Master Musician's Festival—Take 1

The lead vocalist and guitar player for Too Many Drummers had an interesting story to tell. He told of his family's adventure to sail around the world. He made clear that they had not done it all at once but over a period of eleven years. If you have ever paid attention to the accounts of people braving the open sea in a relatively small sailboat you cannot come away unimpressed with the bravery of these people. He told of being alone at night standing watch when everyone else was asleep and the darkness being so profound one could not see anything at all and how easy it was for despair to creep in. Then he told of watching the sun come up over the ocean and how the light played off the water and how it brought an overwhelming sense of ….....hope.

I expected a band with this name to be all about drums but I was surprised to find that is not the case. This name is derived from an experience with the world from which messages come at a person from all sides and angles, just as if instead of following one's own drummer there are a multitude of drummers vying for your attention and how difficult it is to hear your own drummer. Hence the name “Too Many Drummers.”

The credits for this band listed the Icthus Festival as well as some other Christian formats and I asked Dave Abbott if they were a Christian band. He hesitated for a moment and replied “we are Christians who play music.” A distinction since their music is not overtly religious but does carry a message that there is more here than just the beat and words that rhyme. In his words they try to do music that has some depth. He understood that might sound pretentious but I assured him I understood his meaning. Bands are so much more enjoyable when you know where they are coming from.

Knowing where they come from was no problem concerning Tommy Minton and Kelly Caldwell. I am not as familiar with Ms. Caldwell but I have known Tommy since he was about 12 years of age. I was present when he first began showing up at gatherings and pickings. Not a few of us were amazed at his ability then and are no less amazed now. I can recall attending bluegrass festivals and listening to Tommy hold his own around a campfire with headline performers. His progression through the banjo, mandolin and guitar was meteoric and it was his need for a good guitar that was the inspiration for the first Master Musician's Festival. It was this connection that was honored this year by presenting Tommy with the 20^th anniversary Master Musician's Award. It was justly so. His collaboration with Kelly Caldwell not only contributes harmonies and accompaniment but also is the impetus for expanding horizons. A couple of covers of Civil Wars tunes was spot on and illuminated some of the directions that Bluegrass music and it's cousin, Americana music, are taking. The harmonies perfected by the Civil Wars were more than adequately expressed by Tommy and Kelly. Tommy played all four instruments and near the end of his set returned to an old standby bluegrass gospel rendition of “I'm Working on a Building.” Personally, I don't think this set was topped by any other act there and I'm ecstatic I made the effort to be present for the noon kickoff on Saturday.

I was looking forward to seeing and listening to The Dirty Grindstones this year following Brandon Roush's foray into the national spotlight with his appearance on The Voice. I thought he did a better job than he was given credit for on the show but I told Juanita then that I had heard him do better on our local stage. Saturday he showed us he could do better and the band showed us why. Austin Roush on lead guitar is simply an impresario of rock. His antics are reminiscent of Angus Young and his vocal harmonies fill out the cavities. The entire band carried on for a solid hour and a half of whirling dervish rock and roll in stifling heat. I recall when I first saw this band a few years ago they were playing under a different name and I accused them of raiding their grandparents rock and roll library for their influences. Influences such as Joe Cocker, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC are apparent and their skill and confidence on stage has only grown. They certainly have the chops to hit the big time but luck plays a big part in that. The wealth of talent available to see greatly exceeds the time allotted for the most commercially successful acts.

Gabrielle Mattingly (now Gray) deserves our thanks for her vision and those who have contributed time, effort and sweat over the past two decades are to be appreciated also. This festival is perhaps the premier event that takes place in our locality. While it could not have prospered without help from governmental and private agencies it is the dedication of hundreds of people that have made it possible. Of late, Tiffany Bourne, current board President has done a splendid job shepherding the resources necessary to expand the attendance and influence of this festival. This year the presence of Willie Nelson on the playbill increased the attendance to a record 6000 or so for both nights. The current venue could possible hold a few more but it is near capacity. This year marked the first year for legal alcohol sales and it went over almost without a hitch. Not bad for a first year. I was watching for evidence of excessive consumption and judged this crowd to be better behaved than many I have seen.

This year was also the first year that the festival received a lot of promotional coverage in the newspapers. The Commonwealth-Journal did a pretty good job with coverage and the Lexington Herald-Leader also kicked in with a good writeup. It is this kind of thing that I have been saying will promote our area to people who are not aware of its charms and will contribute to the financial opportunities available.

Kudos to all those who make this festival possible. Successful events in our area have been few with the Somernights Cruise being the other example. I am looking forward to bigger and better things in the future. I plan to follow up with some comments on other performers since it was a pretty strong lineup top to bottom.

My take? Rock on!