What a perfect day for music. The scene was set in downtown Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park, next to the historic Rawlings Conservatory. Next to that picturesque Charm City structure is a natural amphitheater that the organizers of the festival used to create an intimate space. At 10:00 a.m. with trees beginning to green up after a long winter, one of bluegrass music’s up and comers took the stage, introduced by the kilt-clad
John May - our Master of Ceremonies for the day.
Grand Ole Ditch
Grand Ole Ditch was a pleasant surprise. While they didn’t make the original festival poster and weren’t listed until a week or so before, they did however open the show in style and set a tone of fun and super-high quality music for the day. Polished, smooth and authentic, “Team Ditch” has a sound that is as iconic as it is wonderful, and every member of the band fits perfectly. According to their bio, they came together as six friends who simply wanted to play and explore bluegrass, brought together by a lifetime appreciation of music. Its an appreciation you can feel in their performance. Guitar and the responsibility of “Lead Beard” was given to
Ryan Hohing. Mandolin and some very heartfelt high-lonesomes were provided by
Lucas Matthews. On banjo and in true Earl Scruggs style was
Craig Miller. On dobro we were treated to
Jody Moser. Anchoring the melodious sound was lyricist
Jacob Matthews on the standup bass. You couldn’t have asked for a better opener and those who didn’t make it in with the early crowd at the festival really missed something wonderful.
Highland Hills Boys
As soon as Grand Ole Ditch left the stage, the winners of the Charm City Folk & Bluegrass Festival’s local band contest were in the spotlight. Our MC said “...these guys brought it each and every time they came up [during the competition]...” It wasn’t very long before you found out what he meant.
The Highland Hill Boys may be fairly new, as bands go, but they were and are not amateurs, that was the first thing the crowd found out. With no set list, they got the still light crowd to their feet. They hit some old favorites like "Rabbit" and a gospel track "Palms of Victory" , along with "Aint Nobody Gonna Miss Me", and the
Buzz Busby tune "Lost". The Highland Hill Boys have a seasoned sound and flawless technique, so it was a pleasure to just sit and listen. Once again, those in the later crowd really missed out.
Stephen Gulliford: Guitar
Adam Gulliford: Fiddle
Alex Tocco: Fiddle
Alex Scanlan-Berman: Banjo
Zach Serleth: Bass
Ken and Brad Kolodner
Before they set up I had a chance to meet
Ken Kolodner, His inviting personality and easy smile makes it effortless to see where his music gets its tone. Their set was short, but it gave a glance into the deep traditions that set bluegrass apart from most modern music. It also showed that Bluegrass isn’t all infidelity and shootin’ (as
Noam Pikelny would put it later). Both father and son are multi-instrumentalists, and played with a ease and delight that comes through in the sound.
Ken Kolodner played both fiddle and Hammer Dulcimer, while
Brad Kolodner played fiddle, 5-string banjo and a banjo made out of a gourd, noting that the gourd banjo was the first form of the of the instrument to come cross the Atlantic from Africa. You can sense a synergy in their playing that not only comes from family roots, but a love of the form. Baltimore Locals have a chance to catch them live at their
Old Time Jam on Tuesday’s at
Liam Flynn’s Ale House.
Trace Friends Mucho
When the self proclaimed “Greatest Band in the World” takes the stage, you sit up and pay attention.
Biffle Boyd,
Red Knuckles,
Pitchfork,
Cueball,
Jeffro, and musical guest -
P-man (
Patrick McAvinue of
Redline) took the stage to thunderous applause. It was amazing. Born at Baltimore’s best kept secret, “The 8x10”, they have quite literally become cult classics in Charm City. These raucous cowboys crushed a set of original music and covers featuring the ballad "There’s a Tick on my Taint", the explanatory "Cuntry, Bluegrass is dumb",
The Who’s "Squeezebox", and "The Electric Slide". Biffle asked at one point, “Does anybody hate us yet, and one fellow raised his hand... To which Biffle replied “Being the best band in the world is hard, I mean, someone always hates us.”
Biffle Boyde (aka Biff The Cowboy) - Mandolin, Vocals
Red Knuckles - Guitar, Vocals
Pitchfork - Bass, Vocals
Cueball - Banjo, Vocals
Jeffro - Drums
P-Don - Saxophone
Mad Sweet Pangs
For a moment, imagine yourself on a lawn, in the afternoon sun, enjoying some perfectly good bluegrass. Then imagine an Indie Band appears on the stage looking entirely out of place. One may be forced to wonder: “What the ___,
Mad Sweet Pangs?” How do you describe a band from the University of Delaware with a PHD on the piano, playing the tightest mix of folk, funk, rock and blues to almost a ragtime beat? Sublime. This was quintessential Indie Music. It was thoughtful, tightly written, and performed with love.
Jordan Leitner - Keyboards/Vocals
Dustin Frohlich - Bass/Vocals
Gordon Lippincott - Guitars/Vocals
Rob Young - Drums/Cajon/Vocals
Audie Blaylock and Redline.
Da-yam.
Audie is simply a pro. With a bundle of number one singles under his belt, world class musicians behind him, and a huge catalogue to draw on, they almost dared you not to whoop, holler and stomp your feet. Most of the crowd failed that test. Digging into older albums and hitting a few standards, Audie and the band put on an absolute non-stop high-energy performance that was, for many, the whole reason you go to a bluegrass festival.
Audie Blaylock - vocals/guitar
Patrick McAvinue - vocals/fiddle
Dustin Frame - Mandolin
Josh Hymer - banjo
Matt Wallace - vocals/bass
Cris Jacobs and Friends.
Initially billed as just the talented Mr.
Chris Jacobs, the midday crowd was treated to something unique. Cris Jacobs organized a jam session. Cris Jacobs, Patrick Mcavinue (Redline),
Anders Beck (Greensky Bluegrass), Nick Piccininni (The Everyone Orchestra), Ed Hough (The Bridge), Audie Blaylock - the list goes on and on. This was the first time this particular group of friends had all played together, but you would never had known. They were seamlessly integrated, smooth and feeding off each other. The essence of bluegrass is The Jam. Cris and his pals jammed and underlined the reason it’s the soul of the form. They Even played a song called "One and Done" that Cris wrote for Audie Blaylock and Redline. There were others yet to come, but honestly this could have been the closing act, and that would have been ok. It was just that good.
Sierra Hull
The word “prodigy” gets used a lot in music. People use it with the best of intentions, but not always correctly. When they used it to describe
Sierra Hull, they actually nailed it. Now 22years old, Sierra was already an accomplished artist at 16 when she released her first album. Today she floated onto the stage and graced us with a short but lovely set. She was just so good in the short time we had her.The highlight of the show was a brand new song that she unveiled from center stage, capturing the attention of the entire crowd.
Chris Eldridge & Julian Lage
Two men in casual suits with guitars. This was perplexing to some, and caused some head-scratching by others. Suddenly, all those doubts were set aside as they launched into a set of picking that was nothing short of unbelievable. They pick at blinding speed and never miss a note. It’s not just raw talent - you can only call it expertise. They said little, but their music was enthralling.
Noam Pikelny and Friends
“ Thank you for having me and my friends here today. Well... these people behind me are contractually obligated to be my friends for the next 75 minutes anyway...”
Noam Pikelny puts on the kind of show every fan wants to see. Each song was bracketed with lightning wit, and was well crafted and beautifully played. On the stage we had 3/5 of
the Punch Brothers, and you could hear it in some of the songs. In the lineup was
Noam, Gabe Witcher, Chris Eldridge
, Bryan Sutton, Jesse Cobb, Barry Bales, Luke Bulla and Aoife O’Donovan. For their set, Naom and friends addressed as he put it ”...one of bluegrass’s favorite themes, Infidelity and Shootin’.” They also hit the progressive side of bluegrass and touched on each other’s solo work, and if that wasn’t enough, they made us laugh. So yes Mr. Pikelny, you did in fact “find a way to monetize” your friendship, but you also gave us a unique and excellent blend of old and new bluegrass.
Jerry Douglas
A lot has been said over the years about this truly great artist. He has more awards than one can count, has played with a large and diverse group of bands, been a set musician, played on movie soundtracks, won 13 grammys, and been featured on over 1600 albums.
Jerry Douglas’ performance was, at once, like picking the perfect wine to amplify and enhance a meal and at the same time like sipping your perfect drink to end the day. He plays with subtly when needed, out in front on solos, and never fails to find that pitch and tone that completely fills out the sonic quality of a piece. Jerry Douglas is truly one of the greats, and to quote festival co-founder
Phil Chorney, “Mr. Jerry Douglas, you are the man.”
The Charm City Folk and Bluegrass Festival was in its second year, and will be back in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. Local Councilman
Nick J. Mosby presented the founders
Phil Chorney and Jordan August with a City Council resolution thanking them for bringing the festival to the park, and pledging that it will be welcomed back every year. The entire midday crowd was on their feet to join Councilman Mosby in a chant of “Charm” “City” “Folk” “Bluegrass” with resounding applause. Baltimore’s long history as a hotbed for Bluegrass music was done a great honor in the creation of this festival. It started as an idea as the founders sat around a fire playing their favorite bluegrass tunes, became a sold out show in its first year and has evolved into a sought after event that will carry on for many years to come.
Comments
Post a Comment