's surprising, because I felt like I knew 75% of them during the show, Cheryl said.

But while Cheryl explained that she does typically like to know a musical composition before she sees it interpreted live, there is also value in just accepting something fresh, with no preconceived notions.  Cheryl continued.

“I have to say that I don't know Free, and when it started, I was utterly amazed by the joy and energy of the crowd. THEY knew it and THEY loved it, so I leaned back on my heels and took it all in. I knew it was going to be big, perhaps it was a song they hadn't played in 10 years...I didn't know what it was all about, but I knew it was going to be huge. And it was. And I danced, and I love the song.”

I have to agree with Cheryl on the musical transcendence that took place during Free.  Well, to be specific, it all began with the second set opener and built from there: Tweezer>Light>Piper>Free.  What took everything to that next Dionysian level of existence?  The playing was surely spirited and open.  But the conductor on that part of our ride, was Chris Kuroda.

I spent a good deal of time watching Kuroda during the show. I was back in the taper’s section, and could easily see how much fun the lighting master was having at his console.  He was practically dancing as he worked.  Our taper friend from North Carolina agreed.

Skeens explained that Kuroda’s console, “now has a keyboard set up and it is programmed so that it slaves off his main console. Certain keys cue certain lights or starts a certain sequence,” he said.  As for the lights themselves, I really like the LED's he has added to the rig along with the new colors.” Mark thought that Kuroda must be pleased with the current setup, because “He was all smiles in Charlottesville.  Whenever he would tap a button -- everything just went POW!”

Skeens also offered that he thought Garry Brown’s sound work since taking the reins from the brilliant Paul Languedoc to be the perfect choice for Phish 3.0.  Brown had done extensive work with Anastasio’s solo efforts. “He’s already familiar with Trey's sound and rig.  The tapes that came out of those shows are fabulous,” Skeens said. And true to his remarks, the sound was pretty-much dialed in, from the beginning.

The same could be said for the playing.  Out of the gate, the energy was strong and focused.  I always laugh when Phish opens with AC/DC Bag – especially in a college town!  And while there were some flubbed guitar leads in Chalkdust, the band got back on track relatively quickly.  The Robert Palmer cover, Sneakin’ Sally through the Alley and Funky Bitch, stand out as my first set favorites.  Cheryl, the Coloradan told me that Divided Sky felt like her ‘theme song and that Saturday night’s version was particularly beautiful.  I agree. The pause alone in Divided Sky was haunting in its’ timing.  Silence within music, when done properly, can stop your heart, it’s so captivating.

Richmond, Virginia’s Matthew Steven Rooks likely wasn’t as alert to the nuances of that Divided Sky performance the way Cheryl, and others were.  He was busy looking for opportunity.  The 21 year old unemployed musician has come to be known as “The Naked Guy.” And if the Facebook fan page and countless odes to his greatness online are any indication, he will live forever in the annals of Phishtory.  His 45 second naked streak across the stage during Phish’s cover of the Mustangs’ Yamar, and the Keystone Cops pursuit by stage crew is one of the funniest things ever witnessed on a Phish stage.  And that says a lot.

Rooks didn’t walk into his first Phish show planning to ‘drop trou.’ He told me that he did it to “make people smile.”  He was wildly successful.

Rooks said he was standing right beside the stage and watching till a security person was distracted by a conversation.  Rooks continued, “Well I already had my shirt and shoes off, and yes, one of the guards was talking to a dude which caused his back to be facing me, so I pulled my boxers and pants down in 1 motion and jumped the railing, then booked it up the stairs!”

Rooks said he couldn’t reach every member of the band, since he was being pursued by so many people.  He did make it to Trey, “And he gave me a funny face when I asked if I could kiss him. So then I said, "Not in a sexual way", and he complied. So I kissed him on the cheek and we hugged.

Some audience members were so dumbfounded, they weren’t sure if what they were seeing was real.  Cheryl from Colorado offered, “Here's this guy, he's so into the moment, he takes off his clothes and runs up to the stage to hug and kiss Trey! You know it's a story he'll tell his grandchildren,” she said.  “It was so bizarre that I thought I might have imagined it, but I was pretty sure it really happened. Seeing the videos on YouTube makes me laugh out loud all over again. I love this crowd,” Cheryl added.

Mark the Taper wanted to give “Naked Guy props, because he lasted up on stage for what seemed an eternity,” he said, laughing.  “I'm still baffled how he got up there.  Looking at it after the fact, it seems as if he comes up from the rear of the stage -- which should have been a secured area? I smell a White House State Dinner type conspiracy here!” The Secret Service, had no comment.

It’s important to note that while all this madness was happening, the band hardly missed a beat. Anastasio was heard to quip that the stunt “took some big balls,”  to pull off.  No photo exists of the lead guitarist’s eyes, and whether they ever looked ‘down,’ while Rooks was onstage.

Yes, the band seemed to find the whole affair amusing, and it informed the goofy atmosphere, for the rest of the show. They played a whopping six covers of songs ranging from the aforementioned Mustangs, to The Rolling Stones, Robert Palmer, Jimi Hendrix along with the bluegrass standard, Old Home Place.

Later in the second set, during Golgi Apparatus, Gordon’s bass amplifier, blew.  Stage personnel immediately set to its’ repair as Trey announced that they’d now be playing the song as a trio. Then Trey spontaneously began to skat-sing parts of the bassline, and laughing at the same time.

But it was Run Like an Antelope that launched our young Mr. Rooks even deeper into Phistory as Trey purred, “Bid you to have any….. Naked Guy?” And the rest of the song is performed with the chorus “Run Like a Naked Guy, out of control!” I can already see the tee shirts, next summer in the lots..

Phish’s cover of the Rolling Stones’ Loving Cup is most typically considered lyrically to be a song about two lovers.  Saturday night’s performance, or maybe the energy of the show itself, seemed to assign a different meaning to the song.  This rendition felt more like an entire band pledging its love for their fans.. It wasn’t about sex.  It was about music.  And gratitude.  It was the perfect start to the encore at the tour closing show. A commanding and near- triumphant Reprise followed, ending the show.

As for The Naked Guy, he’s alive and well, and home in Richmond, no doubt planning his next move.  It just won’t be at Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena – ever again.  Rooks said that the security personnel were actually “extremely nice,” to him.  He was escorted back into the hall, as a guard retrieved his clothing from the crowd.  (It was easy to see from where he had jumped onstage.)

As for the legal aspects of his actions, Rooks said, “All I got was indecent exposure; they let me go after they wrote the summons. I just have to pay a fine, that's all.” I asked him if he had any regrets.  Rooks reply was “I feel extremely blessed and it was definitely worth it!”

And as for his friends’ reactions that night, who had no idea what he was about to do?

“My friend Nathan told me that while it was happening he said something like, "Oh no, that's my ride!” Rooks said, laughing.

Thanksgiving is a glorious time, here in Central Virginia.  The tourist-laden leaf season is over, yet plenty of post-peak autumnal glory hangs around to be enjoyed, for a little while longer.  Days can still be quite warm, and nights are deliciously cool and refreshing. Thanksgiving, football, and the coming Christmas season beckon.  And suddenly there are also lots of indoor bluegrass shows, especially in Charlottesville.

Seated at the foothills of the Blue Ridge, Charlottesville long ago established herself as a haven for bluegrass pickers and lovers.  On this night, several significant artists were performing in this small city: The Infamous Stringdusters, Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, as well as the band who have oft been billed as ‘the nicest guys in bluegrass,’ The Seldom Scene.

But don’t let their friendly reputations hide their abilities.  This has never been a group that was satisfied with merely winning the Mr. Congeniality award, mind you.  They consistently endeavor to take each song they perform, and ‘turn it on its ear,’ in search of a new way to interpret it.  And they’ve been doing it for nearly 40 years.

"We try to find material that's a little bit different, and approach the music in a little bit broader way than most bluegrass bands do," said the Seldom Scene's Dudley Connell to the Baltimore Sun in 1998. Since its inception in 1971, the Seldom Scene has thrived on playing bluegrass a little differently than everyone else. If other bands used a fiddler, the Seldom Scene used a Dobro; if others relied on old standards, the Seldom Scene played rock classics like J.J. Cale's "After Midnight." Through skilled musicianship and an urban approach to bluegrass, the Seldom Scene has become one of the most influential -- if not the most influential -- bluegrass band of their time.

Abby Thompkins has been attending Seldom Scene shows since the early 70s, and has watched the band members change for nearly 30 years.  The one thing she thinks has never changed is “their honest respect for bluegrass, “she said.

Thompkins, who retired from her post as a host of a small town radio bluegrass show at a now defunct radio station near Roanoke, Virginia, “many, many years ago,” wouldn’t offer her age.  But she did mention as we chatted before the show, that she’d “voted for Kennedy.” I left it at that, for obvious reasons.

Thompkins and I sat soon after, in rapt attention, as the Paramount Theatre manager regaled the audience with her own experiences with the band, back in 1989 at the famed venue The Birchmere, and the day Bob Dylan’s people called.

“I remember the late great John Duffy, (the original bandleader,) as well as the rest of the band, were just about finished packing up their gear after one of their regularly scheduled shows back then,” the manager said.  “And one of Bob Dylan’s people called, and told me that he’d just put Dylan into a car, from where Dylan had been performing near D.C. -- and he was headed to The Birchmere to hear the Seldom Scene.”

Knowing that Dylan wanted to hear the band perform, and that he was headed to her own venue to do it, the venue manager was pretty excited, as she stepped up to inform The Seldom Scene..  What happened next surprised and amused the manager.  She said it had a lot to do with what became her lifelong respect for the band, even when most of the original members had long ago departed the group.

“I walked up to John and told him, and he paused just a bit, seeming to consider whether to ask the rest of the band to stop, turn around, and re-set the stage, before Dylan arrived.”  Instead, the late bandleader said, “the wife and I have plans for later, and they include cold beverages, so Dylan will have to catch us, next time.”

No word on Dylan’s reaction at the time..

Thompkins and I both talked about that story, later.  The retired dj said, “I think it speaks to the bands and Duffy’s balanced approach to life as musicians.  And surely Duffy’s desire not to miss out on a cold one!” Thompkins added, with a laugh.

Indeed only one member of the original lineup still remains, Banjo and guitarist Ben Eldridge, who attended college here in Charlottesville at The University of Virginia, and who turned 70, not long ago.  But the current lineup continues the Seldom Scene tradition in fine form with Dudley Connell on guitar, vocals; Lou Reid on mandolin, vocals; Ronnie Simpkins on bass, vocals; and Fred Travers on dobro, vocals.

The Sugar Hill artists performed ably on this night, holding the crowd in the palms of their hands with a well-honed combination of instrument proficiency and borscht-belt humor.  I’m sure those jokes have been told a thousand times, but they still sounded fresh, and the audience still loved to hear them..

Musical highlights abounded with these fine musicians. “110 in the Shade, Lay down Sally, complete with a comical Dylan impersonation, and Chuck Berry’s Nadine” proved to be Thompkins’ favorites.. And the band seemed to be in good cheer as guitarist Dudley Connell proclaimed the group’s appreciation of such respectful listening on the part of the audience, “We can’t thank you all enough, We have the best job.. We go to work, and people clap!”

While Phish was ending its musically-epic fall tour at John Paul Jones Arena, in Charlottesville, and while the world was being introduced to The Naked Guy, a new music venue prepared to greet guests for the ‘Official Phish Aftershow, with Toubab Krewe.”

The Jefferson Theatre played host to the event, and also the night’s charity of choice, The Music Resource Center.  The venue reopened less than a month ago after a multi-year closure and a multimillion dollar facelift, and is already proving its mettle as that all important mid-sized rock venue.

Blake Campbell,  a chef from Palmyra, Virginia, ”can't wait to see more shows at The Jefferson,” and added, “Charlottesville has been missing this size venue ever since Trax closed.” Indeed The Jefferson is a newly-reopened and welcome addition to the already vibrant live music scene in this college town.

Located on Charlottesville’s historic Downtown Mall, The Jefferson Theater was established in 1912 as a live performance theater that played host to silent movies, vaudeville acts and a historic list of live performers, ranging from Harry Houdini to The Three Stooges.  Add to that list, Toubab Krewe.

Originally formed in 2005, the quartet blends a cleverly assembled mix of American and West African influences, with a result that fan Catherine Hobbs felt made them “one of the most dance-able new bands to come on the scene in a long while.” Her opinion seemed to be shared by many.  Hobbs continued,  “There was lots of space on the floor but everybody, from long dreaded hippies to older men with neatly trimmed white beards, was making the most of the space, to "get their dance on,” she said.   “Nobody watching the band was standing still.  The lights were up kind of high, which was a little strange especially since the stayed pretty bright for well over the next hour, but even so, nobody was self conscious about moving with the music.  It sounded good and it felt good and the crowd just relaxed into it.”

In retrospect, Toubab Krewe was a near perfect choice for the crowd that poured from John Paul Jones Arena.  Minds already expanded, and ready for the intricate rhythms and complex construction of music that Village Voice describes as "a futuristic, psychedelic, neo-griot frenzy" and Honest Tune hails as "one of the most innovative voices in music today."

It also made the band the perfect choice for an event that was also to benefit the local organization The Music Resource Center.  Founded in 1995 by musicians and songwriters including John Hornsby, and also aided greatly by the Dave Matthews Band charitable arm, Bama Works, The Music Resource Center is a multi-faceted music education center for teenagers located in Charlottesville, VA. According to their webside, The center uses the recording and performing arts to create a sense of empowerment and accomplishment in the urban community.

This ‘It takes a Village’ tack in music education blends nicely with the creative paths the members of Toubab Krewe have taken in their own journey.  Each member has spent not only time studying in West African nations, but also was immersed in the culture, and living in the homes of their teachers, often for months at a time.  The dedication, work ethic, and respect of the band for the West African music is obvious.  Guitarist Drew Heller told “Honest Tune” magazine, “In a way, our music is both familiar and foreign to West Africa and America.  It exists somewhere in between.”

Afropop Worldwide seemed to say it best. “Blending American and West African influences into a sound all its’ own, Toubab Krewe has set "a new standard for fusions of rock and West African music."

Campbell and Hobbs are convinced.  Campbell said, “I think this my third time seeing them.  We've caught a couple of their sets in the dance tent at Merlefest, where they always drew a big diverse crowd and once on the main stage.  I liked them enough after seeing them the first time to buy a CD and a t-shirt, a rarity for me,” he said.  “The band seemed to be having a lot of fun and was making contact with, and seemed amused by, the chemically altered post Phish show crowd.  The crowd was really into the music,” added Campbell.

Both continued to sing praises for this new venue, as well.  As a former movie theatre, the sloped flooring that was kept and refinished was a welcome aspect of this new, old structure.  Campbell explained, “There isn't really a bad seat on the main floor because of the slopped floor.  I didn't visit the balcony, but it appeared to have seats that might make it a nice chill out zone. The third and highest balcony isn't finished being renovated.  The sound was great.  Nice separation between the different instruments and you could feel the bass.  There are speakers throughout the bar area and entrance tunnel,” the chef said.

Hobbs agreed.  “I loved that the gently sloping floor of the old movie theater was kept for the dance floor; everyone can have a nice view of the stage, even the short-legged.    And, I thought the sound was clear and crisp even in the back at the tables along the mid-level rail.”

It’s good to live in the Charlottesville, Virginia area, these days.. The recent remodeling and re-opening of the historic Jefferson Theatre has energized the local music scene, and provided an injection of even more entertainment variety on any given night of the week.  Even in a snowstorm.

I’m not typically one to temp Mother Nature’s wrath, by driving or being out in really bad weather, when I don’t have to be.  Then again, this had not been a typical winter. Quickly approaching the all-time snowiest winter on record, 8-10 inches of snow was forecast and expected to blanket the night.

We had already exceeded the typical annual snowfall amount by over a foot.

We would learn a mere 24 hours later, that an even larger blizzard was on the horizon. And not long after -- we’d spend a frigid night in a house with no power, and our three year old, after an associated ice storm’s wrath.  But we didn’t know any of that – yet. The snow had been falling steadily for hours.  Cabin fever overtook us and we set out for the show.

The challenging drive and treacherous roadways were about the only complaints of my evening, thankfully.  Tea Leaf Green seemed to take the stage with a joyful aggression.  Sounding tight and well-rehearsed, the San Francisco quartet stepped off effortlessly with Red Ribbons.  But until I heard the sultry harmonica opening to Emma Lee, I wasn’t quite in the groove.  But they had me, from there – out.

I haven’t had a chance to see this band in a couple of years. Despite the rapidly deteriorating weather, we were able to see all of the first set. It was great to hear all of what initially made this band sound good, still there.  Just better with time. Recently signed to Red Light Management, based here in Charlottesville, the band joked how  this was kinda a ‘second home town,’ now.  Here’s hoping the band is able to visit his Cville family on a regular basis.

Frankly, it sucked to have to leave early.  But it was the right decision for us.  We’ll live to catch Tea Leaf Green again. 

Check out more of Gina's great photos and for more information on Tea Leaf Green, including upcoming tour dates, check out their website.

Tea Leaf Green members:

Josh Clark - Guitar, Vocals
Trevor Garrod - Keyboards, Vocals
Reed Mathis - Bass, Vocals
Scott Rager- Drums, Percussion

I’ve always secretly felt badly for people with birthdays that fell during the deep winter.  Mine’s in late August.. Pretty much everywhere I’ve ever lived or visited, I’ve found August to be lush, warm, and full of nature’s bounty.  Birthday gatherings for me were pretty much always outside, and in nature. I feel most comfortable near trees, and earth, and sky, and bright, warm sunshine.   To me, a birthday in February, for example, must surely be frigid, and dreary, and well – not that much fun.  Or so I assumed.

The birthday party, that I attended at Charlottesville, Virginia’s Jefferson Theatre on February 8th, was indeed cold.. Frigid, even.. But it was anything but dreary.. And it was most definitely fun..

The historically prolific snow totals in the mid Atlantic states had not quite reached their zenith on this night, but there was plenty of snow on the ground, to be sure.  The previous weekend had brought yet another dumping in the area, with a measure of ice as well.  Thousands were still without power.  But the lights were on at The Jefferson Theatre, as was the sold out benefit show with Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB.  There was a veritable blizzard of reduced price, and in some cases, free tickets left on the ground just outside.  Cancelled flights and treacherous driving conditions kept some ticketed fans away, leaving the venue feeling full, but not overstuffed.

Billed as a benefit performance for the Kristine Anastasio Manning Memorial Fund, it also served as the opening night of a short, quickly paced tour by Classic TAB.  Starting in Charlottesville, TAB is poised to move like a clipper weather system up and across the Atlantic seaboard and into the midwest, before quickly turning south and bringing the tour to a close by month’s end.

