FloydFest 2009

We were fortunate enough once again to attend one of the premier music festivals in the country: FloydFest 8. The event is held right off the Blue Ridge Parkway a little southwest of the Town of Floyd and the Crooked Road. Its quite a sight driving along the parkway and seeing the top of the main stage surrounded by trees with the festival's parameter snaking towards the road. FloydFest runs over four days; however this year we were only able to participate during the two weekend days. To make matters more interesting I was accompanied by our 4 year old - time to see how other families cope - enjoy the festival with children. Needless to say I did not get a chance to see a fraction of the artists as last year; but from the dozen we watched a few observations. Donna the Buffalo is the bomb; they played throughout a nasty thunderstorm without a break and even played longer than scheduled as attendees emerged from hiding after the storm. The Belleville Outfit continues to impress and we were able to watch three of their multiple sets. And finally, why haven't I been listening to Yarn - these guys are good - Cross Canadian Ragweed, Reckless Kelly, and Randy Rogers rolled into one package with a little bluegrass sprinkled in.

We arrived Saturday with hundreds of other attendees in a mad rush to see the afternoon artists. Despite a brief backup at the off site parking - the buses couldn't get through the line of cars - we were able to grab a Starr Hill hefeweizen and watch Yarn in the Beer Garden. FloydFest does a nice job providing beer and wine to their patrons at the Beer Garden with its own stage and the new tent next to the main stage. The two neighboring wineries, Chateau Morrisette and Villa Appalaccia, provide the wines with Starr Hill, Magic Hat Brewing Company, The River Company Restaurant and Brewery, and Foothills Brewing providing beer. Getting back to Yarn, these guys are good. A week before I listened to their latest CD at the Purple Fiddle where they were scheduled to play before Floydfest. How does a band from New York City get such an authentic alt-country sound?

Afterward we ventured to the Dance Tent which always provides a more intimate and fun show and people were dancing away with R.I.S.E.. This is another act we will put on our radar and we followed sisters over to the Children's Village as they were scheduled to perform in front of the youngsters. The Children's Village is located adjacent to the quite camping area so that families have easy access from their temporary living quarters. The main attraction seemed to be Noah's Ark, but the village also contained a performing tent, covered sand box, and activity tents. Plus childcare services - at $7/hour - not a bad deal; this came in handy Sunday. Before we became to comfortable in the village I forced our way back to the Dance tent to hear Forro in the Dark, a group of Brazilian New Yorkers, play their style of "party" music - as in forró. The tent was shaking as the band used a pifano, timbau drum, zabumba drum, and a couple guitars to create a hypnotic sound. Who knows what they were singing - and who cares - it's more exotic to hear Portuguese singing. Another plus for FloydFest - more diverse styles of music. After catching our breathe, it was time for The Belleville Outfit. The Dance Tent continues to be the place to be. We first witnessed this Austin and South Carolina based group at Merlefest and love their fusion of swing, blues, jazz, and plain old Americana. With clouds threatening, and a child sleeping, we moved towards the main stage anticipating Donna the Buffalo and found a clearing next to a nice couple's tent. As soon as the rain started we were invited inside and stayed relatively dry while holding down the tent's support. Others were not as fortunate as they raced to the beer or vendor tents. Through it all, Donna the Buffalo kept playing - blowing amps - and even ruining a scrub board. How is that possible? They are easily my favorite band - welcome to The Herd. Their music is slightly cajun, slightly jam band - and worth the 5 hour drive itself. After about a half hour the storm blew over and a rainbow appeared right behind the stage - a new beginning to the day. Soon they started in with the very appropriate "Blue Sky" and our favorite "It's Love Time". The encore of "New Tara Zydeco" and "Hot Tamale Baby" was awesome, with Christian Dugas of The Duhks jumping in on the scrub board. As soon as the set ended we hurried to join Sol Driven Train in the children's parade through the festival grounds. This band had performed a few times in the Children's Village and New Orleans styled dancing music as we tramped across the field. After another trip to the Beer garden and a The River Company hefeweizen we finished the day at the rock climbing wall and then to The Duhks on the Holler stage. This Canadian band also rocks - incorporating Arcadian French cajun and zydeco into their repertoire. Being bilingual has its benefits. And it was the first time I heard "I like this band" from the little boy.

