Reporter's Notebook

The Kate Wolf fest was much more than just the 3 Girls and Buddy show. Great acts abounded, from always reliable Richard Thompson, Dave Alvin’s kicking cast of Guilty Women, a strong gospel contingent with Mavis Staples, Ruthie Foster and the Blind Boys of Alabama, plus classic old folkie Jack Elliott, jamband Railroad Earth, and lots more.

I spent only a day and a half at the festival, so I missed a lot, but here a few of my memorable moments.

• Over on the Arlo Hagler stage, when Alvin showed up for a songswap with Ramblin’ Jack and Chris Smither with Guilty Women dobro ace Cindy Cashdollar for accompaniment, emcee Bruce Hayden introduced the group as Cindy and her 3 brothers.

I've been reporting on festivals for a few years now, but up until this point, it's been as an audience member. Last Friday I got the opportunity to experience the 25th annual Chicago Blues Festival as both an attendee and a performer. I had the honor of playing a set with Fernando Jones and the Columbia College Blues Ensemble. The hour-long performance featured the current lineup of the ensemble (including myself), our instructor Fernando Jones, and past members of the band, which created a rotation of about twenty different musicians. It was a rush, to say the least.

Playing a festival was far different from any other gig, partially because it was light out and I could actually see the audience. This was beneficial because we were able to play off the audience, which gave both the band and the crowd lots of energy. 250+ people was not the largest audience I'd performed for, but certainly one of the most receptive. Fernando Jones has always been deeply rooted in the Chicago Blues scene, having been mentored by the late Willie Dixon, and his charisma (of which he has plenty) fueled the musical energy even more.

Fernando Jones (with white hat) performs his original number "Chicago" with past and present members of his ensemble

 

We exited my apartment in downtown Chicago last night and made our way toward the Barack Obama rally in Grant Park. As Hutchinson Field had long since reached its capacity, my friends and I went to the opposite end of the park, the better part of a mile from where Obama was to give his victory speech (the stage was set up where the main AT&T Stage was at Lollapalooza). After weaving our way through the rapidly expanding mass of Obama supporters (of which there were supposedly more than a million), we spent a few minutes joining the masses in cheering and jeering at the current poll numbers being broadcast on a Jumbotron.

Okay, last post. Here's a few short takes that didn't get in the rest of my coverage:

• I had a bumpy ride keeping track of my possessions, but the generous spirit of festival-goers saved me from any lasting damage. On Friday, as I left the park I realized I was without my iPhone, and couldn't imagine any way that I'd be able to recover it. Big bummer on the replacement cost, though I consoled myself that I'd now upgrade to the 3G version and that my data was backed up in iTunes. Well, by the time I got home there was a message from a friend that someone had found it, called him from my recent call list, and left word that it would be in lost and found tomorrow. Big relief.

One of the fun things at a big festival like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is unexpectedly running into friends and acquaintances. One such meeting for me was when I sat down on a corner of a half empty tarp at the Porch Stage while The John Jorgenson Quintet was playing, then looking over to see that among the three guys on the tarp was none other than Rushad Eggleston, the wild child and cello virtuoso formerly of Crooked Still.

Between songs, Rushad filled me in on his current status. He is living in Oakland CA and playing in a trio Tornado Rider, that is gigging around the Bay Area and hoping to tour on the festival circuit next year. They will also be at Magfest in Live Oak FL later this month.

The band features Rushad on standup cello and vocals, with his old buddy from Monterey CA Scott Manke on drums and Graham Terry on bass. Of his role as a lead singer, Rushad told me, "If Aoife (O'Donovon from Crooked Still) is a mockingbird, then I'm a panther, and a diseased one at that."

With the festival taking place just a month before the upcoming election, it was not surprising to hear nuggets of political commentary coming from the stage. And given the venue was in politically left San Francisco and that many rock and roots musicians also lean left, it was also not surprising that the overwhelming tilt was pro-Obama.

What may have been surprising was that the most fervent calls came not from outspoken American artists like Steve Earle but from the contingent of British artists on hand — most of whom cannot participate in the election themselves.

Elvis Costello bemoaned that "I only pay taxes to Wall Street, but don't get to vote." Then he mentioned having met California Gov. Arnold Schwartzenegger, telling him, "You can never be President but my boys can." The foreign-born Schwartzenegger is barred by the constitution from running for the highest office in the land, while Costello's three sons by his American wife Diana Krall are natural-born U.S. citizens.