Show Review: Muddy Roots Spring Weekender
PROLOGUE
I’m busier than a one-eyed cat watchin’ three rat holes. I apologize, dear friends, for not hollering around this blog often. Believe you me, once I press publish on the book (which should be about…July 1st [only 2 months longer than I thought it would take]) I am going to be ALL OVER YOU. I miss the swagger and fuss that is this blog. Tumblr is nice and all, but here’s a place where a gal can spread herself out.
As I haven’t been around, there are a few mega blogs that have slipped by my fingers. So I’m gonna do a few recap posts this week.
RECAP 1, GO!
Show Review: Muddy Roots Spring Weekender in Nashville, IN
The end of May is supposed to be warm, right? Nope. Not this time around. The Muddy Roots Spring Weekender was held in Nashville, IN on May 16 - 17. It was drizzling and cold. BUT! That did not stop the fest from kicking ass. Held at Explore Brown County, Valley Branch Retreat, the MRSW brought together abt 500 folks who love roots music. What was the main draw? Dr. Ralph Stanley. But I get ahead of myself.
Or maybe I don’t. Being as I waited about a damn month to write this blog…all I have are tidbits. So here’s what I’m gonna do. Give you a Top Five.
The Dread Templeton’s Top Five Music Moments of the Muddy Roots Spring Weekender!
::whistles and whizbangs go off in the distance::
::glittery flower petals drop from the sky::
5. Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band Closing Friday Night
Jayke Orvis is going to be a taking a slight hiatus from touring…and I got to see him one last time before that happened. Hell yeah.
If you don’t know Orvis, he started as the mandolin player in the .357 String Band, went on to play in the Goddamn Gallows, and then started the Broken Band. Dude plays mandolin faster than a meth cheetah runs.
Plus, Jared McGovern (upright bass) proposed to Liz Sloan (fiddle) at the end of the set....and, yes, I teared up. (Side note: Jared and Liz have a killer side project: The Urban Pioneers)
4. Dr. Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys Closing Saturday Night
Before arthritis caught up with him, Dr. Ralph Stanley was known for his distinctive clawhammer banjo playin’ and his keening, Appalachian voice in the legendary Stanley Brothers duo. Most folks these days known him because of the dirge “O Death,” which was featured in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou.
It was full-on night when Dr. Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys took the stage. It was witnessing history.
3. “Lord Must Fix My Soul” by the Dad Horse Experience
Dad Horse plays basement gospel. He brings a dapper suit, usually with a cravat, and a foot organ to the show. He is a one man band who will lighten your heart with a mix of old mountain tunes and his own odd brand of positive energy. He can make songs about dead dogs and exploding buildings poetic.
Halfway through his set, Dad Horse said anyone who wanted to sit on stage with him could. SO I TOTALLY DID! Along with about ten others. When he sang “Lord Must Fix My Soul” we became his defector dancing choir. I had arms full of friends and sang loud. I do not sing. Or I do, but only in my car and in front of the microwave while waiting for tea water…meaning I sing places where I won’t be heard because…trust me, you’d rather have bees with machetes in yer ears. BUT for Dad Horse, I sang.
2. Seeing Megan Jean and the KFB
HOLY F, people. Megan Jean and the KFB (Klay Family Band). I just. I.
::pauses to catch breath::
I didn’t get to see all of Megan Jean, but what I did, I LOVED. It’s Megan Jean on washboard, vocals, and snare drum. Byrne Klay (her fella) is on banjo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQp3u-dWhMg&feature=kp
THAT VOICE! Postcards from the afterlife? Hell yeah. This band totally makes me want to write stories. Lots and lots of stories. Like a story about sending or receiving postcards from the afterlife. LOVE.
….
AND! My top musical moment of the MRSW was...
….
1. James Hunnicutt Playing Cocksparer’s “We’re Coming Back”
Here’s the thing, I don’t care what anyone else says. My blog equals my say, and I say that the best goddamn song at Muddy Roots Spring Weekender was James Hunnicutt covering Cocksparer's "We're Coming Back."
The song sums up every gd Muddy Roots ever…knowing that somewhere out there there are people like you, who love what you love, who are directing positive, creative energy into the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxswLwzLe0
Post Script - Holy shit, seeing The Tillers was phenomenal. Dancing to "Old Westside"...yeah, heart-expanding moment. The Calamity Cubes killed it, like usual. The Pine Hill Haints...SO GOOD. I got crazy bat shirt.
...Ok, I'm gonna stop...because the whole damn weekend was great. You can trust Jason Galaz to create badass music fests. Dudes got a love for the music and the people he's working with, and it shows.