The one benefit of traveling with a child is you get to bed early - there was no staying up for the Blues Traveler or even The Lee Boys late night jam. We started Sunday, little guitar in hand, anticipating our friends, Oneside, but recurring van troubles forced them to cancel. "Why don't they just buy a new car like we had to when ours broke" was the response that I had to listen to all day. A side affect of this scheduling change was a chance to watch Yarn again, this time on the main stage, in addition to Adrienne Young. Back at the Children's Village, we watched a theater performance of Dragon Scales & Faerie Tales; I was fearing a dull and pandering performance, but it was actually funny and clever. The children and adults were laughing out loud and the laughter continued on the ride home. Nice. It was now time to utilize the child care services so that I was free to watch The Belleville Outfit again on the Holler stage. On the way, I noticed a jam session in the Dance Tent and found Holy Ghost Tent Revival just starting a short set. What a sound; a combination of old time classical music then jolted by hard rock jams. But its not just noise that you get from some jam bands - this is music with a purpose that oscillates between a classic 40's-50's sound into rock and roll. These guys from Greenville got it. We look forward to hearing more from them at the Sunflower festival in October. Moving to our intended target, The Belleville Outfit provided another set of great music - this time to a larger audience. I just love their sound and possibly a crush on Phoebe Hunt. Another storm was a brewing so I returned to the Children's Village and spent the next 20 minutes playing in the covered sand box as families scurried about. Once the rain subsided to a drizzle I returned to the dance tent to hear David Schultz who benefited from the weather and played before a full tent of attendees seeking a dry spot. It was a solid set and I'll keep these guys on our horizon if they travel up Interstate 95 from Richmond to play in our area. After a Foothills Brewing IPA I spent the reminder of my child free time listening to the great Peter Rowan performing traditional bluegrass music. This is another great aspect of Floydfest - they combine the new and established artists - and Rowan played his classics as well as those from Clarence Stanley and some of the other fathers of bluegrass. With the day winding down, we headed to the main stage to finally hear The Lee Boys and their peddle steel sound in the tradition of Florida gospel music. Shades of Robert Randolph, this is dance music with a gospel spin, although there was no dancing among us. Despite the loud music, it was nap time so I watched from the ground. The final act of the day was to see a couple of acoustic songs from The Belleville Outfit at the Front Porch stage. I can't wait until they tour the east coast. By now FloydFest was done and time to carry the still sleeping boy to the car and the ride home. No Railroad Earth for us.

What a great trip; thanks to Across-the-Way Productions for a job well done. Already looking forward to next year. More pictures are available at the MyJoog facebook page.

Merlefest: The Artists

The best part of Merlefest is that it not only attracts the established artists, but it is a showcase for rising performers as well as novices. At Merlefest, anyone can bring an instrument onto the grounds, and in fact, the promoters actually encourage it. They have established several pickin' tents, open mic tents, the open mic coffeehouse, and the gravel stage - all for amateurs and aspiring artists . And throughout the festival grounds, at any part of the day, small cliques of musicians form - young and old - to pick and learn from each other. There are also official instrument contests (banjo, mandolin, guitar) as well as the Chris Austin Songwriters Contest. "The festival for the proletariat".

Over the course of the festival we were able to meet a few of these aspiring artists - first with fiddler Wyatt Espalin and guitarist Cobi Ferguson of Trees Leave. The duo performed in the Chris Austin Songwriters Contest in the bluegrass category - having one of the 12 songs selected out of 840. The Nashville based band is already establishing a name for themselves on the east coast, performing regularly from Florida to New York. They also have a nice CD out called "Run" which contains the song they submitted to the songwriter contest "Water Falls" and one we like even more in "Artificial Yesterday".

We also had a chance encounter at the Friday night Coffeehouse when Neeley Bridges and Andy Jobe had a chance to perform because of a scheduling conflict. The two formed the Neeley Bridges and Andy Jobe Band and are currently based out of New York City. The decided to attend Merlefest because Bridges is a local girl from Winston-Salem and they were hoping for a chance to perform to an audience at the festival. After listening to Bridges' debut album "Devil On My Shoulder", this band has a chance - she has a great voice - just listen to the first track "On The Ground".

Over the three days we followed several rising acts starting with Bearfoot. This young band has a new lead singer in Odessa Jorgensen and a new CD Doors & Windows. This is a nice compilation and over the course of 4 sets we were able to hear our favorite tune, Time Is No Medicine", three times. The one downfall of the CD is it doesn't showcase their musical talents well enough. This group can play as shown by the three standing ovations we saw the band receive. Another bluegrass band we followed closely was the Spring Creek Bluegrass Band. They also have a new CD, "Way Up on a Mountain" and interestingly two of our favorites are instrumentals composed by banjo player Chris Elliott. The band's performance Saturday at the Walker Center was awesome. On Saturday we made sure we penciled in The Belleville Outfit since that was the only day they were scheduled to perform, albeit three times. They started at the main Watson stage accompanied by two of our new favorites: The Dixie Bee-Liners and The Farewell Drifters. They then had a popular set at the Creekside stage where we heard the first samples of their cross overs into jazz and blues. They ended the day at the Dance tent, having fun and playing a few covers in their unique rootsy, swing, bluesy style. Look for their new CD, Time to Stand, to be released shortly. We only had a chance to watch one Ollabelle set, but what a set, with Martha Scanlan and David Bromberg playing the entire set and Jim Lauderdale sitting in for a couple.




We have already mentioned The Greencards in previous posts concerning the festival, so the last rising band we'd like to focus on was one of the "grunts" of the festival: Scythian. They opened the festival Thursday on the Watson stage and finished that day at the opening night dance. Over the next three days they performed at least 5 more times closing with a jammed packed, entertaining performance Sunday on the Austin stage. Don't come expecting to sit and relax during one of Scythian's performances. They expect everyone to participate - from dancing, singing, jumping, ... whatever. I think we had the most fun watching their antics and listening to them play - they can play. Not bad for a group who last year were confined strictly to the gravel stage.

