Emmylou Harris Honored at Hardly Strictly
Emmylou Harris was there, receiving an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music, with Linda Ronstadt on one side and Earl Scruggs on the other. Steve Martin shared the stage with Steep Canyon Rangers. Buddy Miller brought out surprise guest Robert Plant. Over the course of just three days, Ricky Skaggs, John Prine, Gillian Welch and many other bluegrass and/or alt-country folkie types all played the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park last weekend. SF Weekly has a whole gallery of pictures, but (or should I say, "butt"?) this is my favorite one because nothing says "I'm at a bluegrass festival and I want to keep my buzz going on my own terms" like a little bottle of whiskey shoved into a pair of jeans. Seriously. I think pictures like this capture the vibe of a music party even more than the portraits of the artists performing. Those are nice, and they are necessary, but crowd close-ups give you a feel for what it would've been like to really be there. And I wish I had been.
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Redmaz says:
Sorry Alison, but you just don’t fit in with this group. Way out of your league. Stick with your noodle-o’s. Something you can grasp a hold of. Leave this music to the professionals, and the people who respect it.
drdjwu says:
That’s a lot of musical giants getting together, but I bet they could make a great group, maybe the “grizzly gritty dirt band” or something. Buddy must have felt like the young ‘un. Bet this waS FUN!