Nestled in The Cumberland Gap alongside the Potomac
River, Del McCoury hosted the 6th
Annual DelFest. As in years past, Del and his
sons Rob and Ronnie McCoury - banjo and mandolin,
respectively - would sit in with numerous of musicians
for another epic weekend. DelFest is a festival that
first geared toward a family and friendly environment
and secondly on traditional bluegrass with a twist of
world music.
Unlike years in the past, the weather would cooperate
for the 30,000 people that attended over the weekend. In
fact this year, temperatures were much milder with some
cool nights for camping…but no thunderstorms. The
unforgettable weekend would shortly begin after Del’s
soundcheck with some Cajun Jam Grass from Leftover
Salmon. Shortly after Salmon took stage, Del and
Ronnie would join in on “Midnight Blues.” It would not
take long for the crowd to get involved as Del’s high
notes from his voice would wail and echo off the
mountains. Ronnie would remain on the stage for “Home
Cookin.’” As the temperatures would continue to drop to
all time lows, Ronnie would rejoin the band for “On a
Cold Southern Night.” Jason Carter, Del’s master
fiddle player, would play the biggest part of the set.
Salmon would close the night with a John Hartford
classic that would get the crowd geared up for the
remaining weekend in “Up On the Hill Where They Do The
Boogie.”
Punk-grass quintet Trampled By Turtles may not be
your typical traditional bluegrass band; but if you are
open-minded and love to jam, then do not underestimate
these guys. These guys are hard, fast and don’t treat
their string instruments very gently. In many ways,
Elephant Revival was quite the experience Friday
afternoon. There is no classification for their type of
music. It’s like taking gypsy, Celtic, Alt-Country, folk
and blending it together. Bonnie Paine may even
surprise the audience with sounds from her musical saw
or washboard.
As the sunset and temps dropped The Del McCoury Band
would quiet the crowd down before Trey Anastasio Band
(TAB) with some good ole traditional bluegrass
music. As TAB took charge it would not only be a
highlight for the crowd, but for Trey also. Trey was
having the time of his life headlining Del’s little
festival and he would not hold back especially during
“O-o-h Child” and “Push On Til The Day.” Trey proceeded
to tell the crowd that Del McCoury’s Blue Side of
Town was a huge part of Phish’s road music. After
listening to that album, Trey made the comment he wished
to meet Del someday. In 1999, Phish invited Del McCoury
and the whole family to their festival, Camp Oswego.
Del jokingly said “they invited me to their small of
festival of 70,000 people.” Then, the remaining members
of The Del McCoury Band would join TAB for two songs,
“I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” and “Beauty of My Dreams,” a
song of Del’s that Phish started covering in the late
1990’s. Jennifer Hartswick would lay the trumpet
down for the encore and bellow out Led Zeppelin’s “Black
Dog” as Trey would sit back and tear up his Paul
Languedoc custom electric guitar.
Saturday was an array of different genres of music
starting with Grammy-nominated one-woman string band,
Sarah Jaroz. Jaroz can play an array of string
instruments from guitar, mandolin, and octave mandolin
to clawhammer banjo while being companied by Alex
Hargreaves (fiddle) and Nathaniel Smith
(cello). Jaroz would show off her astonishing skill set
on the mandolin during “The Book of Right On” with Smith
providing a deep thundering cello that would hit the pit
of your stomach. Hargreaves would add some amazing
breathtaking fiddle. Jaroz would also play The
Decemberist’s, “Shankill Butchers.” Joe Craven
the formal host of the Grandstand Stage would return to
DelFest with his masterful trio blending two continents
together to provide music fans a taste of African and
Americana music. A traditional yet innovative blend of
kamale ngoni (the hunter’s harp) with a six string
guitar, percussion, fiddle and mandolin to create some
funky world music that will hit your soul and take you
around the world without leaving your seat. Red
Baraat, an eight-piece jazzy, brass-funk band with a
hint of hip-hop from Brooklyn, New York would provide
the crowd with a hard punch of Northern Indian rhythms
and sounds.
Saturday afternoon on the Grandstand Stage would get a
bit crazy with an array of traditional-psychedelic
bluegrass from quintet, Greensky Bluegrass. These
guys sure know how to have fun but most importantly know
how to get the crowd involved in every show. Keller
would get a bit funky and jazzy with his most recent
project in Keller Williams with More
Than a Little. Keller would show off in a
prestigious suit and tie (yet no shoes) to jam on his
acoustic guitar while being accompanied by two
fascinating female soul singers harmonizing. As in years
past Del likes to bring some star guests to the
festival. This year would be some of the legendary
bluegrass performers that all bluegrass fans have grown
to love and respect over the last 30 years. Del would
bring on stage with him The Masters of Bluegrass:
Bobby Osborne, J.D. Crowe, Bobby Hicks and Jerry
McCoury. Saturday night would turn into one hell of
a pickin’ session as Del’s band and The Masters of
Bluegrass would pick to some of the finest bluegrass
tunes throughout all of the land such as “I’m Going Back
to Old Kentucky” or “High on The Mountains.” As if Del
did not get the crowd roaring before, Old Crow
Medicine Show (OCMS) sure did not hold back. Nearly
15 years ago, Doc Watson came across these guys playing
in front of a pharmacy in North Carolina. Doc suggested
they play at Merle Fest and 800,000 albums later the
rest would be history. OCMS got loud and rowdy real
quick and literally brought the roof down. Del and his
band would join OCMS for “My Love Will Not Change.”
OCMS would play crowd favorite such as “Tennessee
Whiskey” and “Cocaine.” They would return to the stage
for an encore that would include Tom Petty’s “American
Girl.”
Sunday included an afternoon of breaking washboards,
catching washboards on fire and playing cardboard cigar
boxes from Indiana’s own Reverend Peyton and The Big
Dam Band. Keller and The Traveling McCourys
would play classic “Candyman” and Foster The People’s
“Pumped Up Kicks.” Sunday would also include flying
guitars, clicking bones and southern black music from
the1920’s from the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
Returning to the 6th annual DelFest and
closer of the Grandstage would be no other than
Colorado’s very own Yonder Mountain String Band (YMSB).
As in years past YMSB would not leave DelFest without
providing the crowd with an array of traditional
bluegrass and old time country songs. Del and the boys
would join YMSB to play Vernon Dalhart’s “Prisoner
Song,” the oldest country tune. They would also play
Jimmy Martins’ “Hit Parade of Love.” Jason Carter and
Ronnie McCoury would sit in with YMSB to jam out to
another John Hartford tune, “Holdin,’” followed by an
eleven-minute pickin’ session in a crowd pleaser,
“Traffic Jam.”
DelFest has been a special place every Memorial Day
weekend for the last 6 years. Through trial and errors
over the years, Del and his family have done a
tremendous job providing the Cumberland area and the
Appalachians with a festival of traditional bluegrass
music which has been a huge part of their culture for
many generations. They not only have provided this area
with their traditional bluegrass roots but they also do
it for all age groups, beginning with Bluegrass
Workshops to the Kidzone and “ARTs BUS.” Jams Plus Media
would like to Thank The Del McCoury Band, the
staff of High Sierra, the fairgrounds manager,
Kevin Kamauf and the city of Cumberland for
allowing us to cover this special festival.
MORE PHOTOS
HERE
Written and Photos by: Mark Loveless
Edited by: Rosemary A.W. Roberts
