Wintergrass..

[Spruce]

Wes Brandt, who had some really cool instruments on display.....



Some of Wes's instruments.
'Dola in the white:





Electric 'Dola prototype:

[Spruce]

A Schenk "Little Ruthie" mando:

[DSDarr]

As others have said, Wintergrass was a blast again this year. Too much going on to take it all in though. Here are a few moments:

David

[SternART]

Looks like David was hangin' near the Swing / Jazz cats......wish I could have been there!

[mandopete]

Wow, great photo's Bruce! I forgot my camera this year, but I seldom take any pictures so no big loss there. Never got the mando/whiskey tasting thing togther - there's just too much going on, huh.

Since this is Mandolin Cafe I'll limit my gushing to the mando topics. Really just two words from me here - Joe Walsh! What an amazing mandolin player. He performed with The Gibson Brothers and each mando break was a study in dynamics and musicianship. He really knows how to end a break and got some serious love from the audience each time. He also performed with Darol Anger's Republic of Strings so you know that takes some major chops too.

I picked up his recording called Sweet Loam and if you like great music you're gonna want to give this a listen.


....well, I bought six sets of EXP-75's so there's really no excuse now.

[gda(v)e]

I'll second Mandopete's comments about Joe Walsh. He was new to me and I was blown away by his rhythm playing. It kind of reminded me of John Doyle. Was that a Gilchrist A he was playing?

[chip]

It was a Gilchrist. I was helping out in the Wintergrass store when he stopped by with his CD's. I had my Gil with me and he came him and played it briefly before going on stage. Nice guy and great mandolinist. I also picked up his CD. He also sings although I didn't see him vocalizing with the Gibson Bros. Saw the Gibsons twice, Boxcars three times, Dale Ann twice, wow...what a great weekend!

[mandopete]

Yes, it was a Gilchrist. I think it's somewhat new to him. He is playing a Lloyd Laplant on the recording.

And yes his singing is really nice too. Check out Mole In The Ground. I really like the version of Early, a Greg Brown song, where he is joined by The Gibson Bros.

[Phil Jolly]

It was my first time at Wintergrass this year and I can't believe how awesome the jamming was. I hardly made it to any shows because I couldn't pry myself away from the jam circles. I'm already looking to book my ticket for next year. Saw lots of great mandolins. Such a great time.

[Nolan]

This was probably my favorite Wintergrass to date.. as one person said, "It's the Rolls Royce of Bluegrass festivals"

I got to play the lastest Hester mandolin and it is Killer! I was just browsing around on youtube and found this video of Adam Steffey playing it at Greg Boyds booth. It's at about the 30 second mark.
You can see Banjoboy and Gail too....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWuLiq3JKtE

[Tonear]

Nice break at 2:00 by the younger of the mando players. Anyone know this guy and what kind of instrument? It really cuts through the wall of sound.

[Phil Jolly]

Tonear,

Thanks for the compliment. That's me you are referring to, and that's my Weber Elite.

It was kind of cool to find our jam on YouTube.

[Rob Fowler]

That other mando player looks like Mike Manetas who plays locally here in Humboldt County with The Compost Mountain Boys. Cool video and yes, your Weber Elite really cut through the mix ksig, though it might have helped since you were standing? Either way sounded great!

[mandopete]

A couple of other folks in the video are Fairley Sparks on dobro, John Melnichuk on fiddle and Alan Walton on banjo. Fairley is a bit of a local legend and recently performs with a band called Lonesome Ridge. John is a wonderful fiddler and part of many great NW bluegrass bands. Alan used to be a programmer at KBCS when I started there many years ago and also writes for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine.

A pretty good jam to be in if I say so myself (and I do).

[djweiss]

Rob, that's definitely Spumoni playing the mando...

[AlanN]

Yeah, I second ksig break on Liza Jane, nice playing and tone. And the tune wasn't picked too fast, more of a lope.

[mandopete]

Yeah, Spumoni, I couldn't remember his name. I knew it was something odd.

[Buddah]

Yep, pretty much awesome all the way around. Anybody else sort've perplexed by the Blind Boys of AB at Wintergrass...?

[Buddah]

I should add that the Blind Boys are super talented, and put on a really great show. They're music just seemed a bit out-of-place at what is (ostensibly) a bluegrass festival, no? I'm all about the organizers stretching the boundaries of what we (the patrons) expect to hear at a "bluegrass" event, and Wintergrass in particular has done a great job of exposing me to genres of music that might otherwise have evaded my radar (the Choro stylings of Mike and Hamilton, solo Classical stuff by Mike M., etc.).
Not trying (at all) to be out-of-line here, just wondering...

[Phil Jolly]

Thanks mandopete, I know Fairley from here in Utah but I couldn't remember the names of the other folks. They were a great group to jam with - all great players and singers.

[Nolan]

This was probably my favorite Wintergrass to date.. as one person said, "It's the Rolls Royce of Bluegrass festivals"

I got to play the lastest Hester mandolin and it is Killer! I was just browsing around on youtube and found this video of Adam Steffey playing it at Greg Boyds booth. It's at about the 30 second mark.
You can see Banjoboy and Gail too....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWuLiq3JKtE

Oops... that was a Hester mandola. I showed up a few minutes after that and he was playing the latest Hester mandolin.

[mandopete]

Yeah, I didn't dig the Blind Boys of Alabama either. It was like some sort of wierd Las Vegas act or something. Really seemed out place from a performance perspective. Wintergrass is always a wide spectrum of music, but it's focus seems to be more on acoustic stuff and this group clearly was not anything in that ball park.

[Buddah]

wierd Las Vegas act

That's a really good way of describing them mandopete. Great musicians for sure, and they appeared to be nice, down-to-earth folks as well (saw them hob-nobbing with festivarians in the hotel). But their set was a tad on the glitzy end of the spectrum...maybe they should've brought in John Cowan to play bass/lend a bit of subtlety to their act!

[chip]

Well...Wintergrass isn't just "Bluegrass". Patrice and all seem to expand the perimeters so more people will be exposed to various genre's. It must have worked as Saturday night was completely sold out hours before showtime. This act brought people into the Hyatt that probably wouldn't have attended if the Blind Boys hadn't been included. A smart marketing move if you ask me. After talking with many that saw the act, they said they were blown away by the end of the show. They had people dancing in the aisles and their version of Amazing Grace brought the house down...

[Buddah]

Hey Chip,

Not trying to offend anybody here, and if you dug the show then that's all that counts. I thought that my post(s) made clear that I'm a real fan of the good folks at Wintergrass for introducing "non-traditional" music into the rotation, and I'm certainly not denying that the Blind Boys are fantastic musicians. I am suggesting that their style of music may have been just a tad beyond even the most liberal definition of what one might reasonably expect to see/hear at a music festival with "grass" in the name! Again, this isn't to say that if it ain't bluegrass, it's crap...
Let's put it this way: If you liked the Blind Boys of Alabama at Wintergrass, then you'll love Neil Diamond at Merlefest!

P.S. That is a seriously cute dog you've got!