A Weekend In Paradise

                   

Got to share with you our experience last weekend in the Bay Area...Sandwiched between two stellar concerts at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park on Friday and Sunday were two Walnut Creek U11 victories in the Cal Cup qualifying round #2 (they won their first round match) where grandson Taiyo amassed 6 assists while controlling the games from his central midfield position. WC now advances to the regional finals on their way to their dream of a state championship.
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is a San Francisco treasure...a three day extravaganza attracting some of the finest musician from around the country and, as the name suggests, is not limited to the bluegrass genre (although down home bluegrass can be enjoyed in abundance throughout the weekend). It offers an eclectic mix of many and varied musical styles and (get this) is entirely underwritten by the Warren Hellman Family Fund (btw: a former client of mine) for the enjoyment of an estimated 800,000 people who attend the event. Eight stages are employed simultaneously in the grassland meadows of the Park near my beloved Polo Fields.
On Friday, Debby and I got there early to get a up close spot in front of the Swan Stage where we were treated to a happy range of music beginning with the Detroit urban sound of Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas. They were followed and contrasted by the Dry Branch Fire Squad from Kentucky who played pure bluegrass from a quartet featuring incomparable guitar, mandolin, bass, and banjo virtuosity and divinely inspired harmonies. Next came an hour long tribute to the great Texas songwriter/singer, Guy Clark (who passed on earlier in the year) performed to perfection by the combined efforts of Joe Ely, Terry and Jo Harvey, Jack Ingram, and the brilliant Steve Earle. This performance took me back to the late 70's made survivable, in large part, due to the music of Guy Clark! The day/evening concluded with Dave Alvin's tribute to the late great Merle Haggard and various California songwriters. A high point came as Dave covered Brian Wilson's 'Surfer Girl' with a distinctly Bakersfield treatment! Debby and I were up and dancing for much of the final performance (some music just lifts you off your ass!).
Sunday's venue was the Rooster Stage farther up JFK Drive to the east where we positioned ourselves close up in time to catch the final songs delivered by the Texas gospel group, The Jones Family Singers, soon followed by bluegrass veterans Kane, Welch and Kaplin who survived a brief rainfall to bring us home to Appalachia in fine form. Blues legend John Hammond was next up offering a trip to the early roots of the blues from the 20's, 30's and 40's. He was followed by one of the most unusual performers I have seen in a while...Jonathan Richmond (and his drummer Tommy Larkins) who combined, variously, Flamenco guitar with stream-of-consciousness lyric to take us into the interior of his mind and to the outer reaches of what is musically possible! Suffice to say that Jonathan is way out there with, thankfully, very little chance of ever coming back! Our next performer provided a brilliant counterpoint as Rosanne Cash sang with soulful reverence the songs that at once paid tribute to her early days in Memphis and melodies that brought her commercial success later in her career. The final performance was by the irrepressible T Bone Burnett who combines driving rock and roll with uncompromising lyric which results in a transportive experience into regions otherwise not explored without his irresistible invitation. Needless to say, Debby and I were, once again, up on our feet dancing with an ungodly degree of abandon! Just a sampling of T Bone...'everyone wants peace, but nobody is willing to surrender; everyone wants forgiveness, but nobody is willing to confess'. Check him out on the sound track of last season's True Detective.
Thank you for staying with me as we toured yet another weekend in this beautiful and rather sacred patch of the planet. Hardly Strictly happens every year in the first weekend of October and you all have my personal invitation to come, as our guests, from far and near to experience it's miraculous gifts again next year.