I’m busier than a one-eyed cat watchin’ three rat holes. I apologize, dear friends, for not hollering around this blog often. Believe you me, once I press publish on the book (which should be about…July 1st [only 2 months longer than I thought it would take]) I am going to be ALL OVER YOU. I miss the swagger and fuss that is this blog. Tumblr is nice and all, but here’s a place where a gal can spread herself out.
As I haven’t been around, there are a few mega blogs that have slipped by my fingers. So I’m gonna do a few recap posts this week.
RECAP 1, GO!
Show Review: Muddy Roots Spring Weekender in Nashville, IN
The end of May is supposed to be warm, right? Nope. Not this time around. The Muddy Roots Spring Weekender was held in Nashville, IN on May 16 - 17. It was drizzling and cold. BUT! That did not stop the fest from kicking ass. Held at Explore Brown County, Valley Branch Retreat, the MRSW brought together abt 500 folks who love roots music. What was the main draw? Dr. Ralph Stanley. But I get ahead of myself.
Or maybe I don’t. Being as I waited about a damn month to write this blog…all I have are tidbits. So here’s what I’m gonna do. Give you a Top Five.
The Dread Templeton’s Top Five Music Moments of the Muddy Roots Spring Weekender!
::whistles and whizbangs go off in the distance::
::glittery flower petals drop from the sky::
5. Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band Closing Friday Night
Jayke Orvis is going to be a taking a slight hiatus from touring…and I got to see him one last time before that happened. Hell yeah.
If you don’t know Orvis, he started as the mandolin player in the .357 String Band, went on to play in the Goddamn Gallows, and then started the Broken Band. Dude plays mandolin faster than a meth cheetah runs.
Plus, Jared McGovern (upright bass) proposed to Liz Sloan (fiddle) at the end of the set....and, yes, I teared up. (Side note: Jared and Liz have a killer side project: The Urban Pioneers)
4. Dr. Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys Closing Saturday Night
Before arthritis caught up with him, Dr. Ralph Stanley was known for his distinctive clawhammer banjo playin’ and his keening, Appalachian voice in the legendary Stanley Brothers duo. Most folks these days known him because of the dirge “O Death,” which was featured in the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou.
It was full-on night when Dr. Ralph Stanley and His Clinch Mountain Boys took the stage. It was witnessing history.
3. “Lord Must Fix My Soul” by the Dad Horse Experience
Dad Horse plays basement gospel. He brings a dapper suit, usually with a cravat, and a foot organ to the show. He is a one man band who will lighten your heart with a mix of old mountain tunes and his own odd brand of positive energy. He can make songs about dead dogs and exploding buildings poetic.
Halfway through his set, Dad Horse said anyone who wanted to sit on stage with him could. SO I TOTALLY DID! Along with about ten others. When he sang “Lord Must Fix My Soul” we became his defector dancing choir. I had arms full of friends and sang loud. I do not sing. Or I do, but only in my car and in front of the microwave while waiting for tea water…meaning I sing places where I won’t be heard because…trust me, you’d rather have bees with machetes in yer ears. BUT for Dad Horse, I sang.
2. Seeing Megan Jean and the KFB
HOLY F, people. Megan Jean and the KFB (Klay Family Band). I just. I.
::pauses to catch breath::
I didn’t get to see all of Megan Jean, but what I did, I LOVED. It’s Megan Jean on washboard, vocals, and snare drum. Byrne Klay (her fella) is on banjo.
- “THESE BONES”…no. I am not going to say anything. Just watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQp3u-dWhMg&feature=kp
THAT VOICE! Postcards from the afterlife? Hell yeah. This band totally makes me want to write stories. Lots and lots of stories. Like a story about sending or receiving postcards from the afterlife. LOVE.
….
AND! My top musical moment of the MRSW was...
….
1. James Hunnicutt Playing Cocksparer’s “We’re Coming Back”
Here’s the thing, I don’t care what anyone else says. My blog equals my say, and I say that the best goddamn song at Muddy Roots Spring Weekender was James Hunnicutt covering Cocksparer's "We're Coming Back."
The song sums up every gd Muddy Roots ever…knowing that somewhere out there there are people like you, who love what you love, who are directing positive, creative energy into the world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxswLwzLe0
Post Script - Holy shit, seeing The Tillers was phenomenal. Dancing to "Old Westside"...yeah, heart-expanding moment. The Calamity Cubes killed it, like usual. The Pine Hill Haints...SO GOOD. I got crazy bat shirt.
...Ok, I'm gonna stop...because the whole damn weekend was great. You can trust Jason Galaz to create badass music fests. Dudes got a love for the music and the people he's working with, and it shows.