I was promised peacocks. While I was able to hear them making their unique calls well into the night – every night – sightings proved to be elusive. Peacock motifs nevertheless emblazoned all the wristbands, signage, and commemorative artwork at the 18th annual Northwest String Summit. This 4-day (not exclusively) string-band based festival took place at Horning’s Hideout in North Plains, Oregon, near Portland. I met Bob Horning, who owns the forested land upon which we camped. When the festival isn’t happening, the Hideout is a sequestered playground for disc golfers as well as anglers. Bob seemed the sort who really enjoyed hosting the festival and hopefully this bodes well for continued installments without corporate venue meddling. The festival was sold out at an estimated 4,000 people, which made for a remarkably pleasant, low-key affair.
Bob and his crew have had 18 years to perfect the event, and
perfect it they have. The grounds are
well-kept and decorated, implying a fairy wonderland. Water trucks doused the dirt dance floor
between bands, to keep dust clouds to a minimum. Public showers were often used, and often
cleaned (in at least one case, by Bob himself).
Several charities enjoyed meeting new donors while auctioning artwork
and photos, many featuring the recently deceased Jeff Austin and other
Horning’s Hideout alumni. Vendors were
varied, from hats (fedoras are apparently a festival thing now), scarves, batik
designs, jewelry, various kinds of food (some healthy), and memorabilia. Zane Kesey, son of Merry Prankster Ken Kesey,
had a large booth sporting head culture knick-knacks and signed pieces from his
father, and he also had the Furthur bus on display. This was, he told me, the second Furthur
bus. Zane was raising funds to restore
the first Furthur bus, but 1919 International Harvester parts are hard to come
by, so it may take a while.
At the risk of sounding like an old hippie, the “vibe” at Horning’s is perfect, like a blissed-out family reunion. I was greeted at the gate with a “Happy Hornings!” from a young volunteer. She looked prepared for the duration in sunglasses, t-shirt, shorts and tough sandals. After obtaining my pass and parking, I threw on my pack, grabbed my gear, and asked the attendant where we were supposed to camp. He smiled broadly, gestured widely, and said, “In the woods, wherever you like.” One of Horning’s regular denizens, Mike, who said he had been to most of the festivals after missing the first two, had decorated his motorized wheelchair with peacock feathers. I could only see part of what his batik shirt read, so I asked if he would show me the rest. He happily obliged, and it read, “The Grass in Oregon Is Always Blue.” There were oodles of hula hoopers. It was like a hippie fun fair, everybody smiling and feeling groovy.
And of course, there was music; pretty much around the
clock. When someone wasn’t playing one
of the four “official” stages, it seemed someone was picking away in the woods,
or in the children’s play zone. Not all
the music was bluegrass-based, or folk-based, but most of it was, so, if you
don’t like bluegrass, or folk, maybe this isn’t your kinda festival. The Shook Twins were an early highlight for
me. They’ve stepped their festival game
up since I saw them last year and had great stage presence which included a
3-foot high “shakey egg.” Maybe they
pulled out all the stops since, for the first time, their parents had made it
to the festival, but the crowd really ate it up. They even interrupted their set for a
marriage proposal deep in the middle of the dance floor and wished “Pablo and
Michaela” a happy future together. Day
One’s big headliner was Dark Star Orchestra, and they covered the Dead’s
1972 “Springfield Creamery” show from the Oregon Country Fair which, come to
think of it, has a very similar vibe to Horning’s Hideout, only with less
camping and less music. I’ve seen DSO
through different incarnations and they remain my 3rd favorite
Grateful Dead cover band. Their
re-enactments are so spot on, down to the kind of instruments played on the
dates they’re re-creating, it’s almost like listening to the original
bootleg. This endears them to me as much
as it alienates me (I feel like straight-up note-for-note covers aren’t as
interesting as ingeniously reworked ones), but they’re still better at sounding
like The Dead than Dead and Company.
Just saying. The Kitchen
Dwellers, from Bozeman, MT, opened Day One on the main stage in fine
form. Like most bands I really enjoy,
they’re much better live than on record.
My “best in show” award on Day One went to Tom Hamilton’s new group,
Ghost Light. This is a band which
definitely falls into the “not bluegrass” category, but their ability to read
and play off of each other is off the chart.
I don’t know if Ghost Light is just a side project (i.e. temporary), but
I would highly recommend seeing them if you love jambands. Again, so much better live than on record.
The big showcase set on Day Two went to Yonder
Mountain String Band. With news of
former bandmate Jeff Austin’s passing still fresh in our minds as well as
theirs, they announced to appreciative applause they would be performing their
first album, “Elevate,” in its entirety.
A parade of guest stars ensued: Jay Cobb Anderson (Fruition), Benny
Galloway (who appeared on the original album, and whom Ben Kauffman called “the
best songwriter you’ll ever meet”), and Daniel Rodriguez (Elephant Revival),
but the real high point came when Joel Ludford (Handmade Moments) channeled his
best Jeff Austin on “Ramblin’ in the Rambler.”
