Greensky Bluegrass

The Gnometown gang caught Greensky Bluegrass at the Orange Peel on Friday night, 9/25. Marie told me during the set break that she saw the lyrics to Lucy In The Sky backstage, so I was ready to capture it on video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hometown Hiker's Live Band List 2013

While looking back and reviewing all my YouTube videos and blog posts from this past year, I am beginning to realize that 2013 emerged as a pretty terrific year of live music for the Hometown gang. Black Betty and I were joined by family and friends to boogie to some of the best music ever, played by many of the most talented artists in the world. As I have said before,  "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!"

Here is a list of many of the incredible bands that we were fortunate enough to see in 2013:

Donna The Buffalo, Railroad Earth, Cooking With Quanta, Town Mountain, Greensky Bluegrass, Danny Barnes, Willie Nelson, Apple Butter Express, Peter Rowan, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, The Traveling McCourys, John Prine, The Duhks, Jeff Sipe Trio, The Freight Hoppers, The Horse Flies, The Deadly Gentlemen, Solas, Tornado Rider, Col. Bruce Hampton, Ralph Roddenbery, Bibb City Ramblers, Keller and The Keels, Keller and Traveling McCourys, Taylor Martin Acoustic Band, Mavis Staples, The Corbitt Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, The Brothers Comatose, Stephen Marley, Drive By Truckers, Todd Sheaffer, Rayna Gellert, Strung Like A Horse, Grandpa's Cough Medicine, Darol Anger, Elephant Revival, Kris Kristofferson, Lizzy Ross Band, The Hackensaw Boys, Bobby Miller, Heavy Pets, Mamajowali, Apple Chill Cloggers, David Via and Curtis Burch, Scythian, The Stacks, Vagabond Swing, Leftovers Salmon, Jerry Douglas, Dread Clampitt, Yonder Mountain String Band.

Suwannee SpringFest 2012 Report

Suwannee SpringFest 2012 was highly anticipated around the Hometown Homestead. The lineup was spectacular, maybe the best in years. We had our tickets purchased before Christmas and kept the fires burning all winter. Finally on Thursday morning, we packed up Gnometown and headed south from western North Carolina to arrive on the banks of the Suwannee Thursday afternoon.

I was particularly excited to see Hot Buttered Rum. It had been perhaps five years since I was last able to catch them in Asheville. This San Francisco area band just hadn't made it out to the East Coast for a while, and Black Betty and I really missed their high energy, positive vibes, jammy, grass groove. We weren't to be disappointed since they played the little Porch Stage on Thursday night and fired us up with their infectious enthusiasm and great songs.

Next, we caught Great American Taxi driven by Vince Herman. It seems that every time I see them they get better and better. They are certainly hard rocking and soulful, everything you want in a live band. They were joined on stage by Drew Emmitt, Sean Foley, and Zebulon Bowles.

Friday morning we slept in as long as possible before riding our bicycles to the crowded beach on the Suwannee for some cool and refreshing bathing and swimming. It was a good time spent relaxing with family and friends before committing to the many hours of music that we had ahead of us in the Friday lineup.

Black Betty, Michael, and Sam

Suwannee kiss from Melanie

Our big Friday shows were: Hot Buttered Rum, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, The Emmitt Nershi Band, Elephant Revival (1st time for me) Great American Taxi, Jim Lauderdale, and Greensky Bluegrass. We were especially pleased that Greensky Bluegrass had the big Friday night Amphitheater show; they have worked hard, toured hard, and are finally getting the recognition that they deserve. They produced an inspired and ass kicking performance at the crowded midnight amphitheater. I swear I even spotted Billy Nershi dancing in the wings!

 
Saturday Morning started out with rain and a visit from my sister, niece, and  two great nephews, Dutch and Raleigh. Not only was it Dutch and Raleigh's 1st music Festival, it was the first time that Black Betty, Becky, and I got to meet the little fellows, so it was doubly sweet that this all took place at Springfest. The weather soon cleared and we were off to show the boys how to Festival!

Gnometown Gang

Dutch checking out Greensky Bluegrass

Raleigh diggin' the groove

Meadow stage

Our Saturday shows were Darol Anger and Republic of Strings, Bobby Miller and the Virginia Dare Devils, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Randall Bramblett and Geoff Achison, The Joe Craven Trio, Donna The Buffalo, Greensky Bluegrass, and Yonder Mountain String Band. As always, it was give and take, it was hard to miss other groups that we would have like to see but choices had to be made.

Paul Hoffman and Mike Devol, Greensky Bluegrass.

Mike Bont, Greensky Bluegrass.

Yonder Mountain String Band closed it down on Saturday night with a kick ass jam with a virtual Who's Who of Springfest musicians. I know I'll skip a bunch but I remember seeing Larry Keel, Vince Herman, Drew Emmitt, Anders Beck, Paul Hoffman, Zebulon Bowles, Sean Foley, Josh Pinkham, Andy Thorn and Wildman Steve on stage. What can I say? It was a great show, great jam, great Suwannee Springfest Saturday night! We joined the huge Amphitheater crowd in dancing, twirling, stomping, and singing along with Vince Herman to the Leftover Salmon anthem, "we gonna rise up...we gonna wake and bake"!

The Yonder Spring Jam

Sunday was cool and breezy in the morning. We were looking for a relaxing day, because we didn't have to pack up and leave like we have at times in the past. We wandered up to see Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson playing the Amphitheater stage. I still have memories of happy times and happy tunes from Guy back in the 1970's. It's all pretty dark these days and Guy has been battling poor health for a few years now.  If you've seen him in the last few years, you know what I am saying. Many tears were shed during the show.

Verlon Thompson and Guy Clark.

Dread Clampitt rocked the Porch Stage, and then we hit the Meadow for the fabulous Ralph Roddenbery Band. The Infamous Stringdusters were up next with plenty of hot licks and great tunes, followed by The Mosier Brothers. The Mosiers were joined onstage by the insanely talented cello mad-man Rushad Eggleston and young newcomer, Emily Morris.

Ralph Roddenbery.

Jeff Mosier.

Donna the Buffalo closed the show down on Sunday, as is the tradition. They played several of their hits and crowd favorites and then started being joined by friends on stage. Randy Judy, Verlon Thompson, Sean Foley, Rushad Eggleston, Donna Hopkins, Taylor Martin, Bobby Miller, Ralph Roddenbery and Samantha Jones, and then again with Randy Judy for Seminole Wind. Verlon's rocking cover of a Dylan tune with improvised lyrics and Ralph's wonderful sing-a-long of  That's Gonna Leave A Mark were the highlights of the jam. Donna finished it out with one of my favorites, Mystic Waters.

Nephews

Suwannee Chicks

Gnometown Gang, Phil, MDiddy, BB, Becky, Nate

 

Lilly, Chris, Black Betty, and M Diddy enjoying the Yonder show

Festivarians, Becky, Rex Thompson, Black Betty, Marie

       Final Thoughts:

• Once again this festival was a wonderful way to start off the season for our family and friends.
• I hate that we had friends who couldn't be there. We missed you!
• These musicians are among the best in the business. I'm sorry that I didn't get to catch many of the wonderful bands that played. You just can never see them all. Maybe next year.
• The crowd is always friendly, accepting, and appreciative. Anyone would have a difficult time not fitting in.
• The organization of the festival was as smooth as ever, no surprises, no hassles.
• The grounds are always a great place to camp, the river a sweet place to swim. The weather, perfect.
• Did I mention Sweet Revenge's apple crisp and ice cream?
• Boogie Cat was in attendance, but seemed pretty mellow. It looked like there were several lone dance-masters ready to step in and take his place if he's lost his boogie.

Happy Festival!

Your Hometown Hiker's Live Band List 2011

It's New Year's Eve and Black Betty and I are going to celebrate tonight at The Grey Eagle in Asheville (our favorite music venue) with Town Mountain and Acoustic Syndicate (two of our favorite groups).

The following is a list of many of the bands that we saw in 2011. We were fortunate indeed to see most of them numerous times. As I said last year, "There were so many incredible shows, so much inspiring music!"

Once again I would like to thank all the outstanding musicians who helped to make our year so incredibly fun and filled with great tunes.You know that we love you! I'm hoping for a repeat in 2012!

Hometown and Black Betty

Music On The Mountaintop 2011

Black Betty and I really enjoyed Music On The MountainTop once again this year. It was held at a new location at Grandfather Campgrounds In Foscoe, NC about 10 miles outside of Boone. The venue was very scenic, beautiful, and appropriate and may make a nice home for the future of this festival if they work a few little bugs out.

Once again the lineup was stellar. We got there early on Friday afternoon and set up camp near the Wautauga River. After a little afternoon soaking rain shower (it really knocked the dust down), we headed to the little and remote third stage to see two of our favorite North Carolina bands, The New Familiars and Town Mountain. Unfortunately the stage was experiencing problematic technical sound difficulties through The New Familiars set and they finally unplugged, came down into the audience,  and played their last couple of songs to the delight of the crowd. You've got to love this band, this is exactly the kind of festival memories that really stay with you and keep you coming back!

We next went to the Main Stage area (Main Stage and Side Stage sat pretty much side by side) and caught Sol Driven Trail, Acoustic Syndicate, and Railroad Earth. This is when things started getting dicey, weather-wise. The sky grew increasingly dark and threatening through Sol Driven Train's set and by the time Acoustic Syndicate came on the rain was pouring down. Acoustic Syndicate sounded really GOOD! They started off appropriately with Water of Love as the crowd danced in the cool rain. Sadly, after just about five songs, nearby lightning forced the end of the set.

After the hazardous weather passed, Railroad Earth came out and performed their hot and jammy tunes. They were just really getting cranked up when the clock hit 11 pm and the sheriff rode up on a golf cart and signaled "cut-it off" and that was it. The boys came out to the edge of the stage and played one last tune unplugged, but that was it for the night. This place had a very strict and enforced noise ordinance! Eleven o'clock on Friday night in Foscoe is as wild as it gets!

Saturday, we hung out at the Main Stage area and checked out tons of good music; Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, Do it to Julia, Greensky Bluegrass, Infamous Stringdusters, Sam Bush, and 7 Walkers.


Hurricane Irene was hitting the Atlantic coast on Saturday, and although we were in the far mountains of western North Carolina, we experienced high winds all day.  The bands really toughed it out and took it all in stride. At one point during the Sam Bush show, they had folks holding amps in place to keep them from blowing over and they had to tape the drum set to the stage floor.

All the music was great and 7 Walkers with Papa Mali and Bill Kreutzmann  finished the night out right. Talk about your swamp-a-delic rock and roll, they have got it down and do it up right! Besides performing various original Robert Hunter penned 7 Walker songs, they did a few Papa Mali covers and the Grateful Dead's Cosmic Charlie, I Know You Rider, and Wharf Rat. (I really loved their Wharf Rat!) As an added twist to 7 Walkers, they had Kirk Joseph (Dirty Dozen Brass Band) on sousaphone sitting in as bass. I'll bet that sousaphone was hard to hold up on stage in the 40 mph winds!

Of course, we were still in Foscoe so the music once again came to a screeching halt at 11 pm. Papa Mali stated that he'd love to stay and play for several more hours, but alas!

                                              Black Betty, Aimee, Todd Sheaffer, and M Diddy

                                                    Black Betty at the Main Stage Area.


Right On:
The music, the lineup, the vibe, the camping, the price, the mountains.
Always a nice crowd. Plenty of clean port-a-johns.
You can bring your own cooler with your own beer and purchase a $10 wristband to drink.
Lots of Outdoor gear and Eco-oriented sponsors.
The best Appalachian-hippie-kids-eco-Mother Earth parade this side of Middle Earth.
This is a great little festival which donates part of their proceeds to a couple of  meaningful causes,  Appalachian Voices and The Mountain Alliance.
Read more info about this on  their website MusicOnTheMountainTop 

Near Misses:
I didn't see the need for a third stage. They actually had a really cool and educational Eco-Village set up there and this area was somewhat remote from the Main Stage Area. Several good bands played and much of the crowd never sauntered over there to enjoy them. It seemed to me that there was ample room in the big field for the Village and the extra bands could be dropped or added earlier in the day to the big stages.

There did not seem to be any clear Ingress and Egress into the large Main Stage Area. I don't know where you went in at, but I and hundreds of others had to walk through a campsite, squeeze past a tent, and walk through a narrow opening between vendors. It was very hazardous and haphazard.

The bands (especially the headliners) did not get enough playing time. The sets were way too short, both the fans and the bands seemed short-changed. Eleven pm is a ridiculously early ending time for outdoor live music. If it must be that way let the bands start earlier and jam longer. It really is about the music!

Boohoo, no Caroline Pond, Snake Oil Medicine Show, or Larry Keel this year!

                                                                 Eco Village Area.

                                                                Greensky Bluegrass

                                                      Hometown Hiker and Mike Devol.

Suwannee Springfest 2011 Report

Black Betty and I returned to our favorite harbinger of spring the Suwannee Springfest near Live Oak, Florida, last weekend. The weather provided a perfect stage for four days of music, fun, and camping with several thousand of our best friends. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and were joined in Gnometown by our daughter Becky, and friends, Marie, Nate, and Phil.

