This past weekend Tilda and Dearest Partner headed across the Delaware Memorial Bridge to enjoy the annual Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival at the Salem County Fairgrounds.
There were plenty of huge RVs ("That one costs more than my house," the D.P. said, pointing to one gleaming behemoth), all-night (literally) fairground jam sessions, and lots of songs about ramblin', catchin' the next train out of town and pinin' for the gal or guy who got away.
Just a few highlights from Friday were Mile Twelve, a young Boston band, covering Elton John's "Rocket Man"; Dom Flemons, "The American Songster," singing "But They Got It Fixed Right On," a double-entendre "hokum" song that had us howling; and Suzy Bogguss doing a beautiful version of "Someday Soon" (we loved her guitarist, Craig Smith). I liked the set by David Davis & the Warrior River Boys enough to buy their CD, "Didn't He Ramble."
It's a small fest (sponsored by the Brandywine Friends of Old-Time Music), so you get to see the musicians walking through the fairgrounds and eating their lunch and dinner at the Lapp's pavilion. (The man behind me in line was nonplussed when he saw "We put pork on everything!" written on the menu board. "But I don't eat pork!" he said.)
One bluegrass fan has a tradition of getting every single performer to sign the festival's official T-shirt. For easy autographing, he stretches the shirt over a board, with a cup of markers attached. (He was wearing an autographed shirt from another fest.)
The weekend was cloudy but fortunately the heatwave had dissipated. Scattered showers were predicted, and twice during songs mentioning water, the skies indeed opened up. The first was a song about a couple who worked on a fishing boat for a summer. He hated it and couldn't wait to get back on shore; she loved it and stayed; end of relationship. The second was "Shenandoah," sung by Suzy Bogguss.
During a lull between sets, we asked a young security guard who was patrolling the grounds what he thought of bluegrass music.
"Never heard of it 'til this morning," he replied frankly -- but he said he was enjoying it.
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