Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

This weekend we are heading to SF to see the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival again. Last year, it was really good. I got to see one of my favorite musicians (John Prine) and got a peek at some new artists that I had never heard of or seen before. Last time the only problems that we ran into were: a) it was a pain in the rear to park anywhere near the park, and b) we realized people post themselves at the big stages rather than move around, so if you want to see someone specific, you'd better get there early and take a seat in the grass...

This time, the list of performers is a little more recognizable to me than it was last year. As the title of the Festival suggests, it's not simply a bluegrass festival (we didnt watch a single bluegrass act last year) but also an alternative country festival. Here are the bands I'm gonna try to catch this time around:

Mark Olson and Gary Louris: These are the two original singers/songwriters from the Jayhawks. Mark Olson left the band after their 2nd album, and a new Jayhawks sound was born. This is part of their "reunion" tour, and this will definitely be the highlight both days of the festival for me. I need to make sure to get a good seat for this one.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: We saw Jimmie last year with his supergroup - The Flatlanders, but I wasn't really into it. I like Jimmie Dale solo, not with others. He has a high-pitched nasally voice and timbre that in my opinion is best heard alone with an acoustic guitar. His voice sounds like he's been singing for 100 lonesome years, and I like it...

Emmylou Harris: She's a living legend in my book, and I hope to get to see her play if we get the chance. She is a big hit at the Festival though, so we may not get the chance to see her.

Iris DeMent: John Prine introduced me to Iris DeMent through their hilarious song "In Spite of Ourselves". I really like her voice and her song themes, and I think we will get a chance to see her, which will be really cool. Check out her song "Our Town". I love it, especially this version with Emmylou Harris singing backup. (Sorry for the bad quality):

Loudon Wainwright III: This guy is just hilarious and can write some nice little songs. He's the father of Rufus and Martha Wainwright, and I'm hoping for a suprise appearance from either or both of them.

Iron and Wine: This is one guy who made his whole first album by himself on a junky little tape recorder in Seattle. I heard the song "Upward Over The Mountain" and got hooked on him.

Elvis Costello's High Wine and Spirits: I'm thinking the crowd for this will be crazy, but we will try to see him for sure.

Pegi Young: This is Neil Young's wife, playing her own music. We will see her if we can. I'm hoping since Neil and Pegi live here in the Bay Area, that Neil will pop in and do a song or two.

Should be a fun 2 days of concerts.

Today is a sad day in movie history... Paul Newman passed away late last night (September 26th) and to me, it's a huge loss to not only the film world, but to the charities and organizations that he ran and participated in. I've been knee deep in a tribute project compiling Paul's films, and now i'm finding it hard to get back into it today.

If you've got a copy of a Paul Newman movie, or happen to see one on TV today, do yourself a favor and give it your time.

R.I.P. Paul

Here's a quick story about Paul's "Hole in the Wall Camp" for sick children:

This past year, at one of the usual meetings of parents and children at the original camp, Newman showed up; crowds pressed close. The mother of one little girl spoke to Ray Lamontagne, the head of the camp’s board. Her daughter wanted to tell Paul Newman something, but she couldn’t get over to him because she was in a wheelchair. Lamontagne fought his way through the crowd and brought Newman back to the little girl, and he knelt down by her wheelchair. “For the first time in my life I have a friend,” the little girl told him. “I’ve never had a friend before, because I’ve been in a wheelchair most of my life, so kids avoided me. So thank you, Mr. Newman, for this camp.” Newman had tears in his eyes.

He had already said, “I wanted to acknowledge luck. The beneficence of it in many lives and the brutality of it in the lives of others, especially children, who might not have a lifetime to make up for it.”

"Plastic Jesus" from Cool Hand Luke:



For more info on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman