The storms tried to keep us away. They lost. Sort of.
The rain came and went all weekend. One minute you're pulling your hood up, the next the sun's out and your socks are squelching and you don't care. Miserably wonderful, the way only a festival can be.
We rolled into the park on Friday evening, headlights cutting through the last of the rain, a day later than we'd planned. Our timing couldn't have been worse. A work trip had me in San Diego most of the week, and the weather back home was pure misery. The forecast had been ugly all week and the smart money said wait for Saturday morning. But smart money never wins when I'm involved.
Friday Night
Media wristband on, my son Hayden beside me with his photo pass and a camera bag, we made for the music as Eddie 9V took the stage Friday night and lit the fuse. The weekend was on.
Eddie 9V kicked off the weekend for us Friday night. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Saturday
Saturday woke up legendary and stayed that way. Victoria Cardona sang under the tent in the afternoon, and then Verlon Thompson, Guy Clark's right hand for twenty-five years, held the whole place with a guitar and the truth. I shook his hand after the set. Some handshakes you remember.
Victoria Cardona under the tent Saturday afternoon. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Verlon Thompson. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Then there was the band that gave me goosebumps, and I couldn't have told you their name if you'd paid me. It figures: they're called Yet To Be Gold. Built around the songs of Gregor Sayet-Bone, a lifer songwriter with twenty-some years and twenty-some albums under various names behind him, with Jeb Puryear of Donna the Buffalo on electric guitar, Jeb's own son Jonas on bass, and Luca Greenspun on drums. Friends playing songs, as their own billing puts it. Real, unapologetic, heartfelt. Just amazing.
Yet To Be Gold on the Music Farmers Stage. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Suns of Stars came recommended by Dave from Honey Miller, and Dave ain't wrong. The Asheville, North Carolina band is built around Alex Bazemore, who leads from acoustic guitar, with Collin Pressley on mandolin, Jason Flournoy on banjo, Alex Ball on fiddle, and Jackson Chisholm on upright bass. We caught them Saturday and they were very good. Pressley's singing stood out, and the rest of the band played like they meant every note. An expected surprise. Dave had pointed us toward Yet To Be Gold too, so he went two for two on the weekend.
Alex Bazemore, leader of Suns of Stars, on acoustic guitar. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Collin Pressley on mandolin for Suns of Stars. His singing stood out all set. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Saturday Night
Trampled by Turtles tore through their set on the big stage, and they were our I-have-to-hear-more band the minute they finished. Donna the Buffalo was really good too. Shinyribs had the whole place grinning. And Sam Bush closed Saturday night the way only Sam Bush can, that mandolin ringing under the lights.
Trampled by Turtles on the big stage. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Dave Simonett, lead singer of Trampled by Turtles. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Donna the Buffalo. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Shinyribs. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Sam Bush closes Saturday night. Photo: Hayden Kelley
The Roadside Inn
The one thing we missed: the after-hours picking circles. The tents went up, but age and poor preparation caught up with us. The tent's age, not mine. It's still wearing a tent pass tag on the zipper from Jamboree in the Hills 2008. It's got some patina. The rain guards weren't all they were cracked up to be, and when the rain came they leaked like somebody turned on a tap. So the late nights were spent at a roadside "inn," and the quotation marks are doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. The kind of place where you park where you can see your car from the window. The continental breakfast may exist, but it's on a different continent. That's a story for another column.
Sunday
Sunday gave us the Mosier Brothers Band, cool and polished, a perfect Sunday afternoon treat. Jim Lauderdale sat in for a spell, and we'd have stayed for his whole set if the clock had allowed. We'd already seen Verlon twice, which suited us fine. Then the long drive home, windows down, the weekend still ringing in our ears.
The Mosier Brothers Band on the Amphitheater Stage. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Mosier Brothers Band on banjo. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Worth Every Mile
We covered the Will McLean festival a few months back. Good regional show, worth your time if you're anywhere near it. Suwannee is a different animal. Some festivals you attend; this is one you join. The stages are big enough to remind you this is a major billing, and small enough to make you forget it. Three-plus hours each way, and we'd turn around and do it again tomorrow.
The weather kept us humble, so we mostly stayed out of the way. Truth be told, the wristbands could have opened more doors than we ever knocked on. That suited us fine. That's the whole idea behind Six-String Travels. We're not professionals. We're of the people, by the people, for the people, just a veteran festivalgoer giving it to you straight.
Everything we caught, we loved. We're fairly certain we found the press tent on our way out, which sums up our operation pretty well. Some hurricane spinoff stole the camping experience right out from under us, the late-night picking and the slow mornings. If they invite us back, we'll come in earlier and submerge proper.
Our top three acts of the weekend, in order: Trampled by Turtles, Yet To Be Gold, Suns of Stars. If you're so inclined, give them a listen. You won't be sorry. And Six-String would sure love to hear what you think.
A huge shout out to Erin and everybody at Suwannee Roots Revival. They throw one hell of a festival, rain or shine, and they made two wandering festivalgoers feel like family.
The crowd under the Spanish moss at dusk. Photo: Hayden Kelley
Why We Do This
Three of four days, and it reminded us why we do this at all.
It was even better because I got to do it with my kid.
This is my passion. That I get to write about it, and that anybody reads it, is beyond anything I ever imagined. Living it alongside the people I love, plus new friends like Dave, and Dave's friend Dave, makes the whole thing crazy fun.
I asked Hayden what he made of the whole thing. He's a man of many words, so he nodded and said, "Pretty cool. Close knit, comfortable." That's three more words than usual.
All photos by Hayden Kelley.
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