Today was back to school day here in Sonoma county. Kids return to school pretty early here. Where I grew up in South Carolina we had at least a couple of weeks still before the summer was over.
Often when we returned to school we had to write the obligatory essay about how we passed the time during our summer away from school. You had to either make up something or confess that you had pretty much goofed off during the whole summer. Most of the good students knew the drill and produced an essay that, although not strictly factual, reflected their commitment to engaging in enriching educational experiences.
If I had to write that essay this year it would be pretty easy. I spent a full two months traveling to bluegrass events in my little teardrop trailer.
My first stop was Grass Valley. I got there early for the music camp and then enjoyed the festival and all its remembrances of fifty years for the CBA.
From Grass Valley I made the trip up through Reno to the festival in Susanville. They have a music camp going on there too during the week leading up to the festival so it’s easy to set up camp there early.
Susanville was a great festival as usual. I was disappointed when a scheduling snafu scotched the festival a few years ago but now it is back and running strong. Some of my friends performed there and hosted a campout the next week in central Oregon. So my road trip dots connected perfectly and I was able to swing by Grants Pass for a day and play some music with my friend Larry King. Larry is all of ninety four years old now but you would not believe how this guy can make a guitar fretboard sing. Not many people half that age can do that. He played with the likes of Buck Owens and Bobby Baer in his prime so you can be sure it was worth a date between festivals to pick some tunes with a guy like that.
Grants Pass took me to Fossil, Oregon. Fossil is in the middle of nowhere but home to a great July 4th festival that is completely free. Apparently they have a grant that allows them to book talent such as Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms. I don’t know how they do it but I enjoyed great music and camped for free also. They do have a box for putting in a fiver if you want to take a shower but it’s strictly on the honor system.
Fossil is not that far from the Lost River Bluegrass festival in Merrill, one of my favorite festivals. This is THE festival you have to go to if you have never been. It’s small in that you can hear the main stage from your campground, but the talent is very good and your campsite may have beautiful views of the north face of Mount Shasta all covered in snow. Joyce Furlong does an incredible job making sure everyone is welcome and has what they need to enjoy themselves.
After Lost River I went north to Darrington, Washington. The bluegrass festival they have there is about the same age as Grass Valley and they have their own venue complete with an amphitheater. They had some good bands there and I had fun hiking for a couple of days with my kids who live in Seattle.
I spent a couple of days in transit to my next bluegrass festival. Midway through Idaho on the way to Montana there is a spectacular paved bike trail called the Trail of the Cour d’Alene’s. I took some great rides each direction there before heading to my next bluegrass festival, the Hard Times Bluegrass Festival in Hamilton Montana.
I like small festivals and Hardtimes is definitely in that category. The main stage probably measures twelve by eight feet. It’s basically a shed with a small porch to play music on. The owner of the property rents it out every year so that his friends can enjoy the music they love and the vibe is strictly bluegrass music as it used to be.
I went there mostly because my friend Anne lives nearby in Hamilton. The teardrop trailer that I live in when I am on the road is named Sophronie and I bought the trailer from Anne several years ago. Anne was a regular at Grass Valley for years and when she upgraded to a bigger rig I was happy to snap up the classic 1947 restoration. Sophronie was in a real movie, Warren Miller’s Here There and Everywhere.
Hard Times had some great talent including my friends Johnny and Phyllis Campbell. It’s really fun to hang out at festivals where you can hobnob with the performers like they did in the old formative days of bluegrass. The Hardtimes festival is like that. Anne described it as similar to the first festival she went to at Grass Valley on the old stage.
I journeyed home via the Snake River and Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. But I had one more venue on my list after a few days at home, a beachside jam with friends near Fort Bragg. Some of the same musicians I had heard at Susanville, central Oregon and Merrill were there. We played a concert for the folks there.
What a summer! Maybe I won’t get a grade from my teacher this year but it’s OK. I hope you all had a good summer too.
