Ever since I started playing mandolin and learning about bluegrass
music, I was intrigued by the music festivals that happen in remote
parts of the country. These music festivals date back to the 1950s
and were the way people in the country got entertained. Unlike our
current entertainment options of overpriced concert tickets and acts
that usually can't play, these festivals were low cost, not a way for
musicians to get rich, and democratic.

You see in bluegrass there are no rock stars. The artists that play
on stage are usually humble and despite blowing you away with their
chops, they usually will come out and mingle with the crowd after the
show. In fact, some are known for letting fans play their instruments
regardless of how expensive they may be.

All this to say that when the opportunity to attend my first music
festival came up I jumped at the change. Delfest is a festival in its
third year and organized my the McCoury family headed up by famed
bluegrass vocalist Del McCoury. His family is known as one of the
most talented in acoustic music and his band is comprised mostly of
his sons.

This year I was even more excited to find out that in addition to the
top bluegrass artists [e.g. David Grisman, Darrel Anger et. al.]
Delfest was also featuring some of the best in the jam band music
scene. Bands like the Yonder Mountain String Band and amazing
multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams are more in line with the
college crowd rather than the blue-haired bluegrass world but the one
thing that unites them is the love of the high lonesome sound of
bluegrass. That and a mastery of acoustic instruments made the
line-up at Delfest too good to miss.

Someone was watching out for us green campers with our freeze dried
meals because as soon as we selected our campsite, a very nice couple
from Virginia decided to camp right next to us. After saying the
obligatory hellos, we came to learn that one of the campers is a
Culinary Institute of America trained chef. Not only that but they
took care of us feeding us delicious home cooked and healthy food. We
barely touched our freeze dried meals!

There was one day of hard rain that quickly turned everything into
mud. It became very primitive but as you may remember, I survived
Burning Man so I took it all in stride as did most of the campers.
After the rain was the heat but no matter because there was plenty of
great beer, good food, friendly people and amazing music.

And here are the pics from Delfest. I can't wait for next year!