2009 Wine in the Woods

We've always stressed that wineries, breweries, and the associated festivals are great venues to watch live music. And this past Saturday I witnessed this at the 2009 Wine in the Woods festival - held in Columbia Maryland. I was actually volunteering to pour wines for Terrapin Station Winery which I will describe at the WineCompass Blog later this week. Fortunately our tent was located adjacent to the Main Stage, so while I was pouring wine I was able to listen to three entertaining artists. It started with the blues of Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings. “Big Daddy” has shared the stage with several national blues acts and can hold his own with each - just take a look at the slightly off kilter video below. Next was local artists Patty Reese, who's band plays a mixture of blues, folk, and rock. Ms. Reese is able to assemble an awesome array of talent in her band including Dave Chappell, Ron Holloway, and Dan Hovey. Ms. Reese can sing and play herself and is usually nominated annually for a WAMA. Below is a video of one of her songs - thanks Tom. Carl Filipiak closed out the day bringing about a quarter of the audience to their feet. Playing his trademark jazz guitar, he even forced me to take a closer look during slow periods.

And this was just one day at one stage. There was equally entertaining artists playing on the second stage and all day Saturday. Remember to include these festivals in your search for live music.