The 7th Annual DelFest returned to Cumberland, MD this year, for another memorable Memorial Day Weekend of music festival bliss. Set in a historical little mountain town with a small Amtrak station, brick buildings along a quaint Main Street, and dirt roads leading to mountain tops – DelFest has laid claim to what seems to be a perfect setting for a spectacular bluegrass festival.

DelFest isn’t just a bluegrass festival though. By design of Del McCoury himself, this festival builds a natural bridge between genres of music where bluegrass is the root that produces a tree with many branches. By connecting bluegrass with jam band and electronic styles, old timey music and mountain music with blues and jazz – DelFest is ultimately about collaboration, a music mixture you can’t get anywhere else. The extensive collaboration of musicians is unique to this festival.

The festival began with an opening set by The Del McCoury Band on the Grandstand stage, followed by The Deadly Gentlemen, The Devil Makes Three and a raging set by Greensky Bluegrass. The tone was set and the party had officially started. Friday brought way to more fantastic music, mid-seventies sunny weather, and several epic collaborations.

Friday Afternoon featured Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band on the Grandstand stage. A trio from the foothills of southern Indiana with a walloping sound. Playing their  brand of Americana-Blues tunes like, “Front Porch Trained”. In pure Reverend fashion, a back-story preceded several songs, most notably was the tale of the song, “Pot Roast and Kisses” which had been described as adorable, to which the Reverend replied – “I don’t write many adorable songs.” Breezy Peyton is the perfect partner to share the stage with her cigar box playing husband. She brings a level of feminine style to the band that can not be manufactured – playing the washboard with the grace of a fiddle player and the panache of a punk rocker.

Friday Night on the Grandstand stage showcased a new line-up for DelFest veterans Yonder Mountain String Band. With the recent departure of Jeff Austin, fans were not sure what to expect at this first festival appearance without the beloved mandolin player. The band was joined by Jon frazier on mandolin and Jerry Douglas on the dobro. The new sound of the dobro was met with great excitement and jubilee of what sounded like a less edgy and more jamgrass-string band sound than with the original line-up. A harmony filled the air with the sound of the dobro that just centered everything on the stage that night. The band spent more time jamming than usual with 9 of their 14 songs being in excess of the five minute mark.  Jeff Austin may not have been there but he hadn’t been replaced either, the band was an extension and collaboration of the YMSB we have all come to love. Del McCoury joined the band and dobro god Jerry Douglas on stage for and bluesy “On A Monday”, where Del kept Douglas in good company with the complimentary sound of their respective instruments. Bass player, Ben Kaufman asked Del to ‘sing us a song’ and the crowd was greeted with a fast-ass-bluegrass style of “Hit Parade Of Love”. Del was front and center hitting those high notes with precision every time.

Railroad Earth closed out the evening on the Grandstand stage with a spectacular bluegrass dance party fit for the mightiest of moonshiners and railroad hobos. Highlights from this set were “Dandelion Wine” and the epic energy infused set closer, “Peace On Earth”. Festival goers were undoubtedly left with the ambition to continue on to the late night at the Music Hall with Greensky Bluegrass and Cabinet. Cabinet’s late night set was energetic with several new songs being sprinkled about. The band has a unique old-timey mountain band sound despite the young age of the band members, whom play with the chops of a seasoned bluegrass band. Festival staff poured out of the backstage area to participate in the ‘honky tonkin’ dance party.

Saturday morning awakened with sunshine and a slight breeze, festival goers were bright eyed and ready to dance. The Potomac stage was home to Pennsylvania’s bluegrass allstars, Cabinet. Green lush grass served as a dancefloor for a full crowd. With no visible signs of fatigue from the late-night before, Cabinet played a strong set with several well known favorites, “Doors” and “Wine and Shine”, both songs express the depth of their talent. Watch for more of this band, they continue to build a strong following, relative to Yonder’s Kinfolk and the Railroad Earth Hobos.

