Grey Fox Day 1

Hey there! I'm Garrett Frierson and I am your connection to this year's Grey Fox Bluegrass festival. First a little about the festival.
Grey Fox Bluegrass is the premiere bluegrass festival in the Northeast. Each year hundreds of volunteers, musicians, and fans descend on a farm in Oakhill, NY for a four day weekend of camping, relaxing, and bluegrass. It features many of the biggest names in bluegrass and (I'm told) is a hoo-haw of a good time.

Next, a little about me: I'm some dude who lives and works in Boston.

Great! Now that we're all on the same page, let's get started.


The festival didn't start till Thursday, but my trip began sometime last week when I took an impromptu trip to Montreal via Craigslist rideshares, which didn't end up depositing me back in Boston until 10:30 Tuesday morning with no sleep. The next two days are a blur of laundry and internships which somehow ended with me on the couch of my friend and photographer Alex Muri, playing a guitar in a tuning I didn't recognize and packed for a four day camping trip. We packed the truck, cut my hair into half-assed mohawk, and went to bed prepared to leave the next morning.
After a quick 3 hour drive we arrived in Oakhill, NY, about 150 miles North of NY city. Check in was easy and painless, and we soon found ourselves pulling into an unoccupied spot of the large field that, for the next four days, is dedicated to camping, lounging, and all things bluegrass. The camping areas are divided into quiet camping (no noise between 10 pm and 8 am, and the 'Picker's Paradise', where I'm told you can hear jam sessions at nearly any point of the night.
After setting up camp (1 tent and a truck), we ventured out to explore the festival that will be our home for the next 4 days. Besides the rows of tents and campers, there's a section of the farm dedicated to vendors and the smaller stages. As we were walking we came across a band at the 'Family Stage' singing bluegrass and country classics to parents and their kids (they started into a bluegrass rendition of Folsom Prison Blues as we walked away). Further on we found the 'Dance Stage' with its large wooden dance floor before moving on to the rows of vendors selling food, hats, clothes, instruments, and all sorts of other knick knacks for the sunburned festival goers. The Master stage is the most prominent of the smaller stages, featuring great bands in a small venue in a relaxed, open ended format that allows the band and crowd to interact, cut loose, and learn a little bit about each other. The great thing is Master Stage is right along the path we take to get anywhere else here, so no matter where we're going we end up passing (and usually stopping to listen too) some amazing bands playing to a crowd of about 100 or so. Today we had the chance to experience Della Mae, Greensky Bluegrass, and as I was walking to the small wifi area to upload this first posting I was distracted by the incredible Tony Watt & Southwest Expressway.

**Ambiance Break: two teenagers are fighting with tethered glowsticks, the kind you might find at a rave or toyshop. One just got hit in the stomach and fell to the ground, they're all laughing. They're up and... they're gone. Also, a truck with various large hoses and pumps is about 200 feet away, emptying out the port-o-poties.**
Over a small hill to the Northwest of the rest of the festival is the Main Stage, where the big names will be playing all weekend long. The stage is set at the bottom of a curved hill, creating a natural amphitheater on which rows of chairs and tarps have been lade out. Today on the mainstage we witnessed the amazing harmonies and lightning fast picking of Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver and the amiably uplifting Josh Williams Band. As I write this I'm in the crowd, watching Greensky Bluegrass lay through expansive compostitions that combine bluegrass musicality and dexterity with larger and more complicated song structures.

So far, Grey Fox is turning out to be exactly what it's advertised as: a down to earth, good times bluegrass festival. The best thing about being here is just that, being here. No matter where you are in camp you can hear the sound of people talking, laughing, cheering, and, of course, playing good music. All the bands sound great, and when were not at a stage were mingling with our fellow campers and music enthusiasts. The guys right next us are on vacation from Sweden, and we overheard one of them playing some mean banjo earlier this evening. Alex and I'll pull out our instruments and jam with one of these nights, because that's what you do hear. Informal Jam sessions pop everywhere, there's even a tent dedicated to jamming and teaching people the basics of it! This country is as beautiful as it vast. Huge swaths of sky frame the forests and fields of upstate New York. Clouds and sunlight take their time to reach each other here, and when they finally reach they're low key about the whole affair. Fields lined by trees give ways to shallow streams and moss covered rocks that are much better to look at then to walk across, as I found out during our first trip down to the swimming hole.
So as our first day here at Grey Fox winds down, I find myself limping, sun-burned, and smiling. Just getting out of the city for a few days is a lucky break for me, and a chance to leave the city to camp and spend four days surrounded by amazing music and people is like winning the lottery. I'll update with more pictures and stories soon, with artist interviews and tales of all the workshops, dancing, music, and madness happening here at Grey Fox.

For more information on GreyFox and a complete lineup of this year's artists, check out their website at www.greyfoxbluegrass.com

Check out Della Mae at www.HeyHeyDellaMae.com
Check out Greensky Bluegrass at www.greenskybluegrass.com
Check out the Josh WIlliams Band at www.joshwilliamsmusic.com
Check out Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver at www.doylelawson.com

Photos by Alex Muri