This performance included obligatory (and admittedly, fake) Jägermeister
shots. I noticed there seemed to be a
connection of sorts between the Pacific Northwest string bands and the Colorado string
bands. A subtle undercurrent in the
ether, perhaps? And of course, now with
Handmade Moments and the Ozarks. I
suppose there must be little pockets of string band music lovers all over the
country, and apparently, they all know each other! Minnesota’s
Trampled by Turtles followed, but that Yonder set was tough to follow. Trampled still conjured up their particular
brand of haunting melancholia (alternating with frenzied string-band-a-rama
numbers), but my money was on late-night east-coast funksters Pigeons Playing
Ping Pong to light things up again. I adjourned
to my tent for the second nap of the day to ensure I could make it through the
late-night set, and I was not disappointed.
Pigeons is a band who rarely, if ever, comes to my neck of the woods
(Santa Fe), so I was super-psyched we were both in the same neck of the woods,
literally. Again, not remotely a
bluegrass or folk band, but if it was possible to blow the roof off an outdoor
venue, they did just that. Their energy
level was well above 11 on a 10 scale, so I was glad for that second nap. I hope to see this band again and again as
soon as humanly possible and awarded “best in show” for Day Two to Pigeons
Playing Ping Pong.
I should point out that, while they announced this event was streaming on Jammgrass.tv (an affiliate of nugs.net), WiFi reception at Horning’s Hideout is basically non-existent. This is great if you want to get away from it all, but not so much if you want to check out bands you can’t see because you’re watching other bands. There was talk of a local WiFi provider I was never able to successfully hook up with, so I just went for the full-on “real time” experience, and in the end, I’m happy I did. I suspect that may be the only way to truly enjoy what Horning’s Hideout has to offer.
I discovered Horning’s Hideout is very kid-friendly, even if you’re just a kid at heart. I don’t recall seeing any drunken bikers or frat boys, for example. Everyone seemed to be on the same mellow, fun-loving wavelength. In the afternoon of Day Three, we got to see just how many kids were enjoying themselves at the festival / campout when somebody, somehow, rounded up seemingly hundreds of kids into a Kids Parade. It wound its way through the crowd and onto the dirt dance floor, taking about a half hour to do so, and it was the entertainment between River Whyless and The Dead South. A volunteer from the early days of the festival reminded me that, sometimes we’re the attraction, ourselves. I guess that goes for a lot of festivals. Maybe all of them.
I liked the vibe at Horning’s better than The Gorge, better
than Telluride, better than Red Rocks.
Don’t misunderstand, those are incredible venues with vibes all their
own. Maybe I just liked this better
because it was smaller, or because it was in the woods. One of the things I really enjoy about any
festival is finding out about new bands.
On a side-side-side stage I discovered a Portland trio called Five
Letter Word. Charming harmonies, clever
and bright. I don’t think they would
object if I classify some of their songs as “murder folk.” They won the band competition at last year’s festival
and had another festival appearance booked the same weekend. Hard-working but loving what they’re doing.
Another thing I enjoy about festivals is the covers. Obviously, Dark Star does nothing but covers, so I’m not necessarily counting them. When a band takes a song that registers as merely okay in a dim memory and revives it, turning it into something worth remembering and dancing along with, I take note. Shook Twins made me a fan of Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime” for example, after their performance on Day One. I never liked that song. Trampled busted out both The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” and The Faces’ “Ooh La La,” and managed to make them both sound like Trampled songs. Infamous Stringdusters brought me to tears with a rendition of Grateful Dead’s “Terrapin Station.” I literally could not believe my ears. Andy Falco sang that one, and I’ve concluded he should sing more often.
Day Three’s big show was Yonder (rhymes with fonder, launder, wander, blonder, ponder…), for a 2nd main stage appearance. In the past, they’ve done all-Pink Floyd and all-Steve Miller stunt sets. They declared keeping it to one band was too limiting, so this year, they brought us a “mixtape.” This is a Yonder Mountain String Band show especially worth tracking down. Here’s the set list:
YMSB 7/20/19 Horning’s Hideout, North Plains, OR
Fortunate Son (CCR cover)
Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin cover)
Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics cover)
What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye cover)
Think (Aretha Franklin cover)
He’s Gone (Grateful Dead cover)
Flagpole Sitta (Harvey Danger cover)
Space Oddity (David Bowie cover)
Starman (David Bowie cover)
Rock and Roll (Velvet Underground cover)
Drift Away (Dobie Gray cover)
The Shape I’m In (The Band cover)
Another thing I enjoy at festivals is the cross-pollination
of band members, and there were plenty here, starting with Lindsay Lou on
“Sweet Dreams.” Ben admitted his mom had
earlier that day proclaimed Handmade Moments her new favorite band, as he introduced
HM’s Anna Moss to join them on “What’s Going On.” Lindsay Lou also stayed through “Think,” as
did Fruition’s Mimi Naja. Colorado’s Tyler Grant
came out for “He’s Gone,” which Yonder thanked DSO for excluding from their
re-enactment on Day One. Is there a
no-repeat rule at Horning’s? They felt
it fitting to recall, at this point, that Jeff Austin would always make them
listen to Dead tapes on the road. Up to
this point, the covers were straightforward, but next up on the guest list was
Brad Parsons (formerly of Horse Feathers), who brought just the right amount of
crazy to “Flagpole Sitta,” and here the show finally got jamming. Rumor had circulated through the festival
that it was the anniversary of the moon landing (the 50th, in fact)
and that, if we looked up at the right time, we could see the International
Space Station crossing the night sky. To
capitalize on this, and perhaps to further ingratiate themselves with the
cosmos, they brought the Bowie two-fer, along with inflatable palm trees and an
extended jam worth tracking down. Guest
vocals on the Bowie
songs were both Joel Ludford and Anna Moss from Handmade Moments. There was a great Allie Kral fiddle solo
during the Velvet Underground song, then Fruition’s front line joined in for
“Drift Away.” My count of people onstage
during The Band finale was thirteen, including Fruition, Handmade Moments, Tyler
Grant and more. With our minds blown,
the band thanked String Summit as a collective entity and said, “We love you
the most!”
