...And Here's One From Bill Monroe

....seems like every band of the festival said that at least once or twice during each set. Apparently the rules of a bluegrass band are that 1) you can only have stringed instruments, 2) you must have a mandolin, a banjo, a guitar, and a bass, fiddle is desirable, but not necessary, 3) sing glorious harmonies, 4) you must play a song by Bill Monroe, father of bluegrass music. Not one band broke these rules the whole weekend.

LOVE the guitarist's expression!

Seriously serious banjo

IIIrd Generation--These guys have the best stage banter ever. We laughed ourselves silly after each song. 

The evenings are filled with little campfires (wood provided by the festival), where musicians sit around and jam together. There are all-you-can-eat breakfasts and evening dances and quilting shows. I laughed to see that a vendor had left all his CD's out in the open all night--he knew no one would bother stealing them!

Sunshine and bluegrass. I heard more gospel music today than I've heard in my whole life. We saw some great bands that we've never seen before, in particular Blue Canyon Boys, Monroe Crossing, and Copper Mountain. Three full days of camping and music for $70/each--I'd do it again next year.

Positivity

This was our first experience camping at High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy, CA and I have to say I was impressed by the quality of the music, the venue, the location, and especially the atmosphere of goodwill among the participants.

Things Burning Man has that High Sierra doesn't have: dust storms, all night drum circles, nudity, high ticket prices, cops, amazing art.

Things that High Sierra has that Burning Man doesn't have: grass, shade, trees, vendors, food, water, showers, flush toilets, half the cost, great music.

They allow both tent and RV camping on site. Some RV sites even have hook-ups. The tent camping TIGHT. Every tent literally touches the next one. But I guarantee your neighbors will be good people.

We will be going back.

Mammoth Blues Festival

I know that I said I wasn’t going to spend my time writing about every festival, every weekend, but this was special, mostly because of the drive. Highway 395 is a spectacular treat. The mountain scenery is stunning. You really should make plans to see it, especially in the fall when all the aspens are changing colors.

The highlight of the drive is, believe it or not, stopping at the Mobil gas station in Lee Vining. Unfathomable as it is, this place has been on the cover of Gourmet magazine. We stopped both ways and never bought gas. Brad had the lobster taquitos, Tim had an oyster poor boy, and I had an incredible chicken caeser salad wrap. They also have things like elk, salmon, gourmet pizza, etc. Food is served fresh, on real plates, with real silverware, within 5 minutes. If you dine at a table on the grass, you have views of Mono Lake on one side and Tioga Pass on the other side.

On the way there, we also stopped at the fish hatchery, which is more entertaining than you might think. And the Hot Creek geothermal area, which has recently sprouted its own geyser. Then on to Convict Lake, very relaxing, soaking my toes in the cool waters gazing at the dazzling mountains. While we didn’t do it this time, the June Lakes Loop is worth the drive. And don’t miss seeing the Minarets, breath-taking! It only takes about 10 minutes from the town of Mammoth.

So, anyway, about the festival….it’s billed at the Mammoth Beer and Bluesapoolza Festival, which tells you right away that it’s a dangerous combination. The young beer drinking crowd conflicts with the older music loving crowd. When the beer runs out and the Fabulous Thunderbirds hit the stage, it’s a combustible situation. Luckily, it wasn’t so bad, we just moved to the rear of the crowd and it was fine.

Now, I’ll tell you our secrets of making the festival enjoyable, but don’t tell anyone else. First, we ordered tickets online, so we didn’t have to wait to buy them there. You get a two-day wristband, with in and out privileges. This is critical. On Friday night, we scoped out where the shade will be the next day and set up our chairs there. We asked security and they said OK. We don’t have to carry out chairs out and back in again, and we have all day shade! And we don't have to stand in that cluster before the gate opens. But this is the best part: on Saturday, get there kind of early and park the RV near the gate, genius. We have our own refrigerator, change of clothes, bed, and bathroom (no messy, beer-used porta-potties for us) a few steps away!

Blackhawk Solar Cook-off

Taylorsville: just the name gives my heart a leap. Sitting low in a lovely large valley surrounded by mountain peaks, a teeny town way up in the Sierras, 20 miles north of Quincy. The campground nestles in the trees and everyone camps helter-skelter, wherever they can find a spot. But it doesn’t matter, because everyone is your friend while you’re there.

We actually arrived a little late on Friday afternoon: greeting all of our friends from Reno Blues Society, and set up our little camp with a rug, batik sheets for curtains. The music starts around seven--three bands, swing, blues, and rock. The crowd really got into the fun of it. When the bands finish, the drum circle begins, going on and on for hours. I adore sleeping with the drums pounding, echoing throughout the campground. You’d think it would be impossible, but it’s amazingly soothing. Both Brad and I fell into a deep, content sleep.

In the morning, I hear the hushed voices of the campers, sipping hot coffee while they fire up the campstoves for pancakes and bacon in the cool mountain air. During the day 14 bands play, it takes all day, while we sit in the shade in our little lawn chairs. Finally we can’t take anymore and move down to the river, putting our lawn chairs right in the water, our feet loving the cool water, watching dragonflies float on air.

