Mon, 06/12/2017 - 6:40 am

On June 3, 2017, I was privileged to be among the limited number of people present for the fourth day of the John Hartford Memorial Festival in quiet Bean Blossom, Indiana, at the Bill Monroe Music Park. A pedigree this strong promise high quality, enjoyable music, and I’m pleased to say the festival lived up to its name. As Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon and formerly of Great American Taxi) said at the beginning of his set, this seventh year of the festival honoring the newgrass legend John Hartford makes it clear that this festival is about picking. Any given moment of the day one could find picking of the highest quality, whether on one of the three stages or in any of the many jam circles that formed and reformed throughout the camping areas. And if you had an instrument and the courage, you’d have been welcomed to join in the jam.

Tickets were limited to 2000 only, a reduced number from the previous year, which means the park was full but entirely uncrowded. There was plenty of space to breathe and dance and stretch out. Hammocks encircled the seating areas, chairs were left and shared as if among friends. The trees, the food trucks, and the occasional pipe tobacco blended in a sweet gentle breeze that kept the heat at bay.

The music was phenomenal, and I’ll share my experiences with it, but it would be unjust to ignore the hard work that went into the atmosphere and sense of community. Look, I’ve been to plenty of music festivals, and they all try to at least appear informal and easygoing, but I know better than to really let my guard down. Sometimes festivals can even be the opposite of relaxing. But I don’t think it’s any kind of exaggeration to say that people really let go and relaxed at the Hartford Festival. I sure did. I felt safe, which I found to be unusual. There was no ounce of pretense, from the bands, the emcees, or the guests. Everyone really was laid-back and at home.

For me, it was The Wooks who best expressed that feeling of home in their music. Each song was an invitation to sit on their porch, pass the mason jar, dance a while. During their set, dozens of children marched past me, led by their own hilarious song from one activity to another, like some pied piper version of old-time Sunday school.

Perhaps the most moving moment of the day for me was during the Band Contest on the main stage. The eventual first-place winner Ida Claire announced their set by wryly declaring it to be “a beautiful day for songs about death and despair.” Then they shared the most uplifting song about one of their mothers dying from Alzheimer’s Disease. I didn’t know how to feel, exactly, but I knew I was alive.

The Hippy Hill Stage opened with the high-energy, minor key growl and howl of Bigfoot Yancey, whose earthy experimentation serves a strong compliment to their respect for traditional sounds. But I knew the Boogie Stage was the place to be when I heard the existential wail of Ransom Notes’ cello accompanied by impressive technical skill. Their most crowd-pleasing moment was a version of House of the Rising Sun that conjured up images of an angry pirate funeral.

Glade City Rounders switched off instruments frequently, covering string-band and jug-band sounds with equal artistry, and were especially proud of their John Hartford fiddle. And Run Boy Run captured the single-mic sounds of old-time music with their take on the Carter Family classic “Hello Stranger.” Growler lived up to their name with an eclectic mix of youthful energy, bawdy humor, and bluegrass infused with Chicago blues and southern rock.

As evening approached the main stage Vince Herman gathered an assortment of musicians together to focus in on classic sounds, culminating in a selection of John Hartford tunes. The Matchsellers delivered with their brand of virtuosity mixed with awkward humor and a generous splash of hambone. And singer/songwriter/storyteller Bill Poss was joined on stage by this year’s winner of the songwriting contest winner Micahlan Boney and her unparalleled musicianship.

The evening reached its peak with two distinct takes on bluegrass: the Travelin’ McCourys’ professional, hard-working heritage sound and Jeff Austin Band’s high energy progressive jams. Both groups included covers of Hartford songs as a tribute.  Then they took the stage together for the Grateful Ball, an hour-long jam on Dead songs, with ample opportunity for each musician to show off their chops and for the crowd to join in. Bringing the evening to a close, an all-star assembly of performers from throughout the week improvised a lengthy jam around a handful of Hartford’s signature tunes.

I found ‘home’ to be the dominant theme throughout the day, spoken and unspoken. Signs greeting the guests said, “Welcome home.” The bands sang about the places they’re from, how these places make us who we are, about how we can never really go back home, and about how we’re going back soon. The music and the air were rich with a sense of belonging and the desire for it. And that’s no accident. Communities of vulnerability and openness don’t spring up automatically. They’re created on purpose. And it was evident to me, at least, that the promoters of this event had a sense of home and belonging and shared humanity in mind from the start. They created a space where people could just be people, and we recognized that we all want the same basic things from life. I don’t want to overstate this, but these are the things that matter in life. I for one drove home with a heart full of good tunes, but also with a deeper belief in humanity. I need to make plans to be there all four days next year. And maybe I should call my dad.