The highlight on Saturday afternoon for many at the Potomac stage was the California Honeydrops, whom state their purpose is to make people dance, sing and enjoy themselves. That is exactly what the crowd was doing during their set. The Honeydrops exhibited a certain level of energy fitting for a rowdy late-night; which they also knocked out of the park on Sunday. The afternoon performance was a jazzy funky blues infused musical paradise. A back story was told of the days when the band first got its start playing the subway stations throughout california, where they couldn’t get a drum set down below so to improvise the percussionist brought out a washboard. The song “Pumpkin Pie” caused a foot-stomping, clap-along from the fully satisfied crowd. It’s a safe assumption that many in attendance were drawn to their Sunday late-night set purely based on the earlier performance.

DelFest not only focuses on offering a more intense line-up each year but they also focus on the atmosphere of the entire festival outside of the music. The set-up and lay out is exceptional with short distance walks to hot indoor shower stalls and a family-camping area that revels in comparison to any other family area at a festival. The family-friendliness is another piece that keeps festivals goers in attendance year after year, DelFest has become an annual family vacation for many festival goers with children. Also notable it the choice in food vendors both inside the music field and along the fairway of the food court. Festival goers could choose from gigantic greek salads and gyros from, Tim’s Greek and Middle eastern Foods or organic coffee and smoothies at, Buzzthru Espresso Bar. The vendors that attend this festival are also unique in their own right. With a relatively small number of vendors, festival goers had their pick at completely individual artists and retailers. Sunshyne Silverware was on site again this year, selling her unique recycled jewelry made of silverware and other repurposed items.

Saturday night’s first headliners on the Grandstand stage, The Del McCoury Band kicked off what would prove to be an epic evening of bluegrass, rock n’ roll, blues, and enough collaboration to satisfy the soul of any music lover. Beginning with “Travelin Teardrop Blues”, the Del McCoury band was dressed to the hilt as usual. The crowd wouldn’t have expected anything less than full suits following the performance the night before, where Del required Jerry Douglas to put on a tie with his “Make cornbread not war” T-shirt. Del commands a dapper gentleman quality of anyone he shares the stage with. Ricky Skaggs joined the McCoury’s for “The Old Cross Roads”. Del introduced Skaggs saying he had a lot to tell about this guy. Having knowing one another since the sixties, Del gave a story of how he was invited to record on Skaggs’ new label at the time. The collaboration at this festival is just uncanny, the camaraderie and friendship that is woven throughout every performance. This festival has a family feeling that keeps festival goers coming back year after year with larger and larger crowds. Also joining Del onstage Saturday was Americana star, Jim Lauderdale, playing a sweet “Slewfoot” – Lauderdale was fit to take the stage with Del in his purple suit with the yin and yang symbol on the pant leg. The Saturday performance set the bar high for those to come.

Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder were up next on the Grandstand stage. The pairing of this duo was ingenious. Hornsby’s soulful piano playing met with great delight the sound of Skagg’s extensive instrumental repertoire. These two heavy-hitters played highlights like, “Darlin’ Cory” and 2Pac’s “Just The Way It Is” which spawned an offbeat conversation between Hornsby and Skaggs on what to call the newly formed joint of bluegrass and rap. The crowd took it in jest as it seemed like such a ridiculous proposition after such a well played bluegrass version of a rap song. Skaggs and Hornsby were the embodiment of the collaboration that was taking place throughout the weekend. Their set brought together bluegrass and rock n’ roll with style and grace.

By 10:15PM the crowd was still going strong and hungry for more dancin and music. The Travelin’ McCourys took the stage for their headlining spot for the evening. Dressed in more casual clothing, a cooler, hipper version of the bluegrass band with their father, the McCoury boys wore jeans and dress-shirts and cowboy boots. Starting off strong with homage to their roots with Doc Watson’s, “Southbound”. Bassist Alan Bartram, introduced a song he wrote in which he says, was inspired by Del McCoury himself, “Old Boy Still In The Game”, a tale of a hard working bluegrass man with ‘every hair in place hitting every high note that he tries’ – a sincere tribute to the man who made the entire weekend possible. The Travelin’ McCourys proved they had their namesakes sense of style and musical talent but with a twenty-first century sound.

The McCourys surprised the crowd with a first time performance of “Feuding Banjos”, which featured Ronnie McCoury on a five string banjo battling his brother Robbie McCoury on a four string banjo. What ensued was an epic rendition of a classic, never before seen on this stage. The McCourys ended their night by inviting Jeff Austin and Bill Nershi to the stage for a stage full of bluegrass superstars to play a jam filled, “Don’t It Make You Want To Dance”. Also inviting Tim Carbone and Kimber Ludiker to play fiddle on one of the most amazing “Raleigh & Spencer” that erupted with enthusiasm and excitement from the stage and the crowd alike. Jeff Austin had been missed during the Yonder performance but he spent the weekend making up for it with performances like this.