On what would have been his sister’s 47^th birthday, Anastasio along with a number of his family members and those of his sister’s married family gathered for what at times, felt like both a great party and a musical group hug.  Manning succumbed to neuroendocrine cancer in April 2009.  Given that this show was a benefit, I do think it was a missed opportunity for educating fans about the myriad of environmental causes that fall under the umbrella of the late Ms. Manning’s Memorial Fund.  And given her own accomplishments in environmentalism, Ms. Manning’s opinion would be sage advice for anyone considering affiliation with a given group or organization.

Described as a env-story-iron-mentalist, Kristine graduated from Princeton Day School in 1981 and Harvard University, and spent time at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York City. As director and vice president for programs at Island Press in Washington, D.C., she focused on finding ways to protect the oceans and discover ways to conserve functioning ecosystems around fast developing cities and towns. Her work as president of the Haw River Assembly near her home in North Carolina made it possible for neighbors and visitors to continue to experience the beauty of that clean river.

In recent years, she helped create and oversee her brother Trey Anastasio’s non-profit endeavor, the Seven Below Arts Initiative, an Artist-in-Residence program established to foster artistic development and arts education in Vermont.

The Harvard and Duke University graduate wrote in her book, The Ecology of Place, of a “a world in which land is consumed sparingly, cities and towns are vibrant and green, local economies thrive, and citizens work together to create places of enduring value.”  Was it her own greener-version of Gamehendge, perhaps?

Anastasio family creativity was in full bloom at The Jefferson Theatre, as Kristine’s brother Trey threw her a party, any sister would be proud to attend.  Charlottesville was really lucky to get such an intimate show.

The current TAB lineup is a septet, described by Anastasio as a ‘lean and mean.’   In a recent interview, Anastasio reintroduced the line up, and welcomed a new member.

“So this tour, it's going to be the core of the band – Ray Paczkowski, Jennifer Hartswick, Russ Lawton, Tony Markellis and Russ Remington – we've all been together for 10-12 years. And we're really excited to have Natalie Cressman, who is Jeff Cressman's 18-year-old daughter, join us. Jeff was our trombone player up until 2008. He's going out with Santana, so his daughter is our first second-generation member and she's an incredible player,” Anastasio said.

Sounding well-rehearsed overall, they offered up a number of new songs including  Liquid Time, Birdwatcher, and the Dude of Life composition, Show of Life.  The paired-down horn section still sounded rich and lush, given the new arrangements made with longtime collaborator, Don Hart.  Anastasio explained, “We started [rehearsals,] in December with the three horn players and my friend, Don Hart, who I collaborated with on Time Turns Elastic. We spent three days at my house going through all the old charts – shoeboxes full of papers, many of them handwritten, from 10 years of horn writing. Don helped us re-voice the chords to sound richer,” he said.

New trombonist Natalie Cressman, is a fine addition to the lineup. Her playing is top notch and her voice is a valuable addition to arsenal of singers at TAB's disposal.  And she’s only 18 years old.  She and trumpet player Jennifer Hartswick sound fabulous together both as horn players and vocally.  I especially liked their sassy deliveries later in the night, with Birdwatcher, a big band swing composition.

Great TAB standards were also part of the evening.  Cayman Review, Mozambique and Driftin’ were among the highlights.  Playing was brisk and tight, with an emphasis on the second set.   Kuroda came with his red Chuck Taylor All star sneakers and 8 additional moving lights to beautifully illuminate the interior of the 750 person capacity venue. Sound was excellent.

During the four song encore, Anastasio stopped to thank everyone for coming and added a word of encouragement for families who were dealing with cancer, as his had, during the previous year. Dedicating At the Gazebo to such families, and to his sister whose spirit Anastasio said, ‘was present tonight.’ Closing with a jubilant rendition of First Tube, Anastasio and company delivered the quite a party to a bone-chilled winter-weary crowd. It was a great deep winter birthday party, in my estimation. Too bad the guest of honor couldn't be there.

Leslie Jenkins believes in the power of the blues. She believes in its’ power to lift the souls of those who truly are listening. If The Blues were to be a religion, I suspect she’d be in the front pew, ready for a anointing thru music each and every Saturday night. Or – better yet, she might heed a calling and lead the congregation, preferably with a historically accurate homemade instrument. Music - for the farmer and local television personality, is a religious expression to be made with careful consideration.

Musically trained in piano and flute, and the child of a family of musicians, including a grandfather who led big bands, and taught at University of Mississippi, Ms Jenkins was raised to appreciate the spirituality of music, ‘from day one,’ she said.

Originally from New Orleans, she now resides in Virginia’s rural Greene County, and is a self-described “farmer, greenhouse grower, instigator, photographer, and videographer.” Who, she offered, also “likes to eat and dance.” I didn’t witness her consuming anything in the literal sense. But I did meet an earnest music fan, and reverent amateur student of ethnomusicology. And I think she danced some, too. I know I did..

On this night, Ms. Jenkins was also gathering research to assist her younger sister with a college writing assignment. The decision to attend a blues-based concert at a venue named for Thomas Jefferson, in the waning days of Black history month, by a band that was comprised mostly of Caucasians, was not lost on her either. “I mean, look who this place’s named for, anyway?” she pondered, as we struck up a conversation in the beautifully restored venue.

I must admit to having harbored similar socio-cultural thoughts while I took in the same performance by The North Mississippi AllStars. But not indignantly, mind you. (Nor do I think Jenkins was, either.) Just as more of an academic mental exercise. The gifted power-trio brought their brand of ‘hill country’ blues music to historic Jefferson Theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia this past Sunday night. And as the evening progressed, I thought a lot about where I was, historically. And I thought also of the historical significance of what I was witnessing onstage.

I like blues music, but it’s not something I listen to everyday.. And it has been years since I’d seen the band perform their own material, and not compositions by The Black Crowes, or those of the sacred music power group, The Word. But a North Mississippi AllStars show is much different, I was reminded. Like putting on crawdads to boil, it just gets hotter, and hotter, and hotter…

The Jefferson Theatre stage manager, Warren Parker, agreed. “I hadn't seen them in forever, and I always forget how just downright badass Luther Dickinson is on guitar. Fun show, and nice guys to boot.” Badass, indeed. In early 2007, Luther was featured by Rolling Stone as one of the Top 20 “new guitar gods.” And he appears to have only improved, with time.. One of two sons of the late legendary Memphis musician and producer, Jim Dickenson, Luther’s first word was allegedly ‘studio,’ according to various sources. His brother Cody, a virtuosic drummer, and fascinating electric washboard player, is also an accomplished songwriter and guitarist. And the joyfully brilliant Chris Chew, friends with the Dickenson brothers since high school, brings the heat with bass and vocals.

The Sunday night show held many gospel nuggets, blues standards, and rock anthems. Instrument proficiency with this band is so high, just about everything they put out there was spot on. With a singing voice that outweighs the musician by about 50 pounds, and 20 years – the guitarist led the trio thru a brisk set of music, playing with a journeyman’s confidence through such standouts as Shake ‘em on down, Preachin’ Blues, and Goin’ down South. The crowd was jovial and ready to dance. Sturgis tee shirts mixed with tie dyes, and the orange and blue of the Virginia Cavaliers. There was good mojo present. Blues just sounded ‘right’ at The Jefferson Theatre, I reconciled. I got to thinking about it, and was once again drawn into historical subtext, and the dichotomy of human nature. I started with the venue.

Built in 1901 to house a bank, the building was sold to a theater company in 1912, ironically the same year Hart Wards’ “Dallas Blues” became the first copy-written blues composition. In its early years, the Jefferson hosted vaudeville acts, silent films, and performers such as Harry Houdini and the Three Stooges. And it also hosted Jim Crow.

Like most public places in the south, The Jefferson had its’ Jim Crow balcony, the only place blacks could be patronize the theatre. Various reports assert that this balcony was found behind walls, during the recent multi-million dollar restoration of this historic venue.  I couldn’t completely confirm or deny this. But it’s open now regardless, and watching the show -- up there way above the teeming crowd below, wondered how patrons of old dealt with the internal frustration of having so little choice in how they were treated. I would suspect they listened to a lot of the blues.

Stage manager Parker describes this 3rd floor balcony as, "…originally a segregated balcony. If you go up there, you'll see that there were no seats at all, just standing room. Also, it's incredibly high up, with a very steep view of the stage. And it’s pushed much further back than the lower balcony. I guess in those times, if "the segregated" had to be present, then they wanted them to be as uncomfortable and far away from what was happening in there as possible." Both Parker and I are fascinated by this little slice of this venue’s history. Parker said it best, it’s “almost as if the building itself has a secret to tell.”

I would suspect there are a number of secrets in that building. During its many decades as a movie theatre, opera boxes that offered only limited views of the screen were walled off. This is likely when the Jim Crow balcony was temporarily lost, to architecture-choking drywall and hideously flocked wall paper. By the late 1970s, it had acquired a reputation for showing so many x-rated films that it was nicknamed "the Skinema." It’s fair to assert that the building itself, understands the blues in the fullest extent possible, assuming I may anthropomorphize some bricks and mortar, for a moment.

Gratefully, the significant architectural archaeology done thru Capshaw’s efforts has restored this venue to its former glory. Mr. Parker mentioned that there was a rumor that the building was haunted. One wonders who that ghost is – and what they might think of the newest incantation of the theatre. Tonight’s music likely fits in nicely with the overall history of the venue. Vaudeville acts often hired blues musicians. It’s reasonable to imagine that some of the same compositions the North Mississippi AllStars performed on this night, had been played long before, in the same space. And on this night, the Jim Crow balcony was now a mere historical anecdote.

The name of the venue also offers up its own slice of southern dichotomy and intrigue. Named for Thomas Jefferson, president, inventor, torchbearer for The Enlightenment, and owner of his alleged lover, mother to several of his children, and also a slave, Sally Hemmings. It would appear just anything can happen after the sun goes down, in the Virginia south.

The gospel and blues of The North Mississippi AllStars seem perfectly at home, with the ghosts of music and entertainment’s past in downtown Charlottesville. The swinging pendulum between the Christian ‘anointing’ associated with their gospel efforts provides an interesting dichotomy to the more mythological aspects of a Dionysian experience with music, through their grittier and more hedonist blues compositions.

It all depends upon which voice you are listening to, really -- the angels or the devil. That’s one of the many ways that the blues personifies human existence, for many people. The dichotomy within it, that’s accepted, and lauded – even.

For Jenkins, there is even a bit of a battle for her own attention within the instruments that make up a blues ensemble itself. I asked her to tell me which instrument for her – embodies the blues, and after a fashion, she replied, “I would have to go with stringed instruments, although I think the drum is a very close second. The drum is probably primary in its origination of spirituals, but for southern rock, the guitar," she added.

The blues, it would seem, offer no easy answers. But Jenkins seemed unaffected as she continued, "I feel a “spiritual fulfillment thru music, with special emphasis on triumph over pain, suffering and death." She said alluding to her earlier statements about feeling live music performance was for her, a church-like activity.. And “I get to hear how they did it, & what their special recipe was for that journey," Jenkins said, finally.

I'd like to think that all the ghosts of The Jefferson Theatre, agree..

Why did you fall in love with rock and roll?

I ask that, not particularly sure you love rock and roll at all, in its purest definition, anyway.. It isn’t heard all that often these days.. Music genres in recent years seem to have splintered into multitudes of subgenres, in some ways – diluting the original archetype. We ‘think’ we have the leaded coffee, cause we haven’t tasted it in so long, we’re sure nothing stronger, exists.

‘Pop music’ no longer means rock and roll. And that’s ok, mind you. I like change in music. But the archetypes have their place, and their value. I was reminded of that in spades, by The Drive By Truckers. As I stood there, camera in hand, at Charlottesville, Va.’s Jefferson Theatre, I was schooled anew in my own mid 70s childhood musical heritage of sweat-soaked lead singers wielding their axes in one hand, and a bottle of Jack Daniels, in the other. And I was reminded how real, actual rock and roll, and in this case, Southern rock and roll, is alive and well, and quite relevant. In fact, it’s the focus on those archetypical elements of rock and roll, made by the band, which ensures their relevancy, today. A classic, is always in style..

There’s a lot to work with, when writing rock music through the filter of the ‘southern experience.’ Hood and Cooley have the gift to let The South flow through their music like water, tinging every surface with river water and white-trash soul. And it doesn’t sound dated. I’ll admit it. I had that question in my mind, as I arrived for my first Trucker show that night. Was this gonna be ‘nostalgia music?’ Chris Mc Call, of Ashburn, Virginia could have predicted my thoughts, as it turned out..

The thirty-seven year old marketing professional described the ‘average’ crowd at a Trucker’s show. “You’ll see half the crowd knows all the words to the songs and the other half completely surprised by how powerful the band plays – especially if they haven’t seen them before and are expecting some type of Lynrd Skynrd cover band. We all end up singing along, pumping our fists, head banging, dancing and leaving completely wiped out and ready to see them again as soon as possible.”

Fans of the band enthusiastically evangelize about the Athens, Ga. based band at every opportunity, I came to find. Mc Call continued, “I put on the Truckers at a garage party in my neighborhood last year for folks who’d never heard of them. And the next thing I know everyone was asking who they were and replaying their songs throughout the night.” And fan loyalty appears to be broad-based and not merely centered on the shoulders of the charismatic Patterson Hood. Mc Call, continued, “The thing about The Truckers is that they have three singers (Cooley, Patterson and Shonna) and as you saw at the show first hand, people love them all. But there’s no competition from fans trying to say one or the other is better. We like them all,” he said.

Jared Clarkson of Purcellville, VA offered an even more impressive expression of fan loyalty as he recalled a story of a 9:30 Club show in DC, about a year ago where he,

“.. got to the club first and found that Patterson was sick but Cooley and rest of the band were planning to go on without him. They were offering refunds but the club was STILL PACKED; I doubt that anyone went home,” Clarkson said.

I pondered the significance of that. There are scant bands today, who wouldn’t be playing to a mostly-empty house, should their ‘lead’ singer go down ill, before a show. Clarkson was two steps ahead of me,

“How many other bands out there can have one of the fronting members go down and play back to back shows without them? And then Cooley came out and said something like "I don't need fucking Patterson to put on a kick ass show." And he DID...He played his entire catalog, Clarkson said.

It always starts with the songwriting. And in this case, there is much richness to speak of. Steeped in the tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, Hood and Cooley paint pictures of modern southern life that are full of a gritty realism that is, at times, hard to take.

“The band has a way to take a really dark subject and turn it into something beautiful,” Clarkson began. “There are songs about incest -- and trying to seduce 14 yr old girls...It’s kind of hard to think about those being the subject of a touching song, but they are,” he said. And Clarkson is right.

Southern Gothic tradition is full of those very kinds of uncomfortable mythologies and metaphors within a style that Tennessee Williams described as having "an intuition, of an underlying dreadfulness - in the modern experience." But don’t let that sound depressing, or ‘regional.’ It’s that rawness in Southern Gothic art that reveals the secrets everyone, be it from the North or South, wrestle with, whether we admit it, or not.

Hood and Cooley people their songwriting in a more modern and realistic manner — and everyone, lyrically, is smarter than they originally seem. In fact, one could identify a sense of intellectual redneck awareness in play. A little like the smart ‘good ole boys and simpletons’ in the works of William Faulkner, a master of the Southern Gothic writing style. There’s a lot going on, behind those sweet as molasses grins. World-class poker faces.

And like many bands, there has recently been a lot going on behind the scenes. Patterson Hood told writer Christian Williams,

“We had our moment of reckoning in '06 when we really, seriously contemplated calling it and ending it. It's like, it was clear that Jason [Isbell] was going his separate way, and you know, we were all really tired. We'd been on the road nonstop and felt like we'd kind of hit a wall. I felt like the record we'd put out that year [A Blessing And A Curse] was the first time we'd ever put out a record that maybe wasn't quite as good as the record before it—because that was a bitter pill, because [Mike] Cooley and I had always vowed that when it's over, it's over. When the records aren't as good as they were, it's time to call it quits. I'll get a job. I'll do whatever, but we're not going to be a dinosaur act. We're not going to revel in the glory days, and we're not going to be one-hit wonders that never had a hit. [Laughs.] No-hit wonders. It's like, fuck that. Life's too short. I've spent a lot of time away from my family and everyone has to really sacrifice for me to get to do what I love doing, and if it's not making me happy, why the hell am I doing it? And that's where I was at that point. Instead, we decided we weren't ready to end it. It's as simple as that. It's not over till we say it's over and it's just not over.”

It is most definitely is not, over. March 16th drops the latest release from the band, ‘The Big To Do,’ already leaked through the internet. Hood, in a nod to the leaked release, asked fans to buy the new CD, ‘even if you already have a copy.’ Only seems fair, if you ask me..

Saturday night’s show was the second of a two night stand at the Jefferson Theatre. Informal polling after the show indicated a strong preference for the Saturday night show, over Friday’s, although both nights were given strong reviews overall. Saturday highlights included “Buttholeville, “Lookout Mountain,” and the angry 40-something anthem, “Hell, no I ain’t happy.”

My new friend Jared Clarkson appeared to be pretty happy with the shows he saw in Charlottesville. And despite his having seen the band some dozen times, he felt in some way that the band had something to prove to him, on this night.

“I gotta be honest; I've been a bit critical of the band lately. I didn't see why they needed to add a full-time keyboard player and I wasn’t a fan of either of the latest releases - the Austin City Limits LIVE album/DVD and "Fine Print" -- which was a bunch of covers (in my opinion). So I was a bit skeptical and didn't know what to expect from the shows this weekend,” Clarkson said. But “the band was very much the DBT of old...the band that I fell in love with 5 years ago when a coworker gave me a copy of "The Dirty South"...”He added.

Chris Mc Call said, “Everybody who’s seen a live show loves the Truckers. I’m a professional with an MBA and at truckers shows I’m singing along and just as loud as the guy next to me who may be a mechanic or a doctor somewhere.”

Everyone’s welcome, it would seem, as the human condition is universal, even if interpreted through the southern experience. Clarkson laid the real parameters of acceptance on the line, however, as an appreciation of “guitars and good lyrics.”

It was easy to see that Jake Stockburger of Point Pleasant, NJ was in town to see Mike Gordon at The Jefferson Theatre.. He was wearing his thoughts on his sleeve.

Or more accurately, they were on his shirt. Jake may have been the first or maybe second ticketed person to walk through the doors of The Jefferson Theatre on this night. And wearing a white shirt with lyrics from Phish’s song Sugar Shack emblazoned across his chest in large text, one couldn’t help but notice. So of course I had to ask him why.

