Mon, 08 Oct 2007
Auburn Bluegrass Festival Video
It started Friday night when I had to phone in to do a radio interview for KFBK, the biggest station in Sacramento. Saturday morning I did another interview for KAHI radio in Auburn.
After a bit of disorganization and panic we got the Pickin’ & Fiddlin’ contest going. I was surprised at the number and quality of contestants. We had a tough time judging the winners.
Then my band, The Sierra Swing Conspiracy had to go play to open the festival. The morning was cold and we had absolutely no time to warm up. I literally opened my case on stage, checked my tuning and started playing. And those kids in my band started playing SO DANG FAST! Ok, we were excited and I probably started it off too fast. But somehow, even with a few glitches, we pulled it off.
Here’s the whole set. We opened "COLD" with Red Haired Boy
Then David Grisman’s "E.M.D." Check out Ethan’s solo on this one! That dude is fast!
Followed by Grisman’s version of Django’s "Minor Swing"
I was happy about my solo on this one
All of Me. I have to say that I like my solo on this one too
Another Django tune, "Swing 48" This is one of my favorite tunes to play.
Here’s a bit of a change. "House of the Rising Sun" played Tony Rice bluegrass style
And finally, the tune that’s become our theme song: "Douce Ambiance"
As the set went on we were warming up and it was sounding better and better.
After a half hour set that felt like more like 5 minutes it was time for me to do my mandolin seminar. We had a pretty good turn out. As I was teaching a reporter from the Auburn Journal came by to talk to us and take some photos and we made the front page of the Sunday paper.
Somehow, I found time to sit back and relax while watching at least one band (Sidesaddle & Company). Then it was time to lead a jam session. It always seems that when I go to a bluegrass festival I end up playing rather than listening to bands.
As it was getting dark the pizza decision was made and we all headed out to Auburn Pizza for dinner. After stuffing ourselves with pizza and beer we were ready for more Jamming. One of the new things we tried this year was to set up jamming at 4 local venues (Restaurants, coffee shops, etc). Each venue had jamming lead by one of the bands from the festival. We hung out with Sidesaddle & Co.
As the night moved on folks were starting to fade out and we decided to pack it in. Sidesaddle & Co. were saving money by staying at the homes of some of the volunteers so we had Lisa, their bass player, Lee Anne, their fiddler and Rob, the banjo player at our house. When we got home I built a fire in the wood stove and we all sat around and chatted for a while before bed.
What a day. It was an amazing time but I’m also glad it only happens once a year.
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