Buffalo Live! Music Podcast - 2 Songs From Buffalo

Bombadil - Three Saddest Words video

I went to the Great Blue Heron Music Festival once again. This was my second year to do so and I again camped there for the weekend. If you’ve never gone to anything like this, you should, at least once, because it’s an experience you’ll never forget. It’s total immersion in a different world, a place where everyone is friendly and only the simplest of rules, the Golden Rule, for instance, matter.

I’ll comment on things, bands mostly, as music is why I go there, in random order. I’ll also keep each topic short. No sense belaboring any one point.

Also, I took pictures. Over a thousand of them. It pretty much tells most of the story that way and I’m uploading them a little at a time to the Gallery.

John and Mary and the Valkyries

Our friends from Buffalo and a past podcast subject, we saw them there last year as well. In one form or another, John and Mary have been to Blue Heron fests practically since the beginning. John was, of course an original member of 10,000 Maniacs an early supporter of the festival and Mary joined first as a backup violin/viola player to Natalie Merchant, eventually taking her place after she left.

They played only one show, on Friday. I talked to several members of the band afterwards and throughout the weekend and they would have liked to play more sets. For some reason, they weren’t asked. But they did play a good show on the opening day and some of the band stayed the whole weekend.

The Town Pants

One of the main reasons I first went to the festival last year, The Town Pants returned this year for the third consecutive year. Their Celtic-influenced music on the surface wouldn’t seem like it fits the festival, but the fans show up and make them one of the most popular acts there. I went to both shows this year, the first one on Saturday at the main stage and again on Sunday in the Dance Tent. Both were packed and full of bouncing, hopping, dancing fans. They’ll be back in the Buffalo area again this summer (they’re from Vancouver BC) for a show at the Buffalo Irish Center on August 17th and also appearing at the Niagara Celtic Heritage Festival in Olcott NY on September 15th.

Big Leg Emma

Big Leg Emma is one of the ‘local’ acts to the festival. From Jamestown, they are favorites at this festival and didn’t disappoint. The members of the band and their families seemed to be everywhere all weekend, with Amanda and Steve both appearing on stage with other groups or as part of songwriters circles. Their well-written songs and uplifting lyrics are something I never tire of. Big Leg Emma tours tirelessly with shows almost every weekend somewhere and appears frequently in Buffalo. Of course, they have been featured in this podcast too.

Oh, I almost forgot - they’ve added a new keyboard player, Steve Davis, who really adds a bit of funk to the mix. It’s a good addition. They’re opening for Rusted Root at the Molson Canal Concert Series on September 1st. Check them out.

Kelly and the Cowboys

I don’t know much about this group. I never heard of them before the festival, but after seeing them play, I like them. I’ll have to Google them and see what I can learn. The act was retro-country, with a look and sound of Patsy Cline. Of course they played much more than just Cline’s songs, but you couldn’t avoid that image. I don’t think they had any original material, but by bringing back country songs from before country music got commercial and ruined itself, they were exciting to hear.

The Talk To Me’s

With a lead singer who looks like Joey on Friends (Matt LeBlanc), as well as help from Sim Redmond, this band was an unknown surprise. I really liked his songwriting and the band was good as well.

Bombadil

Another unknown quantity prior to seeing them at the festival, this was - at least to me - the walk-away favorite unknown band of the year. That’s one of the things about the Blue Heron, I always come away with something new, even though I go to see familiar favorites. Last year it was The Avett Brothers. They returned this year again, despite a huge amount of national exposure and no doubt bigger, more lucrative opportunities that the festival offered. Bombadil comes from the same part of the country (North Carolina) and has some of the same raw sound, but a different sort of music. They are much more of a mainstream indie sound (if that contradiction is possible) than the Avetts. Their stage act is what sets them above average, though. They approach performing as just that, performing. They have so much fun while playing and their antics on stage just keep you wanting more. I saw both their sets and talked to them afterwards. I think these are some guys you’ll be seeing more of, probably on TV.

There are many more artists who I saw and heard, but time and space prevent me from getting to all of them. Some of the main acts, such as The Horse Flies and Donna The Buffalo, I only heard from a distance, sometimes from my campsite or one of the community campfires. I just couldn’t take any more standing and had to sit or rest eventually. Those shows got so crowded in front of the stage you only could see them from a distance anyway, so the difference between the top of the hill or the campsite wasn’t much. It sounded great anyway…

I camped in the vehicle camping area this year. Last year I tent camped in the free area. (Advice: It’s a good deal but be prepared to lug anything you bring way back into the woods. A kids wagon is a big help.) This year I brought the camping trailer - a pop-up tent camper - and drove right to where I camped. It was still a lot of work alone and I sorely missed having someone to share it. The camper isn’t that big, but it’s overkill for one.

Will I go back next year? I say no now, at least not for the entire weekend. But as the date closes in again in 2008, I’ll probably consider it, especially if I had someone with me to share the set up and work.