Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2007

I am not a big fan of bluegrass music, but I am a fan of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. I first heard their music in 1998 when a friend lent me two of their CDs while I was wasting away my youth in New Hampshire. I was hooked when I heard their rendition of Oh Darling from the album Live Art. On the album, you can hear a clip of the song, which does not really do justice to the version on the CD which is 19 minutes long, if I remember my youth correctly. The vocals come on around halfway through the song after a long jazz-like medley of banjo and other instruments. So, that summer, when I happened to visit San Francisco, I bought a used CD of the album Left of Cool, which opens with a lovely song, Throwdown at the Hoedown. In short, I really like their music.

Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise when Gina told me about the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival which was scheduled to be held at the Golden Gate Park this weekend. We checked the schedule online and realized that the Flecktones were to play from 4:10 - 5:10 PM, which was sufficient motivation for me to go. We did, and it was awesome! There's lots to be said about it, but I am sleepy and very tired from the weekend. So, I'll let some pictures from the concert do the talking. It was way too crowded for me to get a shot of the Flecktones, but I did get a shot of Los Lobos, who played afterward.

Also, here's this profound and seemingly true quote by John Hartford which someone was kind enough to wear on his t-shirt:

A banjo will see you through times of no money, but money will not see you through times of no banjo.

Enjoy.