Narrows Festival of the Arts

On the heels of Rhythm and Roots, the Narrows Festival of the arts took place outside the Narrows Center in Fall River, under clear blue skies and warm sunshine. 2 Lousiana bands (Beausoleil, Dirty Dozen) + 2 Texas bands (Hot Club of Cowtown, Seth Walker) on the outdoor stage added up to Big Time Bon Temps! Between sets we were entertained by a variety of creatures ranging from a multi-colored dragons, an octopus, some faeries, and a dancing eyeball!


Here's a video of what one observer called a technicolor snufalupagus, kicking up its many heels to Hot Club.

MVI_2618.AVI

Inside, several local bands took the stage, among them Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade, an old fashioned jazz combo consisting of Tess on vocals and guitar, accompanied by a stand up bass, drums....and a clarinet/ sax player. Classy and relaxing, they offered a chance to chill indoors between dancing up a storm to Beausoleil, and gettin' down w/ the Dirty Dozen.


Narrows Festival 2009


Audio is available on MVYRadio.com
http://mvyradio.com/music_info/narrows_festival_2009.php

Rhythm and Roots 2009

What a year for Rhythm and Roots! After losing half the summer to unseasonably cool temperatures and rain, we were blessed with perfect weather for Labor Day weekend– sunny skies and cool breezes, followed by clear moonlit nights that had me up past 4 am every night.

This year we welcomed old friends and new, camping with most of our usual krewe, and helping to set up some spots for about a half dozen newcomers, friends we had met at Crawfish fest and/or on the Jazzfest message board (aka Threadheads). Lots of my jamming buddies were nearby in their usual spots as well, so it worked out perfectly.

After our opening night barbecue/ celebration, we went to hear the music. Friday was loaded with great music - Nouveau Honkies, the Duhks, and I was pleasantly surprised by Eilen Jewell - last time I saw her she was more folky sounding, but this time she had a killer rockabilly / Americana band with her. Too bad they showed up late due to traffic problems and had to shorten their set. Enjoyed the Travellin’ McCoury’s - it was nice to have some real bluegrass at Rhythm and Roots this year, just as it is nice to have the Red Stick Ramblers or Steve Riley show up at Grey Fox. Lee Boys with the Travellin’ McCoury’s on Friday were the highlight of the festival for me. Their first song was like a mantra for the weekend – “Let’s celebrate –we gonna have a good time! ” Robbie's electric banjo sounded especially good with the steel guitar, and the back and forth solos between all the bluegrass and sacred steel musicians worked out well.

I liked Cedric Watson's new band, Bijou Creole, which had a real African sound with the different percussion instruments.

Tab Benoit's set in the workshop tent on Saturday was my second favorite set at the festival. It was similar to the shows I’ve seen him do at Chan’s in Woonsocket - he is best in a smaller venue. Besides the jokes he was also able to enlighten the audience to the plight of the Louisiana wetlands, mentioning the Voice of the Wetlands fest and other things he is involved with. For his mainstage set, Steve Riley sat in on some of the zydeco tunes.

Asleep at the Wheel was great Saturday night, very tight as usual, and featured a brief guest appearance by Johnny Nicholas. I didn't get into Hot Tuna much - I know they are legends and all, but it just sounded too much like a garage jam-band to me.

Papa Mali was good on Sunday - he was fun to dance to, but I wished he would have sung more. "Ode to Billy Joe" was especially groovy, and I really liked his version of "I Shall Not be Moved". The Frank Family Band was hitting it with all they had, with their 2 drummers, and sometimes alternating, sometimes playing together. I found it funny when the young niece who is always dancing on stage finally sang a song and it was Boozoo Chavis' "Leona had a Party".

Mitch Woods was entertaining, but seemed to have to work very hard to get people up off their butts. There is something about the R&R crowd - even though there are always a lot of dancers under the two tents, people in front of the stage like to just sprawl out on their blankets or sit back in their chairs, and that seems a bit frustrating for some of the performers.

I love Jerry Douglas’ music, but when I saw him on the schedule for Sunday night, I was worried he was going to put us to sleep - far from it! People were actually dancing to it on the dance floor near the main stage. I was one of them - that was the best way to stay warm, too. Great Big Sea was an excellent choice for a closing act with their raucous energy and fun songs and even a light show! That was one of the only bands I was unfamiliar with - my first time seeing them but it won’t be the last. I liked how they alternated between traditional sounding folk tunes / drinking songs/ and pop hooks and harmonies.

