Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Festivals

#6

Those are a couple of nice options for you, Mike. And, theyā€™re on different Saturdays, so you can go to both.

The Suwannee Jam is an interesting mix. I donā€™t know who a lot of the bands are, either, but I enjoy Peter Rowan and Donna the Buffalo. Peter likes playing with DtB, so I imagine he will be 'lectrified.

The mando player from this Georgia band contacted me on my Soundclick page a while back, so Iā€™m hoping to catch up with them. Looks like they could be a fun to pick with.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5TlooUq1iM&feature=plcp[/video]

#7

Just found out they made the Suwannee Flood Jam free for residents of Suwannee and surrounding counties. How sweet is that? Plus, itā€™s in the same park where my weekly jam meets, and itā€™s potluck dinner night.

Two days of Peter Rowan, my regular bluegrass jam, dinner, campingā€¦ and it doesnā€™t cost a dime!

#8

I know I put them in Larryā€™s other thread, but Iā€™ll re-post these here, just to keep them together. In another week Iā€™ll be headed east to the Santa Fe bluegrass and old time festival. Iā€™m really looking forward to it because old time fiddler Rayna Gellert will be there and Iā€™m a huge fan of hers.

southwestpickers.org/#!festival-2012

Then after Labor Day, Iā€™ll be at the Pickinā€™ in the Pines festival at Flagstaff to watch Hot Rize, Laurie Lewis, and local favorite Arizona band ā€œRun Boy Runā€. Should be a good jamming weekend!

pickininthepines.org/lineup.html

#9

The Flood Jam was a blast. More electric music than I would have prefered, but still plenty of good stuff.

The best part about it was the size. Iā€™d guess there were maybe three or four thousand patrons, in total, spread over 600 acres. Enough people to have fun, but small enough that I was able to walk right up to the rail and watch from the front row whenever I wanted. It was also small enough that the county sheriffā€™s office didnā€™t feel compelled to establish a presence, so the entire festival had a really relaxed feel.

#10

Iā€™m glad you had a good time Larry. Did you get to catch DJ Triclops and Vlad the Inhaler?

I didnā€™t make it to Glen Rose again. I hosted a party for our pastor who is departing Friday and had an anniversary date with my wife Saturday night. I could have made a little of it, but I was beat. It was raining anyway, so I think it was a good time to miss.

#11

Didnā€™t catch either of those bands, Mike. It was a pretty diverse lineup, so I mainly caught with the acts I was familiar with and did other stuff the rest of the time.

#12

Fiddlewood, my sister is going to be at the Labor Day Kendallville show. Are you gonna be performing there?

#13

No , I retired form play9ng on stage a few years ago. I only play with certain people for a couple yearly things now-a=days.

#14

I just got back from a fun festival in Santa Fe. Good weather and got to listen to some fine picking from a bunch of bands Iā€™d never heard before. Also got to meet Dan Miller from Flatpick Guitar Magazine and went to a couple of informative workshops on flatpicking and crosspicking. AND I got to see Dan and Rayna Gellert which was one of the reasons for making the 950 mile round trip drive in the first place! Rayna was amazing on fiddle and the occasional guitar number, and Dan was a wiz on fiddle, guitar, clawhammer banjo and his neat fretless banjo.

Friday night, Rayna on fiddle and Dan on the fretless banjo

Saturday, with Rayna on fiddle, Dan on clawhammer, and below on guitar

#15

Sounds like a fun weekend, Max. Cool you got to meet Dan Miller.

I started clicking on your Rayna pics, hoping they were vids, but they wouldnā€™t play.

#16

I wish I had brought something with me to record it Larry! They played some amazing stuff. One of these days I should get myself a decent video cam to bring around to the festivals and jam sessions.

#17

Iā€™m glad you had a good time. Thatā€™s awesome.

#18

Looks like a good time, canyonhiker. Man, I bet that old Gibson guitar has a few stories!

#19

Mighty slow around here. Are you all competing at Winfield this weekend?

