Merlefest 2006: The Aftermath

Whew... I think I've got one more Merlefest post left in me for this year... and then that's it! I'll have to muddle through another year of waiting for Merlefest 2007. I'll manage... somehow.

So anyway, the recap! I ran out of steam last week and didn't get a post up for either the Midnight Jam or Sunday. I was so tired.

I've decided that the Midnight Jam is worth going to if you're a night owl and you're camping at the festival. If, however, you're an early bird like me and staying in a cabin over half an hour away, it's not worth it. I enjoyed seeing Chris Thile lead several small jams (Damn that kid has charisma!), but overall it wasn't what I was hoping for. And whoever told Peter Rowan and Gillian Welch it was a good idea to play Midnight On The Stormy Deep, most likely Bill Monroe's longest and most boring Bluegrass song ever, during the Midnight Jam? I could barely hear the music on stage from all of the snoring! It was like ten minutes long! I know Peter and Gillian are night owls, though, and so I guess this was almost a gentle morning song for them. Pick up the tempo!

Also, if you're a contact lense wearer like me, and you decide to go the Jam Camp -- bring your glasses. I learned that one the hard way. Over eighteen hours in disposable contacts? With it the height of allergy season? My eyes were sore for days afterwards.

Anyway, I then got up early on Sunday to take in the must-see Doc Watson and Nashville Bluegrass Band Gospel set that's always played on Sunday mornings, and it was definitey worth getting up early. As was the Bryan Sutton and Friends set on the Hillside afterwards. Whew... I was thinking of Sean the whole time. I hope you get that telepathic transmission I was sending your way, dude. You missed one helluva guitar set.

Overall, Sunday was very low-key. The crowds didn't die down like they had at other Merlefests, so there was still a nice energy going, but it wasn't nutty. Everyone was very content to lie down on the grass and just mellow out to the great music. It was much more laid back than any other day that weekend, and the grey cool weather just added to that. It finally warmed up a bit later in the day, but it never really got hot. Well, until Emmylou got on stage. I left after her. I'm not a big fan of the B�la Fleck and the Flecktones.

So, to recap... here's the breakdown:

Best Day: Friday. Yes, that's right, Friday. Usually it's always Saturday, but the real emphasis of the festival this year shifted ahead one day. I was running around, making difficult decisions all day on Friday. Saturday was more just watching the folks I didn't get a chance to on Friday. They sort of blended together. However, Friday night's folks -- Sam Bush and Robert Earl Keen, greatly outshone the Woody Guthrie tribute on Saturday night.

Most Exciting Moment: Had to have been when the Waybacks with Bob Weir and Sam Bush kicked into Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. The crowd went bananas!

Best Show: Always always a tough one... I'm going to make it a tie between John Prine on the Watson stage where I was just blown away and Guy Clark on the Americana Stage where I was made so sad. John came on strong, trying to make a point, but Guy was comfortable, open, vulnerable, and made the crowd just heartsick in the middle of a gorgeous North Carolina Saturday under a clear blue sky. Anyone that can make me so happy to be so sad on such a beautiful day... well, hell, that's why I'm such a big Guy Clark fan.

CDs Bought: Thankfully, my number is slipping back towards sanity, although it's still out there. This year I bought nine CDs, of which three were pre-releases. (The only reason I didn't buy the Casey Driessen album was because Sugar Hill had already sent me one... na na nanana.) I bought three Mammal CDs, two Biscuit Burners, the Darrell Scott pre-release, the Jim Lauderdale pre-release, the Chatham County Line pre-release, and an old Tania Elizabeth fiddle CD. I would've bought some John Prine stuff too, but he only had CDs available on Thursday night.

Celebrities I made an ass of myself in front of: Believe it or not, this was a big round zero this year. Well, I definitely made an ass of myself in front of Pete and Joan Wernick all week at Jam Camp, but they know me now this was second year, and so that doesn't really count. (They've just come to expect it.) I did see lots of celebrities though, I just didn't act badly in front of them. Progress, my friends, progress... even if it does make for a boring blog entry!

All in all, I was pretty happy with the festival. I love that they're keeping it so well-organized, clean, and keeping everyone happy. My favorite day of the year is normally Saturday at Merlefest, this year it was a tie between Friday and Saturday. That's pretty damn okay with me.

Here's looking forward to Bonnaroo, and then Merlefest 2007!