It’s all about the music, damn it…

I have been trying to figure out how many hours a day I listen to music… I think it’s close to 8 hours a day… more when driving. I drive a lot.

Last weekend I spent the weekend at Hardly Strictly Blue Grass… 12 or so hours on Saturday and again on Sunday… I was a volunteer… at least part of the time, at a free music festival… if you volunteer you get in free… Oh, that doesn’t work… but I got a tee-shirt (a good tee shirt) and a special key ring… and they fed me both days… and I had a good time, and gave back… if Warren Hellman can pay for the damn thing the least I can do is help point bikes towards the official places to park… I did my job well (at least I tell myself I did). Thank You Warren… really… Warren pays the bills that make this happen…

The Music was incredible… 6 stages… 87 acts… too many to see... too many to sample… I had friends there, close to where I was but we never saw each other… such is the reality when you are watching music with 300,000 of your closest friends…

I went mostly bluegrass… and song writers… Guy Clark… you can’t go wrong with Guy Clark… ever… I saw the Indigo Girls, Richard Thompson (electric with a band, really good, but I like him acoustic solo better… ) Earl Scrugs, Doc Watson, Del McCoury Band… and Emmy Lou Harris… my blessed Emmy Lou…

Around the edges… I saw http://www.marchfourthmarchingband.com/… really unexpected… really fun. See them if you can. They are Sergeant Peppers, with Yellow Submarine, crossed with a circus, on steroids. I enjoyed them.

The voluneer lunches included apples… both days… It was a bit of a “way back” moment… to early Fillmore concerts and the free apples… it weirdly made sense… too much of the whole event made sense… a free concert… street people, families, kids, dogs, young, old, heads, the chardonnay crowd… all together in a park, good music, sharing food, drink, smoke and space…

I am not a smoker… but if I wanted it, it was there, and free… Everything was about sharing…

Thank you Warren. Thank you Warren… You have created this most San Francisco of events.

T and I have more music coming up…

This weekend I will try to steal away and see Houston Jones at a free Nile Concert… They are my favorite band… stealing away will be difficult… but maybe… We will see.

Then, for sure, a concert at FAR-WEST, a folk music, singer song writer conference… with a concert, not well publicized… on a Thursday evening… Houston Jones, Blame Sally are the head liners… but there are others… Stevie Coyle… (Stevie sent me the link for tickets…) among others… its cheap… its under the radar… we are looking forward to it… Friends have recommended Blame Sally as a really incredible show…

In a couple of Sundays, there is the Bridge School Concert… Neil Young’s party to support a school for profoundly disabled kids… good cause… even better music… and they never forget why… the kids are there… they are part of the event… but the music is good…

On Sunday the 24^th when we are going the line up is; Buffalo Springfield (a reunion, with Neil!) Pearl Jam T-Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue featuring Elton John (Elton John!?) & Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, (I did see Elvis C at Hardly Strictly) Ralph Stanley, Neko Case and Jeff Bridges, Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson (We saw them earlier this summer in Saratoga) Modest Mouse and Grizzly Bear… Lots of music, some familiar, some not.. all expected to be good, some probably surprising.

The downside is we miss a house concert at Acoustic Tune-ups at Joe’s Garage… John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band…

In any event, I expect to enjoy the events…

The pot luck at Acoustic Tune-ups at Joe’s Garage will be really good… I will miss that pot luck…

But I will enjoy the music… all the music…