FloydFest X!

It's taken me a week to get around to writing this, but it's been a busy week.

Last weekend, my girlfriend and I headed down to Southwest Virginia for FloydFest, an outdoor, multi-venue music festival now in it's 10th year. If you don't know (and I didn't until a couple of years ago) SW VA has long been a hotbed of fine bluegrass music. FloydFest had a huge array of musicians over 4 days, but we only made it down for 2 days. Still, a wonderful time.

I can't possibly touch on everything we did and saw, but here are a few highlights -

Taj Mahal on Saturday evening was a truly fun way to end the day. His energy and presence on stage, the way he works a crowd, all of it... just incredible. A consummate performer, and a very talented musician. And the crowd just loved it.

The Tony Rice Unit was amazing! Truly gifted musicians playing Tony's signature mix of bluegrass and jazz on guitars, bass, fiddle, and mandolin. Tony's guitar playing was delightful to watch... he's one of those guys who makes great playing look easy, and he seems to be enjoying himself so much as he plays. 

At the end of that set, David Grisman came out on stage and joined in on mandolin. Very cool, and a nice lead in to the next set, which was the David Grisman Sextet.  Aside from the truly great musicianship and Grisman's stage presence (he is a character, I have to say), this set was fascinating because the weather took  a major part. The day was full of changes, and the Grisman set saw sunshine, rain, and a truly mystical, beautiful fog that rolled in at one point. 

The last act we saw was the last act of the whole event... the Del McCoury Band.  I'll confess, coming late to the world of bluegrass, I really didn't know anything about them, but I am so glad I got to see Del and his sons and band live.  Wow! Some truly amazing playing and singing. Much more "old school" than some of the other acts, and a lot of fun to watch on stage. And at one point, Del's GRAND son came out on stage to join in on guitar. I have to imagine it's wonderful to share the music you love across three generations of family.

Late in the Del McCoury set, Peter Rowan (who we had seen earlier in the day and is also a great act) and David Grisman came out and joined in, making for a really lively, fun, brilliant finale to a terrific four day event.

Part of me wishes I'd been there for the whole thing, to get the "full experience"... but honestly, I'm not sure it wouldn't have left me feeling overwhelmed. Guess I'd have to try it to know for sure.

One thing that worked out brilliantly for us was bringing our Brompton folding bikes. The event had remote parking lots and shuttle buses to the venue, but we zoomed back and forth, over the rolling hills of SW VA on our Bromptons, while others stood in line for the buses. Great fun, and very convenient. Oh, and the bike rack on the back of the car? Just there because we didn't bother to take it off. The Bromptons folded up and tucked into the back with the rest of our luggage.

Oh, and speaking of lines... we had earlier discussed possibly camping on site, as that's an option offered at FloydFest. Upon seeing the actual grounds though... and the VERY long line for showers (you know it's bad when they install benches), we were just as happy we'd found a great hotel with a last minute cancellation. A lovely, big room with jacuzzi and porch, and on our last day there, one of the other guests was playing banjo softly on the deck as we packed up.  Very nice!

More photos and a few videos can be seen at:  FloydFest X

Great night of great music

Well, tonight was a lot of fun!  My girlfriend treated me and her cousin to an evening at the Birchmere, a DC area music club that's been around since 1966, and has at one time or another featured a huge range of great music.  Tonight we saw the Wailin Jennys, a female folk/"new grass" trio that has been featured on Prairie Home Companion a few times.  Amazing harmonies and solid instrumental work coupled with great songwriting and lovely renditions of traditional pieces and you end up with a delightful evening.

A few things stood out for me, aside from the overall excellent quality of the performances.  One was a truly beautiful rendition of "Your Long Journey", a great song by Doc and Rosa Lee Watson... it's the kinda song that just gets you where you live, and the Jennys really sang it well tonight.  Another cover they performed earlier in the evening was an Emmylou Harris tune, "Deeper Well".  About halfway through that one, my girlfriend leaned over to me and indicated she wasn't that crazy about it... which I found interesting on a couple of counts.  First, because I had just been thinking "there's something about the viola player's style that's vaguely reminiscent of David Cross in the old King Crimson days" (a comparison which might seem deeply weird to some)... and second because it seemed subtly different from the other songs this evening.  How so?  Well, maybe I'm off base here, and I don't claim to be a musical expert, but it seemed as if the instrumental work in all the other tunes really didn't call attention to itself, but supported the gorgeous vocals of the trio, while the viola part in "Deeper Well" seemed too... well, forward is the word that springs to mind.  It wasn't bad, not at all... it just called attention to itself in a way none of the other instrumental work did.

One other thing that struck me tonight.... Over the many years I worked as a theatre technician and lighting designer, people often asked if I had a hard time watching live performances without internally critiquing the lighting and scenery.  And I was always able to answer, totally honestly, that no, I never really did that while watching shows I didn't work on.  Well, since I've left the business, that no longer seems to be true, and tonight was no exception.  It's not that I sat the whole evening picking apart the lighting... far from it.  But I did find myself from time to time thinking "if they only had a little top or backlight here..." or "why on earth did they put a light cue THERE?"  Knowing the business as I do, I know the challenges and limitations, and I understand why things aren't always as "artful" as I might like.... but now and again I thought "if I were lighting this..."  Kinda funny, and it in no way detracted from a wonderful night.

All in all a great evening.  I don't get out for live music very often, but when I do I really enjoy it a great deal.  Good music, good company, and good food... what more could one ask for?