This is the best bluegrass festival, period. The size is perfect. One stage, no lines, nothing is crowded* Almost everyone who attends plays an instrument so the campground jams can be amazing.

(*except the handicap bathroom stall of which there is only one and when you’re helping someone navigate the festival in a wheelchair that makes it tough, but that’s my only complaint.)

Del McCoury’s set was legend. Just kept on going. At 85 years old they had to practically drag him off the stage at 11PM. Del feels like the last living bridge to Monroe from a musical and performance pov and his band is the quintessential traditional bluegrass sound.

Asleep at the wheel also killed it. The intricacy of the unison/harmony parts on fiddle, pedal steel, guitar and sax was just awesome to watch. They made it look soooo easy which is half of the appeal given how complicated Western swing is.

I didn’t get in nearly as much playing as I’d hoped but it was great to know that scattered across the fairgrounds were pockets of players who I knew and had jammed with in the past so that, had I had more time to play, I could have jumped into any of several different sessions.

Guitar nerd notes: I’ll add that the picking I did do was on my D-18 which i strung up with martin PB lifespans (13/mediums) just before leaving for DelVal and the guitar just felt so lifeless compared to my 28. It was a challenge to really make any music on it. It did start to feel better towards Sunday morning so either the strings needed to break in a bit or i got used to the lifelessness of it. I don’t know. I haven’t played my 28 since I’ve been home. I need to do a side by side. I did play my OM-18 when I got home and that is the most comfortable guitar to play but i need new strings on it.