Tucked away in the Appalachian mountains of western Maryland, right on the border of West Virginia, sits the bluegrass festival known as Delfest. The 7th annual event named after the legendary Del McCoury hosted the highest caliber of today’s contemporary and traditional bluegrass musicians. Throw into the mix four days of perfect weather, perfect Del hair, and thousands of the genre’s most passionate fans and you have yourself an unforgettable Memorial Day weekend.
Delfest takes place at the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland. Complete with ball fields, grand stand seating surrounding a horse track and an indoor music hall, the sprawling venue is framed by the Potomac River on one side and railroad tracks on the other. Music drifted through the fairgrounds daily from 3 stages. By midnight, acts wrapped up on the main stages and there was one late night show to cap off the evening. To the disappointment of many festival goers, the late-night shows required an additional ticket purchase aside from the general admission wristbands. Crowds of desperate music lovers gathered outside the music hall each night, trying their hardest to score a ticket to the sold out Greensky Bluegrass show on Friday, or get lucky enough to be gifted one by a stranger that was feeling generous (or just too tired to go in).
As the heat peaked during the day, it was tough to choose between floating down the river beer in hand or heading towards a stage for music. Seasoned veterans of DelFest came prepared with intertubes, some even equipped with coolers, and drifted the mile or so down the Potomac each day from the north to south points of the festival. The water was cold, but refreshing. And who needs a shower when you can take a dip in the river?
Every once in a while a train rolled through, bellowing its whistle to the crowds. In the mid-afternoon the noise was almost over powered by the music, but few campers missed the bellowing sound in the wee hours of the morning as it passed. It all came together on Sunday night though during The Del McCoury’s final set of the weekend, performing “Dark Hollow” and singing, “…blow your whistle freight train…” as the passing train let out a final call.
Those lucky enough to arrive Thursday closed that first evening out with The Devil Makes Three and an incredible performance by contemporary bluegrass virtuosos Greensky Bluegrass. Think traditional foundations, experimental jams and a killer light show. As Friday opened, all stages & and halls were going full force, hosting blonde sisters Shook Twins (who later opened for Railroad Earth’s late night set), and the ever popular Joe Craven, musician and emcee extraordinaire. Some may say the highlight of Friday was Yonder Mountain String Band on the main stage in the late evening. Railroad Earth closed down the main stage, and herds of people headed to the Music Hall to catch the only sold out late night event of the weekend: Cabinet and Greensky.
The sun rose Saturday a little higher and a little warmer than the day before – a trend that continued through to Monday. Spirit Family Reunion, The Duhks & The Gibson Brothers were all crowd favorites throughout the day. The Carolina Chocolate Drops took the main stage midday with their traditional instruments – first generation banjos, bones and the sultry vocals of Rhiannon Giddens. From then on, it was bluegrass heaven. The Del McCoury Band, followed by Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby with Kentucky Thunder, then straight on to The Traveling McCoury’s with a surprise visit from Bill Nershi. Their rendition of the country tune “Don’t it Make You Wanna Dance” was perfect for the beautiful situation we found ourselves in at DelFest: thousands of new friends singing back, “Don’t it make you wanna dance/Don’t it make you wanna smile/ When you’re down down down in the country pick & sing a while.”
The sweet sounds of Bela Fleck & his beautiful wife Abigail Washburn were the highlight of Sunday afternoon. The laidback set made you think you were sitting in their living room. But it was their baby, Juno, that really stole the show. Sitting off stage with his Grandma, he watched his parents intensely until finally he joined them on stage. The audience cheered, and Juno cheered back. He ruled the whole crowd with his chubby fists, getting hoots and hollers all the way from the back row. He even surprised his parents with that interaction.
Finally, The String Cheese Incident took the stage to wrap up DelFest with the funkiest, genre-bending performance of the whole weekend. To quote Joe Craven, “This ain’t no velveeta.” Two sets, back to back, of the gourmet stuff. The intrepid sounds of the Colorado-based group drew the largest daily crowd yet, and no one was disappointed, especially with visits from Del for “Sittin on Top of the World” and from The Traveling McCoury’s on a flawless “Colorado Bluebird Sky”.
Festival goers left Monday hopefully via the scenic route, with a heart full of bluegrass and a belly full of Cheese, reflecting on a monumental weekend of music & good times.
