GrassRoots

  The 29th Annual GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance has come and gone, and like every year, I'm left wondering why I missed it once.  The music is not to be beat and the company of friends and family is fabulous.
  Bubba George got it going again as they always do, Rising Appalachia fulfilled a dream by playing, Dirty Blanket rocked the Dance Tent in steaming fashion, and the Garifuna Collective came from Belize to wow all who saw them.  With over 75 bands on five stages there's a lot to miss, we just do the best we can.  Big on my list this year was Todd Snider.  I'd been hoping he'd be booked since he spoke so eloquently for our generation when I heard his first song on his first cassette in 1994.  With all he's done since then I've forgiven him for not spending his days off after the festival with me.  Maybe next year.

GrassRoots

  The big deal for some of us this year, besides Todd making an appearance, was the "retirement" of Alan Vogel from leading the Infield Set-up crew.  After decades of overseeing the stage assembly, along with the special projects that can be found all over Trumansburg and Ithaca, he'd decided to spend more time with family or something. He even got a third of a page thank you in the official program.  Let's hope it's a long time before he gets the full-page treatment.
   Thankfully, GrassRoots took the opportunity to bring in a new crew chief that would diversify who is behind the scenes of the festival.  So when we showed up Monday morning and it was the same bunch of old, white people, including Alan and three members of his family, we wondered what had gone awry.  Soon after we had worn ourselves out moving some of the lighter materials off the truck and leveled the stage with a forklift, some young, strong men of color showed up.  Always the teacher, Alan demonstrated for young and old alike how the 3/4/5 right triangle is used to assure a square stage, and when it proves to not be precise enough we try a 6/8/10, then a 15/20/25.  In the end we fudge it a bit, but it's always better than the dance floor.
  It was great working with Tru and the guys he enlisted and hope it is the beginning of a long collaboration.

GrassRoots

  The heat was an issue for some this year, but there's enough shade and almost always a breeze on the fairgrounds to keep it comfortable.  Swimming at Jake's helps too, as does going home at night and sleeping with AC.  It's not 1991 anymore.
  Issues come along when you've just bought ice and on the way back to your camp you hear a band in the dance tent that just draws you in.  The melt water helps keep the dust down.  Heat's also a problem when you're a slave to the hoodie fashion.  Heat index of 138 degrees when I spotted this guy.

GrassRoots

  Guests, old friends and new are a vital part of a good GrassRoots, and we had them in spades.  Lori and Winnie returned to spend a week at our house while they participated in Culture Camp where they hung out with the rock stars and hosted a daily happy hour. Barry camped with a big gang and had tunes going much of the weekend.  A guest who plays banjo in the morning = free lodging.  Lori and Winnie have a habit of making fast friends at Culture Camp and this year hooked up with Barb Carbon who taught some songwriting workshops.  She does what she loves and loves what she does.

GrassRoots

  GrassRoots is often a learning experience.  This year I found out that unicorns shit Skittles.  Does that mean they didn't shit until the candy was invented?

GrassRoots

  The hang-outs:  A couple banjo-player pin-ups at Jake's Place and the RAC Mobile.  Wonder how many hours I've spent at each?

GrassRoots

  I got up early enough on Sunday for the annual Kickball at Dawn in front of the Infield Stage.  I thought it would be enhanced with some banjo music so took mine, but there was already another Joe there playing.  The stage included many casualties, but I'm not sure if they were from Saturday night or the kickball.  EMS was called in to transport a wounded player who got a rousing round of applause from the bleachers when he was able to get into the cart under his own power.

GrassRoots

 

 

 The love of Todd runs deep in our family.  Pat came with a friend from Buffalo, and Jason made it down from Rochester for Sunday afternoon.  Imagine our surprise when we ran into John after Todd's set.

  Well, we had good reason to think it was John.

GrassRoots

  Some teachers don't like going to GrassRoots because they run into so many students there, I give away tickets when I can with the stipulation that they spend some time with me.  Even after hearing Richie and Rosie play one of Richie's finest songs, they insisted on hearing me play my only, and therefore finest, song.  Aye Thaw Ta was perplexed by the date on my mug and estimated 1973 was about 60 years ago, so I let her use my modern electronic device to calculate precisely how far back that was.  All was forgiven when they joined me up front for Todd's set.

GrassRoots

  Been waiting 25 years for this picture. 

GrassRoots

  Pat and Bobby ran into Todd after the set, each of them have their preferred version of this picture.

GrassRoots

  The guys were into Todd for most of the set, as long as I explained what the song was about as it started.  The girls didn't last as long.

GrassRoots

  Monday morning: tired, distracted, thrilled Bean and I found Todd's bus downtown, we left a sign.  Not sure about Todd Sniderer, but Todd Snider Rules.

GrassRoots

  Wednesday after the festival:  Still not retired.

Explosion of Poppies

  Late June and most of July is my favorite time of year in the garden thanks to the poppies exploding. 

Explosion of Poppies

  No matter how much I despair over the lack of honey bees visiting the early flowers, I know they'll show up for the poppies.

Explosion of Poppies

  Sometimes I'll try some editing tricks for a different look, other times I just get Gail and Bean to pose in the picture to make the poppies look better.

Great Blue Heron Lite

  The Great Blue Heron Festival in Sherman, NY was another smashing success this year.  I decided to step back a bit from my role as a crew chief in Headquarters, but stayed on as a commoner while a new chief learns the ropes.  For as long as anyone can remember, Tammy has been the anchor, but some serious health issues this year threatened that reign, however, they were no match for her.  A few years ago Marie took over the overnight shifts with support from her son, Paul.  It only made sense that Paul take my morning shifts and he did a great job.  I hardly felt like I worked at all but was granted the perks I've always enjoyed, showing the class act the festival is,  acknowledging past efforts as well as current.
  I'm happy to say Tammy has had her surgery and is successfully recovering the way we expected she would.  She's one strong woman with an incredible amount of support.  People like to talk about the Heron being a family and in this case that has certainly proven true.
  My intention when scaling back my involvement was to visit family and/or friends in WNY while in the area.  I'd been to Buffalo enough in the past couple months so decided to leave Saturday evening to spend a night and day at Mt. Irenaeus.

Great Blue Heron Lite

  It's not all about work, I get to play too.  In this case "play" actually means play tunes.  The Parker Family and the rest of the Tiger Maple String Band sessions in the Orange Lot are not to be missed, I'm happy to participate.  We're usually joined by friends from West Virginia, PA, even a drummer from Naples.  If you're not into the music, just groove on the light show for 30 seconds.