Sunday September 8th, 2019. It’s time for the Takoma Park Folk Festival! The 41st festival… possibly the 42nd year, it’s all in how you count. It all seems to be in dispute. It’s all okay though, cause I haven’t been here that long and it doesn’t matter to me at ALL.
(pictured above, Conor and the Wild Hunt at the Field Stage – his incredible voice echoing over the hills and …. well, a little bit impinging on Grassy Nook actually… reminded me I need to run over and catch a glimpse of Conor Brendan – cause I think he’s got one of the best male voices in Baltimore)
Long time running.
Seth Kibel ( Orchester Praževica) is… a problem. But he is allowed to be cause he’s one of the best reed players in the area. I’ve caught Christie MacDonald shredding before, but never has her stankface been THIS stanky! Trevor Higgens (and his tiny animal friend) mixing sound on the World Stage.
THAT’S what matters.
And STILL running. Thanks to a devoted crew of volunteers, and that’s what really, REALLY matters.
It was a great day. Beautiful weather, great bands. I wandered the grounds, almost hitting 10 miles as I check on a, make sure b’s working, visit c because they’re out of ice… all in all things rolled pretty smoothly.
We lost a band right at the beginning of the day : Grove’s first band Leo & Cygnus was in a car accident. They’re okay but they didn’t make it. Grove Stage got the next band on stage about half an hour earlier and everyone was eventually happy (and hopefully we can get Leo & Cygnus down here next year).
Ouds and … and whatever that is at the World Stage. Oh my. Autumn Mulhotra of Teavolve’s open mic got drafted as a stage manager – and her help was INVALUABLE!!! Djangolaya performing at the World Stage. 2/3 of Klezcentricity turns out to actually be 2/2 of Klezcentricity, which also means – the whole thing! Don’t judge. I think it’s probably something that you could fill in about 5 minutes.
There were a couple of packet miscounts. I ran around and made sure everyone had their tokens and coupons and things.
Mostly I got to listen to music.
It was a marvelous day.
The Field Stage.
The Field Stage was once upon a time MY stage. I moved it away from the Field. Maybe it was wrong of me to do, but I think it’s still the right choice. I did it shortly after having played the Field in the field. Looking out to an empty hill is disheartening. People cluster to the shade of the trees and wouldn’t get too close to the stage itself, letting the artists feel abandoned on a stage that required a LOT of effort to make happen… we moved it up the hill to benefit from shade, proximity to power, a number of things that saved effort and money AND compacted the audience into a space that made you feel like you were playing to someone… I haven’t heard the end of it since, but this year the field is occupied by construction – and the spot we’d moved the Field to was occupied by construction – and the Field was on a basketball court and they gave us the wrong physical stage and I don’t know that I agree with the direction we pointed it and generally speaking… it could’ve gone better.
But the acts ON the stage were magnificent. Despite some of the logistical PAIN that undermined the prep-work for Field Stage, we built a strong team and had a blast. I made sure to visit it frequently and every time I did I was rewarded with incredible music.
Derek Hill – stage coordinator. Apparently I was so taken by Albino Rhino’s bassist that I never took a pic of the whole band! But I DID buy a t-shirt. Ashleigh Chevalier and her all-star band included Ron Holloway on sax. HOLY CRAP – that’s RON HOLLOWAY on SAX!!! Conor Brendan and the Wild Hunt. This was brought to my attention about 3/4 of the way through the day. I jiggered a cable ramp to protect the cable for the rest of the afternoon, but I’d guess we were VERY close to electrocutions and calamity!!! The JukeHouse Bombers tuning up to close out the Field Stage. The JukeHouse Bombers. 1 Identity. Sonic Spell. Elena Gray had been singing over with Sonic Spell… and though I didn’t catch their set I did catch all the individual parts… Sonic Spell selfie – say THAT five times fast!!!
The Abbott Stage
The Abbott Stage is the traditional stage run by my friend Fred. If I had the budget and the humanpower, gosh I would get them some damned lights. One of my favourite things about the stage overall is that the sound is run by our old friend Neely Johns who is a metal head, NOT a folky. But he definitely does a great job on the stage… and doesn’t let the mix get TOO folky! (had a bass player concerned about whether or not he’d be able to hear himself because… folkies mix the bass OUT… I assured him it wouldn’t be a problem!)
DC Labor Chorus. The Abbott Stage audience is generally pretty packed! Blue Panamuse. Mara Yaffee.
Random Festival Stuff…
Obligatory photo of community policing. The Morris Dancers. No-one knows where they come from… no-one knows where they go…. The DC Labor Chorus kicks off the festival, tromping around the grounds and stirring the blood! The House of Musical Traditions booth is a staple of the Takoma Park Folk Festival. I do not know what this means. Sheesh, with my guitar in the shop I’m more tempted by the Eclectic Electrics than I ought to be.
