A More Complete Report

So we only ended up at one day of the festival. We were really, really tired on Friday and were asleep by 8:30 at night. And then Sunday we had to leave town by 12:30 or so to catch a plane. So it was Saturday alone. That may have been enough, just based on how freakin' hot it was.

All pictures are here.

First up: The Bummkins.



Lots of fun. Their newer stuff is a bit more rocking than the first record, with a good country nougat center still. I'm looking forward to the new CD.

Early in the day we met up with Gwyneth of Gooney Bird Kids, and Ella and her Camille were dancing:

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Between the Bummkins and Jambo (below), we saw the Ike Reilly Assassination. As mentioned previously, he kicked my rear. (That's a good thing.)

Up next was Jambo:



I didn't know anything from Jambo before, but enjoyed the set a lot - fun straight-up poppy stuff.

(Incidentally, yes, the same guy is playing keyboard for both Jambo and the Bummkins, and he's in neither band. It's Tor Hyams, who produced AKL and Kidzapalooza, as well as Jambo's new album.)

Then the craziness that is the Sippy Cups began:



And we chatted with them too:



The Sippy Cups put on a pretty phenomenal high-energy show. Actually two shows - two thirty-minute sets. Very funny, very tight musically, and I think pretty entertaining even for the folks who were there expecting to see Ben Kweller as the day's special guest. (His throat had an owie, though, so he cancelled.)

Farmer Jason was next:



We didn't see all of his set, since we were also doing some of the activities (see below). But he was also very funny and, more than perhaps anyone else, genuinely engaging. He had a ton of audience participation, and the crowd was eager to help him out.

About those activities:





Just with that much stuff, that'd be a pretty good day. Honestly, it'd be a good full weekend. But we were just getting started, as we had the Family Music Meltdown yet to come!

We started off (after enjoying some highly refreshing adult beverages) (not the kids) with Laura Freeman:



Laura is roughly what you would get if you combined Laurie Berkner with Fred Schnieder. That's a very good thing. Funny, charming, enthralling.

Sippy Rudy played two great songs:



Check out the kid doing the secret-devil-horn sign. Sweet.

I note for the record that "Springtime Fantastic" is one of the best songs of the last couple of years, kids' or grownups'.

Second on the bill was the Telephone Company. They got the most bemused smiles from the parents, but everyone - including (especially) the kids - dug 'em. Awesome stuff:



Joe McDermott (with full band) played a solid, fun, effective and infectious set:



(Edit: I realize that "solid" and "effective" sound in retrospect like something less than enthusiasm. Far from it! The set was great.)

And the Deedle Deedle Dees finished the night with their high-energy show. With an almost entirely new-to-them crowd, they still blew everyone away:



Sunday we ate breakfast with friends at the Galaxy Cafe on West Lynn (yum!), packed up, got some traveling snacks at the essential Central Market, and flew home. We got home at 1:30 this morning, and we're all tired and cranky, but it was a great trip.

Thanks to Tor, Stefan, Gwyneth (+ family), Deb (+ family), Dale & Andrea & Nate & Amelia (for hosting us), Wendy & Russ at Ruta Maya, Laura, Rudy, Telephone Company, Joe (+ band), the Dees, Nancy (+ family), Bill T. (+ family), Megan, the sound guy, the full Sippy Cups, the Bummkins, Jambo, Farmer Jason, and I'm sure a ton of other people I'm forgetting and will feel bad about. You all rock.