The 29 year old security system designer and installer who recently started a donation-funded site surprised me with the immediate depth his response. .“The song "Sugar Shack" is important enough for me to have made a shirt with its lyrics on it because it is mine and my daughter’s favorite song,” he began. Ok, not so earth shattering, lots of kids like music., I thought to myself. But then Jake continued, “My daughter was born premature. And as a complication [of this,] she is blind, [despite two surgeries to try to prevent it,] and she also suffers from autism,” Jake said. “When I see the look on her face as she listens to the song or sings along with it, it melts my heart and gives me the greatest joy in life,” Jake said.

Stockburger said he couldn't do the first three Gordon shows of the tour, because they coincided with his custody weekend with his daughter. But added that, “after attending the Baltimore show there was no way I could pass on any of the rest of the tour!” Attending his first Phish show at Big Cypress, Jake has been following the band, and the individual musician’s solo efforts, ever since. And he and his daughter spend hours listening to music together, during visits. “”We listen to music together on our rides to and from MD & NJ. Music is her life; she loves music as much or even more than me, if possible,” he said. And, “She needs music... I imagine her world to be dark and frightening sometimes in the unknowingness of it all -- And music brings in that light and gives her that gentle comforting hand that shows her the way,” he added, eloquently.

Music does do that, doesn’t it? I think the great quote ‘When words fail, music speaks,’ from Hans Christian Anderson would apply here. It’s a very democratic medium, when you think about it. One need not be required to read music, or even the lyrics. Nor is one truly tasked with understanding the language sung. Think Opera. So I could easily see how valuable this child’s ability to hear and connect and ‘feel’ though music would be, to a parent. I smiled, thinking how through music, this father and daughter experience the fullest possible connection to each other. Hell, I’d be wearing a shirt with Sugar Shack lyrics to shows, too.

While music is surely the most democratic of mediums, Phish hasn’t always been the most creatively democratic of bands. Not that it’s a bad thing, but we all know how weighted compositions are in the Anastasio/Marshall realm. And for a long time, I as a Phish fan, never noticed. Yep. I admit it.

But if that first hiatus accomplished one positive thing for me, it was to allow me to take the time to notice the abilities and talents of each member of Phish, individually, and away from the collective. And my more focused appreciation of Mike Gordon as a solo artist began, one fall afternoon, while standing in my driveway hearing tracks from “Clone” for the first time.

I still maintain that Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke’s collaboration on ‘Clone,’ was the best music to come from any of the four members of Phish, during that hiatus. And considering the playing styles and personalities of the musicians, the collaboration becomes all the more surprising to have ever happened to begin with.

But yet, given the duality that is Mike Gordon, perhaps I shouldn’t still profess such surprise? Writer Parke Puterbaugh described this duality very well. “Mike Gordon is the X factor in Phish. He is a maze of seeming contradictions. For everything you can think of to say about him, the opposite is true, too. He is introverted and outgoing. He is warm and congenial, wary and reserved. He is spontaneous and process-oriented. He is low-key and high-strung. He is an utterly unique individual who willingly submerges himself within a group dynamic,” Puterbaugh wrote.

The sum total of this is a person manifested into an artist who can easily slip into a group and work well within that construction, as well as lead an ensemble, as was equally evident, at Charlottesville’s Jefferson Theatre on Thursday night.

The duality of Mike Gordon is easy to understand, when you consider his background. Massachusetts born and raised, Gordon was exposed to business through his father, and the arts – via his mother. Gordon’s father Bob founded a chain of convenience stores (Store 24) in New England. And his mother Marjorie, is a renowned artist who well into the 1990’s painted Phish’s backdrops. Her work explores the interplay of light and color.. And I couldn’t help but think of that, as I noted Gordon’s use of lasers, fluorescent tape, and bubbles on stage, and the textures they successfully added to the overall experience.

Tonight’s show coincided with the second birthday, of sorts – for the current band lineup. Gordon thanked the audience for making them feel welcome at their own birthday show early into the first set. And before launching into a cover of Maria Muldaur’s Midnight at the Oasis, he described the song with a predictable duality as ‘weird.. “But only because it’s not weird at all,” he added with a smile.

Gordon’s ability and willingness to don the hat of band leader, or member of an ensemble serves him well, and results in a very palpable sense of democracy in his band’s overall sound.. Individual band members do take turns ‘out front,’ with Mike’s bass leading that pack. However, there is an overwhelming feeling of balance, to my ears, of the instrumentation and the arrangements. It stands to reason, as studio work and band rehearsals for this ensemble often include deliberate exercises to manifest such musical muscle memory.

In a recent interview, Mike Gordon described a band rehearsal exercise. "On the first day of practices, we decided to come to the studio and invite the muse to control us for a day. I led a guided meditation in which we imagined tapping into universal energy that connects from the spheres, through us, and into the center of the Earth, and then we imagined being on stage as the music played the band and the coolest sound we could imagine came out. Each band member then described his aural vision, directing the others to create it,” Gordon said.

Creating or rehearsing their sound ‘shoulder to shoulder’ seems to work for this band with no name. And no, the band’s name isn’t The Mike Gordon Band. Mike Gordon told Honest Tune Magazine, “We don’t have a band name yet, but I want to have one. I have a list of a thousand; I just don’t have any I like enough yet. I haven’t decided yet so we’re just using my name. But I really like there to be a band sensibility. I have so many ideas; it’s nice to feel like I’m going to have a forum for these ideas. If other people in the band have ideas too, hopefully we’ll be able to run with them. People I’ve played with have said that they like working with me because I’m not a dictator type. If I have an idea I don’t see it set in stone. Because it is just an idea and it would need to be tried and tapered by what works and what other people’s ideas are,” Gordon added.

Gordon didn’t have to look too far to assemble his band. Gordon continued with Honest Tune. “With the keyboards, there were just a few people I played with but Tom [Cleary,] I really clicked with. I had been in on these different jam sessions — some honky tonk stuff. He’s very well-rounded. He plays a lot of jazz, but he can rock out. He is a very deep musician. It always felt good in these jam sessions, to play with him. He’s kind of quirky in a way that relates with my quirkiness,” Gordon said.

Cleary, is also a member of the faculty at University of Vermont, where he teaches jazz piano, and was probably my biggest pleasant surprise of the evening, in Charlottesville.. A fabulous player, whose jazz sensibilities kept his playing in the pocket all night long.. He’s also a great singer, who I’d have like to heard even more from, on this night. Gordon continued describing how he came to his band’s lineup.

“Craig Myers. It was just a good feeling. I would have so much fun going down and hearing Rubble Bucket that he plays with or some of his other bands. I just like his energy and his sound, his sensibility and his rhythm. They both lived around town and it just felt right,” said Gordon.

Gordon’s choice for drums, however, came from a little further down the road. Drummer, teacher and author Craig Myers is based in New York City, where he has been active in the jazz and world music scenes for over 20 years.

“I had had a jam session with him and Scott. There was something magical that happened. Even the first time we played together -- I think I could go back and write three songs from that. He was listening so hard. He’s mesmerizing. But he’s funky. He can rock out,” Gordon told Honest Tune.

His affiliation with guitarist Scott Murawski is long-lived. Gordon, who has often called Murawski’s group -- Max Creek, ‘one of my favorite bands,’ also teamed up with the guitarist in a project called Ramble Dove. The men also share an affinity for high-end guitars. Mike, a TMX bass and interestingly, Scott plays a Languedoc G2, an instrument very much like the one played by the guitarist at Gordon’s other job.

I wondered how I’d feel about a Mike Gordon solo band where the guitarist played an instrument that was destined to have a tone not unlike that heard from Trey Anastasio’s guitar. And yes, there were moments that gave me pause, for that very reason. But the playing was completely different, I’m happy to say.. I wondered for nothing, in reality. I don’t have a lot of personal experience with Murawski’s band Max Creek, aside from audience tapes, and the occasional cd. Listening to Murawski’s fluid interplay with the rest of the band, I was incredibly impressed. I remember just standing there, transfixed, especially during the second set.

I think he noticed my stillness.

In his blog entry for this night’s show, Murawski notes that “I loved the sound check yesterday, way more than the show.” He then described soundcheck as a sort of surprisingly special creative experience, far presumably, from the usual meat and potatoes kind of rehearsal experience. Then Murawski went on to describe how when the actual show started it felt for him ‘forced,’ and that, “The crowd seemed tougher than usual. They were paying such close attention and seemed to be into it, but when we’d finish a song, there was very little response,” he wrote.

I’ve been listening to my husband’s audience tape and can also hear moments when the crowd isn’t quite as loud as they could have been. However, I think that may have been a function of exhaustion, with many of that audience having also attended a very late moe. performance, in the same venue, the night before.. In fact, Gordon also attended the show, hanging out in the bar area for a large part of the evening.

Murawski then moved on in his posting to discuss this night’s music, specifically. “There were definitely some nuggets in there. 15 Steps, our Radiohead cover, came out very well and had a great jam at the end, and we inserted my Emotional Railroad into a Traveled Too Far sandwich and that was really good,” he concluded. And I agree about Emotional Railroad.. It was one of the highlights for me, of the second set. I think people can have a variety of reasons for not ‘feelin’ it’ on a given night.. I’ve been to shows where somehow it just was preordained not to flow. And I appreciate his honesty, in fact.. Hopefully the next time we see the band locally, Murawski will enjoy the evening’s events as much as those at rehearsal. And you are right, we were listening closely. And we were diggin’ it for sure, I feel safe to say.

As for our young father from New Jersey, I think it’s safe to say he also was diggin’ it. Jake didn’t get a ‘Sugar Shack’ on this night. He and the rest of us at The Jeff did, get a smoky and funky version of Phish’s Meat to take us home for the night. It was excellent, in fact. And despite his not getting ‘the song’ he wanted, Jake still looked satisfied. At the end of the night, I could see that he was raring to head to Philly and whatever Gordon and his fellow musicians had in store for him, at that show. And with a band like this, there would be a lot to anticipate. And it’s not just Gordon, or any single member. It’s far more democratic than that. Gordon explained this well, to Honest Tune Magazine, “I’m just one person. And when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts it’s a magical feeling. That’s when The Muse, herself, takes over. I want that. So that’s why I’m looking for the band sound.”

And sometimes when that muse takes over, a cactus-obsessed little girl and her father connect emotionally, in ways not possible otherwise..

The Grateful Web just returned from the 2010 Wanee Music Festival down in Live Oak, Florida.  Gina Proulx covered the festival on behalf of the Grateful Web and Gina just started adding some photos from the festival to Grateful Web's photo gallery.   Gina will have a full write-up from the festival soon, so be sure to check back for that.  In the interim, we encourage you to check out some of the terrific photos Gina took from this year's Wanee Festival. 

Thanks very much to the kind folks at Wanee for their hospitality and thanks so much for all the great music and great fans who made the trek to this year's Wanee Music Festival.  We'll see y'all at next year's Wanee Music Festival down in sunny Florida.

Enjoy!

Florida is a place unto itself, by my estimation. Like the other ‘big states’ of Texas and California, it takes on its own unique identity and presence. These states are so large, they are their own ‘region;’ and again by my estimation, include elements of all that is around them. Florida is neither just southern, nor merely coastal. Florida has elements of east coast culture, due in no small measure to the strong concentration of New York retirees, the so-called ‘snow birds.’ Florida also has significant aspects of Cuban and Mexican culture elements, as well. Florida, like her big state cousins to the west is..... just different -- somehow.

I spent five years in Florida, attending college in St Petersburg, and seeing a lot of live music. And I came to know and love The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in North Central Florida, attending a number of shows there between 2002 – 2007. It has a certain ‘special-ness,’ that is for most, immediately apparent . The park is named for the famous American Musical Standard, “Old Folks at Home,” or more commonly, ‘Way down Upon the Swanee River.’ This standard and current state song of the Sunshine State was written by Stephen Foster, who never saw the Suwannee, or even visited Florida. And he really missed out.

Situated on the banks of the historic Suwannee River, the park consists of over 600 acres of camping areas, concert venues, recreational facilities, and unspoiled forests. Horseback riding, paddleboat rentals, and permanent stage structures are available to the typical camper, as well as the typical camping festival attendee.

And then there are the trees. Everywhere one looks, glorious live oaks pepper the hillsides and campsites. In a state where the intensity of the sun can be brutal, there is always sweet spanish moss-soaked shade. This is a ‘very Florida’ kinda place, despite being very close to the Georgia border.

For a nation, and I was soon to learn that it was truly for a continent that endured a particularly intense winter weather season, the arrival of the 2010 Wanee Music Festival couldn’t have been more welcome. And the location of The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park couldn’t have been more picturesque. The weather was warm and sunny, with low humidity, some of the last of those kinds of days in Florida, till the looming summer draws to a close, sometime around Halloween.

Deb Anderson, of Wasilla, Alaska told me she ‘watched Priceline for a long time, trying to make this [trip to Wanee] happen.’ Sitting in a lawn chair in RV camping on Saturday morning, she was the picture of pre-show clarity and post-hearty breakfast bliss -- as she added with a smile, ‘I haven’t seen the sun or been outside much for five months, so I have no complaints today.’

Anderson was not the only one to travel long distances to attend Wanee. Claudia and Javier Perez from Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico have attended two Wanee Festivals, including this year. The 23 year old twin college students are also waiters and they said, ‘crazy Allman Brothers fans.’ The siblings considered the expensive airfare from Mexico to be ‘worth it,’ to see the band in ‘a completely wonderful setting,’ Claudia added in broken English.

Our new friends had a great deal more than Florida sunshine to be happy about.. The fifth annual Wanee Music Festival brought some of the best and brightest to the stage, in a wide range of genres. Headliners The Allman Brothers and Widespread Panic anchored the main stages for the weekend. But stellar performances were also heard at the smaller stage from everyone, really.. But highlights would include Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk – performing the music of Sly and the Family Stone, The Black Keys, The Wailers, and, and Govt. Mule’s along with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi’s late night sets on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Musically, the weekend’s only disappointment was the cancellation of the performance by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, who along with millions of other travelers, was stranded in airports all over Europe, due to the volcanic ash in the air.

There is an air of ‘bigness’ at this festival, that wasn’t there at earlier Wanee’s, or other live music events at the park in the past. The festival has, in fact, blossomed into an event of epic proportions. The quality of music has always been high. But with the arrival of a permanent concrete pour main stage and the space to bring in a large audience, logistically, Wanee is now a seriously big festival, with a lot to offer over and above the concert experience. It was easy to see why, with such a lineup and location, that the event would be crowded. But some festival attendees told me that they felt the main concert area may have been too crowded. Several conversations overheard in the tapers section as well as other areas on the field included speculation about whether the event was ‘oversold.’ Everyone seemed to be having a fabulous time. But we were visibly bursting at the seams on the field at the main stage.

Todd Howell, of Bradenton, Florida was amongst those wondering if perhaps a few too many people were in attendance, and expressed some concerns about how this event was managed. “I read online that they sold something like 31 thousand tickets, including day passes. To me, if felt about 5-7 k too many people, especially at the main stage area,” the licensed massage therapist said. Official crowd estimates were not available at the time of this writing. But Howell still enjoyed the show. But it was pushed to the limit to be comfortable,” he said. ‘If the elevator says two thousand pounds – two thousand and fifty pounds is not advisable.”

As he told me this, I thought about how challenging attending this festival would have been with such a crowd, had the weather turned wet as it did, in 2009. I also recalled walking thru RV camping on Saturday night and seeing numerous camp fires not only smoldering, but outright burning, with no one on watch.. Aren’t supervised campfires ‘the norm?’ I thought. And I thought of those amazing Live Oaks.

The event, while an unqualified success, did show signs of growing pains. But they truly pulled it off, and I’d easily come again. I think I do represent the impressions of a great many attendees when I suggest that attendance numbers should be managed differently for subsequent years. Anyone who’s visited Suwannee knows it’s a special place. And just about anyone would agree that protecting the integrity of such a place tailor-made for a musical experience was important.

As for the 2010 festival: it was a Fabulously Florida good time, with great weather, in a beautiful location, with world-class music, lights, and sound. As our friend from Alaska said so well – ‘I have no complaints, today.’

Check out more photos from the Wanee Music Festival.

Richmond, Virginia is one of those southern cities where one can ‘feel’ the history.. It’s everywhere you look.. There is Monument Avenue, with statues of the heroes -- from a Civil War that is still described by some old timers, as ‘the recent unpleasantness.’ There is the statue to the great African-American tap-dancer and performer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. One can visit the home of writer Edgar Allan Poe, or even The Museum and White House of the Confederacy. And cobblestone streets in the oldest section of the city lead to Maymont Mansion, a Gilded Era estate visited by countless tourists and schoolchildren. Maymont was the most elaborate of several elite homes in the Virginia capital that reflected the high style of those days of extreme opulence, characterized by the juxtaposition and often asymmetrical arrangements of patterns, tones and textures, along with historical and exotic styles.

The grounds of this estate were only recently deployed as a temporary concert site, given a mistake in paperwork and the necessary permitting for the original, intended location. But Maymont’s unique characteristics made it the perfect location to host a musical evening with a man who is, like the mansion and grounds upon where he performed, brimming with very similar kinds of ‘asymmetrical arrangements of patterns, tones and textures.’ And, a healthy dose of his own Virginia history is tossed in too, for good measure..

In full disclosure, I must admit to having some degree of personal history with Mr. Williams, albeit indirectly. My husband attended college with the guitarist, and introduced me to his music in the middle 1990’s, long before String Cheese Incident, looping machines, and much significant attention from the media, mainstream or otherwise. My first introduction to Keller Williams’ eclectic performances came via bike rides to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, and his regularly-scheduled Tuesday night performances at CP Shuckers, and the occasional Saturday night show at Phil’s Grill. It was just Keller and his guitar, back in those days, often channeling his revered Michael Hedges or Jerry Garcia, and busting out David Wilcox covers, like “Boob Job.” In fact, that cover is still one of my favorites of his, to this day.

The Fredericksburg, Va. native remains a challenging performer for me to describe, to others.. One must see and hear him, to truly ‘get it,’ I think. The moniker ‘one-man-band,’ has never worked for me. Nor does calling him a singer-songwriter suffice. Keller is far more than the sum of his various musical parts. And none of those descriptors cover his splendidly-silly sense of musical humor, either.

But I needn’t have worried about any of those concerns on this night. The enthusiastic audience seemed to be full of long-time fans, who knew exactly what to expect, on this chilly evening where the recent rains still hung in the air. And the children.. They were everywhere, running and playing in the dusk – apparently heeding Keller’s call to ‘Celebrate their Youth,’ in song and attitude.

