Dear friends,
Hope you’re all ready for another fantastic Father’s Day Festival. Me? I’m doin’ what they call “freaking out”. Since my very first time through the gates of the Nevada County Fairgrounds, even as a zygote the first time, Marty Varner has been part of my posse. So many grassers know Marty that they slip and call me by my son’s name, like, constantly. I answer to Mark or Marty, just to save time.
So apparently I did my job as parent and brought a man into this world that has potential to do great things. He’s graduated high school, totally staying out of trouble and doing well grade-wise, considering the nature of the Advance Placement classes he was taking. He’s stuck with playing bluegrass for his whole life, so I think that’s going to stick, ha ha. And now he’s off to college. He’s attending school in Massachusetts. Obviously he wanted to get the heck out of Dodge and have new experiences in a whole different part of the country. I respect that.
So when you see the now-quite-tall human being bluegrass music has nurtured, this kid of mine, at Grass Valley, wish him luck, and give him advice about living in a frozen tundra like Wooster.
I am, in fact, trying to cram in experiences with the young man before he bails on God’s Country. We got a chance to attend the Nickel Creek reunion tour at the Fox in Oakland recently. It was really enjoyable. Back in the day, I was not a fan. It was just too light and “poppy” for my tastes at the time. Now, in retrospect, it was some good music. Of course, the mandolinist, initially trained by John “smooth right hand” Moore, of Bluegrass, Etc., has grown since those recordings. His work with the Punch Brothers really created a foundation for a quality of playing that is simply sublime. He’s like all your favorite mando pickers put in a blender, while bringing something completely new to the little instrument.
I really enjoy their new material. At the show it kinda fit in seamlessly with the old stuff. It’s a continuation of the “poppy” motif, and I can hang with that just fine. The song “Destination” is a true earworm. Sara Watkins, the singer on that track, has been keeping busy as a musician doing things like being a regular on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, so she’s on top of her game. Likewise, her bro Sean was kickin’ it on guit. Mark Schatz was the perfect bassist, of course.
Great venue, the Fox; maybe the best in the Bay Area. The audience was entirely not your standard bluegrass crowd. I did find Melody Walker and Jacob Groopman in the audience, but otherwise: what I like to call “civilians”. This young crowd is exactly who we should be nurturing for CBA events like the Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival. Let’s be sure and include what folks like to refer to as the “edgy” acts along with the bread and butter bluegrass and old time, which will always be the focus of the Grass Valley line up.
Your pal,
Mark Varner
mrvarner@ix.netcom.com
