Don't Just Watch

At Grey Fox, learning and playing are as much a part of the experience as seeing great bands.

One of the things that has struck me most about Grey Fox is that the festival is designed less to funnel people to the Big stage to see the Big acts as it is to create a community around the music. It does this by teaching and interacting with the variously intentioned tents and stages set up around camp. The Grass Roots Tent and Slow Jam Tent hold individual sessions for each of the traditional Bluegrass instruments all Friday and Saturday, the Bluegrass Academy for Kids teaches young campers how to play, the Family Fun Stage is constantly filled with children, parents, clowns, and performers. The tents are a place for campers to interact, amateur and pro musicians mingle while kids learn or take their minds off all the grown up stuff happening around them.

Fun times right outside the Famliy Fun Stage

The Dance Stage and Master Stage both feature many of the bands and performers playing on the Main Stage, but provide a different environment for musicians and audience members to interact. The Dance Tent is self explanatory, instead of seating there is a large wooden dance floor, and the music goes late into the night. The Master Stage features the most talented musicians and bands giving one hour concert/workshops. Questions are encouraged, and these sessions can focus on a single instrument, style, or simply giving a great artist a stage to share their knowledge. Today I saw Brian Sutton on the Master Stage playing guitar, there were a few questions, but the crowd really wanted to just hear him play and that's exactly what he did. Several hours later Sam Bush took the Master Stage to talk about Mandolin and his career. Among his topics of discussion were his childhood on a farm, how he 'chops', and being influenced by every style of music. He only played three songs, including a cover of Bob Marley's 'One Love' that had the entire (Bluegrass) audience singing along.

Brian Sutton at the Master Stage

These sessions and workshop help people understand, appreciate, and partake in the music. When Sam Bush goes on the Main Stage in a couple hours there will about 200 people in the audience watching how he chops in his songs. Seeing a band several times in a matter of days works in this way, because each setting is different and lets the audience experience the band in a different way. By the end of the festival fans will have developed a lasting relationship with bands they had never heard of before, and no band or fan can ask for anything more out of a festival. The past two nights I saw Donna the Buffalo, Thursday on the Main Stage and last night in the Dance tent until 2:30 am. This morning I woke up humming one of their tunes, and can guarantee that I will go see them anytime they come to Boston.

Photos by Alex Muri