Then there are the established acts and superstars. We're talking about Doc Watson, himself, The Del McCoury Band, Tony Rice, Sam Bush, Jim Lauderdale, David Bromberg, Emmylou Harris, The Waybacks, and BeauSoleil. You know going in that each chance to see one of these artists is special and are guaranteed a solid performance. But by far, the best sets we saw were the two given by Donna the Buffalo Friday, first on the Hillside stage then that evening in the dance tent. What more do you need to say about this group; I could watch Jeb Puryear play guitar all day. And Ms. Nevins is not too shabby herself; the same for the entire band. They are awesome; Cajun rock or whatever you want to call it. Add in appearances by Jim Lauderdale and Leonard Podolak of the The Duhks and that's a memorable show. We are now card carrying members of The Herd.



That's it for this year's coverage. We wish we could have seen more performances, particularly from The Duhks, Cadillac Sky, and Missy Raines & The New Hip. By the way, the later has a new CD out, Inside Out, that we can only describe as cool. Mostly instrumentals, but great listening material. We hope to see you next year.

MerleFest: The 17th annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest

On Friday while exploring the grounds, I stumbled upon the Austin stage which was just preparing to host the finals for the 17th annual Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. I decided to have a seat and for the next 90 minutes heard better songs than those played on the popular airwaves. From a collection of unknown artists nonetheless. The contest is named in honor of famed songwriter, Chris Austin, who perished in a 1991 plane crash along with other members of Reba McEntire's band.

The contest is open to all songwriters and 840 entries were submitted this year. Many now popular artists received their first big break from this contest: Gillian Welch, Tift Merritt, Michael Reno Harrell, Adrienne Young, and Martha Scanlan. And proceeds from the entrance fee support the Wilkes Community College Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship.

The 840 entries are allocated to several categories: Bluesgrass, Country, Gospel, General. The songs were judged by a panel of other songwriters, publishers, executives, music professionals - the usual suspects. This panel narrowed the field to just three songwriters within each category, and that is who I heard perform on that stage. Jim Lauderdale was the 2009 and he was joined by the distinguished and entertaining judges: Leonard Podolak of The Duhks, Tift Merritt, and John Lohman, Program Director of the Virginia Folk Life Program at the Virginia Foundation of the Humanities.

The contest lead off with the Bluegrass category with Cobi Ferguson & Wyatt Espalin (Trees Leave), Carol Hausner, and Brink Brinkman. This was the most difficult category where, from our opinion, there was no clear winner. And it was difficult to categorize the songs. Ferguson & Espalin song was the most traditional bluegrass, whereas Hausner's seemed more country and Brinkman's more alt-country. In fact, I envision Chris Knight making his "Old Coal Mine" a hit. In the end the judges deemed that Carol Hauser had penned the best song.

The Gospel category, like every category, contained three great songs; this time by Richard Henry, Jo Ellen Doering, and once again Brink Brinkman. Nice to have two songs selected to the finals. And to us, and obviously the judges, Brinkman's was the clear favorite: Beyond the Rain. Lookout for this song and this songwriter.

The country category contained another clear winner, with perhaps one of the best individual songs I heard the entire festival: Dennis Duff's "A Man of Few Words". I don't know if being a relatively new dad had in influence, but this song mesmerized myself as well as the judges. This will be a hit. Sorry Lloyd Wood and Tonya Lowman.

The final category was the catch all and was where we heard our first blues of the weekend, from winner Miles and Letha Costin who perform with Greg Bockover as the Transzenders. The Costin's had home field advantage from being from Raleigh and being regulars at the Merlefest open jam coffeehouse. Plus there song, "Unmarked Pavement", was pretty cool. Ron Fetner's "Carolina Rain" was also a good song as was John Smith's "I Will Fly". To bad someone has to win.

The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest was a great place to start the festival - witnessing the songs and stars of tomorrow. If you or someone you know is an aspiring songwriter, this is where to start.

Merlefest - Friday

Despite being a dry festival, Merlefest is proving it is one of the most exciting musical events we have attended. Not only is the music incredible but attendees have immediate access to the artists. Want to say Hi to Jim Lauderdale. Walk on up. The same applies to Tift Merritt, The Duhks, the Spring Creek Bluegrass Band, Bearfoot, and the other dozens of artists performing each day. This festival is also fascinating from the hundreds of attendees who carry their own instruments onto the grounds and perform at the pickin' tents or the coffeehouse. The festival for the proletariat. In a similar fashion we witnessed the Jim Lauderdale hosted songwriter competition held at the Chris Austion stage. Almost a thousand songwriters submitted entries and only 3 were selected in four categories: Bluegrass, Gospel, Country, and General. The caliber of the songs and musicians were better than the standard Nashville fare. But the highlight of the day was Donna the Buffalo, who performed twice, once at the Hillside stage and then in the Dance tent. Both shows were awesome, but the dance performance was unbelievable. Add in appearances from Jim Lauderdale and Leonard Podolak of The Duhks, and it was a special evening. Check back later this week for expanded coverage.