Here's two videos I took myself at the Thursday night "Lounge Stage," hosted by Pesky J. Nixon on the campgrounds. The first one is We're About 9 with Pesky & Anthony da Costa sitting in; the next is Pesky with the others sitting in:
I don't have any video of ilyAIMY's set at the main stage (yet...maybe it's out there), but on Saturday we were invited to play at the Lost & Found for the volunteers there, and someone grabbed this video. There was no amplification so I couldn't play my electric cello, but I did some harmony vocals:
The performer before us on the main stage was Bulat Gafarov, all the way from Moscow! Amazing and impossible to describe, so just watch the video:
One of my other favorite performers in the showcase was Brittany Ann, a young singer-songwriter from Philly (and though you can't really tell from this video, she bears a remarkable resemblance to my friend Karen!). Anthony da Costa was another great performer who frequently popped up in the Lounge crew and after-hours song circles. Really liked his stuff...and he's not old enough to legally drink! Gah!! Managed to find a video of Brittany performing with Anthony:
Back on the Main Stage, I really liked Brother Sun, a trio made up of Pat Wictor, Joe Jencks & Greg Greenway. Wonderful harmonies. One of the tunes they did was a doo-wop number about Fox News, which went over like gangbusters with the crowd:
Greg Brown is not someone I was really familiar with, and it took the first couple of numbers to catch my attention...but then I was entranced for the rest of the set. What an unreal bass voice and some fine writing. One of my favorite tunes was "Fat Boy Blues." There's actually a video of the festival performance up but the quality isn't great, so I picked this one instead:
Closing out the main stage Saturday night was Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. With a name like that, I knew I was in for...something! They were playing Friday night in the dance tent while we were watching a quiet, folksy song swap with Red Horse on the main stage, and the music and crowd cheering was overpowering the main stage! So I was looking forward to seeing them, but unfortunately I couldn't stay for all of it as we had to head back to the campground for a rehearsal. This tune opened their set:
I heard that they used to be a punk band but got disillusioned with that scene, and then got in with some folky folks and realized they were much happier, so they revamped the band for that scene! Ha!
Possibly my favorite act of the whole festival was one of the last ones I caught, Saturday night at the Budgiedome (one of the after-hours campground things). Barnaby Bright was one of the emerging artists from last year and got to play the "Most Wanted Song Swap" on the main stage this year. I missed that performance, which I think was when rob and I were collapsed from the heat. This is one of the songs the duo played at the Budgiedome. They've got some other videos up with a full band which are also great, but the duo is really something special:
There were lots of others, but those were probably my favorite. OK, I've gotta tie this in with food, so...Pesky J Nixon and the folks from the Lounge went all-out with the camping food, and fed a whole bunch of people incredibly well multiple times a day. I don't know how they brought it all with them, but this was Saturday night dinner:
Beef tenderloin, smoked brisket, and some of the best grits I've ever had. Wow! Way to make the new guys feel at home. I just brought granola bars & Ritz Bitz with me...
Anyway, Falcon Ridge was an incredible experience, and we're contemplating going back next year even if we don't get invited in a performance capacity.
It was such a pleasure having you guys camp with us! Thanks for the videos and the shoutout. I'll see what I can do to get you that Grits recipe.
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ethan from Pesky J. Nixon