Loose Leaf Notes

Floydfest is our town’s four-day music festival, headed-up by Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson, the original owners of Oddfellas Cantina in Floyd. Held every summer on 80 acres of land off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Patrick Floyd County, the festival is attended by 10,000 or more and is going strong in its seventh year.

 
I hardly ever seem to be in the right place at the right time for music at FloydFest, no matter how many times I pour over the program and circle the acts I want to see. This year I saw two performances all the way through. Other than that, I caught a sampling of the talent and tapped my feet to some tunes from afar.

 
I came late to the “herd” (the word for Donna the Buffalo fans). I’ve liked this band since I first heard them several years ago, but after listening and watching (and dancing!) from the main stage Thursday night at FloydFest; I’m a real convert now. They have two front men, one of which is a woman, and neither of which is named Donna. The story goes that they had to come up with a band name for one of their first gigs in Ithaca, New York, near where they’re from. Someone suggested “Dawn and the Buffalo” but someone else heard “Donna the Buffalo,” and the second name stuck.

 
As far as I’m concerned, this is a band that could go the big-time route of Dave Matthews. But they aren’t a Virginia band, I just think of them that way because they are a FloydFest favorite that comes back to the festival every year. Singer songwriter Tara Nevins plays acoustic guitar, fiddle, accordion, and the washboard. She’s a consummate musician with a classic, mellow voice that you swear is already famous. On the band’s webpage Tara says that the music they play is Americana that draws on many traditions, including Zydeco. But this Indie group from New York isn’t a Zydeco band. In fact, in one song I heard a Beatle-esque riff. Others had riffs reminiscent of Mustang Sally and Grateful Dead, and I can’t decide if guitarist and lead singer Jeff Puryear sounds like Bob Dylan or Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler. He writes sweet songs with progressive and light-hearted lyrics, right up there with those guys.

 
I first heard Amos Lee watching a telecast of his performance on Austin City Limits. My husband has been listening to him for much longer than that, after a friend turned him on to an Amos Lee CD. Lee reminded me of Boz Scaggs with Cat Stevens’ voice. I love to watch the expressions on guitarists’ faces when they let their instruments speak for them, and this a soulful original from Philadelphia didn’t disappoint on that count.

 
I’m a new fan of The Avett Brothers. My Asheville potter son described this North Carolina band as “Punk Inspired EMO Indie Grass.” Their performance was passionate, fun, edgy, and tight; but it was the unpredictable and refreshing poetry they shouted that really got my attention. They sang… I’m a little nervous ’bout what you’ll think … When you see me in my swimming trunks … and … Because we had to … Because I loved you … Because the damned alcohol … Because what ever at all …

 
I wandered into the beer garden and caught the acoustic duo part of the company called William Walter & Co. playing on the Pink Floyd Stage. I discovered this band at FloydFest a couple years ago and found them to be a good combination of danceable and listenable rock with some entertaining storytelling thrown in. When I arrived, twelve year old named Luke was onstage with the band. His two brothers, mother and father, FloydFest volunteers from North Carolina, were looking on in amazement. “How did he line that up? I asked his dad, Bill. Bill explained that last year when Luke was only eleven, he asked the band if he could jam with them. They let him onstage and it worked out so well that he was invited back for a number this year.

 
William Walter is from Virginia, but I always imagine them to be West Coast, maybe because the lead singer wears his hair rumpled and his jeans slung down low. I haven’t figured out if the band’s named after him or anyone else in the group. Their website says only: The legendary Tucker Rogers on lead guitar is a tonal master with tasteful chops that blend in and out of any musical tapestry with style and personality.

 
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band might have been the one act that commanded the most audience participation. The Dance Tent was a rocking and the audience was hooting and hollering and waving their arms when Reverend Peyton was in the house. I hung behind, not quite ready to commit that much energy on the last day of the festival. I found myself watching my friends Lora and Kurt dance at the outskirts of the tent, as if they were spending energy for me. The rousing conclusion of Reverend Peyton’s show about blew my sun hat off.

 
With eighty bands on seven stages playing non-stop music for four days, I realize that my coverage of the music scene is on the slim side. It’s because FloydFest is like “Old Home Week” to many of us Floydians. So, I spent a lot of time reuniting with friends, taking pictures, eating good food, enjoying the colorful upbeat scene, and being damn impressed with those compostable plastic cups that I drank a few cool brews from. ~ Colleen Redman

 
Post Notes: I wrote about Laura Reed and Deep Pocket, who also played Floydfest, when they played at the Sun Music Hall in Floyd. See HERE. Read more about FloydFest HERE. See a video of Donna the Buffalo playing at FloydFest HERE. Avett Brothers HERE. The photos above are: 1. Donna the Buffalo. 2. Amos Lee. 3. Avett Brothers play Hill Holler Stage. 4. William Walter on the Pink Floyd Stage playing to lots of people wearing pink. 5. Kurt and Lora dancing to Reverend Peyton.