The weekend was kicked off with a bluegrass band competition to see who will come back to play a set the following year. Next on stage was Cascadia Project with Darol Anger and friends followed by Keller and the Keels. Last but not least, Yonder Mountain String Band opened up the Friday night with Ten and jammed through the night until it was time to shut down. The music maybe have stopped on stage, but the night was more alive than ever as people scattered in the forest forming groups as many others wandered around, stumbling into other tents. A man in a full on chicken suit clucks by as a pirate dances with his pet parrot who gave anyone a beak kiss who passed by. Drunkards wake up from slumber with sharpie written all over themselves as other walk the path butt ass naked selling clothes.
Missing a handful of shows the next morning I slept off the night before and kicked it in the woods with new friends camped out nearby. I made it to the stage bowl just in time to catch Railroad Earth in action playing many songs unknown by me but I could feel their music rolling through my body, feeling the body heat bear on me from the beautiful audience around me. YMSB joined up on stage for one of the most spectacular shows I have ever experienced as they gave tribute to the 10th anniversary of the Northwest String Summit. Also Darol Anger, "the unofficial 5th member of YMSB, fiddle madness" joined the band on stage for every single show! Not only that, but they did not hesitate to bring up all of their friends to jam including performances from Drew Emmit, Keller Williams, Danny Barnes, Todd Snider, and Larry Keel.
This was not just a festival for the people. This was a festival for the bands, as you could see it in each and every one of them that this was a place for family and joy all around. I found great spot right under Dave Johnson, the banjo player, as I tried to study his finger picking style while the world around me begins to bend. The lights on stage glow bright and the music falls deep inside me as they began to wrap up for the night.
After the Saturday night encore, I grabbed my banjo and beer and wandered the forest on a musician's march, gathering anyone with an instrument I could find. It began with a mandolin player to the guitar player and somehow ended up with the largest bluegrass jam I have been apart of with more than fifteen musicians joining in on the mystical night. We found ourselves playing bluegrass all night long until the sun came up under a large disco ball nestled in the forest with people all around dancing and getting into the groove. We were in a music groove, zen mode, without any recollection of time until it was daylight all of a sudden and we could see everyone around us. It was at this time we decided it would be best to stop and catch any rest possible.
With only a couple hours to sleep, the next morning began with a shot, a few beers, brownie and chocolate mushroom as I set off towards the stage to catch Elephant Revival, which played with my mind all morning as the melody ran through my soul and off into space. Deprived of sleep and feeling the effect of the chocolate I ate earlier I sat and observed the beauty of the festival around me. While my mind was working on gathering consciousness in this reality, Danny Barnes along with Drew Emmitt and Larry Keel took the stage to warm us up for the final upcoming show.
Jeff Austin, the mandolin madness, joined on stage with a unifying yell as he opened the final act with Ramlin' in the Rambler, one of my all time favorite songs, as I secured a spot in front stage in front of the bass amp feeling Ben Kaufmann's melody echo inside of me. Maybe it was the essence of the festival, maybe it was sleep deprivation , or possibly the psilocyben influence on my dopamine neurotransmitter that made me feel the spiritual presence that day, but whichever it may be, it was an experience of a lifetime. Not being able to hold back, I break down into tears as a large jug is passed around accepting donations for Lilli. At 8 months, Lilli was diagnosed with leukemia and the band ever since has supported her with donations to her family and to various children's cancer foundations. The band played their most heartfelt song as the crowd filled the tub up with money, as tears of pain and joy filled through the audience.
I felt emotions that weekend that I had never experienced before and with a near death experience a few days earlier, I had never felt so alive. The festival closed out with the song Southern Flavor, as the people leave back to the tents where we would camp out just one more night, wishing it would never end. After another night of camping, I packed up the car and drove on my way to continue the journey a more peaceful man than before. Leaving Horning's, the two peacock's residing on the festival grounds say their goodbyes along with the volunteers as I head off north to Washington.
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