Mid July, heatwave- time for GrassRoots Festival set-up.
Give him some slack, he's over 70 and the temperature was almost 20 more. A special project this year was to fix up a tractor that would be covered with kids during the festival and parked by Green Star in the future. Steve wasn't using it anymore (hard to when it doesn't run or have brakes).
I took a break in the shade and watched the old guys work a couple times.
Roxy spent far too much time parsing the schedule for someone who would spend the festival in the pound. Maybe next year she can be a support dog.
Thursday afternoon, Bubba George gets the music going and I hang out in the shade and take this annual picture.
There was a buzz for a Friday morning set by Savannah Lee. She's new in town from Texas and got some grad school mates to support her. That guy on bass? Erich, I baby sat for him and his brother Neil in the last century. Looking forward to hearing them play in the area some more.
Mavis Staples. Yep, she just turned 85 and kicked ass. What a legend.
Brad puts in far too many hours during the fest, but his sharp mind would be wasted to join our crew for set-up.
A rare treat: Keith Secola did an acoustic workshop featuring indigenous music and stories. It was the first time I'd done the "NDN Car" dance in ages. He told a great GrassRoots creation story during his song "Fry Bread." I also loved the song he did in his language which translated roughly to "This land is not your land." He had everyone singing along.
Another special project during set-up was an Information Booth that was painted during the fest with three peace-themed images. Dan loves getting the kids involved and painting. The technique for this type of painting is to do it in layers, so kids can be involved, but the final images are highly skilled paintings by Dan and John. I had a good time hanging out in the booth, it took me back to my days in HQ at the Heron.
Kim and Adam just didn't have their usual glow. They had their vibe going, but something just wasn't right.
Then they visited the Sunglasses Exchange Table and began to sparkle. Dig your roots.
Saturday afternoon and into the evening featured one of the strongest line-ups in GR history. Local-made-big, Willie Watson got things going with a set that had support from his old band mate Ben Gould on bass and Sami Braman on fiddle.
One of the biggest acts in bluegrass these days is Molly Tuttle. She does some great covers, writes stuff that connects to the festival crowd, and the whole band has amazing chops.
Old Crow Medicine Show rounded out the string band trio for the night. They formed shortly after Willie and Ketch met a couple miles down the road at the Rongo. Good to see them playing together again.
Old Crow often features "The Weight" when they have special guests around. Let's get Keith Secola, Rosie Newton, Tara Nevins and others up for the encore.
They somehow took an unfinished Dylan riff and created a great song. Unfortunately, it's been beaten down enough to be right up there with bands as "No Stairway to Heaven" signs in music shops. But man, was it a pleasure to witness it this night: "Wagon Wheel"
Sunday sunrise- kickball. What a hoot with Joe, Steve and someone I don't know providing live musical accompaniment.
Who says it's only a game?
After many of the drunks have gone to sleep for the morning, the orchestra shows up and people looking much fresher (for the most part) show up for the symphony. Under a new Grandstand Stage roof, they played a piece this year that Jeb Puryear wrote. Rock star, festival organizer, nice guy and symphony writer.
The tractor was a hit with the kids, and more than a few adults took advantage of the planter seats on the back.
Only 50 weeks until the 33rd GrassRoots.
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