Happy festival season to all! Last summer I had the opportunity to attend a number of festivals outside of New Orleans and shared those experiences here. I hope to do the same this summer and am happy to announce that next week I will be attending my second DelFest. DelFest is a family oriented bluegrass music festival hosted by Del McCoury and his family over Memorial Day weekend, celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year. Del has had a distinguished career in bluegrass music including playing with Bill Monroe. Some of you may have caught The Traveling McCoury’s on the Fais Do Do stage at this years NOJ&HF, which is basically Del’s band led by his two sons, without Del.
During the week prior to DelFest a music academy is held. Musicians of all ages and ability levels come to learn technique from many of the festival performers in a school type setting. Students form bands on day one by a lottery. The bands compete on the last day of the academy, with the winner performing on the Main Stage during the festival. This all takes place in Cumberland Maryland in the northern Appalachian Mountains, on the Potomac River. The festival grounds are a former county fairgrounds with incredible facilities for all types of festival attendees.
Last year this festival quickly became my best overall camping music festival experience and my all time favorite. DelFest opens the envelope of bluegrass music just enough to make it interesting to music lovers of all types, and this years lineup looks to do the same.
On the opening night this year Del will be joined by The Preservation Horns of New Orleans from Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Jon Fishman, drummer of jam band kingpins Phish. Preservation Hall Band actually recorded an album with Del several years back and Del and the boys secondlined through the French Quarter with Pres Hall for the album release on Mardi Gras weekend. This will be just the beginning of what looks like an incredible musical lineup. I will keep you informed as I blog each day from the fairgrounds. I also hope to include some interviews from some of the performing artists here as well as pictures of the festival.
So check back next week. My blog posts will begin on Thursday and continue daily throughout the festival. If you're looking for a new type of Memorial Day experience, I can’t think of a better event then DelFest, and hope to see some of the WWOZ family from around the country there. Tickets are still available at this time. One of the highlights I am looking forward to are the spontaneous, all night picking and jam sessions that take place throughout the campground nightly. Main Stage performances I am looking forward to include Leftover Salmon performing Neil Young’s Harvest album on the Main Stage as well as performances by Jeff Austin Band and bluegrass legends Hot Rize and Bela Fleck. This should be an incdreiblle weekend of music and I am looking forward to sharing it with you. See you right here next Thursday for my first report. Happy summer and festival season to all!
