The Gettysburg Review by Anya Hinkle

Greatest Hits II: Gettysburg

As if Merlefest wasn’t exciting enough, soon after recovering from the Wilkesboro chaos we piled back into the Lowmobile for a trip up to Gettysburg, PA for their semiannual bluegrass festival. By some stroke of luck we were placed within a lineup that was populated with some of our all-time favorite musicians, all scheduled to appear May 16th 2010. As we traveled across the picturesque rolling countryside, feeling a bit haunted by the bloody history of the area, we considered important questions like “what should I say to Allison Kraus if I get to meet her” (the best answer, we decided, was that, well, you say it best when you say nothing at all).

Compared to Merlefest, Gettysburg was more than an order of magnitude smaller in terms of audience, with a single stage and a more approachable, relaxed atmosphere. The festival is a family-run affair, and the Winklemans have been in the bluegrass festival business since 1979. Their brand new stage was beautiful and set at the base of a hillside that made for a natural amphitheater for the audience, seated in lawn chairs. The elder Winkleman explained the history of the property and the festival and festival staff and volunteers provided delicacies like French press coffee and chocolate doughnuts (which were actually provided expressly for Ron Thomason who shared).

Despite the star-studded lineup, the atmosphere was relaxed in the backstage area. We warmed up as Dry Branch Fire Squad played their old favorites and, not wanting to interrupt their awesome playing with our pre-set plucking, we escaped to the campground where the kind folks at C32A took care of us as they have for the Rangers and Shannon Whitworth in past years. The soundman listened to a description of our stage plot like a waiter at a nice restaurant taking orders, no notes needed. We walked up to the stage and everything was in place, line check, then ready to go!

It is always interesting to play in different parts of the country, and I was really interested to watch the faces of the audience as we played. Bluegrass is changing so much and there are so many types of fans that like different types of music: die-hard, straight-ahead bluegrass, progressive slick Nashville bluegrass, experimental adrenaline-charged, jam-oriented music, and slow acoustic country crooning, and combinations of these styles. I honed in on the folks that seemed to be digging the original songs, the gritty singing, and the combination of new and old that we seem to bring together. It’s fun to share what we’re doing with people in a different region, because the southeast, and southern Appalachians specifically, seems to have such a rich diversity of acoustic roots music that people in other regions go nuts over. After an hour long set we left the stage and headed to the merch table and stood there shook hands and signed cds for over AN HOUR. We were absolutely blown away by the line of people that were waiting to talk to us. The people at Gettysburg clearly love the music and are keen to support the musicians.

The most exciting part of the day included meeting and watching some of our favorite musicians of all time. Seldom Scene took the stage and we had the pleasure of a delightful conversation with resophonic guitarist Mike Auldrige who complimented Aaron on his playing and me on my boots. Auldrige assumed the role of being a very down-to-earth mentor and was quite encouraging and inspiring. Then hanging out with Travis of the Stringdusters and watching them put on a great show, as usual. Finally we all took a break in anticipation of Allison Kraus and Union Station’s set in the evening. Jerry Douglas made his way backstage, set his dobro down and pulled out a fat cigar. Stig lit it for him and he and Aaron got to talk dobros. While Aaron was trying to contain his awe and excitement, Jerry asked him if he’d like to play his dobro. The picture is absolutely priceless. Then Ron Block walked backstage and stepped squarely on Stig’s foot, which Stig enjoyed immensely. Finally, Allison appeared in a flowing dress, surrounded by an entourage of people…I don’t know who cause we were all looking at Allison. And then Tony Rice materialized and they all proceeded to the green room.

Watching them perform was just an inspiration, they are so polished, so relaxed, never have to tune, and their sound is SO good, in addition to the music that they are playing. They played a lot of their older stuff that really brings you back. All amazing musicians and people, a pleasure to watch and learn from.

We piled back in the car and headed back down the 81 home, a full 8 hours away. Monday morning rolled around and I headed up to my day job in Highlands, NC, Aaron ran the bush hog at the Biltmore, Stig scraped paint off a fire escape turning his arms black, Bryan returned to his middle schoolers and Stacy to her booking and publicity business. There doing your regular job it was simply hard to believe that 24 hours before we were backstage with Allison Kraus, playing in exactly the same stage as they were, the memory of it like some kind of dream.