....can't believe I've lived long enough to see this event!!! I'll be there with NO expectations..! Really... I'll just go and 'see what happens..".. Who will be there? YOU? Let me know soze I can anticipate your presence..!!
Got my car, I'm in! Vacation starting July 21st, gig on the 19th so I can leave anytime after that gig (Beaverdale Bluegrass Festival fiddling in two bands).
Now, if I can just get used to these hot nights and even hotter days before then.
Got my car, I'm in! Vacation starting July 21st, gig on the 19th so I can leave anytime after that gig (Beaverdale Bluegrass Festival fiddling in two bands).
Now, if I can just get used to these hot nights and even hotter days before then.
You can always sleep a night at my house on the way..!!... We'll leave on Friday, the 25th.. but you can, and will, have your own agenda..!!!
Got my car, I'm in! Vacation starting July 21st, gig on the 19th so I can leave anytime after that gig (Beaverdale Bluegrass Festival fiddling in two bands).
Now, if I can just get used to these hot nights and even hotter days before then.
'Beaverdale Bluegrass?!?'
I had to look that up. I grew up at 49th and Hickman. Across from tower park. Blimey!
Got my car, I'm in! Vacation starting July 21st, gig on the 19th so I can leave anytime after that gig (Beaverdale Bluegrass Festival fiddling in two bands).
Now, if I can just get used to these hot nights and even hotter days before then.
'Beaverdale Bluegrass?!?'
I had to look that up. I grew up at 49th and Hickman. Across from tower park. Blimey!
Small world/state.
They put on a good festival, but it's mostly Americana. Last year our band, The Baberhood Bluegrass Band, was the only actual bluegrass. That band is very traditional, the other band is Black Dirt Ramblers, bluegrass adjacent is how I describe it.
I've got ducks to line up and some equipment to purchase before departure time.
I get some messenger messages from that group. Haven't really been on Facebook for about a year. I go to look at links I'm sent. I did watch several videos of someone who I'm friends with who I met at Clifftop, Christina Tiff, she plays banjo and fiddle and is a heck of a horse trainer.
Barring anything unforeseen I'll be there for the pre-camp lineup afternoon of Thursday the 24th. I'll get as close to the same spot as last year that I can find available. Hopefully, just in the tree line just past the basketball courts on the right.
I have retired my blue Honda Element from service as a festival buggy, I have a red Ford Transit Connect van. I have a "new" cigar box fiddle this year assuming I can get the headstock re-attached this week after an unfortunate incident. Same washtub banjo bass.
Barring anything unforeseen I'll be there for the pre-camp lineup afternoon of Thursday the 24th. I'll get as close to the same spot as last year that I can find available. Hopefully, just in the tree line just past the basketball courts on the right.
I have retired my blue Honda Element from service as a festival buggy, I have a red Ford Transit Connect van. I have a "new" cigar box fiddle this year assuming I can get the headstock re-attached this week after an unfortunate incident. Same washtub banjo bass.
Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Our enclave will be looking forward to seeing you...
Once again I'll be using tunes to teach fiddling ... Last year the tunes were 'shuckin' the brush' and 'Dandy Jim".. THis year I'll be using Big Elk, Big Dipper and Brickyard Joe.. for rank beginners there will be 'Cotton-eyed Joe' and 'cluck, old hen'......... I have learned to go to CLifftop with NO expectations.. Really.. What happens at Clifftop, stays at Clifftop...
Once again I'll be using tunes to teach fiddling ... Last year the tunes were 'shuckin' the brush' and 'Dandy Jim".. THis year I'll be using Big Elk, Big Dipper and Brickyard Joe.
Lee, if you teach Big Dipper, please be sure to credit the author, David Cahn of Seattle.
Once again I'll be using tunes to teach fiddling ... Last year the tunes were 'shuckin' the brush' and 'Dandy Jim".. THis year I'll be using Big Elk, Big Dipper and Brickyard Joe.
Lee, if you teach Big Dipper, please credit the author, David Cahn of Seattle. I"ve watched the video of him playing the tune many times.... I originally learned it from a Clifftop field recording...which plays it about twice as fast as does David..Good at any speed..
Thank you.. I'll be sure to do that..!! it is such a fun tune.. I learned it from a field recording at Clifftop.. played at about twice the speed that David plays it.!!! For instruction purposes I've broken it down a little..When I'm jamming to the tune there are no holds barred.. .. I'll be sure to post a link to David's video..
Trailer is functional, bags are packed. I'll be hitting the road tomorrow morning. Probably be at Lee's house by 6p give or take an hour (dog likes to stop often).
