Bluegrass Journey

After seeing it advertised so much at Merlefest, I rented the Bluegrass Journey DVD from Netflix. I was in my serious post-Merlefest depression phase so getting a little festival-lovin', even DVD-style, was very very welcome.

It was so odd seeing this DVD... there were so many little differences from this festival than from my Merlefest experiences. First off, Bluegrass Journey is a documentary with footage primarily from the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival up in New York state and the International Bluegrass Association Music (IBMA) Awards, both in 2002. (I'm not really sure, but the movie came out in 2003, so I'm thinking it was 2002.) It's a great look at the festival culture of Grey Fox, albeit a slightly different -- okay, quite a bit different -- experience than the Southern festivals I'm used to, most notably the grandaddy of them all -- Merlefest.

The music, even the musicians, were the same, but there was a distinct "Yankee-ness" about it. They had lobster bakes instead of chicken on a stick, Northeastern drawls instead of Southern drawls, and they had Wicca weddings in the parking lot. Yep, you read that right. I'm guessing, however, that was not a common occurence, and the documentary folks just lucked out on that one. It was fun to watch though. (Oh also, in general, I saw a LOT less good-lookin' Southern belles in this DVD than I see at Merlefest. Like a couple of orders of magnitude less. Just a heads up.)

This was filmed just a few years ago, but it was cool to see how much some of the musicians have changed. For example, I've never seen Jens Kruger with so much hair! He looks like a head-banger! And was Ronnie McCoury having a bad make-up day or what? Too much make-up Ronnie! I'm glad to see that both Darrell Scott and Jerry Douglass have both lost considerable weight since then, and they both look much healthier now. It's important for you Bluegrassers and folks to cut down just a little on the chicken on a stick and baked lobster -- we want you to stick around for a while.

Oh, and if you watch real close... you'll see my boys, Old Crow Medicine Show, wailing in the lobby of the IBMA awards hotel. I missed the little blurb inroducing them at the bottom of the screen the first time I was watching it... and I jumped up off my couch -- "Holy Shit! Those guys are Old Crow!" I thought they were just some pickers randomly captured on film. Watching it the second time, though, I noticed the caption with their name.

Lastly, I was glad to see that Tim O'Brien and Pete Wernick ("Dr. Banjo") of Hot Rize and their own solo fame have stepped into the "statesmen" role for our festival culture. I love how they realize what they're doing and seeing is history, and how they articulate it to their audience. Pete especially goes out of his way every chance he gets to document and teach the history of Americana and especially Bluegrass music. I found that out during his Jam Camp this year at Merlefest. You see just a taste of that in the "all festival jam" at the end of the DVD, where Pete instructs hundreds of people to sing and play from their seats. Pretty cool.

Some of the music highlights were Nickel Creek, Chris Thile with Jerry Douglas, an amazing Tony Rice solo, Tony Rice with Peter Rowan, the Del McCoury band, and some great Tim O'Brien and Darrel Scott stuff. I love hearing them together!

Is this DVD worth buying? Only if you're a rabid fan of the genre and "gotta catch em all" Pokemon style. Worth a rental? Definitely! Especially if you're looking for a different view on Bluegrass festivals, or are just interested in them in general. Note this is a different feel from the festivals I go to here in the South, but the heart and soul of the music and comradery of the fans is the same. And that's why we go to festivals in the first place! Grey Fox is definitely on my list of "festivals to see soon."