Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on August 1, 2019.

Floydfest Voyage Home 2019 was a sold-out show that saw the best weather in recent memory.  The sun shone down on as many as 15,000 happy campers and music lovers, which included those who come back year-after-year and a new generation of first-time Floydfesters.  “I was too young to go to the early festivals and then we moved,” said Heather (Underwood) Schumann, a 2011 Floyd County High School graduate and first time Floydfester.

Schumann and her husband attended a guitar/drum box duo in the VIP tent where festival co-owners Kris Hodges and John McBroom entertained the crowd with music and stories.  When McBroom asked the crowd how many had been to every single Floydfest, hands went up, but they also went up when he asked who were first-timers.

McBroom gave kudos to Hodges as the co-founder and music producer. “He started working on next year about last month,” McBroom joked.  Hodges responded, “When you find something you love, you commit to it through thick and thin.” He humbly added, “I’m just a drummer.”

Floydfest is green in both its rural mountains landscape and in its environmental efforts, which includes recycling, composting and a bring-your-own container for on-site water filling policy.  First time Floydfester Abraham Telling said he was pleasantly surprised when he looked around and saw no trash lying around. He was also impressed when a sweatshirt he left overnight was returned to Lost and Found.   “I really liked Leftover Salmon,” said Telling, who tried to buy tickets in 2015 when Emmylou Harris was a headliner, but the day she was playing had sold out.

The five-day annual festival is known for its artful ambiance and thematic art installations.  This year, the main field was graced with a large decorated ship named for the late Rio Simione, a long-time Floydfest staffer.

The Voyage Home ship, built by Floyd woodworker Bill St. Pierre, was lit up at night and became a stage for aerial dancers and lighted hoopers. Artist Jaimie Phillips, who live painted a mural during the festival that featured Margo Price, created the mermaid on the ship.

Mermaids from the Fluidity Performance Troupe made festival appearances and posed with patrons for pictures.  Even the costumed Children’s Universe Peace Parade had a sea theme.

Musically, the festival hit its peak on Thursday and stayed on top all weekend.  Fresh off her Grammy wins, Brandi Carlile gave a rousing and engaging Thursday night performance, shouting out, “I’m coming home to the best vibes in the world!”   She introduced her song “The Story” (I Was Made for You), by saying, “This is how I feel about Floyd.” Her fans cheered and sang along with her. It was her fourth time on the mountain.

Phil Lesh and the Terrapin Family Band, which includes Lesh’s son, drew a massive crowd at Hill Holler Stage Thursday night.  Seeing an original Grateful Dead band mate play at Floydfest was a dream come true for fans who danced and sang along to favorites from the Grateful Dead songbook.

The following night Fantastic Negrito – Grammy winner of the best contemporary blues album in 2017 and 2019 – rocked the stage with a blues roots set.

2018’s On the Rise winner Magnolia Boulevard performed on the main stage.  The festival also featured local musicians, marked with the initials LL for “local love” in the program.

These included Jordan Harman, Blue Mule, Gote, Chupacabras, The Wildmans, Music Road Co and singer/songwriter Morgan Wade, whose career has taken off since last year’s Floydfest when she met Sadler Valden, the guitarist for 2018 headliner Jason Isbell.

Wade is currently working on a record with Valden in Nashville and is scheduled to tour with Lee Ann Womack as an opening acoustic act in the fall.

Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna fame played an electric set on the main stage and an acoustic folk/blues set at the Workshop Porch, where they took questions from the audience and teased them with a short White Rabbit riff.

At Tyler Childers’ Main Stage Friday night show, a group of young Floyd County High School fans happily sang along to all his songs. They said that they had waited for 5 hours to hear him, holding their front of stage spots.

Singer/songwriters Margo Price and Kacey Musgraves were the heavy hitters on Sunday. Both women play in the country music tradition with a contemporary flair.

Musgraves, a multi-Grammy winner, began her set asking the audience to turn to the person next to them and give a high-five. She opened with her hit Slow Burn, and the crowd went wild.  Lucas Nelson (Willie’s son) and Promise of the Real closed out the festival with a late evening performance.

With 8 stages, 100 music performances, a renowned Children’s Universe and a market row of food, libations and creative arts booths, there was something for everyone…

whether it was nighttime dancing at the silent disco tent, sudsing up at Dr. Bonner’s foam experience trailer, ziplining with Buffalo Mountain Zipline or posing with the ‘60s decorated “Virginia is for Lovers” Volkswagen Bug at the Visit Floyd booth.

“We had a blast,” said Heather Schumann on Sunday. “The music was fun, the atmosphere was amazing, and everyone was so friendly and made you feel like family. We will definitely be back next year!” – Colleen Redman

A few more photos: The War and Treaty, headed up by husband and wife team Michael (not pictured) and Tanya Trotter played a gospel-esque blues set to a sprawling crowd at Hill Holler stage.

The Hill Holler Crowd.

American Aquarium’s lead singer/songwriter gave an energetic rock performance and told stories in between songs.

Long-time Floydfest staffers Rick Lewis and Nancy Hadden enjoy Hot Tuna at the Workshop Porch. Haden’s 16 year old son Isaac (far right), who grew up going to the festival, is now a musician that plays at the festival.

The Bus Stop, pictured behind the Moonstomper mountain bike ramp, is a new addition to the festival.  It serves as an intimate space to host acoustic recording sessions by Floydfest musicians.

A lot of festival goers said they were looking forward to hearing The String Cheese Incident, a bluegrass/neo-psychedelia jam band.  The band didn’t disappoint.

A couple of festival-goers on a Woodsy Camping pathway check out a picture dedicated to Russ Helgren, a well-known Floydfest photographer and tie dyer.  Helgren, Dancin’ Dave Versch and Rio Semione were honored in a Memorium in the Floydfest program as part of the Floydfest family.

__________Check out my formal and informal posts on Floydfest since 2005 HERE. / Our World Tuesday