After the last set in the dance tent, which featured Steve Riley with special guests like Cedric Watson, producer Chuck Wentworth got up to say a few words as is the tradition. It was especially moving this year in light of all the obstacles he had to overcome to be there this year, as well as the local politics that threatened to move the festival (but did not!)

I know some people had financial limitations this year that prevented them from coming – I should have mentioned earlier that R&R is a volunteer run festival, and that can be a good low cost way to enjoy the fest. In exchange for a few hours work each day you get free weekend camping pass/admission, meals, a t-shirt and more fun than you can imagine. I did it for many years, and still do at Grey Fox bluegrass festival. I just can’t at R&R anymore because I don’t want to miss anything, and I love playing music after hours. This is the most accordion friendly and diverse-jamming festival I go to… and I do have to sleep some time! This year was the best for after-hours jamming,due to the weather, the full moon, and combination of players on the scene.

I really want to thank all the new people for coming, esp. those that travelled a great distance… and I sincerely hope they and others will join us for Rhythm and Roots again. If you like Cajun/ Louisiana and other roots-music, being in RI for Labor Day weekend is the next best thing to being in Louisiana in October/November... As Steve Riley so eloquently reminded us in the closing set on the dance stage, RI's Cajun / LA roots run deep starting with Dewey Balfa’s visit to Newport Folk fest in 1964 and going through more than 2 decades of Cajun festivals here in the Biggest Little which has evolved into the more diverse music festival that is Rhythm and Roots.

And for those that missed it, many of the sets are available on MVY Radio.

http://www.mvyradio.com/music_info/rhythm_and_roots_festival_2009.php

Festive Memories and Traditions

One of the reasons I haven't been able to keep up with this blog as much as before is we were busy moving , and in the process I have come across so many photos, mementos, t-shirts, programs, etc from 20+ years of festing... not to mention all the lagniappes people pass out at New Orleans jazz fest. So one thing I was hoping to accomplish with this blog was summarizing these memories in an online format, so much easier to retrieve! But I still have all these boxes of memorabilia which I am trying to condense and consolidate. Maybe a good project for the winter!

One other thing I have been thinking about lately, with all these 40 year anniversary shows about Woodstock on TV, is how lucky we are to have these events to return to year after year. I was not old enough to be aware of the Woodstock festival as it unfolded, but I spent my high school years idolizing some of those great rock icons of the past and wishing I could have been there. This year was also the 40th anniversary of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest, which even though I could not attend this year, I can look forward to making it next year. While Woodstock was a one time event, we have several annual festivals, like Jazzfest, GreyFox, Rhythm and Roots, Crawfish Fest, Lowell Folk Fest, and so many others that we can return to year after year. These festivals are not exactly like Woodstock, but they bring together large groups of people with a common spirit, embodying a sense of community and culture - especially the camping fests. Having these annual festivals gives us a chance to reunite with our friends every year, and it also gives the people who organize these festivals a chance to improve upon them year after year. I wonder how many of them were at Woodstock and thought, "Hey I could do better than this! " Looking at some of the experiences of Woodstock makes me appreciate these festivals even more. For example, the first few acts were unable to take the stage on schedule so Richie Havens had to play an extended set and returned to the stage 6 times.... then at the end, Jimi Hendrix, who was supposed to play on Sunday, ended up playng Monday morning to a much depleted crowd. We may take for granted all the work that goes into putting on these events, but seeing that footage of Woodstock makes me appreciate the fact that most of these annual festivals I go to run smoothly and on time despite glitches in weather and performers not being able to make it sometimes. So all we have to worry about usually is choosing where to be at what time - the multi-stage format is another improvement upon Woodstock which, from what I can tell, seemed to take place all on one stage. And we don't have to worry about not having enough food and water. To the contrary, some of the fests, eg., Jazzfest is as much a food-fest as a music fest; and at the camping fests, we bring our own as well as buy from the various vendors. Kudos to all of the organizers for making them happen again and again and giving us something to look forward to, as I am to this weekend's Rhythm and Roots festival. So far the weather forecast is good, and many friends will be attending. Because of this, Labor Day weekend is as festive as any holiday I know. More info here at Rhythm and Roots