NEWS: HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS 2005

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
October 1st & 2nd

This weekend marked the 5th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festisval, arguably the greatest music festival going and easiliy the best free one.  I attended last year and was treated to great seats for even better music with plenty of elbow room at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadows.  Apparently word has spread because the crowds showed up by the tens of thousands for another stellar line up of artists representing the full spectrum of americana, rock-a-billy, country, old timey, traditional and roots music.  Oh yeah, and bluegrass.

Hardly Strictly is one of those events that forces fans to make difficult choices or figure out a way around the laws of physics.  Last year you could see John Prine or Steve Earle - but not both.  This year I passed on Jimmie Dale Gilmore to see The Knitters, missed Steve Earle to see Gillian Welch & David Rawlings.  Granted it is somewhat easier to skip a set by Dolly Parton or Peter Rowan & Tony Rice when the alternative is an hour and a half with Emmylou Harris, but I'm sure you can see the problem.  After several failed attempts to be in more than one place at the same time here's what I saw...

We arrived in San Francisco a little later Saturday afternoon than expected after a necessary stop for burritos and bottled water.  Parking was crazy, our first sign that the show might be better attended than last year, but we caught a break and ended up just five blocks away.  We headed straight for the Star Stage and caught the Dry Branch Fire Squad's last bit of top-notch jug band shtick before they cleared out.  Buddy Miller was up next, sporting his usual ball cap, bushy white hair and wide array of guitars.  He played a solid set including lots of material from "Universal United House of Prayer" and was backed by drums, organ or accordion, bass and two female backing vocalists.  The relatively small crowd was then treated to a special guest appearance by Emmylou Harris who added harmony on two songs, then left the stage as casually as she had joined it.  At one point Miller bashfully admitted that it was "against [his] religion to play at the same time as Doc Watson," who was performing on another stage.  I was struck by the strength of Miller's singing voice, and of course by his playing - a balance of brute force and soulful grace.

After Buddy had taken his bow I started noticing a younger crowd filling the spaces between blankets and lawn chairs.  Lots of tattoos and greased up hair.  They've come to see The Knitters!  For those of you who don't know, The Knitters are a grass-a-billy deviation from the norm for iconic 80s punks X (John Doe, Exene Cervenka, DJ Bonebreak) with sometimes X-er and fulltime Blaster Dave Alvin.  They played an A+ set that ranged from "Rank Stranger" to "Born to Be Wild" along with songs from their eight-year-old debut as well as the new album.  John and Exene chatted on stage like an old vaudeville couple, gamefully acknowledging an over-publicized history and setting up songs with jokes.  The real revelation was Dave Alvin, who stole most of the songs with scorching riffs and an air about him that bespoke true greatness.  The guy was wearing a red neckerchief like an ascot.  Awesome.

We then attempted to change venues in order to slow things down for the night and see Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on the Arrow Stage.  The place was packed.  We ended up a few hundred yards from stage left where the noise of the crowd’s casual conversation was about equal to the amplified volume of the show.  It was hard to get into Gil’s intimate performance from that distance and the kids were getting restless so I followed Hazel to a clearing where she could chase dogs and I caught a few bars of Steve Earle and his Bluegrass Dukes from the next stage over.  Gil invited Rawlings to take lead on a song which turned out to be a charmingly languid cover of Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”  Everyone laughed.  Everyone went home.  Everyone came back the next day with at least ten of their best friends.

We got to the park Sunday around 2:30pm and heard a note or two from Guy Clark on our way in.  Tempting.  But we had learned our lesson the night before and decided to pick our closing act of choice first and set up camp there to beat the crowd.  So we proceeded to the Banjo Stage to await Ms. Emmylou.  Clearly a few other people had the same idea.  We carved out a spot on the grass for a couple blankets, stashed the strollers under the bleachers and settled in for the day.  First up was Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder who brought the traditional full-band bluegrass heat with a fair helping of doughy aw-shucks – he dedicated a song to his dearly departed Mom and thanked the good Lord a few times.

We stuck around for Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys, whose set was nearly identical to their performance last year right down to his band introductions and self-promotional O Brother back-patting.  But the man is an institution and I like my institutions solid if predictable.  He was in good voice and brought out all the favorites including “Man of Constant Sorrow” “O Death” and “Pretty Polly.”  Afterwards I bought a $5 t-shirt from last year's event and waited in line for Dr. Stanley to autograph it.  Up close he’s more like your grandpa than a music legend.

Amy and our friends ventured over to sneak a peak at Dolly Parton.  But by that point in the day the place was mobbed and Dolly fans weren’t budging, so they came back for Emmylou Harris.  She started about fifteen minutes late but it was more than worth the wait.  I suspected something special when I saw Buddy Miller tuning his guitar on stage before the show.  Finally the festival’s host Warren Hellman made his thank yous to the crowd and introduced the final act of the year.   Emmylou sang for more than an hour and a half, playing rhythm guitar while Buddy Miller added texture and subtle solos on lead while singing harmony for all but two songs which she performed solo.  She brought Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on for the last few songs plus an encore.  Having seen her play live it’s easy to see why so many other artists want her on their records.  Her voice is effortlessly moving and perfectly human, and her presence so captivating that I easily forgot I was missing three other great acts just a stage away.  She alone was worth the trip and the long breezy days.  I’m already looking forward to next year!