My Clifftop 2025 recap... On Sunday before the festival, hangout members Mike Walters and Me lost our canopies due to high winds.. the Leg stakes HELD but the wind twisted the canopies and they toppled.. My friend Larry lost a canopy as did Michigan fiddler Dave Langdon..and the Lodge lost two ... BIG WIND..We bought new canopies at Walmart.
On a happier note, I saw the value of early music training.. Two young women brought $50 fiddles and each said they had Never held one!!! THe first, after 30 minutes could hold the bow and make a sound out of the instrument. I suggested that she find an instructor when she got home. The second had had early piano training.. After 30 minutes she was able (really) to play Rock the Cradle, Joe...in tune and on time and Almost up to speed.. I was impressed.
We took with us EZRA, a 20 year old banjo player who has only been playing a banjo for 6 months.. Well, he is a prodigy.. We were all impressed tha he could jam with the best and by the end of the week he had his own STUDENTS!! Yep.. He is Doing it on a banjo..On the way home, at our first rest stop, I found a penny.. good luck.
At Clifftop, it Rains.. Rained at least a little every day and a Lot other days. HOT.. but the last two days we were literally in the clouds.. Cool. Hoodies and jackets were worn by most..! I think that the name of the next original OT tune that I compose will be, "Clifftop in the clouds"... I came home to my wife showing me where a groundhog had been devouring various plants. Now I'll go from teaching fiddle technique to setting live traps... Life is interesting.
i've been to music festivals where it is normal to rain every year.... Always had a good time. I just think it keeps the folk who don't really mean it away.
i've been to music festivals where it is normal to rain every year.... Always had a good time. I just think it keeps the folk who don't really mean it away.
At Clifftop, it Rains.. Rained at least a little every day and a Lot other days. HOT.. but the last two days we were literally in the clouds.. Cool. Hoodies and jackets were worn by most..! I think that the name of the next original OT tune that I compose will be, "Clifftop in the clouds"... I came home to my wife showing me where a groundhog had been devouring various plants. Now I'll go from teaching fiddle technique to setting live traps... Life is interesting.
At Clifftop, it Rains.. Rained at least a little every day and a Lot other days. HOT.. but the last two days we were literally in the clouds.. Cool. Hoodies and jackets were worn by most..! I think that the name of the next original OT tune that I compose will be, "Clifftop in the clouds"... I came home to my wife showing me where a groundhog had been devouring various plants. Now I'll go from teaching fiddle technique to setting live traps... Life is interesting.
In 1995, it did not rain at all.
That was a different century, Bob!!.. (Ps, was fun fiddling with you, as usual)
Another interesting (to me) anecdote at Clifftop.. I was giving a guy a lesson and the famous Alaskan Fiddling Poet, Ken Waldman walked by.. Seems the student was also from Alaska.. a conversation ensued.. Right after that, a young woman from across the street came over to chat with the student because she knew him from somewhere.. Well, that was the same woman I met on the street in Nashville, Indiana a few weeks ago.. Dang.. Small world..
The day we seemed in the clouds was a day the air was perpetually wet. No joke. But the hot and sometimes rainy weather isn't what comes home with me; those are mostly a given for which I am prepared.
Each year I find another batch of tunes that catch my ear and have a blast playing with my camp friends. Sometimes played at a lazy lope, other times the tunes are hoppin' numbers. The big feast jam at Geezer Corner (camp where I stay) stands as a highlight with tight playing from a bunch of quality folks and the mayor serving up some delicious vittles. Sharing tunes with a number of hangout friends, including Lee and Bob was also special. Steve, we met away from our instruments a bunch of times but didn't come together for a tune. Next year?
I shared the podium with Gerry Milnes (1st) and Chris Germain (2nd) by winning third place in the senior fiddle contest. Very unexpected and the highest of highlights. I'll post a video when I get it uploaded to YouTube.
The day we seemed in the clouds was a day the air was perpetually wet. No joke. But the hot and sometimes rainy weather isn't what comes home with me; those are mostly a given for which I am prepared.
Each year I find another batch of tunes that catch my ear and have a blast playing with my camp friends. Sometimes played at a lazy lope, other times the tunes are hoppin' numbers. The big feast jam at Geezer Corner (camp where I stay) stands as a highlight with tight playing from a bunch of quality folks and the mayor serving up some delicious vittles. Sharing tunes with a number of hangout friends, including Lee and Bob was also special. Steve, we met away from our instruments a bunch of times but didn't come together for a tune. Next year?
I shared the podium with Gerry Milnes (1st) and Chris Germain (2nd) by winning third place in the senior fiddle contest. Very unexpected and the highest of highlights. I'll post a video when I get it uploaded to YouTube.
I'm always inspired by your bow hand.. so slick and it seems to dance...