The original owners of this gloriously appointed estate were a childless couple named James Henry and Sallie May Dooley, who upon arrival into their new home and 100 acre estate in 1893, spent three decades filling it with antiques and hosting lavish parties that rivaled those of their northern wealthy counterparts. Mr. and Mrs. Dooley were the only residents ever to live in Maymont, before it became a museum after their deaths in 1925. I had a little fun imagining their ghostly reactions to the musical spectacle taking place in their very own backyard on this night.

Keller does ‘give good backyard party,’ and I should know – hosting him in my own backyard for a party back in 1997. I think there are DAT tapes of the show that are still in circulation.. If you ever run across a show labeled ‘Gina’s Party,’ that would be me. I think Keller charged us something like $150 at the time, as hard as that is to imagine. It rained that day, like on this night. Keller’s beloved ‘Blazeabago’ parked on the street out front. His dogs, Earl and Sheba spent the late afternoon bounding around my yard, stealing croquet balls as we played our own silly and contrived annual tournament of Margarita Croquet. I know I enjoyed Keller in my backyard. I’d like to think the Dooleys would have appreciated it, on this night, as well.

Jessica and David Sanchez, of Tappahannock, Virginia seemed to be enjoying this little backyard barbeque, along with their three children, twin 3 year old girls, and a seven year old boy, each sporting Technicolor hearing protection headphones in shades of red, pink and blue. These are busy people, who “almost never get to see live music anymore,” said Jessica, as she offered her twins carrot sticks and juice boxes, before the show began. “But when it’s outside like this – and it’s KELLER,” she said with a grand sweep of her hand towards the stage, “How can you – not?”

The couple regaled me with stories of past Keller shows, pre-kid, as it were. David told me he was a fan, and I believe he is. But it was Jessica who just gushed in her approval of the musician. “He doesn’t play things simply.. He makes you -- make your ears work,” she said, after thinking for a moment. Jessica, who told me that she plays her own guitar “whenever parenthood allows me the time,” marveled at Mr. Williams’ ability to make one guitar sound as she described ‘so freakin’ big.’

Later in the evening, I watched as Jessica, and her twins as they bolted thru the audience and around the grounds with obvious glee and completely connected to the music happening onstage.. At least Jessica, was.. Can’t speak for the three year olds, I’m afraid. As the parent of a four year old, I know that three year olds can be diggin’ it in one minute, and raging against it – the next. And no obvious reason need be offered to achieve such dynamic change in attitude. But ‘mommah’ was visibly happy, and we all know: If mommah’s happy, then everybody’s happy.

I was reminded of this as I read Keller’s most recent blog entry, where he describes his appreciation for Furthur’s John Kadleck’s guitar playing and how it nearly inspired him to “run through the [Hampton] Coliseum’s halls naked and then explain to the cops that it’s cool, because Elvis and Jesus were my fathers and [that] I am named after them,” Keller wrote, with his predictable sense of twisted humor.

I suspect that if Keller could achieve that, without being arrested in the process, he probably would do it.. Instead, he remained fully-clothed and performed a nice mix of old and new songs on this night, interspersed with comedy, both musically and facially-delivered to a rapt audience ranging in age from three years old – to infinity. Ok. Maybe not infinity.. But -- at least, very old..

Both Keller and our musical mom are busy parents these days, Keller having now two children. He seemed to exude a relaxed attitude, despite what is surely a heavy workload of performances, recording, and ‘being a dad.’

And if our musical mom could arrange her own child and responsibility-free musical respite, she’d do it, too. No word on how that would play with the late Mr. and Mrs. Dooley..

I began my commercial broadcast radio career starting back in the early 90s, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Working for that region’s heritage rock station was quite an introduction to the civilian world, as I had only recently finished my enlistment in the U.S. Navy. I came from uniforms, and tradition, to working with a morning show that wasn’t all that different from early Howard Stern. I went from having no music business experience at all, to setting up remote broadcasts at places as varied as the local car dealerships all the way to concert broadcasts from the famous arena, Hampton Coliseum. Instead of standing inspection, I was up at 4:30am, fetching coffee or bottled water to bleary eyed rock stars, as they sat waiting for interviews with our popular morning show. And I was suddenly encountering all the various kinds of colorful characters easily associated with each environment. I felt a bit – at first – like Cameron Crowe’s alter-ego, ‘William Miller,’ in Almost Famous: overwhelmed, excited, but ultimately understanding that he was exactly where he wanted to, and was supposed to – be. One of the more musically-iconic moments of that time and place, was the April 1994 free concert at Norfolk’s Town Point Park, with The Dave Matthews Band.

The band was in the middle of ‘making it big,’ and it was a heady time, to be sure. The crowd was electric. I can’t remember now if Under the Table and Dreaming had come out yet, or was just about to.. But regardless, EVERYONE knew – Hell, everyone could FEEL, that this band was about to play its’ last free show at a venue smaller than Central Park. There’d be no more drunken New Years Eve shows at the Richmond Marriott Hotel. Dave would never again need to work a shift as a bartender at Millers in Charlottesville. You could smell success in the air.

Sure – there were longtime fans that didn’t like the loss of easy access to a band they’d watched, possibly taped, and no doubt partied to – for the last several years. And the influx of newer fans, not from the core jam band community -- had a strange muddling effect upon the overall audience vibe of old. ‘They’re sellin’ out,’ a few said, as they boogied to the preshow music while I watched from the relative sanity of the radio station van. But for a while longer, that afternoon, Dave and the boys still felt like one of us. Like their afterburners hadn’t quite yet ignited, although it was surely imminent.

But the moment our afternoon jock, the brilliantly-gifted Les Wooten shouted their introduction, everything changed. We all just stood there, slack-jawed and smiling, as we watched those afterburners ignite amongst the blooming azaleas in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

It feels like the scenario I just described above is preparing to happen to Vermont’s own Grace Potter and The Nocturnals. Maybe not to the level of success as that of DMB; but -- I’m no mind reader, and I won’t short change the band by suggesting it’s impossible. But frankly, I’m not sure that The Dave Matthews kind of music industry success exists, now. However, as sure as we all were, that day in the Virginia sunshine, Grace and her band are headed for something far bigger.

Tonight’s free show at Richmond’s Brown’s Island was no ‘Town Point Park,’ mind you. But for the band that -- almost comically – was named one of Rolling Stone’s Best New Bands of 2010, (despite playing 200 shows a year since forming in 2004,) that show is coming. It’s just a question of when. Recent appearances on Ellen, an upcoming performance on Good Morning America, and the June 8th drop of their third major label release, the self-titled ‘Grace Potter and The Nocturnals,’ have this band on the brink. And if this night’s performance were any indication, they are ready for the next step. In spades.

The newly-reconfigured quintet is now comprised of Ms. Potter on Hammond B3, Fender Rhoades, and Wurlitzer electric piano. She is joined on stage by Scott Tournet on guitar, slide guitar and harmonica, Matthew Burr on drums, bassist Catherine Popper and rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco.

According to the band’s website, the “current lineup came together with downright cosmic serendipity during the spring of 2009, when they were asked to cover some songs from the late ’60s for the VH1 documentary Woodstock: Then and Now.” With no bass player at that time, the band turned Ms Potter, most recently with Ryan Adam’s Cardinals. The addition of Mr. Yurco on guitar sealed the deal as a five some, almost from the moment they began playing together. The band website continued, “Popper and Yurco didn’t just fit in, they crushed it. After that beginning, there was no question that this lineup would be permanent. It was as if the fates had insisted they come together.”

The ‘cosmic serendipity’ is continuing for these musicians. Although only performing a free festival set at this outdoor city festival, GPN played with significant intensity, and deft musicianship. Ms. Potter was in motion from the moment the show began, owning the stage as only a travel-honed musician can.. And like the great dancer, Ginger Rogers, she was doing it in very high heels. Ms. Potter has that unmistakable and even more un-definable thing called star-power. No denying it.. If this were the 1960s, she’d be compared to Tina Turner.. If it were the 1970s, I’d go with the obvious choice of Stevie Nicks, whom Ms. Potter herself references in song, on occasion.

Turning down, or more accurately – delaying - a planned studio effort with famed producer T Bone Burnett, Grace Potter instead would seem to be focusing on developing her whole newly-reconstructed band sound, instead of some more solo-based effort, as she was previously working on, with Burnett. She isn’t ‘putting all her eggs in one basket,’ as it were. Instead, I think she’s taking a more controlled approach to developing an overall sound and public image before making what would seem to be an inevitable step out front and away from a group dynamic – even if that only proves to be an occasional musical diversion.

I don’t see any afterburners ablaze just yet, with respect to this band. But after tonight’s razor-sharp performance in downtown Richmond, I’d say we’re close to ignition.

Check out more of Gina's photos from the show.

There’s something inherently ‘good’ about Del McCoury. I say this, never having met the man; although I’ve been close enough to photograph him on a number of occasions, and to have briefly exchanged pleasantries. But that doesn’t count, and I know it.. Yet, here I am – insisting that I have perceived enough about the man to proclaim him thus.

And before you suggest it, ‘it’s not about the hair;’ although, the 71 year old surely possesses the finest locks in all of bluegrass music. Nor is it about ‘the suits.’ But it is about the palpable sense of welcome that pervades wherever Del McCoury Band performs. You are assumed to be a friend of the family, just by ‘being there.’.The experience of seeing Del McCoury Band in performance, is that it’s a little like the way you can joke and talk with your most agreeable of family members. Suddenly the uptight parent jokes with his still-single brother, and the sullen teenager forgets whatever pissed them off and actually smiles. These little miracles don’t happen in just any environment. But everyone is welcome in the ‘House of Del;’ and it’s not lip service.

The 3rd Annual DelFest, held this past Memorial Day Weekend in glorious Cumberland, Maryland was a family reunion of sorts, with various generations of the bluegrass genre represented (traditional and otherwise.) And because it was Del’s house, all were equally welcome. The Allegany Fairgrounds hosted again this year. And despite a soaking rain that fell in the afternoon on Friday leaving the predictable mud in its’ wake, the weather was sunny and hot, overall. Yet it was the aforementioned mud, combined with our mud-averse four year old child, that led us to make camp daily at the smaller stage on the festival grounds, The Potomac. We wandered back forth between stages, and listened from our campsite for the later sets from the Grandstand. Surprising how well one could hear the Grandstand stage, from RV camping..

And as the weekend progressed, I started to consider how this smaller stage was really a microcosm of what’s happening in the genre both on the traditional side of the realm, all the way to the cutting edge. And within those parameters, a respectable number of sub-musical-genres were also present. Like that family reunion, the music itself appears to have had a variety of ‘relatives’ present at DelFest. And this connection between genres is not lost on Del McCoury.

The York County, Pennsylvania native explained, in a recent interview, that he was interested in nothing but bluegrass until moving to Nashville in 1991.[Then,] “I started listening to different music more,” McCoury said. “I realized as I got older it’s all related somehow.”

And McCoury seems at ease with keeping one well-polished cowboy boot in the traditions of bluegrass that he and his own 50+ year career helped to make, and the other in any number of genres. Dave Simonett, songwriter and guitarist for Trampled By Turtles, said in an earlier interview, ”McCoury isn’t confined by conventional musical boundaries…. “Especially in the bluegrass world, it’s hard to find a ‘legend’ that still has a creative and open mind when it comes to the music he plays; and Del seems to have that in spades,” Simonett said.

In fact, it is the music itself that the McCourys want to be the strongest selling point of their three year old weekend festival. The lineup will apparently always be a mix of old and new sounds in bluegrass music. But it’s unlikely to explode in attendance, as other major events like MerleFest, or High Sierra, have. At least, that will be the case as long as the festival is held at its’ current location. And that’s the way DelFest seems to have been designed, from the beginning. In a recent interview, Ronnie McCoury said, “Rather than a giant party, “we still want it to be so music-driven that that’s why you bring your family there.”

And families were well represented at DelFest. The KidZone proved invaluable to parents, and a dose of visual comedy to anyone who happened past. It was a far cry from my own last experience under that pavilion, last year, as the hail storms rolled thru camp. This year, amidst the sidewalk chalk and bouncing balls, I met Karen Hise, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Her experience last year, during the storms was even more significant. Riding out labor pains in one of the concrete bathrooms, the mother of 2 older children said she’d been relatively calm, through the situation. “I guess I knew what to expect, so I was ok with being stuck in there. At least I wasn’t out in the rain,’ she said. And coming back to DelFest this year was never in question. “Never entered our minds – not to,” she said. As for her baby, his premature labor was halted with medication, and she later delivered a healthy son.

Artists Workshops were also well attended. George Heston, of the Charlottesville, Va. Area was setting up his taping gear for the Greensky Bluegrass performance of ‘Rock, under the cover of BlueGrass’. Heston said he’d been looking forward to seeing this band for a couple of years, and described the band’s sound as ‘traditional overtones ‘kicked up a notch,’ he said. And with an opening salvo from The Grateful Dead, they delivered everything Heston was seeking, and more, likely.

The music overall was of the highest caliber. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t draw attention to a Potomac Stage performance by Trampled By Turtles. I know that I am late to this band’s radar. I shall look forward to catching up in my understanding of this group. Performing seated, the band’s pickers are lightning fast. One friend dubbed their sound ‘Thrash-Grass,’ and I’m not so sure I don’t agree with her. As I watched that band perform with wild abandon in searing heat, I marveled at how they AND Del McCoury Band could be on the same bill, and have it ‘make complete sense,’ to me.

Sunday’s gospel sets at The Potomac were top notch, as well. Of note would have to be the collaboration of Florida’s own The Lee Boys, with Del McCoury. Despite the early hour, and Del’s obviously scratched throat – a sweaty tent revival of a morning, and aside from Trampled By Turtles, my festival highlight.

My little family has already decided to attend for a fourth year running, in 2011. DelFest shall continue to be a musical family reunion for us. And Del will continue to make us all feel welcome, I’m sure.

Check out more of Gina's photos from DelFest 2010.

What do you get out of attending a Phish show? What do you get out of attending MANY Phish shows? Why do you see live music performed at all? Surely you’ve fielded this question before; I know I have. A relative looks at you quizzically, or maybe it’s a co-worker... “You’re going out of town to see them, AGAIN?” They’d say, incredulously. We all have our variously rehearsed answers, at least everyone I’ve asked did. A list of them would first include the music, certainly. But the crowd, the lights, the sound, and the soul of a show also play their roles. Those reasons, and many more -- are why some of us plan our annual vacations and entertainment budgets to feed this musical obsession, despite the loving but quizzical looks from some of our family and friends. But when was the last time you asked yourself, why? And, over the years, has the answer ever changed? Writer Bob Lefsetz said it well, “When done right, music makes you want to join the circus, leave everything that bothers you behind in pursuit of the sound. You wonder why people followed the Dead, [and] still follow Phish? It's because when the music hits, everything's all right.”

And don’t you think we all could use a dose of ‘everything’s all right?’ Living near the great Chesapeake Bay, in Virginia, it’s hard not to imagine the proportions of the BP disaster in the Gulf. We continue to be a nation divided politically. The rhetoric grows more caustic and disinterested in civil discourse as we all march towards the next big election. And while the economy is showing growth in some areas, it’s still functioning like a wobbly-kneed newborn fawn in others.

That same shaky economy is also affecting the concert industry. Ticket sales are off for many tours this year, Phish included. The ‘reunion mania’ is officially over now. The hordes of carpet-bagging ticket scalpers have vanished in the mist. And for the most part, those still standing are fans who were here well before all the madness of hiatus, and of Coventry, and of course, those reunion-scalper-ticket-prices. While I’m sure the band and their management would like to see complete sellouts everywhere, I must admit that it was kind of nice to just be with phamily. At least that’s what it felt like, on this night. But I suspect more shows will fall in the sold out column as their individual dates approach, and more word goes out about the fierce precision with which the band is performing.

The arrival of Phish’s 2010 summer tour into Portsmouth, Virginia’s Ntelos Wireless Pavilion couldn’t have come fast enough for Mark Terry, of Greensboro, NC.

And who could blame him? It was the fourth night of the tour, at the smallest venue on the tour, a beautiful amphitheatre on the Portsmouth Waterfront. And it was a waterfront that, thankfully, was not under siege by any more than the usual maritime traffic and about 6500 fans of a Vermont quartet.

It was the band’s first time playing in Portsmouth, a beautiful town minutes away from the Phish tour stalwarts of Virginia Beach, and Hampton. Solid Phish Country. At least the ‘southern cousins.’

Attending his 21st Phish show, the audio taper from North Carolina expected to catch at least five shows this summer, and is “considering doing Deer Creek and Alpine, in August.” As a taper, I think it’s safe to say that Mr. Terry’s prime motivation for attending is the music, and to a strong degree that includes an appreciation for the sound and the mix. “I think Garry has the sound DIALED right now. The sound has a real crispness to it that it didn't have last year”, he said. “Mike is coming through in the mix like never before, and I know that makes a lot of people happy”, Mr. Terry continued. “Garry switching the band from analog to digital has made a huge difference. I'm sold!”

Not everyone is as enamored with the work of Phish’s new FOH soundman, Garry Brown. The departure of Paul Languedoc and with him the analog boards of pre-reunion Phish, combined with the arrival of Brown and an all digital set up, has been noticed to varying degrees of appreciation. But isn’t that always the way of the soundman? Destined to never please them all? I’d heard the grousing about the quality of the Live Phish soundboards. But a dedicated board was given to their care, starting first with the Red Rock shows, [I think] and the sound quality is far improved. Yet I’ve still heard some negative fan noise about the sound at the shows themselves.

Scott Mogol of Village Sound Co. Inc. is a Baltimore based sound professional with 15 years of experience starting first as a crew member, and working his way behind the board for bands like Fishbone, System of a Down, moe., and The Disco Biscuits. Mr. Mogol offered a brief overview of what has changed with respect to Phish’s audio, “In short, almost everything has changed.” Mr. Mogol explained. “Paul mixed on analog consoles throughout his career with Phish, while Garry Brown mixes on the latest and greatest of digital consoles (DiGiCo SD7). He is also mixing on the hottest PA system du'jour, d&b's J series line array speakers,” Mogol added. But that’s not calling Languedoc’s work substandard, by any measure. “Garry has an advantage over Paul simply by the fact that he has newer, higher fidelity gear at his disposal,” Mogol said. “Not to say that what Paul was using was not great sounding gear, but a lot has changed in just 10 years.”

