Ol' Man River's Second Day at Del Fest

Authored by: 
Published on: May 29th, 2016

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Del McCoury Band Del Fest 2016

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Jerry Douglas & the Earls of Leicester

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Del McCoury Band

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Tedeschi Trucks Band

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Crowd shot

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Joe Craven

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Sierra Hull

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Pert Near Sandstone

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Frank Solivan

Friday May 27th was the second day of Del Fest 2016. It was an incredible festival day filled with some amazing music and a few weather surprises. My day started off at 10:45am with a wake up set from Grand Ole' Ditch at the intimate Music Hall Stage. There are three stages at Del Fest. The main stage is the Grandstand Stage. The second outdoor stage is the Potomac Stage because the Potomac River flows right through the festival. The third stage is the small indoor Music Hall where I began my day today. 

Next up was Joe Craven & The Sometimes on the Grandstand Stage. Joe is the emcee on the grandstand stage for the entire weekend, and a troubadour and entertainer in his own right. He did not disappoint. I then caught Lil Smokies in the Music Hall, winners of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's band competition in 2015. This is when the rain, thunder and lighting showed up. I was stuck in my tent for the next couple of hours waiting out the downpour. 

Finally, the skies cleared and I made it to the main stage for one of my personal highlights of the festival, Jerry Douglas Presents the Earls of Leicester (pronounced Lester), a tribute to Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt. The entire set consisted of Flatt and Scruggs music. Their second CD is coming out this summer. 

Next up was an act that came highly recommended by students of the Academy, mandolin player and Rounder Records recording artist Sierra Hull. She was an instructor at the Academy this year, and had a strong following of fans. Her most recent album was produced by Bela Fleck. She put on a highly energetic set.

It seemed to be Mandy Friday as there were no shortage of mandolin players today! Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen from the DC area played next. Frank had a leg injury that restricted his sitting but it did not appear to have any affect on his mandolin playing.  Another pleasant discovery for this boy.  

Now it was time for one of the highlights of the festival, a Grandstand performance by the Del McCoury Band. This is their family festival so their sets are highly anticipated by many attendees. It was an amazing show, closing out with two of my favorite tunes performed by Del. First was the Del original "Let a Racehorse Run," and second was the Richard Thompson song, "52 Vincent Lightning." Both are crowd favorites but not played regularly. 

This would have been enough music for anyone on the second day of the festival, but the day was far from over. The Tedeschi Trucks Band followed up with an electrifying set of slide and blues work that ended shortly after midnight. 

The night was still not over, however, as the late night show featured Yonder Mountain String Band and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. This show would go past 3:30am. But for me the late nights are all about strolling the campground and listening to the music flowing through the air from all the amazing small picking circles. A very enjoyable second day of Del Fest 2016!

Comments

Thanks for the blog post. Keep us posted on your travels. Wish I was on a road trip!
See you when you return,
Jennifer

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