I get some messenger messages from that group. Haven't really been on Facebook for about a year. I go to look at links I'm sent. I did watch several videos of someone who I'm friends with who I met at Clifftop, Christina Tiff, she plays banjo and fiddle and is a heck of a horse trainer.
Billy, Christina is a hoot! I got to play with her at our weekly old time jam at the Occidental Hotel in Buffalo, WY for several years. She excels at everything she chooses to do. One reason I bought a fiddle 6 years ago was due to listening to her and Lynn Young play fiddles at our jam. I have lots of recordings of those jams and get to play with Christina via my recordings almost every day. We sure miss her. Smart, funny, nice and very accomplished with her banjo and fiddle playing. As I remember the story, she learned to play the banjo while being flat on her back, recovering from an unfortunate mule training accident.
I can't believe how lucky I've been to be able to play with such amazing O.T. players.
Here it is - played in Bb because that's where I think Hoyt Ming played it based on the open strings I heard when learning it.
Let me state again the shock I felt when my name was called. I had gone back to my camp and was boiling water for some pasta because I was quite hungry. Next thing I'm standing on stage with the top 5 and then they say my name. The rest is a blur but when we were standing behind the stage getting our pictures taken I realize who I'm standing there with. "Hey, I know you," I said to Chris Germain. He and I played tunes much of the afternoon the day before. Then I heard a Gerry spell his name to the photographer "M-I-L-N-E-S and kinda freaked a little. Those two are heavyweights and here I was standing there with a silly grin on my face. We shook hands and proceeded to fill out a bunch of paperwork.
Turns out, 3rd place gets you 50 bucks. Paid for 1/3 of my entry for 10 days.
It was a great festival, and good to see y'all. I was runnin' around all over the place, but got a couple of tunes in at Lee's camp. Billy, sounds like a plan next year.
i took a ton of pictures, but really haven't been through them and posted much. Here is a little video I took at camp one night of the Burnt Mills Highballers. I was lucky to get a few tunes in with these guys. I met Mike and Tom at my first Clifftop in 2022 and I always look forward to seeing all those folks.
Also another quick share. There are always a lot of memes about the line up and pre-camp lineup land rush. It actually wasn't terribly stressfull lol. You can see Billy go out in front of me at the beginning of the video:
And last, I think this is the favorite video I took. Someone asked me the name of the young fellow playing bass and I didn't retain it. He kept saying "I don't really know how to play {{insert random instrument}}", Then he would proceed to play said instrument quite well. Later in the week I walked past the vendor who was selling dulcimers, and the kid was sitting there playing the fool out of one of those lol.
It was a great festival, and good to see y'all. I was runnin' around all over the place, but got a couple of tunes in at Lee's camp. Billy, sounds like a plan next year.
i took a ton of pictures, but really haven't been through them and posted much. Here is a little video I took at camp one night of the Burnt Mills Highballers. I was lucky to get a few tunes in with these guys. I met Mike and Tom at my first Clifftop in 2022 and I always look forward to seeing all those folks.
Also another quick share. There are always a lot of memes about the line up and pre-camp lineup land rush. It actually wasn't terribly stressfull lol. You can see Billy go out in front of me at the beginning of the video:
And last, I think this is the favorite video I took. Someone asked me the name of the young fellow playing bass and I didn't retain it. He kept saying "I don't really know how to play {{insert random instrument}}", Then he would proceed to play said instrument quite well. Later in the week I walked past the vendor who was selling dulcimers, and the kid was sitting there playing the fool out of one of those lol.
Two things about the first music video.. The guy in the white hat "Mikey" only started playing a fiddle a few years ago.. He is now what is called an 'in demand' guy to jam with.. I jammed with him last year and he wore me out. Also, the banjo player with the white mustache sitting across from Mikey is Tommy......Tommy is famous for being an exceptional banjo player with an admirable tight right hand and also he is one of the most colorful, wonderful, fun people you can ever meet. Somehow, he reminds me of the man, Sixto Rodriguez, about whom the documentary "Searching for Sugarman" was made. Tommy is a hard working laborer and is as humble as was Sixto....Anyway... Love both of those guys.. Thanks for sharing the info Steve... YOU are also a 'character' who is fun to be around.. Our camp looks forward to your visits every year. Lee
PS.. I must say that it looks like EVERYONE in that jam is playing one of your instrument, right Steve?
Here it is - played in Bb because that's where I think Hoyt Ming played it based on the open strings I heard when learning it.
