Floydfest 5  Roots Alive
By: Russ Helgren 

  

Blue Ridge Mountains served as the beautiful backdrop for Floyd County Virginia’s fifth annual music, crafts and fun festival this past July 27-30. This festival has traditionally been called a world music festival because of the wide variety of performers that have graced it’s seven stages. Bands from Sweden, several African countries, South and Central America and from all over the United States have played at Floydfest.

This year’s event was called Roots Alive, with a heavy emphasis on roots music being the theme. Lots of bluegrass, newgrass, country, sacred steel, gospel, as well as reggae and afro beat filled the mountain air for four gorgeous days. The weather cooperated completely. Sunny 80 degree days and cool 60 degree nights made camping out a pure pleasure.

There were clearly too many highlights to name them all, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the one constant highlight that has made every Floydfest a big hit. The Vibe. These folks absolutely create a bit of heaven right here in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mtns. The people are so friendly, the place is so clean and the surroundings are so majestic that you can’t help but have a great time. I don’t care who’s playing on what stage each year, I know I will have a fantastic time because the music is always good and the vibe is always pure.

The festival opened on Thursday evening this year with another outstanding performance by Railroad Earth. A band that never disappoints. Great musicianship and always an upbeat message. Rumor has it that they will be playing at The Jewish Mother in the near future. Don’t miss them. Friday through Sunday was filled with an array of regional music (several bands from Charlottesville) and several national and/or international acts. Devon Sproule (whom I first saw at The Jew Mo when she was 16 and promoting her first album in 1999) and American Dumpster were two of my favorites from Charlottesville. Devon has clearly come a long way. She was always a fine songwriter, but her guitar playing and singing have matured noticeably. American Dumpster was a sonic bids winner and deservedly so. They put on a terrific show on Saturday afternoon. Saturday also featured Donna The Buffalo, (a Floydfest regular)The Avett Brothers, Akoya Afrobeat, Adrienne Young, Toubab Krewe and Los Lobos to name just a few. I loved them all with the notable exception of Los Lobos. The supposed headliner just didn’t seem to fit. They didn’t look like they were having fun. They were the only folks, including performers, vendors, volunteers and festival goers, who didn’t look they were having fun.

Friday’s highlight was the Cyro Baptista and Beat the Donkey show. And I do mean Show! Part rhythm extravaganza, part rock and roll and part circus performance, this seven piece ensemble had the joint jumpin’. Garaj Mahal and Gabby La La were two other Friday notables.

Sunday, another gorgeous day, featured old bluesy folkie David Bromberg with two separate performances. First on the intimate workshop porch, and secondly, the show closing performance on the main stage, where he did a rousing rendition of “Sharon”. Earlier in the day Iris Dement had the crowd’s rapt attention with her offbeat humor and unique song writing all delivered with her down home singing style. Both the Campbell Brothers and The Lee Boys rocked the Dance Tent. Foot stompin’, hand clappin’, hootin’ and a hollerin’ good times. In fact, the dance tent was my favorite of the seven venues. Not because I like to dance, but because the vibe was just electric at that place. They’re gonna have to bring a bigger tent next year because there were overflow crowds day after day at the dance tent. Which brings me to my personal favorite show of the weekend. On Saturday afternoon members of Donna the Buffalo joined Balfa Toujours for a non stop rockin’ Zydeco performance that I wished would never end. But alas, it had to end. But there was more to come, and there will be more to come next year at Floydfest 6. 

Peace, Russ Helgren

Visit Russ Helgren’s website at www.russhelgren.com

The

Camp Barefoot
Music Festival Review

Check out Festival pics...  
I.   Information: www.HeyBroProductions.com
            A. Bands

 Barefoot Manner, Cosmic Charlie, Moonshine Still, The Breakfast, DJ Williams Projekt,  Modern Groove Syndicate, Midnight Spaghetti & Chocolate Gstrings, Calf Mountain Jam, Sun Dried Opossum, Mclaws Drive, The Burnin Smyrnans, The Grove, Existor, Natural Born easy, Iron Grass, Trio, Groove Nation, South side squad, Jazzam, U-melt, DJ Le Spam & the Spam Allstars, One eyed Jack

 For Band info: http://www.heybroproductions.com/cbbands.html

            B. Location (and what kind of place like a Field, Stadium, Park, club)

The Festival was in Gore Va. (just west of Winchester or really close to WV)  The site was a campground called the Cove.

