Hello everyone. Hope
you are enjoying these super glorious beautiful end of Summer days in New
England we are experiencing. I enjoyed it to the max yesterday at the Oxbow
Festival in Morrisville. And since I am tied to my laptop for my fantasy football
draft for the next few hours, might as well make it productive. Kempepedia
presents The 2019 Oxbow fest, Morrisville, VT Aug 24, 2019.
Morrisville is
about an hour from my crib. Moog’s Place is located there and they are known
for having kick ass live music. I haven’t seen anyone there yet because it is
an hour drive away. 300 people
tops with lots of vendors, plenty of space, enormous shade tent, and super
mellow Vermont vibe. And only 28 bucks for 5 kick ass bands.
First up the Seth
Yacavone Band. Seth is a guitar god up here and probably my fav. He plays the
blues like no one else and sounds like he has a hellhound on his tail. SYB
focuses mainly on originals. A 3 piece power trio in the mold of Cream. Wasn’t
familiar with any of the tunes but they were all really good. The last song was
called Little Richard Will Rise Again. No idea what the song was about but it
hilarious on so many levels. SYB left immediately after their set to play a set at another festival over an hour away in southern Vermont. Then drove back to Morrisville to play with Dead Sessions Lite at Moog's after Oxbow ended. The hardest working man in Vermont show business!
Next up was Beg,
Steal, or Borrow, a bluegrass band from Vermont. They are a traditional bluegrass
band without a drummer. They played a lot of originals and a few covers. They first
formed to play Old and In the Way in its entirety for a one off gig but felt
magic had occurred and kept the band going. One song they did was about a train
accident in Vermont in 1949. 3 railroad workers died. The band met some of
their decedents and played them the tune at another show. What a mind blowing achievement
to memorialize a tragedy in song form for the people that suffered that grief.
Now that is some genuine Vermont folk music right there folks.
Next up was Haley
Jane and the Primates. They only have 2 more shows before they go on hiatus and
never had chance to see them live before. I have seen HJ 3 times acoustically
but this was something else. The first song was Blue Earth and HJ corralled the
energy on the stage and threw it right back into the crowd. Several times. It
was an amazing. Didn’t know any of her stuff but the highlight for myself was a
song about trying to categorize music. It was funny and a rocking out tune. It
was rather pleasant to hear some straight up rock and roll by a really tight
band fronted by a power jam queen. HJ was also participating in a Rocking Your
Life: Wild Women’s Retreat at The Wonderful Place retreat Center in Morrisville
that weekend. She and Taraleigh Weathers led the retreat and the aforementioned
Wildwomen were onstage at one point and were involved with a song that ended
with biodegradable balloons with hemp string being released. Why? Because it’s
VERMONT!
Last but not
least was Into the Mystic: A Van Morrison tribute. I love Van Morrison. His
early to mid 60’s R&B stuff with Them is some of my favorite pure rock and
roll shit. Also a huge fan of his early 1970’s work. While they didn’t play too
much of Them, they played everything else I wanted to hear. Dancing in a field,
under the stars, to the music from the crankiest Irishman that ever lived was a
peak moment. Only thing missing was the purple jumpsuit from The Last Waltz. I still can’t believe how much fun it is to
live here if your life revolves around music.
I didn’t stay for
the after show with Dead Sessions Lite at Moogs. I am sure it rocked but it was
late. I hope you enjoyed this recap. Again, 4 of the bands and 3/5 of HJP are
from Vermont. Next up on the dreamscape, Dead Set ’80 this Friday at Nectar’s.
Dave Kemp
BA American Studies
PhD Rock and Roll