Tue, 07/03/2018 - 5:29 pm

I had one question as I was pulling into Bean Blossom, Indiana for this year’s John Hartford Memorial Festival. “Can they keep the spirit of this thing alive with continued success?” There is something different and special happening in this event, and we all know what happens when beautiful special things really take off and become tremendously successful. I didn’t doubt that I was about to take part in something truly good, but I was – let’s say worried. I don’t want to see this festival lose its way.

John Hartford Memorial Festival

In retrospect, I don’t think I had anything to worry about. The team heading it up clearly have a vision in mind, and it’s a vision that centers of the legacy of a particular person. As long as they stay true to the man and what he stands for, I don’t think they can go wrong. I hope, maybe, I can explain why.

Fox Crossing | John Hartford Memorial Festival

The first thing I have to adjust to – and I mean adjust in a good way – is the venue. The Bill Monroe Music Park is a decidedly wooded rural setting, with a lot of history running through it. It perfectly reflects the ethic of the festival, one of responsibility, community, intentionality. Part of the distinctive character of this even is the sense of intimacy. Shared space with other attendees, proximity to performers, the chance to hear their thoughts and stories in workshops. You’ve just seen a group rock out on the main stage? There’s a good chance you’ll be able to get up close and personal with them later on at one of the two peripheral stages. Despite being a short walk from each other, the trees make them feel remarkably isolated from each other, without any sound contamination whatsoever.

Urban Pioneers | John Hartford Memorial Festival

That sense of intentionality comes through in the lineup as well. Of course, you’ll find the well-practiced professional sound of road-tested bands, but there are also newer voices, newer sounds, new talent being given a moment to shine. And three stages means some hard decisions about whose great music you aren’t going to hear. A few highlights from this year’s performances:

Circus No. 9 | John Hartford Memorial Festival

Circus No. 9 was one of the first groups to impress me. Bass moving toward funk, banjo and mandolin moving toward jazz, guitar moving toward rock, and somehow nevertheless maintaining an acoustic roots sound that belongs at a festival in John Hartford’s honor. Jon Stickley Trio performed progressive style-bending compositions that definitely sound more fully and complex than a three-piece should be able to pull off. The Dry Branch Fire Squad set was marked by Ron Tomason’s yarn-spinning and dry humor – but I was equally impressed by all the poetry he recited for his mic check.

Ernie Hill & Jeff Daugherty

Ernie Hill and Jeff Daugherty shared a laid-back, gorgeous, major-7th laden version of Steam Powered Aereoplane which, if there is a recording of it, might even become my favorite. In the middle of an impressive performance, Giri and Uma Peters wowed us with “How to Help the World,” a moving original by young Uma. Tangleweed’s creative variations on Bonaparte’s Retreat really pleased the crowd as well.

Chicago Farmer | John Hartford Memorial Festival

We were treated with two sets from Chicago Farmer, an Americana Billy Bragg who knows how to speak to people’s real lives and galvanize a crowd. And two sets from Fox Crossing String Band, four women from Chicago who know their brand and don’t shy away from it. They have that charming blend of sweet and strong that draws you in but demands respect. The Mighty Pines devoted their first set to John Hartford tributes, but for their second set brought out impressive originals, from laconic swaying ballads to fast-paced hard-working fusions of funk and bluegrass. They gave the festival an infusion of P-bass and drum kit to balance out a lineup dominated by upright basses and string bands.

The Mighty Pines | John Hartford Memorial Festival

Seeing the members of Forlorn Strangers switch instruments as they rotated through songs written by each of the members, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Fleetwood Mac – only in the best ways. John McEuen (of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band fame) created plenty of pleasing and entertaining moments, but none so sweet as the crowd singing and dancing along with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” It seemed to me that one of the most successful tributes to the spirit of Hartford came from Lizzy Plotkin and Natalie Spears, and their creative songs finding meaning and enjoyment in ordinary things, from cell phones to sagebrush to skiing.

Robert Ellis & Courtney Hartman

Saturday morning kicked off with Robert Ellis and Courtney Hartman offering one of the purest and simple performances I’ve ever seen. Make no mistake – simple is hard to pull off effectively, but the chemistry between these two performers allowed for an intimacy that counterintuitively drew the crowd into it. Micahlan Boney, the winner of last year’s songwriting competition, returned with her collaborator Sean Clark and their peculiar brand of – swampadelic? Cosmic Americana? It’s hard to describe because most people wouldn’t hear descriptors like “rusty, bloody, nasty, painful” and think it’s going to sound awesome – but trust me, it’s awesome. Micahlan’s musicianship is something to witness. And Deep Fried Pickle Project – if homemade mandolins and violins are your thing, if you have a soft spot in your heart for the washtub bass, or if you’re tickled by the idea of playing a plastic yard flamingo with a trombone mouthpiece, then this band is for you. Probably enough said.