Could the occasional sound-grousing fan merely be resisting the change that was seemingly inevitable, regardless of who sat in the FOH chair? I mean the idea of Phish transferring their audio from analog to digital isn’t all that outrageous. It would have happened, regardless. But before I was able to ride off into the sunset with just that thought, Mr. Mogol further clarified his point, “As far as mixing styles, it seems to me that Gary likes his vocals higher in the mix than Paul did. But each engineer has a different style of mixing, and what sounds great to one person’s ears may sound like poop to another.” A trained ear like Mr. Mogol’s had to point this out to me, but I can hear that now. And just as each engineer has his or her preferences in sound, so do fans.

Our North Carolinian, Mr. Terry, felt that “Page seemed a bit low in the mix,” presumably speaking of Page’s keyboards, and not necessarily his vocals. Nor did he hear much improvisation, he said. But Mr. Terry took great pains to rave about this night’s show, regardless. “So, what REALLY stuck in Portsmouth......?” he said with a grand pause. “Gin. I think if we were in 03/04, this would have taken shape and gone somewhere. Trey finds an out around 11 minutes and closes up shop in the song. What was cool though, was Mike. Throwing bass lines in a totally different key that should have NOT worked, but somehow, it came together perfect. Although not very experimental, the Gin was solid” Mr. Terry said. Bathtub Gin would appear to be the show-stopper for many. Blogger ‘Mr Miner’ called Portsmouth’s Bathtub “…a game-winner that will no doubt land on highlight reels of the first four shows of tour.”

It was a solid show all around, but the first set clearly excelled. The placement of ‘Slave’ was a surprise, so early in the show. Mike Gordon’s bass shone brightly on the dark and intense, My Friend, My Friend. Covering Tom Waits, along with a deftly crafted Beatles' Day in the Life, Phish sounds as crisp and full of musical intent as they did in the mid 90s On this night, however, it didn’t seem to be about extended improvisation. The small, intimate outdoor venue offered up a cool respite from the heat of the earlier shows of the tour. Portsmouth had provided a new city for those on tour to explore. Many took water taxis to get to the show, or the ferry. We all felt just a little isolated, and amongst friends. The mood was festive and light-hearted on both sides of the stage. The band sailed a tight ship through Portsmouth, with many highlights. High energy from the beginning, and a willingness to throw caution to the wind from the very first song kept the show moving, with only limited hiccups, mostly in the second set.

Blogger ‘Mr Miner’ could see what I could not, as the show began. The opening song was to be an unplanned request. He wrote, “Trey immediately noticed a large “Tube” cut-out sign held by a fan in the middle of the floor. As soon as the crowd saw the sign catch Trey’s eye, everyone launched into collective “Tuuuuuuuube” chant. And the band was more than happy to oblige, altering their original plans for [the] ballistic opener.”

At least one other request is purported to be have been played by the band on this night, who were clearly in good spirits, and in splendid musical form. This brings our motivational exploration of Phish fans squarely into the realm of the musical soul. Ms. Sam Crow of Richmond and Ms. Leah Jones of Virginia Beach saw their first Phish shows as 16 year olds, in 1997. Each one claiming to have attended about 55 shows each. But the women attended the show in Portsmouth, and secured spots on the front rail for more than just a desire to boogie up close and personal with the band. Holding up a sign that read: “This Moma wants to dance in memory of Mario Miller,” the women were acknowledging for themselves as well as a large number of the Hampton Roads jamband fans, the loss of a longtime fan, friend, and supporter of live music. Did the band see their hastily scrawled sign on the front of the rail, and play their request?  Ms. Crow believes they did. “The guys came out, Trey squinted to read the small writing on the sign and smiled. I then looked at Page and he seemed to be reading it also. I swear he winked and nodded. They then played it the 7th song first set! It was amazing.”

Mr. Lefsetz was right about the power of music. And for many, the experience of seeing music created live further intensifies the power. And on a perfect early summer night, on the water, with a band that is firing on all cylinders -- the power can intensify even more. It won’t solve world peace, mind you. But it has its’ value. Mr. Lefsetz concluded, “... a great concert is, a respite from the bullshit.”

Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion is surrounded by trees.  The stage itself has exposed wood, helping the venue to visually blend in with its’ surroundings, if not aurally. Symphony Woods are those verdant surroundings.  The 40-acres of preserved land in the heart of the Columbia, Maryland was named for the American Post Foods heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Originally intended to be a summer home for the National Symphony Orchestra, Merriweather Post Pavilion has hosted everyone from Janis Joplin to Jimmy Buffett.

I haven’t been to Merriweather in ten years; the last time having also been for a Phish show, not surprisingly.  As I returned to the venue in the woods, I was struck at how much security and police presence had been engaged for this two night stand.  And I’d been warned not to expect much in the way of a Shakedown Street, at this venue, either.  Fans I chatted with cited Howard County Police as having a ‘reputation’ for shutting down any attempt at vending.  I would soon learn, during a chat with security inside the venue, that Phish was the only band for which Merriweather Post ever engaged such additional personnel.  Given the extreme heat, and the lethargy it produced in many of us, the extra security was hardly necessary.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Howard County Police made a total of 21 drug- and alcohol-related arrests at two Phish concerts this past weekend at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, seizing three vehicles containing drugs and more than $10,000 in cash. Despite those numbers, officials referred to the arrests as relatively ‘typical,’ and ‘about the same as last year,’ officials said.

Temperatures were in the high 90s,.  Humidity levels were at competitive levels.  The significant delays due to detailed searches of persons and bags, and wallets, made  ingress into the venue particularly long, slow, and hot.  Once inside, the temperatures didn’t relent, especially for those under the pavilion shed.  Water, at $4.00 a bottle, quickly became the beverage of choice, for many.

The extreme heat would seem to have affected the band on this night, at least for the first set.  ‘Inconsistent,’ would be the adjective I heard most often.  Opening with Crowd Control and Kill Devil Falls, the band replicated exactly the opening songs of their 2009 visit to the same venue.  Perhaps the choice of Crowd Control was an indirect reference to the level of security at the venue?  Probably not.  But the metaphor was not lost on those in the audience.

Saturday night had plenty of highlights.  But uneven playing, and some energy-sapping set list choices kept momentum from building, at times.

On the positive end, an interesting first time performance of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea,” as well as energetic versions of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Rock and Roll,’ and an encore of Led Zeppelin’s Good Times Bad Times, (ironically, also played at the 2009 show,) served as the evening’s covers.  The second set provided the musical heat of the evening, with a bevy of Phish anthems, notably Free, yet another Tweezer for the tour, and in this case it’s accompanying ‘Reprise’ shortly after.  ‘Slave to the Traffic Light’ was for most, a set highlight.

Sunday’s show brought the same oppressive heat and humidity, and an estimated 4000 less fans.  On this night, I planned to spend the evening with my husband, and the rest of the tapers in attendance.  Lining up early has long been the custom for Phish taper sections.  Phish taper tickets have long meant, unofficially of course -- access to the section only, and no guarantee of getting the exact seat on one’s ticket.  We began assembling in the heat, for the traditionally hours-long wait to earn our preferred spots for audio taping.  But in the 3.0 era of Phish, taper sections are changing, and it’s often not for the better.

Fans have in recent years begun ordering taper tickets in the mail order lottery, with no intention of either taping, or assisting tapers with getting their gear into the section.  In fact, these not-taping ‘tapers’ are demanding their seats and of course, venue security must enforce the rule, understandably.  Unfortunately, it has sometimes meant that actively-taping fans with gear are suddenly uprooted and moved, often during the show itself.  Once seated in the taper section, these not-taping ‘tapers’ shout and giggle and laugh and talk, seemingly oblivious to what’s going on around them.  Tapers, who know all too well how tenuous their relationships and welcome are with venue security, are frequently at a loss for options.

Say what you will about whether taping in the audience is even necessary anymore, given LivePhish downloads.  But the taper community is a vital and colorful part of the Phish scene.  I shall hope for some consideration in the future about how taper tickets are sold.  Could selling taper tickets separately be the answer?  Maybe.  I’m just not sure how much extra work ticketing agencies would be willing to do, to ensure that only those involved in taping were given access to these hard to get tickets.

There was no such issue with negative energy musically, however.  And it was the music that ultimately distracted all of us from the mid-summer mid-Atlantic sauna that that Mother Nature has served the area, for well over a week, as well as the drama in the taper section.

Where does one begin, when dissecting Sunday night’s performance?  How many ‘firsts?’ How many different points in this show could have stood alone as a show highlight? I still haven’t wrapped my head around it all, and I’ve listened to the show twice, now.  Significant improvisation was found throughout the evening.  Segues between songs were  most noteworthy; and the band offered up an opening that caught many of us off guard.

Beginning the show with the first Walfredo since Vegas 2000, band mates switched instruments: Trey on Keys, Mike on lead guitar, Fishman on bass, and Page on drums.  They soon segued into the first Mellow Mood in seven years.  Tela, an infrequent visitor to live performance could easily have served as a show highlight, all alone.  Yet, equally resplendent versions of The Divided Sky, Sample in a Jar, and Bathtub Gin ran close seconds.  Despite a curiously-placed Brian and Robert, the set ended on a high note, with a raucous-version of Antelope.

Kicking off the second set with Wilson, Phish set the stage quickly for a set of musically-epic proportions.  I’m starting to consider set two of Merriweather to be one of the best I’ve ever heard or seen.  The band played the first Meatstick since 6/4/09 at Jones Beach, NY.  It was a particularly jam-filled version, which had more musical inspiration than recent ones, and less about the actual dance.  There was also the first Saw It Again since 8/3/03 Limestone, ME.  The segues between Saw It Again, Piper, Ghost, and Jumpin’ Jack Flash were some of the most interesting and clever that I’ve ever head Phish play.  Specifically the seque into Jumpin’ Jack Flash.  I didn’t hear THAT coming..

Contact, a quick You Enjoy Myself, and Jimi Hendrix’s Fire round out this amazing set of music.  Easily one of the best shows of 3.0 era, despite the multiple challenges of the day.

Check out more photos from the Merriweather Post shows.

I almost don’t want to tell you how cool a festival FloydFest has become.. I don’t want to risk ruining it.  Long past the growing-stage of a fledgling hippy-fest; FloydFest, now in her 9th year, is fully-realized and a true contender amongst events in the Central Virginia and mid-Atlantic region. Our music-loving young family found this event to be one of the best run, cleanest, and most diverse weekend of music and entertainment we’ve attended in a long while. This was despite the oppressive heat, that made us grateful for renting a generator for our pop-up’s air conditioner.

Event organizers expected a record 14,000 or more for this year’s festival, and while a final attendance count wasn’t available at press time, large crowds flocked to FloydFest from Thursday to Sunday and a capacity crowd packed the grounds Saturday to see traditional favorites like the Old Crow Medicine Show and new-to-the festival acts like The Levon Helm Band.

On stage for nearly two hours on Saturday night, the 70-year-old Helm drove his band with the same power and dynamic touch he displayed when he was a member of The Band. His drumming skills were evident immediately, as he and his band launched into “The Shape I’m In.”

Levon Helm took the lead vocal a few tunes in, singing and swinging on “Got Me A Woman,” from his 2007 record, “Dirt Farmer” — the first of two Grammy-award winning records Helm has made since his recovery from throat cancer.

Of course, it wasn’t all about Helm. While he provided deep rhythms all night, the other 10 members of his band each got time to shine on a wild variety of horns, keyboards and more. Campbell was key to the proceedings, playing electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and fiddle and turning in solid lead vocals. Singer Teresa Williams also shined on “Long Black Veil” and the spiritual “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning.” Jim Weider, who took the guitar slot when Robbie Robertson left The Band, was also on hand for complementary rhythm.

Helm only emerged once from behind his red Gretsch kit, to strum on a mandolin during a rousing “Deep Elem Blues.” The show built to the predictable but still exciting closing number, “The Weight.” Alexis Suter, who has performed her share of Midnight Rambles, took the first verse, showing her deep and rich tone. “I Shall Be Released,” with Helm taking a couple of verses and daughter Amy harmonizing family-style with him, provided the encore.

But the weekend festival was not without some challenges, handled well I might add, by festival organizers.

A shifting load jackknifed a tractor-trailer south of Floyd and blocked Virginia Rte. 8 – a primary route to the Parkway and FloydFest – for several hours Thursday just as attendees began arriving. Floyd County volunteer firefighters not only had to turn vehicles around as they headed both south and northbound on Rte. 8 but also had to give out-of-town visitors directions on how to reach the FloydFest site by alternative routes like driving south on U.S. 221 to Canning Factory Road and then using Black Ridge Road to reach the Parkway.

On Thursday, blown circuit breakers plunged much of the festival site into darkness just before the evening showcased a concert of Railroad Earth, but a generator provided power to the Dreaming Creek Stage so the show could go on.

On Saturday, a hit-and-run accident on the Parkway near Mabry Mill brought emergency vehicles speeding past the festival site along with a bulletin to Patrick County deputies to be on the lookout for a male suspect “without shoes or a shirt” who fled the scene.“Yeah, right,” said one deputy as he looked over the crowd with dozens of men without shirts or shoes. The suspect was later captured as he tried to hitchhike on the Parkway.

The sheriff’s department reported only minor incidents, most involving public intoxication. Emergency medical personnel treated several people for heat-related problems as temperatures climbed into the upper 90s on Friday and Saturday. FloydFest organizers and Floyd County police and rescue personnel deserve a round of applause for how well they reacted and prevailed over successive challenges without manifesting unreasonable delays on festival attendees or the residents of the area.

Had the challenges become un-prevailable, organizers might have called in a little help from a giant monster, already parked inside festival grounds. Dubbed ‘Davina,’ by its’ creator, Charlottesville, Va., artist and musician, Christian Breeden, it was originally a 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis.

An aluminum and steel skin covers the Grand Marquis chassis. The beast took 10 weeks to build. Breeden started the project on May 1 and had it ready for Transformus, an event near Asheville, N.C. Mr. Breeden told members of the press that he loads the 3,000-pound monster onto a car trailer after removing the head and tail, then folding the neck back into its back/dance floor.

And it does indeed ‘breath fire.’ Davina’s breath of fire is propane-fueled, apparently, though Breeden is thinking of switching to methane. Levers and pullies control the head’s movement.

Early Sunday morning, Breeden could look out the windshield at the Pimps of Joytime doing their thing as folks danced and bounced above him.

And the incongruity of such a sight is in a nutshell, precisely what the energy of FloydFest is all about.. Music AND Art AND fantasy AND healing arts AND something for the family, too. Driving home Sunday, we resolved we’d be back, no question.

Check out more of Gina's FloydFest photos here.

My father used to call it ‘blowing out the carbs..’ I was a little girl, in Northeast Texas, in the middle 70s. We had old cars, my entire childhood, often hotrods, or in leaner times at least a family car with a big-assed surprise under the hood..

Some of those older hot rods of his were high-performance cars that had four-barrel carburetors. If you drove slowly around town, you'd use only two of the barrels. To exercise the other barrels and keep them from sticking, you'd have to get the car on the highway and accelerate hard for at least a short time.

The other explanation is that, since carburetors ran so rich, the extra fuel they poured in would lead to carbon buildup on the pistons. And the thought was that by running full throttle, you could heat up the pistons and burn off some of the carbon. So the carbon may have been the "carbs" that my father was referring to.. I never asked.

But, like clockwork, my father along with whatever kid who was around – often me – would take a drive out on the interstate, about an hour northeast of Mesquite, Texas to simply: drive very fast. In an age of cheap gas, high speed limits, combined with no seatbelt laws, and a social acceptance about Open Containers, one can imagine how interesting these rides could often – be.

But he was quite serious about the ‘need’ to burn off something – be it carbon from unspent rich fuels, or to limber up those unused barrels. He believed there was value in it. So he did it religiously. I thought about this concept unexpectedly, as I took in the best double bill I’ve seen in a while, The Avett Brothers, with Grace Potter and The Nocturnals.

One of the last outdoor shows of the year, at Charlottesville’s Pavilion Amphitheatre, proved to me, to be one of the better ones.. Crisp clear air, perfect temperature, the smell of fresh apple cider doughnuts in the air, and music from two ensembles poised for much bigger things in the near musical future..

Vermont’s Grace Potter visited nearby Richmond, this summer, at a very successful city festival. Tonight’s sold out venue was already busting at the seams with fans, as she and her band, the opening act for this tour, took the stage. The early gridlock under the shed was an impressive statement of fan interest, one that she noted from the stage with appreciation.

Ms. Potter never ceases to amaze me, when I see her perform. I first caught her, ironically, at a city festival in Burlington, Vt. – in 2008, I think. She was great, then. She’s grown into an even more electrifying performer each time I’ve seen her, since. A commanding stage presence and just the right amount of playful sexuality.. Ms. Potter knows exactly what she’s doing, and she’s surrounded herself with a wealth of musical talent in her band. The Nocturnals are: Scott Tournet on guitars and harmonica; Drummer, Matthew Burr; Catherine Popper on bass and vocals; and Benny Yurco on electric and vocals. Ms. Potter herself brings the heat with Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer Electric Piano and electric and acoustic guitars.

The intensity of her show surprised much of the audience at first. I was walking around the venue, taking photographs and more than once overheard surprised remarks akin to ‘ I had no idea her shows were this good.. ‘Indeed this band is being exposed to a new audience through this double bill. And the new audience is pleased.. At least they were on this night. A Grace Potter and The Nocturnals show is better to me, at those higher RPMS, utterly screaming at top speed down the highway. Ms Potter’s voice can handle it, with ease.. And her band is solid and gifted. She was a brilliant matchup, with the main event to come.

The Avett Brothers were, for me, an un-known quantity.. I’d heard Shame, on satellite radio, a few times.. Somehow I never paid deep enough attention to it, though. There is a definite schizophrenia to the band’s music. But, if possible, I mean that in the best way. I’ve read plenty of press on the band.. The most used phrase I read was their: ‘indefinable’ sound. Is it Bluegrass? Punk Grass? Alt Country? Modern Americana? Ultimately it doesn’t matter what you call it, but labeling it, when combined with use of one’s common sense, helps me wrap my head around something I don’t commonly hear. And no one out there, sounds like The Avetts.

I had a definite preference for their lower-tempo work. The songwriting on those ballads is just too amazing, not to savor. Yet, in retrospect, I think they/we in the audience needed to hear those higher tempo acid-string-band kinda songs to ‘blow our carbs out’ in preparation to truly listen to the quieter and earnestly-sincere ballads to come. Brothers Scott and Seth Avett, who play the banjo and the guitar, respectively, Bob Crawford, on stand up bass, and Joe Kwon on cello make up the lineup. To call their live show high-tempo is quite an understatement. But for instrumentation, it could have been a Ramones show. A raucous show, musically, that would all at once segue to an elegantly written and splendidly delivered ballad that caught me off guard, more than once, with its’ heart-breaking eloquence.

