I spent my evening at the Grand Illusion watching the films “Musical Holdouts” & “The High Lonesome Sound” by John Cohen.  This man is amazing.  His life’s work has been to document the most important cultural moments of the 40 years in American history - from photographs of the the folk revival in Greenwich Village &  Bob Dylan (both of which were largely inspired by Cohen’s own old time band the New Lost City Ramblers) , to interviews with the Abstract Expressionists, & films documenting the  the rural, traditional, old time music of America.  The man seemed to have had a hand in every major cultural movement in recent history.  His films were wide-eyed open-eared evocations of  American folk music traditions, from the hand-clappin’ foot-stompin’ songs of South Carolina, to the Gospel songs of a river baptism, & the bluegrass n banj’r tunes of backwoods Kentucky.  The films chronicled vibrant cultural identities as preserved through music.  Reflecting on the past few months & years I recall Folklife (Seattle’s massive free music festival), Wilderness Plots (the Scott Russell Sanders inspired concert chronicling early Midwestern, settlers, hunters, preachers, & pioneers), & the various bluegrass festivals I’ve attended as venues where the folk tradition is still alive well.  It seems John Cohen’s pioneering work plays a large role in my enjoyment of these art forms today.

Back home, all jazzed up, I began reading up on some of my favorite bands & stumbled across a blog by Crooked Still bassist Corey Dimario.  About halfway down the page he talks about Big Grass (which I almost went to), Wintergrass (which I did went to), & Vivace, a well known Seattle espresso joint (which I just went to - its right across from REI, Elliott & I grabbed a quick drink after climbing).  That made me pretty pumped up, & brought everything full circle.  I started climbing, then got some hot chocolate,  watched some Cohen films, which reminded me of Crooked Still, and that carried me to Corey’s blog, which took me back to Vivace where I pretty much began my day.  Cool.

I’m glad I’m getting to know these rivers.  Being on the water I gain a sense of place; an unparalleled perspective of the contours of the land.  The natural lifeblood of a land courses with its river; trees & eagles, reeds & rocks undulate along the wild sides of their river.  The power to erode,  to flood, to sweep side-to-side across lowland valleys ensures that rivers remain pockets of reprieve for the natural world.  In a world increasingly managed and damaged rivers remain bastions of the wild.

On the creative front, an article I wrote last summer which is being featured as the cover story in the current issue of the Wabash Magazine. Its about my experiences working as a guide at the Flying Pig & the man who made it all happen Geoff Faerber. Theres also a pretty cool web feature connected to the story. Check em out if you feel so inclined.

My sister is coming out to visit this weekend & I’m pretty excited. That along with increasingly better weather ought to give me plenty to write about in the next couple weeks.

Also finished up a set of 87 soft maple balusters which I’ve been working on for some time. This early in my turning career 87 balusters proved a sufficient challenge & I was pretty excited to finish the last 19 on Friday. In the course of turning this set I’ve noticed my skills steadily increasing; I’m able to turn shapes more smoothly & consistently & my cuts are getting cleaner. Putting in time is the best solution when it comes to gaining turning skills.

I started the week with five projects to get through and I finished up with one. After a slow start a few months ago it feels good to be increasing in productivity. I’m looking forward to heading into the new week with a relatively clean plate.

Wintergrass is the third bluegrass festival I’ve been to in the past year - always with Becca my musical sidekick & bluegrass buddy. We agreed that each festival has its own personality & strengths & that Wintergrass was a nice counterpoint to Telluride & Targhee, the two summer festivals we attended.

Telluride is set in a magical mountain valley in southwestern Colorado - peaks & waterfalls frame the stage. Over its 35 year history it has become a bluegrass institution & consistently boasts a line-up filled with the biggest & best names in bluegrass. Due to the long standing nature of this festival there is a very tangible & vibrant sense of community that develops during the short few days of the festival. Telluride is also doing some pretty innovative work towards greening the festival experience. The downside to all this it that it is also a fairly expensive & incredibly crowded festival. Targhee on the other hand is much more laid back, still draws some very respectable names, & is hosted in the Grand Targhee National Forest - the beautiful Grand Teton range provides the backdrop. Its a younger, smaller more manageable festival, & though there was not the same quantity of music I enjoyed it as much if not more than Telluride.

Wintergrass provides an interesting comparison to these two summer festivals; it is set up quite differently being hosted in dowtown Tacoma rather than a nestled away stage surrounded by wild land. Wintergrass has five venues (3 hotels, a church and a bar) spread across 2 city blocks.  Oddly enough the church & the bar tie for best venue in my book; the church was absolutely beautiful & had great sound while the bar had an amazing wooden dance floor & decent drinks. The festival seems geared towards musicians; the main hotel host instrument vendor booths, & informal jam sessions happen round the clock. Furthermore, four of the venues are seating room only which lends itself to contemplation of musicianship (as opposed to the distraction of dancing, which I still had my fill of at the fifth stage). Wintegrass was also the most family friendly festival I’ve been to which created a warm & happy atmosphere.

The audiences at bluegrass festivals always seem to be filled with enthusiastic, appreciative, & respectful people which tends to make the experience more enjoyable than other shows I’ve been to.  Good people with good hearts enjoying good music, it doesn’t get much better. After a broad sampling of several festivals I’ve developed a taste for what I like & I’m looking forward to returning to a few in future.

Bluberries rolled
between thumb & forefinger
soften before splitting.