Bluegrass Baby

When I woke up this morning, I seriously thought it was Saturday. It took me a solid minute before I figured out what day it was. You can imagine the disappointment. I'm sure you've done that too.

Perhaps I just wanted another day like Sunday... a fine day full of sunshine and fresh air and fantastic music. And free!

If you have not been to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, please mark your calendar for it next year. I cannot tell you how totally fun and cool it was. So many people! Such great music! Honestly, it was one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done here in the city.

This photo of the bicycles in particular was really an amazing phenomenon to me. I can tell you that this was just a tiny portion of the wild thicket of bicycles that were stacked like cordwood outside the venue. Do you think you could have found your bicycle after the shows? Wow.

There was every type of person at this festival...and everyone was loving the music. I was intrigued by so many interesting faces.

Next time, I'll endulge in the food too.

That roasted corn looked so good, but I didn't want to stand in the line to get it. Smells of barbeque meat filled the air as well as pungent whiffs of cannabis. It smelled like a giant picnic.

There were five stages, drawing thousands of people in some of the venues. But there were musicians scattered about the enormous grounds in Golden Gate Park, playing their music for the people passing by.

I was trying to find my friend Gypsy Girl, who was over where Elvis Costello was going to play. But I never found her in the crowd. (Sorry honey!)

So I made it back over to the Banjo Stage, which was where I really wanted to be.

Bluegrass music is like audible sunshine.

Of course you can see I was nowhere near the stage...

except when I zoomed in with my camera.

The fellow in the red shirt is my other crush besides Joe Biden. His name is Ralph Stanley, and you may have first discovered his unique and wonderful banjo playing and singing style if you saw the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? His music brought that movie to life.

Hearing him and his band up on stage was joyous. I wished I could have recorded it in a way for that you that did him justice, but I did find a youtube clip which has the same feeling and I hope you'll enjoy it:



And then I saw this clip and that's when I decided I had a crush on him:



I also saw the legendary Earl Scruggs who, just having celebrated his 84th birthday, played some fierce banjo with his son and their band. I tell you, when you hear musicians like this, you understand immediately why they are great.



***

I could only sit on the ground for so long before my back started giving me little messages that it was time to move on. So I'll be back for sure next year, with a lawn chair and an empty tummy and maybe even a cowboy hat.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy my poster (which I think is very fine) and listen to some CDs.

Hope you can make it, too!