Hot Buttered Rum | John Hartford Memorial Festival

Hot Buttered Rum’s performance was hard-driving, tight and energetic. They pulled off an inspiring cover of Petty’s “Time to Get Going” that I found particularly moving. This band’s decades of practice is serving them well. Billy Strings didn’t fail to bring the same clean virtuosity and good-time energy that is making him a fixture on the festival circuit And speaking festival fixtures, Saturday night was anchored by the Jeff Austin Band and guest Darol Anger performing a few originals, but even more notably, covering the entirety of Hartford’s landmark Aereo-Plain album. Yes, even the delightful odd bits. A more fitting follow-up to last year’s Grateful Ball I could not imagine.

Dead Horses | John Hartford Memoral Festival

It’s clear that not only the promoters but also the performers truly had in their heart the honoring and celebration of Hartford and his ideals. And it wasn’t just the proliferation of black bowlers in the crowd that drew attention to him. His values were on display the entire time, not obviously, but behind the performances and the organization and the whole spirit of things. If I knew nothing about the man and had to guess his values based solely on this year’s John Hartford Memorial Festival, they would go something like this:

A profound nostalgia about the past and a simultaneous hope for the future.

Respect for tradition, and also the courage to innovate and generate progress.

Seriously addressing things that matter and having fun while you’re at it.

Jon Stickley Trio

And underneath all of that, a conviction that beauty is found in ordinary things, and those ordinary things need to be preserved and celebrated.

Forlorn Strangers | John Hartford Memorial Festival

And so in the festival more is being preserved and celebrated than just the musical heritage of John Hartford. Because of who he was, and the promoters’ dedication to that, the festival becomes an experience of how life could be lived better. There is magic in that. Somehow thousands of strangers gathering in his name becomes a profound experience of community, a shared recognition of what matters in life. As one beautiful stranger remarked to me, “I look around at what’s happening in the world and start to get scared. Then I come here, and I realize we’re going to be okay. All these good people give me hope.” I can’t help but imagine that pleasing John immensely. And if that is the memorial of him that the festival keeps offering in years to come, then its future looks bright indeed.

Tue, 06/18/2019 - 2:09 pm

When I was invited, for the third time, to review the John Hartford Memorial Festival, in its 9th year, I heartily accepted. I also tried to bring people along, because it’s an experience worth sharing. I was at a loss, at first, to explain it. Not just a bluegrass festival. A picking festival? Mostly. But with elements ranging from old-time Americana, root music, classical and rock and jazz- I settled on bluegrass and its extended family. It turns out that ‘extended family’ would come back around a few times.

John Hartford Memorial Festival

I was eager to get down to Bean Blossom, because I heard the venue was under new ownership, and they’d been making improvements. I had that nervous hope, you know – you get it when you’re afraid changes aren’t going to be for the better, but you really hope you’re wrong about that. Because I love the JHMF, and when you love something, sometimes you’re afraid that change means losing it. Of course, I know better, and so do you; change is important for new life and new beauty and new possibilities. It just doesn’t always work out so well.

Sweet Lillies | JHMF

So I admit it: I was prepared to not like the new changes. I was dead wrong, and I’m glad. I noticed little improvements here and there, but the biggest change was a brand new restroom and shower facility, clean and convenient, and a welcome upgrade! People raved about being able to freshen up with minimal expense and inconvenience. Just as popular as the new showers was the new source of filtered water, sponsored by the JHMF. It will be a major contribution to health and hygiene and comfort during these hot summer festivals.

John Hartford Memorial Festival

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to claim that it symbolizes, in part, the spirit of Hartford Fest. Hold on to what you love, but don’t let that stop you from building the future. In fact, make sure the future you’re building is an investment in what you love. This is a festival for people who love more than just music. It embodies a certain ethos.  A way of being in the world. A way of being really human. The entirety of the festival is designed as an investment in a certain kind of community: one that welcomes, shares, respects, and enjoys. I’ve never seen a festival with so many kids and dogs, and all the bustle and fun associated with them. There is a standing rule that open chairs and hammocks are free to be enjoyed, so long as you respect them and give them up should their owner arrive. A free shuttle ferries the tired between the three stages and more. It’s not idyllic; it’s just very human and good. An issue with a neighbor’s amplified music comes up, and a gentle reminder that the festival is about live music is all it takes to restore respect. Belongings were lost, and the response to stage announcements about them was timely and impressive. To lessen the impact of generated waste, there was both recycling and can collection, with the latter going to fund forestry work in the area.