#20

Havenā€™t seen Jiminkansas around in a while. Did you make it to Winfield this year, Jim?

Weā€™re on the cusp of festival season here in Floridaā€¦ after a long summer Iā€™ve got three festivals to choose from in the next five weekends. Iā€™d like to see them all but itā€™s too cost prohibitive, so I think weā€™ll probably go to Magfest and Dixieland and skip Palatka since they have reserved seating this yearā€¦ seems a little too elitist for a bluegrass festival.

Palatka Fall Bluegrass Festival
October 11-13, 2012
Palatka, Florida

MagnoliaFest
October 18-21, 2012
Live Oak, Florida

Dixieland Music Park Fall Bluegrass Festival
October 31 - November 4, 2012
Waldo, FL

#21

There is a festival coming up in Glen Rose, TX. The lineup isnā€™t as slick as some posted here, but I suspect it will be a good time. See flyer below.
I was there last weekend for the monthly jam and it was by far the best circle I have been in. Itā€™s pretty neat to play in a group where you donā€™t know a soul, but you end up clicking together right from the start. Everyone got quieter or louder as was appropriateā€¦ it was really cool. We were mostly on tempo most of the time. I suspect some of them play together often, so having a solid core was nice. One odd thing, we werenā€™t overrun with guitars. At one point there were 3 mandos, 2 dobros, an upright, 2 fiddles, 1 banjo and 3 guitars. Another odd thingā€¦ it was all BlueGrass, all the time, and it was almost all moderately up-tempo. Down here in TX, whenever I get with a group, it seems there is usually a few who pick western swing or old country songs (but not there). There were several circles by the time I left and I think I might have ended up in the ā€œfasterā€ circle by accident. I brought the new mando and just chopped along. That was a blast. Itā€™s probably because it was something different, but I found it to be much more fun than playing rhythm guitar. Once the mando/guitar balance got too mando heavy, I switched to guitar. There was one guy playing rhythm GTR and played slick continuously walking swing progressions. That was inspirational. Anyway, sorry to ramble, but it was a fun time.
http://www.glenrosebluegrass.com/uploads/8/2/2/9/8229055/6441982_orig.jpg

#22

Sounds like you hit the jackpot last weekend. Iā€™d consider it odd too that the jams werenā€™t overrun with guitars. Ususally thereā€™s 3 or 4 guitars to every other instrument at the jams I go to. And Iā€™ve also been to a lot of ā€œbluegrass jamsā€ that turned out to be heavy on the old country songs and light on the fiddle tunes and flatpicking. Frustrating for me.
I saw Louisiana Grass in the line-up at Glen Rose in your last post. I love those guys and have seen them many times at festivals here in Arkansas. Theyā€™re always a crowd favorite. Matter of fact Iā€™ll see them when they play at Turkey Track in June.
turkeytrackbluegrass.com/
Iā€™ve got FRONT ROW CENTER seats to see Rhonda Vincent and the Rage in concert at the Ozark Folk Center auditorium the end of June. I know thats not really relevant to this thread but I had to tell somebody!

#23

Iā€™m pretty sure thatā€™s just a dream Mike had. Who ever heard of a bluegrass jam with bluegrass songs, a balanced number of guitars, and good dynamics?

#24

It was really enjoyable. If it was a dream, then a few weeks from now may I sleep again in such fashion. With that many instruments, it was good everyone was mindful of dynamics or the vocals would have been unheard. Of the two dobros one was a very loud Regal and the other was very quiet (no visible label). When the quiet one played a break we were all playing at just a whisper level. It was almost humorous. There was one very experienced fiddler (probably in his 70s, maybe 80s) who had a unique internal timing. Heā€™d get way off on his own during his breaks, but heā€™d typically catch up again later on. I considered it character as opposed to a flaw. Warts and all, it was the best I have been fortunate enough to have participated.

#25

Definitely sounds like a jam worth catching again. Of course, it will probably be mostly guitars and ballads next time. :smiley: