jianantonic | Quick and dirty recap

Getting to Falcon Ridge was not easy. Of course there was the lead-in drama, so the plane ride together was kind of tense. But I explained it thusly: You've already fucked up by double booking yourself. Then you fucked up by bailing on your team when you really shouldn't have. If you ruin Falcon Ridge for me by being mopey and a giant buzzkill, you'll be 0 for 3 and I'll have a hard time forgiving you. He understood. There were moments of buzzkilliness, but for the most part we both enjoyed the fest a lot. As soon as the tents came in view on the horizon, I broke into a huge grin, which stayed on my face for most of the weekend.

(Side note: I came up with a new phrase on the plane ride from JFK to Hartford: "pants-shitting turbulence")

The schedule for this year's fest was admittedly weak. Lots of great performers, but not really spread out very well. It seems there were fewer workshops on the schedule, too, and the Nields were in every single one of the damn things. (The Nields are nice people, for sure, but their voices make me wish I were deaf. I can't stand to sit through their music, and they're at the fest every year.) Most of the best acts were bunched together on the schedule, and there weren't any workshops that I felt I couldn't miss. It was nice, though, because it allowed me to stick around camp, relax, socialize, and not feel like I should be somewhere else. This festival is as much about the camp and camaraderie as it is about the music.

Thursday night had a great mainstage schedule, though, and I was there for most of the Horse Flies (good stuff), Red Molly (awesome, of course!), Crooked Still (first time seeing the new lineup -- they rock!), and Lori McKenna (she's a lot older than I realized -- has FIVE kids! I thought she was my age!).

Crooked Still's Greg was much more talkative on stage than I've ever seen before. It was fun. I want to mud wrestle him.

Friday's schedule was really empty. The only things we attended were the Beatles workshop, which felt like a repeat (because it was) and the Strangelings on the mainstage, who rocked the house. During the workshop, Helen and I played with her hula hoop off to the side of the stage, and got into a fight with a little kid when he asked to try it and then wouldn't give it back. We got it back, because we're bigger and smarter, but then he kept knocking it down when we were hulaing, and just being a general asshole. Pretty much all little kids are assholes...give them an inch...but it was funny to see Helen talk to him in her teacher voice. He really threw a tantrum there.

Saturday was nice -- not wet anymore, finally, and not too hot. I spent most of the morning browsing the shops, but ended up buying NOT ONE THING. This is the first year ever that I've gone to Falcon Ridge and purchased NOTHING (except CDs and food -- I bought plenty of those things).

The mainstage lineup that night was Dar Williams at 8, the Farewell Drifters at 9, and EFO at 10. Dar and EFO draw the biggest crowds at this fest, so who are these nobodies that commanded the best time slot of the weekend? We asked around a lot, and no one had heard of them, but we stuck around for their set and decided they were absolutely deserving of the prime slot. I became a groupie in minutes. These guys were awesome. They're a young bluegrass group from Kentucky. Their banter was hilarious but their songs were poignant and sweet. I really love that combination.

On Saturday night, the rains returned. We'd missed the worst of the early rains by arriving a day later than usual, but we did get to experience a downpour of our own. The rain was so heavy on the tent that the insides practically caved in, and the tent was like an extra blanket on us that night. But we stayed mostly dry and warm, and when we got out of bed on Sunday, we had no problems. We attended the bluegrass workshop and then part of the Gospel wakeup call, but Z decided he wanted to move our car down the hill before the roads got too muddy to do it safely. When he was done with that, we headed to the performance area to check out Tracy on the mainstage. We had some time to kill first, so I decided to find some Farewell Drifters and tell them how much I loved them. The skies opened and we got very wet, and being already completely soaked, I decided it would not be a problem to go sit in a puddle up front at the mainstage and watch Tracy in that state. The thunder and lightning picked up as she played, and though we could sense the impending doom, we stuck it out...until the hail started. It's a good thing Z moved his car, because after we narrowly escaped certain death by hail pummelling, we learned that the roads out of the fest site had to be closed, and the rest of the music was canceled due to some structure collapses and power outages. Yikes!

So it sucked that we had to bail early, but on the other hand, we didn't miss anything except more hail, so it's all good. We changed out of our wet clothes at the next rest stop, and made it home by midnight.

It was in checking email on the way home that I learned of AisleDash's closure. McKenzie and I did some brainstorming about what I should do next, and we both agreed that a bridge writing project would be great for me. My computer died, so I spent the rest of the car ride writing bridge articles in a note pad, one of which I am going to submit to the bulletin. These aren't ways for me to make money, really, just ways for me to enjoy writing and get my name out there a little more in the bridge world. We'll see what comes of it. I'm excited.

Peace.