The Hillbenders | JHMF

Of course, the cornerstone and main event was the music, and this year’s lineup did not fail to entertain and impress. Nearly every group that performed covered at least one Hartford tune, and if that weren’t enough to memorialize him, the main stage opened every day with an entire set of John Hartford covers. Some groups had been to nearly every Hartford Fest so far, and some performers returned to Bean Blossom for the first time in decades. Young performers and old shared the stage with each other in a way that emphasized a kind of welcome and inclusion. And with the song writer’s challenge and the band contest, it became clear that fostering new life in the community is a core value of the promoters. This thing that happens when people pick and sing and connect on a truly human level – it’s powerful and worth extending to as many people as will engage it. It’s not a preachy thing; it just is. If you don’t seek out the intention behind what they’re doing, you’d just be enjoying another fine music festival.

Allie Lee & Frank Lee | JHMF

There were more highlights this year than are reasonable to list! Let me share a few of the more extraordinary moments. I particularly enjoyed the eclectic influences of the Larry Keel Experience, the sci-fi humor of Matchsellers’ Blurgrastronauts, the impeccable skills of Asheville’s Fireside Collective. The set that surprised me most was Frank and Allie Lee. Of course they were good, but in addition to classic tunes, they covered both Manassas and Led Zeppelin and made them belong. Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands brought a distinctive and thoughtful sweetness that balanced out the more raucous performances.

Wood & Wire | JHMF

One of my favorite sets was the energy and harmony of Wood and Wire. They’re practiced musicians with a classic sound, but what stuck out to me is – you’ll have to forgive how strange this sounds – the laid-back and smooth banjo playing — easily the most pleasing banjo sound of the weekend. Having Ragged Union and Wood and Wire in the same place meant we were treated to a one-off performance of a reunited Two High String Band, a rare experience.

Ragged Union | JHMF

Bumper Jacksons brought music with a message and made us want to get up and dance – that my favorite combination. Music that can make our bodies move can make a difference. I shouldn’t neglect to mention their welcome inclusion of wind instruments. Just as danceable was the youthful and exuberant performance of the Way Down Wanderers. Their sound is hard to classify, but so easy to enjoy. A prime example of the breadth of the festival, the peculiar transatlantic string-band sound of the Irish band JigJam kept things fresh and exciting.

Chicago Farmer | JHMF

Always a crowd favorite, Chicago Farmer performed his usual solo set on Thursday, but debuted his band the Fieldnotes on Friday, including the incredible skills of Jaik Willis.  Farmer and band sang and told stories to the size of crowd rarely seen until the big Saturday night performances. Sam Bush was originally slated to be that final Saturday night performance, but due to illness was unable to be there, so Great American Taxi, a Hartford Festival tradition, closed out the weekend with a rocking and energetic show. The Hillbenders were available to fill out the Saturday evening schedule, but did more than fill time – they gave one of the more fun and exciting performances of the festival, putting Hartford poetry to music, covering the Who and MGMT, and jamming with guests like Tim O'Brien and others.

Vince Herman & Friends | JHMF

Perhaps the most crowd-pleasing set was Vince Herman and, well, just about everyone else ended up on stage at some point during his set. He shared the stage with Laurie Lewis and Chicago Farmer, showcased younger talent from multiple bands, and convinced Dan Andree and Chris Dollar to duet Little Cabin on the Hill Waugh Waugh, a silly Hartford tribute. Most impressive was Dan Andree’s passionate and moving rendition of Austin Minor Sympathy, burning through bow hairs and nearly setting the stage on fire. It was an incredible moment to witness.

Dan Andree | JHMF

Of course, the big events at the main stage are exciting, but part of the charm of the John Hartford Memorial Festival is the intimacy of the second and third stages. In particular, the third stage held a series of workshops and storytelling sessions, including two opportunities to hear from Betty Hartford. This alternate setting offers a degree of proximity between performers and audience that makes for special and unusual experiences. That proximity extends long into the night as jam circles form and reform, scattered throughout the campground. Participation is encouraged – if you aren’t sure how to get started, well, they offer classes on that.

The Way Down Wanderers | JHMF

And I think that is the particular genius of this festival. They talk a lot about family, and that’s easy to dismiss because it’s easy to say and hard to live up to. But I really think they mean it. They want you to come, and they want you to belong. Bring your instrument, join in, be a part of this beautiful thing that is tragically rare. There’s a good chance someone will welcome you with a hug. It’s weird. And it’s good. So yes, I continue to have my concerns about changes. But I think the leadership around this festival can be trusted. They’ve earned it.

Videos courtesy of Timm Hertel: