Northwest String Summit 2010

It was finally here!  Our big vacation that never really seemed real.  Then all of a sudden, there we are.  With our Kinfolk, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cars in line at the Northwest String Summit at Horning's Hideout in North Plains, OR.  We were in line about 7 hours early, and almost immediately, the laughter began.  

How many tubes of sunscreen does one person need?

Alison showed us how buff her recent river trip made her.

Our friends did a great job and found us a 3-tiered camping space with plenty of room for all of us, and some extra space for possible late comers.  After that, it didn't take long to find more of our favorite Kinfolk.

These ladies (and Tim) were ready for a fun weekend.

It's amazing how much green there was everywhere throughout Horning's.  I honestly don't remember seeing ANY green grass 2 weeks later for Cheese.

We had the pleasure of having Jen at our campsite to serenade us everyday.

After getting set up and relaxing for a while, we went to the bowl to watch Pete Kartsounes, but it pretty much turned into GiggleFest 2010.  I guess when all of us ladies get together there's just no stopping it.

I was taking pictures of the white peacock when all of a sudden the blue one came out of the bushes to my right.  It was like a pack of raptors hunting.  Giant birds freak me out.

We spent Friday morning lounging around the campsite, listening to Jen play guitar, and enjoying the lovely scenery and weather.  It was great for us all to be together again.  

We made it down to the stage just in time to see Pert Near Sandstone kick off the band competition... and WIN!!!

Next was the Republic of Strings, and it was Lauren Rioux's birthday.

After Darol Anger's Republic of Strings was Vince Herman and Great American Taxi.

Then... YONDER!  Waa-hoo!  

Claude made the last minute decision to come down from Washington and made it right before Yonder hit the stage.

This was a fun Yonder show.  There weren't many rarely played songs, but they were still good choices.  I love Danny Barnes and Darol Anger, but this show seemed like the 6 guys weren't totally connected yet.  There were many instances where nobody knew who was taking the next break... but, it was small hiccup in a great night, and most people didn't even notice.

The highlights for me were Little Rabbit, Years With Rose, My Gal, Snow on the Pines> Ewie, Caveman, Night is Left Behind, Whipping Post, Piece of Mind, and Sideshow Blues.

Yonder Mountain String Band

Northwest String Summit

July 16, 2010

Set I:  Too Late Now, Blue Collar Blues, Pockets, Little Rabbit, River, Jail Song, Things You're Selling, Crazy, Years With Rose, My Gal

Set II:  Snow on the Pines> Ewie With the Crooked Horn> Good Times, Cave Man, Sharecropper's Son, Night is Left Behind, Whipping Post, Casualty> Piece of Mind

Encore:  Sideshow Blues

You can buy the show here!

Saturday morning we all woke up to some lovely guitar and mandolin jamming from a couple dudes across the path.  When they started to leave, Dale offered them some bloody marys and the rest is history.  But, since you don't know the history, I'll tell you.  Patrick and Russ turned out to be totally cool dudes that rolled with the overbearing female domination of our campsite, jammed with us, and joked with us.  

Tim was completely glittered from all the other ladies at our site.  Emily and I do not partake in glitter.

Colin and I did a small Kinfolk meet n greet that afternoon.  We met some cool people, saw some Kinfolk friends, and talked to the Yonder boys a bit.  As we were leaving the backstage area, we ran into Danny, which is always a pleasant surprise.

We left the backstage area just to run up front for the Infamous Stringdusters.  These guys were fantastic!  I love how they all move about the stage, gathering around whoever is taking the lead.  

After the Stringdusters was Keller Williams and the Rythm Devils.  I love Keller, maybe not as much as I used to, but I didn't really enjoy this set all that much.  There were some fantastic moments, but it just didn't move me like I had hoped.

Right before Yonder hit the stage, someone passed out birthday hats for Adam's birthday.  When the band hit the stage, Todd and Julie brought out a cake.  What fun.

This was a much better show than Friday night.  Yonder, Danny, and Darol were all in sync and they all played their asses off.  Oh, and did I mention that they did a partial sheriff saga in the second set?  Well, they did.  And it was awesome.  At one point during the saga, I looked at Dale dancing with a big smile, "I don't think I've ever had this much fun in my entire life!"  It was a great moment; maybe none of us had ever had that much fun.

My highlights from this show were the end of Snow on the Pines, Elzic's Farewell, Honestly, Walking Shoes, Part 1> On the Run> Sometimes I've Won> Looking Back Over My Shoulder> On the Run, Robots> Riverside

Yonder Mountain String Band

Northwest String Summit

July 17, 2010

Set I:  Snow on the Pines (reprise), Boatman, Redbird, Elzic's Farewell, Honestly, Walking Shoes, New Speedway Boogie, Franklin's Tower

Set II:  Part 1> On the Run> Sometimes I've Won> Looking Back Over My Shoulder> On the Run, Don't You Lean on Me, Another Day, Ramblin in the Rambler> Up on the Hill Where They Do the Boogie> Robot Jam> Riverside> Ramblin 

You can buy the show here!

moe. played their special 20th anniversary show after Yonder's set.  Most of us went back to the blanket, but Colin stayed up front and took these great pictures.  Also, I heard Stephenie stayed up front and fell asleep with her head on the stage... just what I heard.

I usually get up pretty early at festivals... usually by 8 or 9 in the morning, and Sunday was no different.  A few of us were up and hanging out when all of a sudden, a convertible pulls up, parks, and blasts 80's dance music while the vehicle's occupants got out and danced.  Oh, and one of them was a baby werewolf.  

Just as fast as they arrived, they were gone, and our campsite musicians resumed their entertainment.

Jen, Russ, and Patrick sounded so good together, the entire surrounding area would all applaud at the end of every song.  

There was a lot of great vendor food.

Pert Near got to play again on Sunday since they won the band competition.  It was so great that they got that opportunity, because not only are they a great band, they're a great group of people.  

After Pert Near was Crooked Still.  They were terrific, but I was pretty tired and their soothing music made me REALLY tired.  But their banjo player had some sweet 80's rocker moves.

It was so nice dancing down front with these fine folks all weekend!

Danny Barnes and Friends played 2nd to last of the festival, and was one of the performances I was really looking forward to.  I think Danny is such an incredible musician and watching him have so much fun doing what he does is truly inspirational.

Scott usually found time to come visit us on the rail when he wasn't working.

Lilli Trippe is an adorable little girl that has had some pretty hard times.  If you're part of the Yonder community, you've probably been hearing about her for a while now.  It was lovely to see her having so much fun and looking so healthy.

There were a lot of kids at the Summit, and a lot of them liked to be in front.  Saturday night, we told them they couldn't be up there because it gets pretty wild and it's not really the right place for kids.  Sunday's Yonder set was during the afternoon, so we let the kids up front.  Both decisions made people mad... either we're being jerks for not letting the kids up front, or we're being jerks and letting kids cut in front of us.  Whatevs.

Sunday's Yonder show turned into a hodgepodge of musicians for a killer Kentucky Mandolin and No Expectations.  There were a lot of great songs, but my favorite part of the whole show was the encore.  The energy seemed to rise and everyone boogied for the last time of the weekend.  

My highlights from this show were Hill Country Girl, Rain Still Falls, Polly Put the Kettle on, Boots, Dawn's Early Light, Irondale, Damned if the Right One, Spanish Harlem Incident, Finally Saw the Light (Ben's dedication to Michael), Illinois Rain, Kentucky Mandolin, Yes She Do, Good Hearted Woman.

Yonder Mountain String Band

Northwest String Summit

July 18, 2010

Set I:  Hill Country Girl, Catch a Criminal, You're No Good, Rain Still Falls, Polly Put the Kettle on, Lilli Has a Daydream, Boots, 2 Hits and the Joint Turned Brown, Dawn's Early Light, Cuckoo's Nest

Set II:  Out of the Blue, Irondale, Damned if the Right One, Spanish Harlem Incident, Finally Saw the Light, Illinois Rain, Kentucky Mandolin, No Expectations

Encore:  Yes She Do (No She Don't), Good Hearted Woman

This was one of the greatest festivals ever.  I loved the single stage because I was able to see almost all of the music at the festival.  It never got too hot, and it was nice and cold at night, so I never got sick from the heat.  And it was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!  Colin, Emily, Dale, Alison, Jen, Lori, Tim, Jen M., Stephenie, Michael, Annie, Joe, Nilima, Greg, John, Jessica, Steve, Peter, Liz... and probably many more that I'm forgetting... you are all so much fun to share these beautiful memories with!  Let's do it over and over and over again!