If you had the energy after a day like that then you were lucky enough to continue onto Saturday’s sold out late-night with Railroad Earth and Shook Twins which, I am told was a dance party that could not be described by words. For those of us who didn’t make it to late-night, may have found comfort in our festival neighbour, Robert’s philosophy which very logically stated, “seeing 11 hours of music is plenty, there is no need for a late-night for me.”

Sunday morning continued with the beautiful weather and music started early on the Grandstand stage with the gospel music of the Gibson Brothers. Festival goers were welcomed to join in the Sunday morning worship style music, which only seemed fitting for so many that consider their music to be their church. The Grandstand stage hosted plenty of amazing music all day Sunday. Highlights like Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn and Hot Rize pleased festival goers as they hoola hooped in the field and enjoyed what the day had to offer.

An intimate crowd in the Music Hall were treated to a tradition at DelFest, the McCoury Family Jam. This performance showcased members of the entire McCoury family, Del, his brother Jerry and several Grandchildren. It is clear that to be a McCoury, one must also be immersed in the world of music, whether it be Evan McCoury playing guitar to his Grandfather’s delight or Jean McCoury snapping photos of her family from the crowd. The entire McCoury family could be found roaming the grounds of the festival throughout the day. Tying together the camaraderie and collaboration and family-friendly atmosphere this festival strives and succeeds in producing.

Sunday Evening began once again with The Del McCoury Band on the Grandstand Stage. Del spent a good amount of time thanking the many people involved in the behind the scenes of making DelFest possible, local heroes, family and extended family. Del exhibited his southern gentleman sense of humor while introducing his beloved wife Jean McCoury as, “the one who got all these families up here started.” Del’s sense of family and respect and love of music has been passed down through the generations of his enormous family. He also has seemed to have hit the proverbial nail on the head with his hands on approach to his own festival, where he can be counted on for odd jobs like folding the shirts at the merch table or making lineup choices. Festival goers saw Del throughout the weekend riding in a motorcycle and shaking hands with fans and media whilst posing for the now famous #Delfies that were projected onto the video screen in between sets. Del has his hands in every part of this festival and it shows in every aspect, right down to the decision to bring not only bluegrass artists to the stage but also the jamband and electronic styles that have been bridged by fans from all genres, a natural progression of things.

Sunday night had saved the best for last with reports of the highest number of single day tickets being sold for a DelFest performance, The String Cheese Incident hit the stage with what has been described as ‘genre juggling’ music. This band has morphed over their 20 year existence and this show made fans out of the most traditional of bluegrass lovers, whether they knew it or not. Their night started with their more stringband sounding hits and bridged eloquently into their electronic style  that has given way to side projects EOTO. To round out the collaboration for the weekend, Del joined the band onstage for “Sittin On Top Of The World”, where Del was heard saying, “I’m not used to all these plugs,” as he was watching his guitar being plugged into the cables on stage. Jeff Austin made yet another stellar appearance with String Cheese, playing the Dead’s “I know You Rider.” Despite the neon lights and the sequined hula hoopers all around the field, they put on an amazing show at DelFest with great acceptance by festival goers. The energy and crowd devotion was similar to that of Phish fans at a NYE show in Madison Square Garden.

DelFest certainly delivered what they intended yet again! This festival creates an extremely unique family-friendly, genre-bending, collaboration of the most talented musicians alive, to celebrate with the music industries hardest working individuals under the guidance of the best hair in bluegrass, Mr. Del McCoury. The seventh annual event has gone down in the history books, well until next year anyway. Festival goers are already pumped for what the next DelFest can bring. Mark your calendars because if you haven’t already experienced this festival and all it has to offer, you’re missing out. I know where I’ll be every Memorial Day weekend from here on out.

Written By: Kristen Mack-Perry

Photos By: Mark Loveless

*Check out the full photo gallery of DelFest 2014 by Jams Plus Photographer, Mark Loveless