It's impossible to really see the Kerrville Folk Festival in only seven or eight hours, but I did my best today.
The woman at the front gate greeted me saying, "Welcome home," and after parking my car, I walked to David's RV. I spent most of my time with David and Diana at Buster & Boomer's Halfway House, the name of their campsite which they share with Boomer and her husband (neither of whom were there that day).
After sipping a couple beers from the tap David installed to the exterior of his RV, we started picking a few songs, playing for Diana and watching the other festival goers stroll by. Several people stopped to play a few songs with us; I knew a few of them, David and Diana knew most of them, and we only met the others that moment.
Eventually, David set up his washtub bass, and then lots of folks stopped by for a song or two, either to play or just listen.
Toward the end of my all-too-short visit, David took me around Quiet Valley Ranch. We bumped into Jimmy Joe on his way to the camp showers, and found Chrissie a little farther down the road, sitting under the shade of a tree.
She was working on her newest song, "Sonrisa," which is Spanish for smile. She played us what she had so far, and we liked it. After a bit, Jimmy Joe, freshly washed and smiling, came back, and we all chatted about songwriting and whatever else popped into our heads.
Jimmy Joe and Chrissie set up their tent in what's called The Meadow. It's the primitive campground site, with tents and a few pop-up campers spread out everywhere. After we left The Better Halves, we saw Jack Pledge who invited us to his tent in The Lower Meadows campground area, which lies on the other side of a drainage ditch/rivulet called Sudden Creek. I think the name says it all. We played a few songs with Jack and some of his camping neighbors, and then headed back to Halfway House.
Each day of the festival includes a Sundown Concert, but sadly, I couldn't stay for it. I came to the festival as a Kerr-virgin, but because I missed MOST of what KFF has to offer, I'm not really a full-fledged Kerrvert yet. The festival is mainly about its concerts, new folk award shows, and workshops for seemingly everything. There are workshops for songwriting, blues guitar, music law, ukulele, harmonica, professional development of music teachers, and more.
Trout Fishing in America, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Sultans of String, Butch Morgan, and Bob Livingston are among the dozen of headliners performing here this year. The whole festival is 18 days long, and I wish I could have camped there for at least one week, but that'll have to wait until next year.
The woman at the front gate greeted me saying, "Welcome home," and after parking my car, I walked to David's RV. I spent most of my time with David and Diana at Buster & Boomer's Halfway House, the name of their campsite which they share with Boomer and her husband (neither of whom were there that day).
After sipping a couple beers from the tap David installed to the exterior of his RV, we started picking a few songs, playing for Diana and watching the other festival goers stroll by. Several people stopped to play a few songs with us; I knew a few of them, David and Diana knew most of them, and we only met the others that moment.
Eventually, David set up his washtub bass, and then lots of folks stopped by for a song or two, either to play or just listen.
Toward the end of my all-too-short visit, David took me around Quiet Valley Ranch. We bumped into Jimmy Joe on his way to the camp showers, and found Chrissie a little farther down the road, sitting under the shade of a tree.
She was working on her newest song, "Sonrisa," which is Spanish for smile. She played us what she had so far, and we liked it. After a bit, Jimmy Joe, freshly washed and smiling, came back, and we all chatted about songwriting and whatever else popped into our heads.
Jimmy Joe and Chrissie set up their tent in what's called The Meadow. It's the primitive campground site, with tents and a few pop-up campers spread out everywhere. After we left The Better Halves, we saw Jack Pledge who invited us to his tent in The Lower Meadows campground area, which lies on the other side of a drainage ditch/rivulet called Sudden Creek. I think the name says it all. We played a few songs with Jack and some of his camping neighbors, and then headed back to Halfway House.
Each day of the festival includes a Sundown Concert, but sadly, I couldn't stay for it. I came to the festival as a Kerr-virgin, but because I missed MOST of what KFF has to offer, I'm not really a full-fledged Kerrvert yet. The festival is mainly about its concerts, new folk award shows, and workshops for seemingly everything. There are workshops for songwriting, blues guitar, music law, ukulele, harmonica, professional development of music teachers, and more.
Trout Fishing in America, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary), Sultans of String, Butch Morgan, and Bob Livingston are among the dozen of headliners performing here this year. The whole festival is 18 days long, and I wish I could have camped there for at least one week, but that'll have to wait until next year.
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