Let me state again the shock I felt when my name was called. I had gone back to my camp and was boiling water for some pasta because I was quite hungry. Next thing I'm standing on stage with the top 5 and then they say my name. The rest is a blur but when we were standing behind the stage getting our pictures taken I realize who I'm standing there with. "Hey, I know you," I said to Chris Germain. He and I played tunes much of the afternoon the day before. Then I heard a Gerry spell his name to the photographer "M-I-L-N-E-S and kinda freaked a little. Those two are heavyweights and here I was standing there with a silly grin on my face. We shook hands and proceeded to fill out a bunch of paperwork.
Turns out, 3rd place gets you 50 bucks. Paid for 1/3 of my entry for 10 days.
PS.. I must say that it looks like EVERYONE in that jam is playing one of your instrument, right Steve? ________________
Yep! I asked them to stop by and do that if they had time. I set under their tent for a while late one night with a banjo and I was just along for the train ride.
When I met "Mikey" (and Tom) in 2022 he was a good fiddler and banjo player. Sometime between then and the 2023 festival I think he must have went to the crossroads and made a deal or something lol.
PS.. I must say that it looks like EVERYONE in that jam is playing one of your instrument, right Steve?
________________
Yep! I asked them to stop by and do that if they had time. I set under their tent for a while late one night with a banjo and I was just along for the train ride.
When I met "Mikey" (and Tom) in 2022 he was a good fiddler and banjo player. Sometime between then and the 2023 festival I think he must have went to the crossroads and made a deal or something lol.
Well, I woldn't say he made a deal with a devil buy maybe with an angel... He is a really sweet kid..
Live and learn.. This year I had a delightful man named Tommy as a student.. He played quite well but was playing just a little faster than his skill level.. Basically I told him to slow down and pay more attention to tonal quality and let the speed take care of itself.. I though.. HEY< That is what I MYSELF need to be doing.. So.. who was the teacher and who was the student? Me or Tommy.. Apparently......we were both teachers and students.
I heard a piece on NPR yesterday about a kind of tribute session held at Clifftop for the late TN luthier Gene Horner by people that own and play his instruments. Any of you experience that? Years ago we had a member who was a vociferous champion of Mr Horner and his work, which was not so well known then. NPR also had a report from Galax where it was mentioned that attendance was down - it has never recovered from Covid days, apparently. How was the crowd at Clifftop?
I heard a piece on NPR yesterday about a kind of tribute session held at Clifftop for the late TN luthier Gene Horner by people that own and play his instruments. Any of you experience that? Years ago we had a member who was a vociferous champion of Mr Horner and his work, which was not so well known then.
NPR also had a report from Galax where it was mentioned that attendance was down - it has never recovered from Covid days, apparently. How was the crowd at Clifftop?
I've been asking about this year's attendance but still haven't received a reply..Looked pretty full..!
I asked because in some of Steve's photos it looked kind of sparse. But I realize its a big place, and kind of ebbs and flows around the site. I'm glad you all had fun.
Actually, I'd call the place Packed.. Did Steve mention the large rattlesnake in his area?? Larry saw kids chasing a large black snake.. not to mention the wind storm on Sunday.. Clifftop it action packed!!!! The second annual Puppet/limberjack jam had (I'd estimate) 40-50 participants.. Some of the puppets made Harry Hare look like an amateur..!!! Can't wait till next year. You know me.. I was on the lookout for Sasquatch..
I asked because in some of Steve's photos it looked kind of sparse. But I realize its a big place, and kind of ebbs and flows around the site. I'm glad you all had fun.
I got tired of the ads (maybe I saw all of them?) but many of those photos were of the small gathering of food who actually watch the contests. That space is a deliberately wide open portion of the grounds. There is also a pic taken near the edge of the woods that gives an impression of less. Geezer Hill was so packed I almost drove over a tent that was pretty much corner staked in part of the narrow drive. The bottoms, where things get wild after dark and tents are so close together as to share stakes, was very full as was the area know as The Tater Patch.
It felt like fewer big RVs in the open area, but when I left the generator section outside the grounds looked fuller that I remember.
Overall, it wasn't the most people, but about average for the half dozen times I've attended.
Billy - "small gathering of food who actually watch the contests?" Is there cannibalism at Clifftop these days? I agree - I appreciated seeing the pictures, but of all the photo hosting sites I've seen (not many) that one has to be the worst!
Proof read, Billy, proof read. "Folks" who might be food IF there were cannibals acting out (can't say there weren't any, but there weren't any eating the attendees).
I wouldn't say the festival was sparse at all. My pictures range from the line up where I was maybe the 75th car inside, up till the 2nd Sunday morning when most of the crowd left before I did.
Imgur really IS the go-to these days. Used to be a bunch of photo hosting sites but many of the forums I (used to) visit have page after page of dead links that used to take you to a photo hosted on a closed site.
