Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 15, Y'All

 

 The year Willie came and played

And it ain't never been the same since

It was a toss-up right up until I had a shower 

whether I would make the trek this year,

Somewhat sore today but happy that I went 

1.

Traveling, hopefully

 From the window of a MUNI train

San Fancisco park that always reminds me 

of the photo Robert Frank took here,

A negro couple lying in the grass

 That's long long ago

The Western Addition had a darker complection

 Kid's playground

Distinctive houses abound around here

 Lovely St Anne's Catholic Church

Like Wedgewood porcelain,

Like to attend Mass here someday

 2.

Olden Golden Gate Park

The beauty of Golden Gate park,
Here by one in the afternoon,

I come in from the West 

The serenity of few people

 Never passed by on quite this path before

But I know I'm heading the right way

 So I landed at the extreme Western end of the Festival

where I was to spend the next three hours

Listening to music and having a picnic,

First act was audio only: Nick Lowe on the re-named Swan stage

Poi Dog Pondering opened our stage,

The Towers of Gelt, with a rousing VU/Feelies-esque tune,

Lots of dancing, I don't watch the stage I watch the poeple,

Many were dancing, kids were playing,

Then the phenomenal Charles Bradley played on the unseen Swan stage,

He is a classic soul man like James Brown or Otis Redding,

And really has the stuff, I watched a little of his act

streaming on someone's smart phone,

Next on our stage the equally soulful and rocking Delbert McClinton,

I heard Jerry Lee Lewis, Rolling Stones and Van Morrison echoes,

while Delbert's act was still all his own

and his band was superfine

Been in one place long enough, time for me to migrate

People turn up everywhere, in every nook and cranny

Dwarfed by the scale of gargantuan Golden Gate park

3.

Making The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Scene

I alighted on a ridge above the crowd facing the Swan stage,

 I could hear perfectly unseen Neko Case and her and perform,

There a fittingly haunted quality to her unique voice

As was apparent, young multitudes were enthralled,

I was sitting on a huge fallen tree trunk

And just as I looked over I caught what has become a familiar sight here,

Suddenly a girl's startlingly white bum comes into view

And, as is commonplace among the boys,

She starts sprinkling in the leaves

This is the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass museum tent

It even has a tiny outdoor stage to go with it,

 The Bandwagon stage

Inside, there's old Warren banjo and sequin denim jacket

Photos of him with Queen of Country Emmy Lou Harris

Posters signed by everyone and his brother 

This is from HSB 2, my first date

 

 Not really a fan of signed posters, myself

Looks better in the screened on cloth version up top,

I don't find Willie Nelson's signature

 4. 

Arrow Stage

 Sound man mixing Asleep at the Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel

When they play that "Hot Rod Lincoln"

It's sure a thing of beauty

Dual fiddles will get you spinning like a spinning top

That Mexican security guard should audition for Tarentino

The Western Swing band of note

Smiles  for everyone, I guarantee

5.

The Banjo Stage

Feeling alright at the closing of the day

Mr Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 15

A hillbilly dandy proudly shows his laser-etched graphics

I told him the pointing finger looked like a penis,

He laughed when I said foreshortening was hard

We joked it around to "foreskin shortening"

I note that his signs are attributed to DandyLion Design

I got a hunch he's Dandy Lion,

Dig the tattoo on his leg

Time for Emmy Lou and Rodney Crowell and band

Low-key but lovely with many of their fine duo songs,

Lots of her great favorites and a few new songs

Our collective Sweetheart

Holy Smoke

To close out the Festival stalwarts join Emmy Lou on stage:

Buddy Miller, Emmy Lou, Steve Earle,
 Dave Rawlings, and Gilliam Welch

A lovely country gospel flavored sing along

Sending us home in a sweet chariot

A last fab with the billionaire's widow and daughter

Who keep the wagon rolling

As Warren looks down from the scrim 

and maybe from the sky

 

Another HSB memory, my fourteenth

Happy Trails to you

Until we meet again

4 October 2015