This was an excellent double bill, as I mentioned earlier. After an evening with both of these bands, I suspect your own carbs shall have been blown out, too.

I hear a lot of people bust on the fans of String Cheese Incident.  Have you had the same experience?  It’s weird.. It’s like those that don’t dig them, really feel the need to share this, with anyone who appears willing to listen..  Or even if they don’t appear willing..  I’ve seen a number of Cheese shows over the years, and never felt the audience was anything more extraordinary than one might find at a Phish show.  Yet, I decided I’d focus on this, as I arrived for night two of Hulaween, at The Hampton Coliseum.

Three sets of Cheese, as a finale to a successful two night run.  The uniqueness of playing in a venue as historic as The Mothership was not lost on the band, nor the members of the audience, some having flown from Colorado.  Costumes were in full force on this Halloween Eve.  Plus the typical fairy wings, and ubiquitous hula hoops, and all were in costume, making the scene even more hilariously-organic.  I personally photographed a blind crossing guard, 4 pirates, several Barack Obamas, Darth Vader, and Jesus Christ.  Watching at several points during the show, from above, I marveled at how the floor ‘moved’ pretty much non-stop.  Lots people were dancing on this night.  Great welcoming energy everywhere I went.  The band provided their own costumed personas, the staging and lights also had some great extra touches.  Cherry pickers were placed about the venue where costumed dancers performed at various points in the show.

Chris Pacardson of Virginia Beach was attending his first show since the end of the band’s hiatus.  “I’m unbelievably surprised and glad they came to Virginia,” he said.  “And they came before Halloween, so I can still hang with my kids – tomorrow night,” Packardson added.  The 39 year old father and banker told me he’d seen ‘nearly 30 shows’ throughout the late 90s, and into 2000.  And the draw for him would be unequivocally, ‘bluegrass,’  he said with a smile.

The ‘day before Halloween,” aspect of the show made it possible for many to attend, it would seem. At least it did for the demographic that has likely been fans since the beginnings, in the middle 90s.  Yet, as sure as there were long-time fans in Hampton, there were younger faces, too.

Jessica Middleton, 19, traveled by car for the shows, from Nebraska.  “I’ve always heard about Hampton Coliseum and wanted to see it for myself,” she said, as she and I waited in line for some food, at the second set break.  Dressed as a convincing Princess Leia, Ms. Middleton was quick to rave about the previous night’s show, as well as tonight.  “The second set was crazy,” she said quickly.. “The whole spaceship kinda thing had the room bouncing,” she told me, as she headed back into the venue..

Indeed the second set had plenty of interesting surprises. Special guests Liza Oxnard and Keller Williams provided great vocal additions on those second set party nuggets like Mothership Connection, Groove is in the Heart, and Planet Claire. There were few duds in the entire show, in my opinion.  I do think the third set might have gone a song or two longer than necessary, but I admit I’m quibbling.

And as for the fans, I had a blast hanging out with the creative, energetic, fans of Cheese.  Halloween seems like the perfect day to combine music, like that of The String Cheese Incident, with the wacky creative aspects of the fan base..  I for one, am glad they are back in the live music scene..

Check out more photos from the show.

I think it goes without saying that music, and experiencing a wide variety of it, is an important part of how I rate the quality of my life.  There have been a number of artists and bands over the years that have caught my attention and captivation.. In each instance, the music was the beginning and the end of why I came to be enthralled with their work.. It’s gotta be better than what’s on the radio.. You know?  Make it, musically — worth MY time.. And my time, is valuable..

Ben Sollee more than meets my definition of ‘worth my time.’  I’ve had the pleasure of catching him in performance three times now.. But this last occasion, was my first chance to see an entire show of just his music alone.. Simply put, it was one of the best nights of music I’ve experienced in quite a long time.. If you like music to both have the power to ‘swing’ rhythmically – AND – make you think and feel, you need to give Ben Sollee’s latest release ‘Inclusions,’ a listen.

Sollee is a cello player from Kentucky who combines classical training, along with elements of soul, R and B, and what Sollee has described as ‘Modern Folk…’  I’m not even sure if I’ve included all the various elements I hear when I listen to his work.  There are so many layers to his sound, and songwriting, as well as his stellar singing voice.

The 27 year old comes from a musician’s family.  Sollee’s father was a working musician in a regional R and B band.. It’s very easy to see from where the cellist’s deep appreciation of R and B and soul originate.  Sollee’s grandfather would play folk and bluegrass music with him, as well.  The musical results aren’t all that surprising on paper, yet – music doesn’t ‘live’ on paper, does it?  However, it’s valuable to note that all three genres are music ‘of the people,’ and are typically story-based lyrical compositions.

Yet in the brilliant hands of Sollee and his fellow musicians on this night, (fiddler Phoebe Hunt and percussionist Jordan Ellis,) such a Kentucky lasagne of sound -- takes on an entirely new energy.’  Perhaps that’s the ‘modern’ part of Modern Folk?  The best I can state it, is that it relates to ‘now,’ in ways that classic soul and original folk do not.. Yet it’s utterly timeless in delivery of that more modern message.

As I mentioned earlier, Sollee has performed in Charlottesville, at least three times before.  First with the gifted Abigail Washburn and The Sparrow Quartet, and later – with Daniel Martin Moore, in support of their release ‘Dear Companion,’ where all artist proceeds were donated to help spread awareness in hopes of ending the highly destructive coal mining method of ‘mountaintop removal,’ in Appalachia.

Sollee briefly explained his concerns about the coal mining method.

‘Mountaintop removal involves literally blowing the top off of the mountain, extracting the coal – and then piling the earth back on, and replanting.  Such a practice wrecks total havoc with the ecosystem, and ultimately the way of life for the people of Appalachia,’  Sollee said.

There is plenty of research to support his opinion, yet the practice continues.  Sollee was at a loss to explain why.  He added, ‘You wouldn’t see this happening in The Sierras or The Rockies.. Yet it’s been happening here [Appalachia,] and for now – it’s legal.’

Sollee is a passionate advocate for the people of Appalachia, yet knows where to draw the line between raising awareness and interrupting the music of a live performance.

In a recent interview, Sollee said he preferred ‘to create platforms for the informed activists to spread the word.’  And true to form, representatives were at this venue to help educate about the mining destruction taking place in Appalachia as well as local representatives advocating the use of bikes as transportation.

Bicycle transportation is a theme in Sollee’s career.  Indeed he traveled by bike, on his last tour.. Yes, he pulled the cello.  But his reasoning for doing so might surprise you.  It wasn’t to push any ‘green’ agenda.  Not that the musician doesn’t appreciate the added benefit to the ozone layer from his decision to not use a vehicle to tour with, last year.

Sollee described his reasoning as one of hoping to re-humanize the process of touring.  ‘On tour, reality is planes, and buses, and quickly getting from point a to point b.. When we toured by bike, we came to feel more connected  to each performance, and each place we played.’

Given that this musician’s music is ‘of the people,’ a desire to stay close to them, makes a great deal of sense.  ‘Smart’ is a word I’ve tossed around for several days now, as I’ve been thinking about this show, in preparation to write.  But I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.  Sollee’s music is intelligent, yet not at all snobbish.  It swings, rocks, and even occasionally bounces with funk.

The musician practically assaults his cello, playing percussively with either his bow, or hands.. I didn’t know a cello could MAKE some of the sounds he creates.. Sollee’s live performances are better than his recordings, and his recordings are pretty amazing.. The tour continues thru the summer, although they aren't on bikes this time.. I overwhelmingly suggest you look for a show close to you and try to get tickets.  And sit up close.. You won’t regret it.

Did you ever see the movie, The Blues Brothers?  I saw it back when it came out, in a theatre.. It’s one of my favorite comedies of all time. And one of my favorite scenes is at the honky-tonk bar, where John Belushi’s character asks the waitress what kind of music is played there.  She replies in a happy chirp, “Oh – we’ve got both kinds.. Country – AND  – Western.. “

It’s very telling how her character delivers that line.. And it compares to rigidity in definition that can sometimes manifest, when the makers and listeners of music are stuck in one era or style.

No such rigidity exists in the music of Del McCoury, or that of his band.  No such rigidity exists either, in the range of talent -- and the acceptance of that evolution, of bluegrass into the twenty-first century on a DelFest performance stage.

The 4th Annual DelFest, in Cumberland, Maryland brought everything from the traditional to the cutting edge in bluegrass music. Some playing styles came closer to ska and thrash, even – only performed on the classic instruments of bluegrass.  This festival, is becoming the go-to place to see and hear the latest and brightest in this genre of music.  Del seems to attract the best of the old and the new.  And he welcomes them all, as if it were his back porch on a Sunday afternoon.

It was this openness that struck me, as I watched Del chatting with fans on the side of the Potomac Stage.  Mike Harrison, of Northern Virginia, had the same impression.

Mr. Harrison, who counts the music of the Grateful Dead, Blues, Bluegrass, Gospel, anything from New Orleans, and Rock n Roll amongst his favorites told me why he has come to DelFest for three of the last four years.  And while he certainly enjoyed most, if not all of the artists, the key for Mr. Harrison, is Del McCoury, himself.

“I first saw Del when I was a graduate student in Nashville in the late 70s.  There was a place near campus called The Bluegrass Inn...It was a cinder-block dump with the most incredible music and cold beer.  Del sat in one night after a gig and I've followed his work ever since.  Back then, it was strictly traditional bluegrass.  I'd never heard it before and was hooked.”

Imagine being in a small club and having Del McCoury walk in and just sit down and play?  Astounding, I thought -- to have one’s first entry into bluegrass have been stewarded by someone who would become a national musical treasure.  And then, 41 years later – stand and chat with him on a humid Sunday morning at a festival that bore his name. I tried to imagine what they both looked like, back in Nashville – at The Bluegrass Inn.

I felt really lucky to have run into Mr. Harrison.  His thoughtfulness about the music and respect for it was immediately apparent.  But I found my new friend no stuffed shirt, when it came to traditional versus newer bluegrass playing styles.. Mr. Harrison continues.

“When Jamgrass started to appear in the 90s, I loved the way some artists were morphing traditional bluegrass into a jam band kind of style...taking a song out there and playing with it, stretching it, seeing where all it can go and how.  I noticed that Del was out there working with these folks.  An example was seeing him and the band share a stage at The Birchmere with Leftover Salmon years ago.  Rather than resisting change in "his" music, Del was supporting the effort and those who headed in new/bold directions.  I had a lot of respect for him because of that.”

I thought a lot about that Mr. Harrison said.  I thought also about a friend who recently described, in his relatively-layman manner, that bluegrass music was really ‘hillbilly jazz.’  And trust me, he meant that courteously.  I came to believe that Del McCoury is really providing a service to bluegrass that’s very similar to Wynton Marsalis, and his efforts to respect the heritage of jazz, while nurturing its’ evolution.  Del McCoury is the keeper of the bluegrass flame, and the one who will pass the torch, too.  Since the beginning, DelFest has been about preserving and sharing the old, and giving opportunity to the new.  Mr. Harrison agreed.  “The nature of DelFest and its programs reflect his active support for this expanded notion of bluegrass.  He has strong, nurturing Elder energy that serves others well, and a big vision of how bluegrass can reach more people while getting even better."

There is indeed something about Del, and this festival that attracts the most unlikely looking, and sounding fans.  And McCoury never wastes an opportunity to educate such a dynamic musical demographic.  Mr. Harrison recalled.

“Last weekend he taught from the stage...about Bill Monroe,” Harrison said. "Imagine that, a man starting a whole genre of music all by himself.  Just think of that." [said McCoury from the main stage.]

“He teaches us about the Old Masters...Jesse McReynolds this year, Bobby Osborne last year...by putting them in our faces on the main stage where they show us their magic.  To some, I expect, this is the first time they've heard traditional bluegrass.  And these traditional artists meet whole new audiences as well.  Win/win.” Harrison added.

But for all the ‘Yin’ of Del’s respect for tradition, there is also his healthy sense of ‘yang’ in his acceptance and interest in all kinds of music, and how such intersections with bluegrass can help  the genre continue to evolve as ‘music of the people.’  This kind of exploration typically is the most surprising on The Potomac Stage.  Last year, that stage brought to a larger audience, and to my ears --Trampled by Turtles.  This year, I found the energetic set from Hoots and Hellmouth to be the most pleasantly surprising.

But musical adventure was not limited to The Potomac’s stage.  Mr. Harrison agreed.  “Scythian [main stage performers,] has a physical energy that left me exhausted when they were done.  It was a great feeling.  They are talented and fun.  I like the immigrant notion they honor. “And I felt the same way about this band.. But I missed the ‘immigrant’ energy, til Mr. Harrison pointed it out.. To my ear, it sounded more ska-like, but with bluegrass instrumentation.  I think Mr. Harrison’s impression may be more accurate, actually..

Indeed the main stage acts were a wonderful mix of old, new, surprising and tried and true.  Chris Robinson, performing sans ‘The Brotherhood,’ or ‘The Black Crowes;’ and rockers like Warren Haynes, shared audiences with bluegrass stalwarts like Dailey and Vincent and Jesse McReynolds.  Mr. Harrison was particularly impressed with Haynes and McReynolds.  He referred to one of his highlights of the festival being, "standing in the mud at the lip of the stage while Jesse McReynolds sang Ripple.  I love the song but many bands seem to shy away from it because it is seen as a "Jerry" song.  I thanked him for playing it later in the VIP tent.”

Yes, it looks like Mr. McCoury does indeed have a stage that brings out the best in everyone on either side of it.  And apparently it brings things out of the clouds, too.. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the weather, which in previous years has been everything from broiling to dangerously-tornadic.  This year, we got some hail, again, and some serious rain.. And of course, we got the mud..

I hesitate to say too much about the mud.. I’m not sure what kind of reaction I may get.  I can compare the lure of mud to the lure of the record over the CD.  There are obvious differences in being muddy, versus being clean.  Just like the ‘sound’ of a record over that of a CD.  I’m sure we all know, or perhaps are, ‘that guy’ who can’t stand anything but a record.. CDs are too cold sounding for him.. Or the Flac versus mp3 people..

For the mud aficionados, mud interaction is just as spiritual, I think.  So I risk drawing some ire, here.  But with allowances for that energy, let me tell you – it was a mess in front of the main stage.. The Potomac was a little better.  I was grateful for advance notice of this weather, and came well-prepared for it, with mud boots, and camera protection.   After surviving Coventry mud, I learned what to bring that actually works.

What surprised me was the limited reaction to the mud that happened in the stage area.  Great effort was made to ensure walkways up to the music meadow were kept as dry as possible.  And eventually they caught up in those areas, and pathways became very easy to navigate.  But I can’t credit organizers with as targeted an effort at mud mitigation at the main stage.  I saw, and photographed hard-working crew members in gators, bringing sawdust to spread.. But it was nowhere near enough.  It merely made the bog more oatmeal-like.

Mr. Harrison disagreed, although I don’t think he takes being in mud as spiritual, either.

“Sometimes it rains, even at a festival.  Rain makes mud.  If you go to a festival, be prepared.  I felt no discomfort because of the mud, and at times it was kinda fun.

Check out more photos from DelFest 2011.

There are a number of outdoor festival sites in the US that have that extra special 'something' that makes people come back year after year.  Florida has Spirit of the Suwanee Park, for example.  What usually sets a festival location apart, for me at least -- is a mix of breathtaking natural beauty, and of course -- the music.. But for me to come back year after year, it's gotta have a little something on top of that.. Something that's a little different.. Perhaps a bit comically-odd, at times. Something one can't quite verbalize.

FloydFest -- the annual music and arts festival in Floyd, Virginia, has been described by one on-line reviewer as a "unicorn in a horse pasture of music festivals."  That's pretty accurate, actually.  Beautiful and a little pleasantly-weird at the same time.  Celebrating its' 10th anniversary this year, and reaching a new height in event production and attendee delight, Across The Way Productions should be lauded. It's no surprise to have learned that 15 thousand 4 day tickets were sold, let alone the number of individual day tickets.  Yet the site never felt overcrowded or unkempt.

Held on the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, the event site features beautiful wooded camping, as well as hiking and bike trails. Spanning four full days, and offering 9 unique stages of entertainment, ranging from the beautifully timber framed Dreaming Creek Main and Hillholler stages to the campy 'Pink Floyd Garden Stage' and the homey 'Virginia Folklife Workshop Porch,' FloydFest spans genres and generations.. They thought of everything.. For everyone. Local reports estimate that the area receives an economic impact from FloydFest of around $1.5 million to $ 2 million, each year.  FloydFest ticket-holders are mostly 35 to 55 years old, highly educated, with good incomes, and very often - children.  And you know that parents only go with their kids when they know it's gonna WORK..

And that's where I feel ATW Productions has hit their home run in event organization.  The Children's Universe.  As a parent, who has escorted her 5 year old to a number of festivals and concerts in his short life, I am positive that FloydFest creates the best possible environment  to keep the family just as happy as the concert-starved parents who are raising them.

But The Children's Universe does far more than entertain junior wookies.. It actually sets a tone for the entire festival, I believe.  It becomes more 'community-like.'  And that is due to the wonderful array of things and experiences for kids to do, at FloydFest.  They thought of everything.. That changes how people act en masse.  Add to that, the Healing Arts areas with yoga; and massage, and numerous other opportunities for enhancing one's health and well-being --  and you've got a pretty idyllic musical environment.

It was this very comfortable, yet artistically-passionate environment, that has brought Nashville native Edward Benesch to Floyd for the past five years.  "I wish I'd have known about Floyd [Fest] from the beginning, said the 31 year old middle-school science teacher.  "I happened upon this festival while I was planning a trip to the area.  I haven't missed one, since," he added smiling.  Citing the Sunday bluegrass and folk performers as his main draw for this year, Mr. Benesch also offered his surprise 'likes' for some newer performers.  "Toubab Krewe was amazing," he said.  "I've never heard percussion quite like that before, I'll definitely be looking into their work more closely once I return home."

"Hands-down, it was The Carolina Chocolate Drops." said 27 year old Master's student Crystal McKinney, of Blacksburg, Virginia. The Virginia Tech student thought they were the 'surprise hit' of the festival, and she had plenty in agreement with her. With nine stages at FloydFest, it's pretty challenging to proclaim one, or even two artists as 'the best' of the weekend.