Day Four began with my recollection of the advice I’d heard often since Day One, whenever a veteran had discovered it was my first trip to Horning’s: “pace yourself.” Well, it wasn’t my first rodeo, and I still had a little gas left in the tank. After catching Five Letter Word again, this time on the main stage, I was impressed by Steve Poltz (formerly of San Diego’s The Rugburns). He reminded me of Todd Snider, in that he told a lot of stories. Sometimes the stories were longer than the songs, but Steve has a knack for storytelling, so he kept my interest. Most of the stories centered around peace and love. And, since the pink patrol had decorated for “Cancer Day,” his stories also centered around flipping cancer the bird.
Since 2011, String Summit Sunday has been “Cancer Day,”
commemorating young festival-goer Lillian Trippe. She was a fan of Yonder Mountain String Band
and died just short of her 4th birthday after a lifelong battle with
childhood cancer. Those in the know
sported their best pink outfits and the Stringdusters’ Jeremy Garrett played a
solo set during the Memorial Head Shave, where volunteer youngsters got their
heads shaved onstage for the charity.
Lil Smokies (an Americana jamband I hadn’t seen live yet) and Ley Line
(a vocal group with Hawaiian flair I hadn’t heard of yet) kept the music going
while Jeremy got the Stringdusters together again for another out-of-this-world
main stage set. Earlier in the day, Andy
Falco sat in with Lindsay Lou on a stirring rendition of Grateful Dead’s “Eyes
of the World,” and during the Infamous Stringdusters’ 2nd set of the
weekend, he teased Jerry’s “Reuben and Cherise.” “Tennessee Jed” got a good workout too. Remembering the incredible “Terrapin” from
Day Three, I started to wonder if Andy Falco made it a point to know every
Grateful Dead song. Horning’s Hideout as
a venue hasn’t existed long enough to have hosted Jerry Garcia in any lineup,
but it seemed his spirit was ever-present.
One fan summed up my observation with the statement, “Jamgrassers love
Jerry.” There were a lot of Grateful
Dead / Jerry Garcia shirts being worn, but as I have a tendency to keep track
of the merch I spy at shows, especially if they’re not related to people
actually playing, I would say the most-often spotted merch was Phish-related. Second most was Billy Strings, who has probably
played Horning’s, but if not he certainly should.
Anticipation was high for the last main stage act of the weekend: Sideboob. This all-female supergroup was organized by the Shook Twins years ago as a side stage novelty, but now they were joined by Mimi Naja (Fruition), Allie Kral (YMSB), and darn near every xx-chromosome player at the festival. Some rotated in-and-out as it would be impossible to have them all onstage at once, though at one point there were thirteen performers onstage, including five fiddle players! They covered all-female hits of yesteryear, including En Vogue’s “My Lovin’,” Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly,” The Cranberries’ “Dreams,” and J-Lo’s “Genie in a Bottle.” Mimi Naja introduced their cover of Natalie Merchant’s “Carnival” by reminiscing about going to her favorite Portland record store on release day to buy the “Tigerlilly” album, presumably on CD. She turned that song into a rocking, almost menacing jam with a great guitar solo. The crowd enthusiastically sang along to every song, especially Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch,” and Sideboob was a fantastic closer to an extraordinary weekend. I remember hoping there would be at least a smattering of original material, but they erred on the side of “giving the people what they want.”
After the dust had settled, packing up to head back to “civilization” on Monday morning, I chanced to bump into “Wheelchair Mike” one last time. He was passing out peacock feathers in exchange for telling our highlights of the weekend. I was still replaying the Stringdusters’ “Terrapin” in my mind, so I said that was the high point for me, and Mike graciously parted with one of the feathers he had collected. Thinking about it later, I ought to have said one of my highlights was, “meeting you, Wheelchair Mike.” Honestly, everyone I met over the weekend were quality human beings and treated each other like family. Or like family ought to treat each other anyway. At least for now, Horning’s Hideout is a magical environment, and this is a magical festival. I hope it stays that way.
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