Gnometown

After setting up camp and reuniting with fellow Festivarians we headed down to the stages and caught kick ass performances by Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Scythian, and Greensky Bluegrass. As a special treat Larry Keel joined Greensky to rip it up on the jammy King Of The Hill.
We couldn't hang for the midnight show by The Motet, but we happily boogied in our sleep to their tunes.

Mark Schimick and Larry Keel

Friday the tough decisions had to be made. Who do we see? Worse yet, who do we miss? It's always a dilemma, I just try to limit the losses. So Friday we were fortunate enough to catch Trampled by Turtles. They were actually standing on stage and not sitting down (as we'd seen them before). As always they picked hard, fast, and precise.  We also caught the unique Sacred Grass sound of the Travelin' McCourys with The Lee Boys. Now that's my kind of Praise Music, bluegrass meets sacred steel! 

Ampitheater Stage

The Gnometown gang was especially excited about the late shows on Friday night. As everyone who knows us understands, we are BIG Greensky Bluegrass and Emmitt Nershi fans. Although we have seen Greensky Bluegrass numerous times, this was their first time playing Springfest. I knew the Friday night Meadow Stage show, which followed Cornmeal would be spectacular. They surely did not disappoint. Greensky ripped it up to a loving and enthusiastic crowd in the midnight hour. The highlight performance of the weekend had to be when Allie, Kris, and JP of Cornmeal joined Greensky on stage to perform the Grateful Dead's China Cat Sunflower/I know You Rider. What a show, what a show! 

 

As soon as the Greensky show ended, we hauled it over to the Emmitt/Nershi Colorado Jam featuring Michael Kang and just about everyone else. There were too many fine musicians joining them on stage to mention them all. Suffice to say the tunes were awesome and Bill Nershi and Drew Emmitt know how to host a super jam!

Black Betty, Becky, Hometown, Marie with Greensky Bluegrass.

The big show for us on Saturday night had to be The Avett Brothers. Four years ago when they played Springfest we were among the few who had seen them before. We ran around telling people not to miss their performance, and I remember them tearing it up on the Meadow stage in front of a small crowd of about 100 people. Of course, now they return to their little festival roots in the big bus as conquering rock stars, hot off their Grammy performance with none other than Bob Dylan! Big time, big time! Their show was hot and inspired. I thought the sound was really terrible for the first half of the set. It was like they were trying to crank them up too loud and it resulted in a constant buzzing for at least six songs. After a LONG time they finally got the sound worked out. They played lots of old favorites, the crowd loved them. Oh yeah, did I mention that they have a drum set now?

A crew of happy Festivarians!

Sunday is always our favorite day of music at Springfest. We can't always stay but this year we could. The highlight of Sunday is always the Donna the Buffalo and friends jam. Once again it was spectacular. Donna was joined by Randy Judy, Galen Kipar, Verlon Thompson, Acoustic Syndicate (Big Daddy sang Rainbow Rollercoaster and the band tossed out Lassie Pops), Rushad Eggleston, Ralph Roddenbery, and, of course, Jim Lauderdale. Wow, each performance was spectacular to say the least. We spent hours smiling and dancing and once again you just can't beat a Donna the Buffalo show.

Bands we managed to see over the weekend: Acoustic Syndicate, Cornmeal, Danny Barnes, David Grisman, Donna The Buffalo, Dread Clampitt, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Keel, Ralph Roddenbery, Scythian, Sol Driven Train, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Avett Brothers, The Lee Boys, The Mosier Brothers, The Travelin' McCourys, Trampled By Turtles, and Verlon Thompson.

 Jim Lauderdale

We were a little worried about the future of Springfest last year. I think between the poor economy and a huge 2010 Wannee Festival, the 2010 Springfest took a hit. They did manage to come back bigger and better this year, with the addition of a campground stage. Hopefully, Suwanne Springfest will be around for years to come!

Black Betty and Becky on the beach.

Suwannee Sweets:  Reuniting with old friends, making new friends, Boogie Cat, Sweet Revenge's apple crisp, as always great vibes, killer line-up, the best primitive camping at any festival, my new solar shower, riding bicycles, the river, Jim Lauderdale's corny jokes, Larry Keel's guitar, Allie Kral's fiddle, and Dave McCracken's keys.

Bummers: Not a Peter Rowan in sight, nor did we see any configuration of  The Duhks or Turtle Duhks at the Spirit of the Suwannee all weekend!

Greensky Bluegrass and Railroad Earth @ The Orange Peel

Black Betty and I got to see two of the hottest Americana jam bands touring today when they rolled into Asheville last night.

Greensky Bluegrass opened for Railroad Earth at The Orange Peel and got the crowd warmed up for a scorching hot show on a cold Friday night.
Here is a recording of their set on Archive; Greensky Bluegrass.

Railroad Earth started the first set with a heavy electric bass intro by Andrew Altman with the Happy Song. Other first set highlights included a crowd-favorite Like A Buddha and ended with Lone Croft Farewell.
Set two featured the latest RRE sing-a-long, The Jupiter and the 119, and an epic and wonderfully jammy masterpiece Warhead Boogie, which really managed to get the whole house rockin' without restraint.
Here is a link to their show on Archive: Railroad Earth.
 
It was another fine night of listening to some of the best live music in the world delivered right to my door step in Western North Carolina. How lucky is that?

Greensky Bluegrass plays Asheville, NC

Greensky Bluegrass finally made their jammy way back to Asheville on September 24th. They were playing a rather strange venue, the Mellow Mushroom, but it seemed to work for the sizable and raucous crowd of eager supporters who turned out for the show.

As always, the Kalamazoo, Michigan based Greensky Bluegrass delivered the finest in contemporary Americana jamgrass. They certainly perform some of the most exciting and innovative live music that you will see today. If you don't own any of their music, you are really missing out. Do yourself a favor and check 'em out. http://www.greenskybluegrass.com/

Greensky Bluegrass is Dave Bruzza/guitar&vocals  Anders Beck/dobro  MikeDevol/bass  Mike Bont/banjo  Paul Hoffman/mandolin&vocals

DelFest 2010 / Greensky Bluegrass

Some of our best times at Delfest this past weekend were spent listening to the Kalamazoo Michigan jam-grass band, Greensky Bluegrass. They certainly did not disappoint the fans with three hot sets of acoustic mayhem, including a heavily attended and well appreciated show consisting entirely of rock covers. We love this high energy band that has managed to create and craft unique music with superior songwriting and musicianship.
And they do not shy away from putting their own stamp on some great classics, either.
Check 'em out, I guarantee that you'll love 'em too!

Check out their website and pick up some CDs here: http://www.greenskybluegrass.com/

Stream or download one of their Delfest shows (audience taped) for free here : GSBG live at DelFest

DelFest 2010: The Good, The Bad, The Muddy

We had an epic four days of fun and music at DelFest 2010 this weekend. The 1100 mile round trip was well worth the time and effort, and after about a ten hour drive, we arrived in Cumberland, Maryland and set up camp on the banks of the Potomac River. This year we were invited to join the Hobo Camp (fans of Railroad Earth) through our friend Marie. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with their company and were treated to a weekend of great meals, good times, and mighty fine folks!

Hobos in camp.

These are some of the groups that Black Betty and I managed to see over the festival weekend: Del McCoury Band, The Traveling McCourys, Mountain Heart, Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass (three shows), The Avett Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge, Yonder Mountain String Band, Adam Aijala & Ben Kaufmann Duo, Larry and Jenny Keel, Keller Williams and Friends, and The Dave Rawlings Machine.

Darol Anger, Ben Kaufmann, Adam Aijala, Larry Keel.

Railroad Earth rocks the Grandstand Stage on Thursday night.

Hobo dancers Katie, LeAnne, Black Betty, and Marie shake it to Keller Williams and friends.

Friday evening we experienced a heavy rain, which turned DelFest into a river of mud. The trek to the Grandstand stage became treacherous.

Highlights of the weekend: all the great folks in Hobo Camp, Greensky Bluegrass playing their rock covers in the Artist Play Shop on Saturday, cooling off in the Potomac River, Sweet Revenge's apple crisp and ice cream (as always), an anonymous bluegrass band serenading the camps at 7am on Memorial Day, and, of course, all things Del McCoury.

Greensky Bluegrass / All Access Vol. 1

This $9.95 download may very well end up being the best ten dollars I spend all year.  Greensky Bluegrass has released an absolute gem of a double CD which was recorded live 11/27/2009 in Three Rivers Michigan.  "All Access" is 26 songs of  pure jamgrass bliss. Give it a spin, you will not be disappointed!

Greensky Bluegrass All Access, Vol. 1 Click below to preview tracks from this show DOWNLOAD THIS ALBUM