Mainstage performers for the Friday and Saturday night shows, Robert Randolph and The Family Band and Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, respectively brought the heat, as anyone who has seen them perform surely already knows.  I particularly enjoyed Randolph's set.  Knocking his pedal steel to the ground within the first three songs -- set a pace that I'm not sure he's fully recovered from at this late date, even.  Yet, Grace Potter continues to prove her road-earned respect with a live show that I found incredibly electric.  Sadly, I had to leave before seeing Sunday performances by Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, David Grisman, and Del McCoury.

But it was the Old Crow Medicine Show performance on the main stage Thursday night that likely left the best impression on West Virginian, Erica Ward.  But it wasn't only for the music.  It was for the people, too.

"During Old Crow Medicine Show, my 4 year old daughter fell fast asleep on our blanket that was near the beer garden. I was all alone and waiting for my friends and other daughter to come back. I sat down to try to protect her from people walking by and stepping on her. Five  guys, [whom] we didn't know, created a human shield around us. Shining flashlights on her, and guiding people around us, they told me they wouldn't let anything happen to her. THIS MY FRIENDS IS WHY FLOYDFEST IS SO UNIQUE!!!" Ms. Ward exclaimed.

FloydFest is a place where kids and families are welcome, along with fire-breathing dragons and aerialists, and jugglers, and clowns.  In fact -- the sillier, the better.  It's a weekend of profoundly high quality music, arts, and positive energy that's organized very well, from where I stood as an average attendee..

Whatever they're feeding that Unicorn, it's working..

I don't know about you, but for me -- The Infamous Stringdusters appear to be on a roll.  Red Rocks, A Grammy nomination, a new guitarist -- and an even newer mandolin player.. They have a new release expected in the spring on their own label, High Country Records.. And just this past Columbus Day Weekend, a gathering at Devils Backbone Brewery, dubbed The Festy Experience, now in its' second year of success.

Located in bucolic Nelson County, Virginia and on the grounds of Devil's Backbone Brewery, the sophomore effort of this festival was even smoother than the first.  It's hard to take issue with any part of the camping and RV areas, unlike some challenges with Festy attendees, in 2010.  [Which remains the only issue I ever heard taken with Festy 2010.] Once again, the weather was textbook perfection, and the stage lineups were creative and well considered.

I only wish a child's soccer game hadn't kept me from arriving on Friday, for Toubab Krewe and Railroad Earth.. I chatted with some other Saturday arrivals as I checked out merch, and eyed up the ice cream vendor next door for later in the day.  Rebekka F. from Baltimore, Md. was looking forward to seeing her first Infamous Stringdusters show.

"I love them, and it's crazy that I haven't been able to see a show of theirs before now," she said, as she struggled with blankets and chairs as she waited for friends to buy beers.  " I couldn't come last year, but nothing was keeping me away, this time," she said.

I did run into a number of people who had not been last year, but came in 2011, after so much good feedback from first year attendees.  My family and I were among those inagural attendees.  I must agree that they took all that worked from the first year, and most of it did.. And then they just tweaked here and there.

I was particularly impressed with Green Team efforts.  The place was clean pretty much any time I thought to look down and around and check.. Don't recall a single overflowing trash can.. In fact, in an effort to reduce the festival's environmental footprint, on-site composting and the use of as much sustanable packaging as possible, ruled the day.  And this was apparently all by design..

In a recent interview with Grateful Web, guitarist Andy Falco explained the evolution of The Festy..

"We play so many festivals all over the place.  And usually as a band, when we leave a festival you get to thinking: 'How cool it was, that they did - this..'  or 'I didn't like so much how they did that,' and so forth.. It came to be a bit like [market] research.

So we were in the position where we could get with some partners, and take what we think of as the best of all those festivals and make our own. There's a 'green' element to it, which is important to us.  There's an outdoor lifestyle component to it, also.  There's a bike race, and a run that we host on the grounds. Of course, there's the music -- too.

It's the kind of place you can go and rage and have yourself a good time -- but -- you can [also] bring your kids. There's stuff for kids -- too."

And as a seasoned festivarian, and the parent of a small child, I wholeheartedly agree. Daytime kids zone activities were well attended, varied, well supplied, and loads of fun.  Who knew that 10 or so bales of hay would provide so much entertainment to so many children?  I think I might copy that idea for a coming Halloween party.. Great organic, vegetarian, and locally-produced food options, beer selection, and vending.  I do think they might've used a bit more vending in the coffee department... Perhaps that's already in the works for 2012..

Musically, I had a couple of surprises, and they started with Lake Street Dive.  [not DRIVE]  I'd never heard of them, and still don't know much.  But I want to know more.  Composed of drummer Mike Calabrese, bassist Bridget Kearney, vocalist Rachael Price, and trumpet-wielding guitarist Mike “McDuck” Olson, it's hard to pinpoint their exact style.  And I like it that way.  One defining characteristic is the haunting voice of Rachael Price.  She stopped me cold the moment she opened her mouth.. I stopped shooting and just watched her, for a full song, before continuing.  She can sing jazz, pop, motown, whatever..

I was really excited to see The Wood Brothers.. And I wasn't disappointed.  Brothers Chris and Oliver joined with drummer Jano came out blazing and played for me the second strongest set of the weekend proper.  [I didn't hear Friday's sets..]  Saturday's Emmitt-Nershi Band set was raucous and fast.  Sunday brought a visit from David Grisman's Sextet.  I enjoy Dawg Music every time I can get to hear some.  But the weekend belonged to The Infamous Stringdusters..

I've always thought they were a great band, with virtuosic performers.  But somehow they are really hitting their stride.  The band played like it was auditioning for it's life.  Tapers back in the section even mentioned it, later in the night.  Perhaps the energy was stirred up because a new member was just beginning to mix with the styles and influences of the rest of the members.  And they are varied.  Guitarist Falco explained:

"We all come from sort of different kinds of music, but the common denomenator is Bluegrass. It's part of our musical DNA's individually, and as a group. Your musical DNA is sort of taking all the stuff you've heard through your life and it SHOULD come out in the music.. There were times when Andy was ripping a solo and it sounded like a 'shred-solo,' I mean.. You know? This stuff comes out.. I play a lot of bluesy stuff, you know?  I come from an electric background.. Stuff influenced by Hendrix, in my playing.. I mean, that's all part of me, so it should come out in the music. And it's the same with a band.. That's what makes the band, SOUND like a band."

And the band sounded great, and deserves a tip of the hat, for a well-run festival and great lineup of artists.. See you next year!

Check out lots more great photos from The Festy Experience.

These days, it’s hard to define them, isn’t it?  In a musical world full of niche genres and file sharing — everyone’s product may have a better chance of being heard, and that’s great.. But it — as a result of a larger pie of musical choice, gets diluted in value.  I think that’s why the live music experience provides for so many, what the recorded medium cannot.

As a child of the 70s and early 80s, my musical taste was affected by pre-high technology including radio, reel to reel tape, cassette, and LP records.  And today –  I maintain what most of us have  — a high-tech interaction with recorded media on a daily basis.. I’d say we Generation X’ers have been the bridge generation for this change.. We have feet in two different ways of looking and thinking about music, and technology..  I feel that guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish, as well as his own band, ‘T.A.B.’ are also of similar mindset.  Indeed the earliest beginnings of Phish were in sharp contrast to that era’s waning appreciation for Disco, and the coming of New Wave with the arrival of MTV. Yet in most ways, it was technology that introduced them to the Patchouli’ed  masses..

In my Gen X mind, Trey is a rock star.. Perhaps not in the traditional ‘leather pant-wearing, fire-breathing sex-machine’ kind of rock star..  Nor is he the next Jerry Garcia-type.. Rather he’s a genre-bending virtuoso in performance — as well as off stage — in composition and arranging.. He’s Pete Townshend with a ‘Clif Bar, and some cold green tea..’  Like McCartney and Lennon — this man will be inducted into the Rock Hall for both his band, as well as his solo work.  It’s just a matter of when.

I’ve been lucky enough to photograph Trey a number of times over the years.. On this night, it was for my friends at The Grateful Web…Trey was performing in Charlottesville, with his solo band T.A.B. As is normal with some concerts, I was only allowed to shoot for a few minutes.. I decided to use the majority of my brief stage time — to focus literally on his face..

Thanks to Red Light Management for the shooting credentials… And thanks to Trey for always reminding me that musical adventures are a thrill I both need and love in my life..

Check out more photos from the show.

I’ve mentioned a number of times how musically-diverse I find Charlottesville, Virginia to be.. On any given nite, one may find a large variety of live music available..

This past Sunday, I stopped into The Jefferson Theater and enjoyed a great show by bluegrass wunderkinds The Yonder Mountain String Band. One member was absent from the lineup on this night, Adam Aijala.  Local favorite, Larry Keel stood in for the missing guitarist..  This was already a sold out show, and once Keel’s temporary addition to the lineup was announced, amateur fans/budding scalpers showed up just outside the venue offering tickets for $100 each.  I never noticed if anyone took them up on their ‘deal.’

Inside, rumors were rampant that members of The Infamous Stringdusters were there, and planning to join the band onstage.. That was quickly dispelled, once it became obvious that The Stringdusters were in Atlanta.. Most fans I spoke with, felt that Keel’s presence would steer the band into significant traditional bluegrass territory.  But I came to disagree. Keel did cover some of his own work, of course.. But for the most part, he did what any stand-in musician would do — properly cover the sound that the missing musician would have added…

I love watching Larry Keel play.. Combining him with the speed and ferocity of Jeff Austin’s mandolin work proved to be a joyfully-sweaty and near-aerobic event for both sides of the stage.  I surely missed Adam’s presence from the usual band lineup.. But on this night, the slightly different Yonder experience brought about by Larry’s presence on stage, made for a great way to end the weekend.

Check out more photos from the show.

There's a lot to be said for just dropping off the grid.  I'm not talking 'move to a desert island' kind of grid dropping.. But the temporary, and temporal sort; where one's mind, body and spirit can take a break from the burdens of life. Genuine rejuvenation.  It's the reason vacations were invented, I'm sure.  But not every vacation truly is one; especially these days.

My six traveling companions to Europe were all photographers.  We'd designed our vacation to be first and foremost, about PHOTOGRAPHY.  No spouses, dates, etc.  We were shooting first and asking directions, later -- so to speak.  We each were trying to push ourselves, creatively, by severing our bonds with the rigid realities of our adult responsibilities back home. In short:  We left the 'To do List' at home, and brought the 'Bucket List,' instead.

Separating from my friends in Paris to take the train to Amsterdam, I started to get excited at crossing a 'Bucket List' item from my own list: Shooting and reviewing a show in another country.  And this show -- would prove to be a great one..  The final night of the 2012 JAM IN THE DAM Festival.

Train travel in Europe, especially at first class level, is a relaxing and civilized experience.  And they feed you, non-stop.  Limited Internet access kept me from even considering anything beyond the Paul Simon I was cranking in my headphones as I arrived relaxed and on schedule, at Amsterdam's Central Train Station. Essentially, I would have no phone, due to sporadic coverage.  This also meant I had no GPS, either.  Quite honestly, I began to enjoy that sense of digital autonomy.

No matter where you go; you're accompanied by a virtual crowd that desperately and urgently needs to connect with you.  Drifting about, untethered to the crowd, can enrich our lives in ways you'd never expect. When you can't take the call, answer the text, or pinpoint your exact location, you can enjoy greater focus and much deeper connections to nature, yourself, and whoever's along for the ride..

Traveling for live music all over the US, has long sold me on my own battle with my Apollonian lifestyle as an adult, versus the Dionsyan nature of my own personality.  Both have their place; as they do for anyone.  The Yin must have the Yang..  But each are in constant battle with the other, and exchange control over the territory of my consciousness, as each new cicrumstance dictates.  My brief time in the land of coffee shops, bicycles, and wooden shoes would prove to inspire both sides of myself, and leave a strong desire in my heart to return, and as soon as possible.

I suspect GWEB reader, Parker Otwell Roe, of Boulder, Colorado understands this. Easily one of the perpetually-happiest people I've met in years, Roe detailed his own dichotomy in musical taste. 
'I grew up on a very steady diet of Classic Rock thanks to my older brothers and my mother -- I declared Pink Floyd to be my favorite band when I was nine. That hasn't changed in 26 years..'  Roe continued: 'I was also introduced to the "other" classics -- Baroque, Classical, American musicals, opera and operetta...disco. As I grew, my tastes remained in the rock arena eventually branching out into a love of jam rock, electronica, world musics, Irish trad, bluegrass/newgrass, ska, acoustic rock, reggae, and fusions of all types.'

A seasoned festivarian, Roe quotes noteworthy experiences including, 'Bonnaroo 2004 -- [then] the stressful, sad, and horribly muddy Coventry with Phish later that summer,' and Irish Music festivals in Ireland as well as Philadelphia.  He also mentioned Phish's Festival 8 back in 2009.  and in 2010 String Cheese's triumphant return to Horning's Hideout.  'Honestly, a weekend that changed my life forever,' Roe added.

It turns out Roe has been to Amsterdam, many times before.. Although this was his first Jam in the Dam experience. 'This year the line-up was just too 'Dam good, so to speak,' Roe quipped. 'Since my first visit in 1998, I have always found the city to be mysterious, lovely, and charming...the Dutch people to be friendly, fun-loving, and spirited...and the overall of experience in the Dam to be soul-expanding, curiosity-sating, and happy-making to the Nth degree.'

I couldn't help but agree with him.  I'd only been in Amsterdam for a few hours at that point.  I was already regretting my inability to alter my travel plans to have included more of Jam in The Dam, as well as the area at large -- without sacrificing more of Paris.  I was amazed at how different everything was a mere 3 hours by train, from where I started.  Parker [Roe,] appeared to be equally aware of the fluidity of [In this case, European,] culture. He continued, 'It is always so amazing and enriching to immerse oneself in an another culture, no matter how briefly -- to see and feel and taste how other humans exist in fashions different from our own USA.  So much of my world view has been shaped by my experiences outside of our American borders and Amsterdam has always been a key well-spring of refreshing difference. '

Again, I concurred.  As soon as I stepped from my train into the sea of bicycles and friendly people -- I was hooked.  I came to think of it as 'chaos with courtesy..'  The place felt comfortable -- from the moment I got there. Might it have been the near 100 percent English speaking residents?  Maybe.  Architecture? Sure, it was steeped in history.  Music, obviously. Energy... Without a doubt.

The sense of intimacy and quiet acceptance was immediate upon my arrival inside The Melkweg, as soundcheck was concluding and audio tapers were starting to set up for the night.  Coming in from the bright sunshine, my eyes were blinded for a bit.  I walked towards the stage lighting being tested on the floor in one of the halls..

I could see the silhouette of a stroller and a person crouched in front of it, soothing a small toddler.  I'm a parent, who had left her son with her husband back in Virginia.  My mommy radar kicked in.  I never looked at the grownup, actually.  Walking closer I see the adult appears to have calmed the child and was saying goodbye, so she could be taken back to a hotel for her bedtime.

My involuntary 'aaaw' got the attention of the adult who was crouching.  As he turned and rose to his feet, it was Mike Gordon.  I was surprised -- but quickly smiled that 'fellow parent smile,' that we are all taught when our children are born.  He responded with the same kind of expression.  Yeah.. This was to be a different, far more welcoming kind of concert experience, to be sure.

The 6th Edition of Jam in The Dam, was another chance for Walther Productions to show 'how it's done' with respect to mid-sized music events.  Located in downtown Amsterdam at The Melkweg, the festival was universally praised by attendees both European and American as I walked the streets making photographs just prior to the closing night.

Multiple nights of full sets from Mike Gordon, moe., Lotus, Dark Star Orchestra, and Keller Williams.  A venue big enough to have great sound; but small enough to feel intimate.  A tolerant and liberal venue staff and city at large.  Truly a chance to feed the Dionsyan through the fruits of the Apollonian.  But there was and is far more to Amsterdam than just the festival.

The obvious first mention of activities outside of the festival would be the coffee shops and easy availability of cannabis.  But if that was all one did, they'd miss a lot.  And my new friend from Colorado, didn't think THAT was as critical these days.  Roe said, 'As for the coffee shops, once upon a Golden Age they were pretty amazing -- before there was Colorado MMJ, there was Amsterdam.'  I bet tons of Americans wished they lived where MMJ was an option.

Tiffany Horyna, a student and Advanced EMT from Sandy, Utah took full advantage of everything Amsterdam had to offer, including the coffee shops.  'A given,' she said.  But she and her husband didn't stop there.  In addition to winning the costume contest on the final night as 'Recycling Girl' depicting her interpretation of 'Green,' she also visited the Artis Royal Zoo, Hortus Botanicus, Torture Museum, Rembrandt's House, and the Rubens showing at Amsterdam Hermitage..

A self-proclaimed moe.ron, Horyna thinks they are a group that brings a bit more to the table than one might expect. 'They are a jam band that is not afraid to really bring the rockin' metal in, and then next thing you know they've got the xylophone going--who else can pull that off? I also really enjoy their lyrics, they don't sing about what everyone else does,' she said.

What brought this future Physician's Assistant across 6 time zones for her first Jam in the Dam experience?  'The caliber of music,' she explained.  'moe. and Mike Gordon being on the bill - sealed the deal.' Dubbing the festival, in her words, "Al-sterdam," Horyna raved about al Schneir's overall festival performance, adding, 'Rob was definitely on point too, he just keeps moe.ing Chuck was channeling Eddie Van Halen at certain points and Jim & Vinnie were nailing it. I felt moe. played the heaviest sets out of all of the musicians that performed.'

The Utah resident also shared her surprise of the festival. 'Keller Williams, as we had not seen him before.'  She also cited the Dark Star Orchestra's performance of May 10, 1972 from Concert Geboun, Amsterdam -- a 30 song setlist -- as equally of note. She also felt Mike Gordon's set was strong.  Perhaps Cactus was inspired by having reached one of his Bucket List items: bringing his own band on tour in Europe.  Ok, so he didn't call it a Bucket List item.  But a fantasy achieved  is no small event, either.

Thanking the audience on this final night for helping a 'fantasy' [of touring Europe with his band,] come true, they played a fun set of covers, including Phish's Mound.  I thought Scott Murawski's vocals on Alanis Morissette's 'Hand in my Pocket,' were splendid.  It was obvious to me, that the crowd agreed. They absolutely left me wanting more.

To a fault, every fan I spoke with felt the investment of money and time to attend was worth it.  Most said they'd do it again.  Some felt the lineup would always drive their actions.  Regardless of the parameters of your music travel decisions, I'll suggest you consider Jam in The Dam seriously for 2013.  Plenty of activities for non-music time if you want it.  Plenty of fun at night after the shows are over.

Perhaps you too will find something in Amsterdam to check off as well, on your own Bucket Lists..

Check out more photos from Jam in the Dam.

I had a dream about Steve Martin, last night..

I knew I'd be writing this story, today.. That's likely why he was on my mind.  Of course he was in a white suit, with an arrow headband on his head.  [I'm a child of the seventies, after all..] But instead of playing for laughs, he was picking his banjo with fire, along with a bevy of world-class bluegrass musicians.  This was an especially fun dream, considering I've never seen him perform in any capacity beyond the movie theater.

Gratefully, that's about to change.  And I have Del McCoury to thank for it.

The 5th annual DelFest, in Cumberland, Maryland brings with it yet another fabulous cross-section of whats new and what's still revered and traditional in Bluegrass.  I've written about Mr. McCoury a few times before.. I've brought my family to every DelFest since its' inception.  The lineup never fails to introduce me to either a heritage performer I've not seen yet, or a new band that blows me away by surprise.  And if you've read my thoughts on this festival before, you know I attribute that creative balance of sound to Del, himself. It would appear that Mr. McCoury sees equal value in the old and the new, and sees no reason for them not to consort with each other.  It makes for a great festival, I tell ya.

It's hard to know where to start on this year's lineup.  I surely can't discuss them all.  With performances by The Del McCoury Band each of the 4 days as an anchor; I do find my excitement for specific artists spiking around a few others, too.

Thurday's lineup also includes Split Lip Rayfield and closing the evening -- Railroad Earth.. However, my interest is piqued by The Devil Makes Three, playing earlier in the day.  Described as a 'punky perspective on vintage American Blues,' they are a drummer-less ensemble, also intriguing.  I've never seen them, before.

Yonder Mountain String Band closes the evening on Friday at the Grandstand Stage.  The Bluegrass Band Competition finalists will begin to take their turns at The Potomac Stage, throughout the weekend, before one band is crowned winner. Additional performances at the Potomac include Birds of Chicago, who I have never heard of, until researching this story.  Gorgeous vocals, where they say 'you’ll hear echoes of mountain gospel, street corner doo-wop, classic soul.  Accompanied by just a banjo and a guitar, it’s chilling. Fired by a full band, it’s a full tilt revival.' I am not sure if they are backed by a band or just a duo for their DelFest appearance.. But after watching a few clips -- I plan to be there, regardless.

Saturday's headliner, Leftover Salmon, should likely bring some fun sit-ins by other artists.  Keller Williams, performing just beforehand, seems inevitable. Another interesting ensemble in Saturday's lineup that I've not yet seen perform is Luther Dickinson and The Wandering.  In fact they will grace both stages over the course of the festival.  I couldn't find any recording of them to sample. But I surely know Mr. Dickinson's musical pedigree.  The DelFest site describes the group as 'a collection of diverse musicians hailing from parts of Mississippi and Tennessee. Their debut album entitled Go On You Can’t Stay Here will be released on May 8th.

Sunday brings the winner of the Bluegrass Band Competition on the Grandstand Stage early in the day.  Later, things heat up a bit more by my estimation, starting with Bela Fleck and Sam Bush.  Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers lead into a finale that's sure to include special guests, with Del McCoury and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

I mean Really.. Could you divine of a more interesting group of bluegrass artists on the same stage during the same festival?  And there are other activities in addition to the music.

The DelFest Academy is held the week before the festival, where attendees are led in a 3 day intensive workshop in their instrument, by some of the finest bluegrass musicians performing today.

Festival weekend itself, check out the Artists' Playshops peppered throughout the schedule for an even more intimate chance to hear your favorite artists.

Parents have a Kids Zone area to check out.  Activities in the Art Bus, Various games and activities left out in the pavilion area, stream [bug] workshops, hula hooping and a Kid's Parade should help parents entertain their kids, as well as enjoy the music.  Also of note is the on-site toy train museum that all attendees are free to visit while at the festival.  [They do accept small donations.] Did I mention it's AIRCONDITIONED?

DelFest is a great festival, at a size that's manageable, but still fun.  Nice cross-section of vending, even some that are 24 hour.  If you are on the fence about this one, I'd jump over to Maryland this Memorial Day Weekend.. You won't regret it..

As for me, I'll be at DelFest -- as I have each year.  It's gonna be cool to see Steve Martin play.. It would be cool if he wore a white suit and that arrow headband.. But I'm thinkin' uuh.. 'NO.'

I spent my entire weekend at DelFest thinking of a musician who wasn't even on the lineup:  Doc Watson.. I had heard of his declining health just before I departed for the festival.  I overheard many at DelFest expressing their own concern.  It appears we all had a feeling, sadly.  I wish we'd have been wrong.

Bluegrass and folk are unique artforms.  I suppose they all, are.  But for some reason, perhaps my demographic -- I feel a connection to these intricate, complicated, elegant, yet quite approachable music forms. The loss of Doc Watson is an immense one, and it won't be one that's possible to replace.

But many of the things Doc helped to bloom and flourish in bluegrass music are well tended by the host of this past weekend's DelFest.  And as usual, McCoury's success was achieved through the lineup he assembled on the stages of the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland.

Blue/Newgrass stalwarts like Bela Fleck, Leftover Salmon, Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Darol Anger shared their weekends with burgeoning artists including: Birds of Chicago, Madison Violet, and YouTube sensations The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys.

It's hard to focus on what about this festival I liked more, the traditional artists, those more left of center, or at those atleast new-to-me.  I always walk away from DelFest with one new artist that really surprised me.  This year was no different.  In reality there were two or three.  I'll start with Luther Dickinson and The Wandering.

I was intrigued from the moment I learned of this group.  I'm a huge fan of The North Mississippi AllStars, The Word, The Black Crowes -- and essentially anything else Mr. Dickinson might be a creative part of.  It was interesting to see him not the driving force onstage.  His playing was top-notch, as always.  But a great deal of credit also goes to the other musicians: Valerie June, Amy LaVere, Sharde Thomas, Shannon McNally - all hailing from parts of Mississippi and Tennessee.  

In a recent interview, Mr. Dickinson described The Wandering's sound as, "rural boogie," a blend of mountain music from the banjo-mandolin mix and African traditions via the fife,' he said.

To me, it was like The Carolina Chocolate Drops on a hot afternoon with a bit of moonshine added in for good measure.. Just a little bit sweaty, but in a best way.. I can't say I was surprised by the fabulous set they presented.  I've had the pleasure of hearing just how high Mr. Dickinson sets the bar for excellence many times over.

However, I was surprised, outright and in the best way, by Mountain Sprout.  Hailing from Arkansas, a place I lived briefly as a child, I could feel their musical, comedic, and regional authenticity from the moment I stepped up to the Potomac Stage on Sunday morning. They are indeed Ozark-Proud Hillbillies.  And damn they can play.

I couldn't help but note the hilarious dicotomy of stage energy on that Sunday MORNING at DelFest.. Over on the Grandstand Stage -- gospel music with the great Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.. On the Potomac --  Mountain Sprout -- with a lead singer that looks like the southern cousin of Charles Manson, plays like nobodies' business, and tells jokes as he and other bandmembers knock back Sunday morning beers, and hand-roll their cigarettes onstage.

Leave it to Del, to ensure the Yin and the Yang are always covered, at his festival.

The Infamous Stringdusters, I have had the pleasure of seeing several times over.  It's interesting, this group.  They have all the elements.. They are 'right there...'  Are we watching an ascent similar to the one that was witnessed in the jam scene with Grace Potter, in recent years? [In their case, to a more mass-appeal country audience.] I suppose the next year or so will answer that question.. I have never seen this band on an 'off' night. DelFest was no exception.

My personal festival highlight was The Marcus Roberts Trio with Bela Fleck.  I was surprised by the booking, but I really shouldn't have been. Can I gush a moment?  It was amazing. The level of improvisation and equal musical burden across the group was world-class. I mean, consider who was on stage: led by Roberts on piano, Jason Marsalis on drums and Rodney Jordan on bass.
Roberts, Fleck, Jordan, Marsalis brought the heat that afternoon, serving up stellar performances that respected the roots of jazz, and allowed that to be infused with the backgrounds of each of those master musicians.  If you have this ensemble headed your way, run -- don't walk -- to get your tickets..

A close second for my festival highlight would surely be Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers.  After another of DelFest's annual thunderstorms delayed musical action, I was excited to make it to the Grandstand in time to get in position to shoot [photographs] for the beginning of their set. Clad in a tailored summer white linen jacket, he was the picture of erudite-silliness, mixed with equal parts musical ability and respect for the genre.

Martin is an able and gifted banjo player.  He performed a claw-hammer-style instrumental that hasn't left my or my husband's ear since we heard it.  But don't sell the Steep Canyon Rangers short as a mere 'backing band.'  They are some serious musicans, and great singers. Their harmony was bell-toned-perfect. And who knew they could be funny? They proved able straight-men to much of Martin's on-stage schtick.  It was vintage Steve Martin.  And it was a really fun show.

A word or two about weather and mud.  It rained.. Again.. But as a veteran of all five DelFests, I am so pleased to see significant improvements in the Grandstand area to prevent mud from forming after rain.  Pulverized gravel, was brought in and placed across the first 30 percent of the music meadow field.  It did a great job of dealing with drainage.  I saw no one standing calf-deep in mud, as I did in previous years.

The drainage issue wasn't solved totally, but DelFest should be commended for the significant advances to that end.  And really, given the amount of rain, I'd say the festival more than handled the issue.

Mother Nature didn't surprise me.  It has rained all but one year of DelFest.  But she did disappoint me.  I, my husband, my cameras and my recalcitrant 6 year old, spent more time riding out thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon and through most of Sunday than we'd have liked.  The Preservation Hall Jazz Band's performance with The Del McCoury Band was most affected, as it was moved into the Music Hall during yet another thunderstorm.

Late night performances from Leftover Salmon, Greensky Bluegrass, and The Infamous Stringdusters proved to be the most talked about the next morning.  But all late night shows were well attended..

Great food, friendly surroundings, fantastic lineup.  DelFest never disappoints.

Check out more photos from DelFest 2012.

I was beginning to worry about the health of rock and roll.  I grew up on mid-late 70s rock.  At that time rock  was the music, [along with disco,] that was really the 'pop' of the day.  A lack of Internet and MTV surely helped assist this reality.  My reality, anyway.  I lived in a number of areas as a little kid where -- regardless of demographic -- the main music blaring from one's house would be blues-rock-based.

Time marches on, and music changes.. I'm glad for that, actually.  I crave variety.  But my musical-genre-soul-mate: rock and roll, seemed to no longer be the radio's 'go to' music anymore.  Rock never went away, mind you.  It just got less attention.  But, perhaps that is about to change, a little.  Bands like The Congress, who are woodshedding nightly on stages all over the country are proof of this.

I had barely previewed the band on YouTube before arriving at The Clementine, in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  I caught their relatively-brief set as an opening act to The Hackensaw Boys.  Beautiful place, but not the most conducive to listening to music.  In truth I may be a harder sell than others -- as I never care for seeing a show where people are also ordering and eating dinner, etc.

Regardless, Richmond natives and current Denver residents The Congress, were a great surprise to this rock loving listener.  Bassist Jonathan Meadows, Guitarist Scott Lane, and drummer Mark Levy played like it was standing room only, from the first note.  I only wished they'd played longer.  Straight-ahead rock and roll isn't something one hears regularly these days, especially rock and roll that isn't trying to sound like a nostalgia act.  These guys play like a single thought, and it's an aggressive, blues-soaked thought, at that.

And they can indeed -- PLAY.. It takes a great deal of ability for a three-piece to sound as big and full as this band did, last Friday night. For me, the drumming was a highlight all night.  But everyone was well-abled and remarkable on stage.  Mr. Meadows' pure bell-toned voice is a strong and clean alternative from the sometimes screaming style of rock vocal delivery.  [Not that screaming lyrics is a bad thing.. Just different.] Guitarist Scott Lane was also of note, and like the GWeb reviewer for the recent DC show, I felt his solos were furiously-respecful homages to Neil Young, and Chris Robinson, among others.

They are still touring for their debut release: 'Whatever you want.'  Strong tracks on this disc like, 'Keep Virginia,' and ' Reason' make this disc worth the money.  Strong performances by all members of the band, making your decision to catch the band worth both your money -- and most importantly, your time.

Check out more photos from the show.

In one of the most musically-taut and diverse lineups yet, DelFest is poised to provide the go-to location for anyone looking for the best in music for Memorial Day Weekend, 2013. [May 23rd - 26th.]

Since the festival's inception, Del McCoury has brought amazing musicians to the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland. This year is no different.

With The Del McCoury Band performing nightly, 2013 will also bring two sets from Trey Anastasio Band. Also on the main stage:  Old Crow Medicine Show, and DelFest favorite: Yonder Mountain String Band.

The festival schedule isn't available yet, but look also for performances from Trampled by Turtles, The Masters of Bluegrass, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Larry Keel and Natural Bridge.  See full lineup.

I've attended every DelFest, rain or shine.  This year, without a doubt, has the potential to offer up some amazing musical sit ins.  Anastasio's inclusion in the lineup takes the festival into an interesting direction.  Introduced to Del McCoury at Farm Aid in 1998 while performing with Phish, Anastasio has often referenced the significant influence McCoury has had on his development. First performing together at Phish's festival in Oswego, NY in 1999, they shared various opportunities for collaboration either with Phish, or Trey Anastasio Band. Bill Monroe's bluegrass standard "I'm Blue I'm Lonesome" remains a frequently played composition when the two men get together. Here's hoping they choose to continue their streak with that song on the DelFest stage.

The late night shows, not yet announced, and are always the hottest tickets.  Stay close to the DelFest website for those performer announcements.  Past year's late night sets with bands like Yonder Mountain String Band, and Trampled by Turtles have become stuff of legend.  As a DelFest veteran, I can also safely say that the festival site itself has improved with each and every subsequent year.  In the past, there have been some DelFests where mud became a real logistical issue.  Last year, it was apparent a great deal of thought went into upgrading walkways and ramps. It still rained. After all -- it's DelFest. But moving from stage to stage was a comfortable experience, regardless.

DelFest still holds the DelFest Academy in the week prior to the festival.  Festival students spend 3 intensive days playing music with and learning from their bluegrass heros.  Songwriting contests, kids activities, movement playshops, and an freestanding toy train museum round out the highlights. If you are pondering your summer music festival schedule for this year, this is a must-see.

I feel the need to offer a disclaimer at the beginning of this review.  I do not work for anyone at DelFest.  I have nothing to gain regardless of what I write about DelFest, within this review. And it’s also important to note that I’ve been to each and every DelFest, and also happened to review them for Grateful Web, since the event began, 6 years ago. I say all of this now, as I’m about to gush... A lot..

The sixth annual DelFest was preordained to be different from the others; the lineup being the driving reason, as always. With a festival history of booking the unexpected, I was surprised -- yet also not -- at the booking of Friday night headliner: Trey Anastasio.  Phish’s respect and inclusion of bluegrass in their own catalogue is well-documented.  I’ll save time and assume that many of you already know this.

Yet despite that long-standing connection, booking Trey at DelFest did cause me pause, at first. Would it change the energy of the event? Would it become harder-edged?  It’s possible that as you read this, my opinion might seem out of line.  I’ll note, if it helps, my decades-long appreciation/obsession for Phish, as well as any side project any member happens to be involved, in.  But I also have watched and participated in the genesis of DelFest, where a somewhat different energy typically prevails.

With regard to the different energy this year, I did feel that, to a degree.  Officials told me upon arrival on Thursday that ticket sales were indeed up by 40%.  And festival arrivals on Thursday, instead of the usual trickle -- were a torrent.  I was one of them, and I am glad I was. It was already packed by Thursday night’s sound-check performances.  For the first time ever, at a DelFest, I saw dogs that had been snuck in, and in some cases -- running off leash.  But beyond those minor issues, the crowd was happy, friendly, and ready for music.  And they got it..

I attend a number of festivals each year, and have done so for a long time now.  I always marvel at how a well-run festival can make the experience even better than just what’s happening on stage. DelFest, in my travels, have had such an agenda, since its’ very first year.  With all the DelFest weather stories you may have heard about hail storms, tornadoes, flash floods -- and the MUD, all manifesting like unlucky-magic on Memorial Day Weekend, are true.  But  in the midst of the festival history; you should also know what the festival organizers have done in response to each year’s challenges.

MUD was typically the worst issue most of us have contended with, as DelFestivarians over the years. Biblical rain and storms year after year, left the fairgrounds a sea of black clumpy and smelly mud-oatmeal.  But not anymore. It would appear that this year’s shining improvement came in the form of tons of donated fine gravel that was used to create a high and dry walkway into the Music Meadow.  No more wooden planks! A new shower house was created, too. When one considers the comforts of DelFest in year one, versus year six -- there is no contest.  Massive improvement that was well-considered and executed.

And the weather.. It’s as if Mother Nature finally decided to stop the assault and reward us all with glorious daytime weather with only one brief rain shower on Thursday afternoon.  Nights were cold, to be sure. One report had Friday night’s overnight temperature at 39 degrees in the mountains of Cumberland, Maryland.

Reviewing an entire festival’s performer lineup is nearly impossible for me.  I can’t see or hear it all.  And my opinion is really just that -- an opinion.  I will share my own highlights.  And not surprisingly, Trey Anastasio tops that list.  The TAB show I saw that night is easily one of the best I’ve seen of the original lineup.  If you can get your hands on a copy of that show, do it.  [There were tons of tapers.. That show is out there, for sure.]  I think in many ways, Trey set the bar for the festival that night.  Watching both Trey and Del onstage together, I could clearly see -- and to a degree was able to photograph -- adoration oozing from Trey, towards Del. Trey often has a silly smile on his face, but trust me, this was different.  And that energy came out in performance.  Jennifer Hartswick has apparently channeled her inner rap star, as was evident in her vocal performance.  And the encore choice of Led Zeppelin woke up anyone dumb enough to have stayed at their campsite and missed that show.

But before you think this is only gonna be about Anastasio, I’ll share that in my honest opinion, EVERYONE brought their A game to DelFest.  I feel that THIS YEAR, specifically, everyone came ready to play.  As a longtime DelFestivarian, I’ve chatted with others about the uniqueness of this festival.  It does appear to be seated on the shoulders of Del McCoury.  Nobody wants to play poorly in front of him.  Maybe I’m assigning my feelings to what I see, but I don’t think so.  The elevation of performance quality by each musician this year was palpable.  They were playin’ for Del..

Check out more photos from DelFest. | Thurs | Fri. | Sat. | Sunday