The solar cook-off is not really a competition, per se. Everyone gets out their solar ovens, cooks whatever delicious foods they want and shares. That’s it. This whole program is due to the hard work of Bill and Mel Rockett. They sold out of cookers very fast this year. It’s an insulated black box with reflectors and a glass door to hold the heat in. On a sunny day, they cook at about 250-300 degrees. We made brownies in the morning and chicken with artichokes and potatoes for dinner. You can buy one from them at Black Hawk Solar Access, #3 Blackhawk Crk, Quincy, California, 95971 phone: 530-283-1396 or make one of your own.

While all of this is fantastic, what we are really waiting for is the big bouncin’ dance in the Grange Hall. It’s one of only three left in the whole US with a spring-loaded dance floor. Kenny Neal literally got the house rockin’. The whole floor moves, you can’t just “sit it out.”

To end the night, we watch the sky on a dark moonless night—the Milky Way brilliant, shooting stars blazing, with one lonely bullfrog bellowing in the background.

Don't Believe Everything You Think

I believe that Kate Wolf Music Festival in Laytonville, CA has to be the perfect synergy of music, great people and camping!

Camps are divided into practical areas to allow for difference in lifestyle: quiet camp, RV camp, family camp, walk-in camp, and jammin’ camp. Walking through the camps among the trees would bring you to the sweat lodge, the clothing optional beach along the creek, the kids’ zone with crafts, sing-alongs, and a hill covered in straw for cardboard sledding. The best were the small groups of musicians, huddled together, tuning and practicing and jamming on guitar, mandolin, fiddle, or washtub.

They had early morning gospel sing-alongs, 12 step meetings, tai chi in the meadow. How often do you see adults playing games, hula hooping, and laughing? Say whatever you want about hippies, you will never find a more open, friendly, generous group of people. They thrive on the uniqueness of individuals, honoring creativity.

At this little festival of 3000 people in the heart of Mendocino County, you have to accept that a certain amount of political left-ism comes with the territory. A giant peace sign, probably 30 feet tall, made of lights, hangs amongst the trees. The cuisine is all organic, vegan, “live” food. Tom Russell sings, “Who’s Gonna Build Your Walls, Boys?” and Eliza Gilkyson does her anti-Bush song, “Man of God” to big cheers.

Walking into the music bowl, you pass the “smoking area.” Being Mendo County, that means that there is a generous baggie, papers, and a rolling machine sitting out on the lawn for anyone’s enjoyment. While I didn’t partake, strolling by definitely brought back pleasant memories, wink, wink.

I have to mention the showers, because they were incredible. Clean, with abundant warm water, batik curtains divided the stalls. The center divider between the men and women’s sides was topped with metal sculptures, twinkling Christmas lights and masses of plants, lily of Nile, coreopsis, and others. Baskets of donated shampoos and lotions were available to everyone.

We got to see Richie Havens, whom you may remember from Woodstock. The ranch where the festival is located is owned by Wavy Gravy himself. We listened to John Trudell, spokesman for The Indians of All Tribes who took over Alcatraz Island during 1969. He speaks quickly and deeply about how we need to use our collective, intelligent conscience to improve the world. He reads his poetry while his partner chants traditional songs and pounds a drum. They have started a website to help women and children get medical insurance: Givelovegivelife.com. I’m telling you this is the real deal here, people.

I listened to Utah Phillip, an anointed Grand Duke of the Traveling Nation, sing songs and tell stories of riding the rails and spending time in tramp camps across the country. They had a hobo jungle campfire set up for late night stories, but we never made it there.

Most of the music was folk style; some of it we loved, some of it not so much. We went specifically to see our hero, Dave Alvin. Also, Guy Davis impressed us over and over again. Marcia Ball rocked the house on Friday night. David Bromberg's Saturday night finale was kick ass. Ramblin' Jack Eliott showed up unscheduled, just 'cause it's soooo cool there.

But, if you haven’t yet been introduced to this new wave of bluegrass music coming around, you need to open your ears. Bands like The Mammals and Devil Makes Three are young, hip, intelligent, humorous, and immensely musically talented. They start wailing on those fiddles and mandolins; the crowd goes crazy, twirling, stomping, and kicking up the dust. As Guy Davis said, it has high BSQ—Butt Shaking Quotient!

If you are one of the strange people that this appeals to, you have a few chances to go check out some real fine music and savor that festival lifestyle. High Sierra Music Festival is this week in Quincy, CA and a very small version is happening July 14 at the Solar Cook-off in Taylorsville, CA. One of the biggest festivals is Strawberry Music Festival, near Yosemite on Memorial Weekend and now Labor Day Weekend too. And of course, there is always Kate Wolf Festival next year too.

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A note on the photos: If you see yourself in the pictures, please know that I took the photos with only the best of intentions and respect. I don't know your name to credit you, but thank you for understanding.