            C. Price, Date of Event, and Time the event lasts

you pay: $36 (event fee)+$35(festival ticket)= $71    (july 27th-29^th,   06)

D. Styles of music and types of bands:  Mostly Jam, Blue Grass, Reggae, Rock, Jazz, and Soul

II.   Experience:

            A. How was the Experience and how was the Environment ? (Good vibes, good weather, scary naked people everywhere, beware the purple nomes,…..)

            The Environment was great.   The Festival was located on a huge campsite that featured beautiful mountain views and hiking trials, a nice lake with a sandy beach to cool off in, and large enough accommodations to feature several different campsites.   This was key in order to not disturb the other campers in search of a quieter camping excursion.    The hidden and farout campgrounds allowed the attendants to act as crazy as they wanted to, be as loud as they pleased, and kept the local law enforcement away.  

            One great thing about the Festival was that law enforcement wasn’t needed.   Everyone was in good vibes.   No fights, no overdoses, and the best tell-tell sign of this was that the Hey Bro crew, who put the event on seemed in good spirits.  Water, food, and whatever anybody else was craving seemed plentiful, restrooms were easily accessible whether Mother Nature or a portapottie, and the lake at the bottom of the mountain served as a great place to cool off or rinse off.   But most importantly, the music seemed to fit the environment and the concert attendants to a Tee.  

            The weekend was full of Jam/Blue Grass/Soul/Rock/Reggae acts.   The festival featured two stages right next to each other.   One was a main stage which featured most of the large acts and was probably a four foot high stage with a thirty foot high back drop and scaffolding which had sweet light setup with a white background for the projector display.   Next to that was the second stage which featured chilled acoustic acts in-between setup and break down on the main stage.   It was really a pretty sweet setup.   Although we couldn’t see all the music it seemed that all of our neighbors were pretty content with the groups they heard.   Judging by the word around the water cooler, acts like The Breakfast, Barefoot Manner, DJ Williams Projekt, and Some crazy late night Spaghetti band were crowd favorites.   For me I’d have to say my favorite was the Unique sound of the DJ Williams Projekt.   The Soulful voice, funky riffs, rhythm driven grooves, and playful stage presence made this band stick out..   You can tell without a doubt this Richmond band has got potential.   But they weren’t the only band loaded with potential.   The band Bare Foot Manner seemed to be a crowd favorite playing two nights in a row and pulling out the fullest crowds each night.   Their Blue Grass/Jam Rock style was not only uniquely original, but also featured well written songs with well planned and performed changes.   I personally was most struckin by the sweet banjo playing, but I have to say that the band new how to warp a song and flow together as a team.   They will probably be one of the new bands whose album finds its way in my CD collection.  

            For my wife and I the Festival was a success.    The music was great with super creative and talented Virginian and national acts.   The event was run well thanks to the HeyBro crew and their Volunteers hard work, planning, and golf cart patrol.   And the location was perfect.   Not only did we spend our time checking out great music, but my wife and I spent our mornings hiking and swimming and really just making a great retreat out of the weekend.   And more important than any written review about how great the event was is the simple statement that we will be back again next year.  

Peace

AJ Bubba Johnson

III.   Practicalities:

            A. Bring Your Own Beer ?, BYOWater ?, BYOFood?

                        (always bring toilet paper)

            Definitely bring a good amount of water and prepare to grill out your own food.  You pretty much want to be self sufficient.   Also, bring a bathing suit; the lake is the bomb when you don’t have a shower.  

            B. How far is the closest convenient store? 

            The Closest convenient store is probably about a 30 to 45 minute round trip from the camp.   And not to worry, you’ll see it on your way in.

            C. What would you bring if you did it again next year?

                        (Tent, ponchos, More Beer, numb-chucks,….)

We’ll probably do it again next year, and we will probably bring the same stuff.   Tent, Sleeping bags, a propane grill, meat, beer, water, bug spray, sax, camera, flip flops, tennis shoes, lighter, and so on.    Although next year I think I’d bring a bigger car to fit everything.   Just make sure you plan to do some hiking, cause there are some great trails around their.  

IV.   Over all Festival Rating: (1-10)

-AJ Bubba rates this Festival as an 8.  

Great music, great location, and great vibes  

The Festival was just small enough to make you feel like you were witnessing something special in such a beautiful location.  

            1 = Did someone just poop in my ears?

            10 = my search for happiness is now full circle!