Jeezum Crow

My daughter and my son in law, Mr Man, are taking me to an outdoor concert in Vermont at the end of next week. More than a few acts will be taking the stage. Lis offered to get tickets because Charlie Parr is on the venue.

The 8th Annual Jeezum Crow Festival is a two day event kicking off Friday evening with a couple of acts. The bulk of the acts are playing on Saturday. Charlie Parr is scheduled to hit the stage at 4:30 PM. We hope to be there by 12:30 PM when the doors open so we can possibly sit on real seats ....... Hmm...... Now that I think about it, might not those wonderful folding chairs I bought a couple years ago be more comfortable than hard arena seats? ....... I'll have to bring this up with the Kid.

Charlie Parr is one of my new-ish favorite musical artists. He has been on my A-list for some time now. He is primarily a solo act who plays and sings songs of Regular Folk and their Blue Collar lives. A little country, some Bluegrass, and a healthy dollop of folk with a some blues tossed in for good measure. 

I struggled at first deciding what genre folder I would put Charlie's music in. He ended up with two folders, one was Blues, the other was Folk. Neither one pinned him down. Then this morning my daughter texted me with the name of one of the other groups at the concert in Vermont. 

"The Devil Makes Three" is their name and they hail from California.  They are scheduled to play around 10:00 PM I think. Hope I can hold it together that long. They are really good also.

Their claim their music is in the "Americana" genre............... I had never heard of the "Americana" genre, but as soon as I heard the term and then their music, I knew Charlie Parr would slip right into that "Americana" genre bucket. Both artists compose and play music rooted in the music of the heartlands of our grand country. 

Existing on the fringes of the established, for profit music industry, both bands have enjoyed success during their time in the smaller limelights. They exist successfully on the fringes of the establishment music industry. They don't pack stadiums or arenas. They play smaller venues usually and that suits me just fine. They have very dedicated fan bases.

It has only been in the last 10 years that I have become acquainted with the new Folk, Hipper bluegrass, and bygone Blues spiced up with new twists. Every week or so, I find new artists from the fringes who are playing wonderful new music that can still take me back to the days of concerts in fields and the sun baking my brain as a joint and a bottle of wine was passed around.

Of course, the loose dog festivals from back in the day when not many rules applied, well, they are long gone now. Nothing more than myths, tall tales, and drunken recollections left now. 

Can't bring a bota bag filled with Boone's Farm wine now days. Certainly,  there will be no passing of joints accompanied by stoner mumblings. And ferchrisakes, don't bring Fido. It's a new age and a new culture with rules that will not be broken.

 That's okay, I always find ways to break rules I don't agree with. Its part of the fun of livin.

Please, if you can't keep it on the road, at least...........

Keep it 'tween the ditches ..............................................

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A two-fer with this post -

• Charlie Parr - "Cheap Wine"
• The Devil Makes Three - "Gracefully Facedown"

Looks to be an alcohol connection here. It was, as I used to say when I was small, a Cwinky Dink. Arbitrary, did not plan it.