Thanks to a welcome reconnect with a favorite percussionist, one Andrew Mrozkowski, I found myself in downtown Greensboro, NC enjoying a 4th of July celebration put on by one Bob Robertson, front and center for a band that will always hold a sacred space in my heart. Some of you will remember their name: FOLKSWAGGIN. They formed at a vigil the night Jerry Garcia died and spent the next 5 years taking us all on a journey of healing and self discovery. I had never listened to the Grateful Dead, nor anything that could be remotely related to a jam. Having been raised on pop music, with a foundation of vinyl which included 70s rock, classic country and classical, my mind was suddenly opened not only to a whole new sound, but an entirely new way to approach a career in the music industry.
I was a year into the last 17 years of single motherhood and the idea of any type of family was beyond enticing. The group of people that surrounded Folkswaggin was to be the first real family I had ever had. Melissa Hinnant, the Holder sisters, Mr. Hylton and Jason and Christina Blaylock, Shane Lee and David McCracken became a collective that I found to provide not only a new musical awareness, but ignited a craving for harmony and a safety that consistently supported those manic Sundays that had terminally haunted my youth. Although they may have been reluctant to allow this crazy newcomer a pass to production, the inevitable had no choice but to prosper. With the gift of connectivity to Bob, I found a path opening up before me that could not be denied.
Over the next few years, I volunteered for Bob as he grew a festival scene that would come to bring national artists from around the country to the sacred ground of North Carolina. Not only was I introduced to the jam band scene, but introduced to a wealth of my own unknown history through americana music and bluegrass. It didn't take long to realize that my grass was blue. Smilefest originated as a day fest at Castle McCollough in Greensboro and grew to join with the Little King scene of Green Acres just west on I40. By the time I jumped on the bandwagon we found ourselves celebrating music on an island in the middle of a lake and I was the backstage liaison from the 420 Cafe to the artists camp. We celebrated love, life and the pursuit of musical excellence at many spots along the way. While we ultimately found a home at Deerfields, here in Asheville NC, I personally began growing up during our years with Casey VanHoy at VanHoy Farms in Statesville, NC.
VanHoy proved to be place where we could convene to dream and manifest connectivity with artists that would last a lifetime. This is the spot where not only was I blessed to bring my older son, Ian, and introduce him to the beauty of excavation, crystals, bonfires and dancing, but welcomed my younger son, Joshua, into the festival world. This is the land where he was blessed to be introduced to the world by his father, Mark Griffith. Joshua was Simba for a day, and despite the loss of fatherhood he has known, this memory will always burn brightly in our cosmos.
This is the spot where I was blessed to meet and work with countless idols, including David Grisman, Jeff Sipe, Bela Fleck, Futureman, Larry & Jenny Keel, Keller Williams and the Lord of the Strings Vassar Clements. During these early years I was living between Clemmons and Winston-Salem in a spot called Lewisville. While putting the past behind me and hosting the ghosts of my grandparents on the daily, I was blessed to have this sacred spot in Statesville filled with love and friendship that allowed me to grow past my prideful beginnings. For these years of growth and learning, I am forever grateful.
It was also a time to learn from and begin to acknowledge so many artists I admired that would eventually become my neighbors as I considered the path to Asheville, NC. I was blessed to watch my son fall in love with Caroline Pond of the Snake Oil Medicine Show and be influenced by countless good men, like Jason Krekel, Phil Cheney, the Pond Brothers, Woody Wood, Mark Shimick, as well as all the amazing people we worked alongside. I was blessed to be reunited with church camp friends from our early days of escapism to college dorms under the guise of god. Gil and Ken were the first brothers I felt like actually respected me as their sister and gave me a safety net to sleep. Falling in love with amazing Matts and Jumanji and countless adorable brothers who gave me the freedom to ride with Scarecrow wherever the wind blows. I knew I was a baby, and it was okay. These were the days where I learned the safety to walk on stage. I will be eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to kick off one summer with the National Anthem, thanks to the goddess Niki Harrison, as well as perform with the children of the summer with my son on stage. Ian stood on one side of Vassar, and I stood on the other. We were surrounded by the talents of Larry & Jenny Keel, Curtis Burch and Rex McGee.
During this time I was also blessed to be taken to my first Merlefest by my aunt Diane Smith and volunteered the next decade in Wilkesboro, NC in order to devour as much incredible music as humanly possible for 4 days every spring. It was here I was first exposed to so many incredible artists, like Sam Bush and Chris Thile, who I have been lucky enough to work with many more times over the years. The Kuger Brothers, the Avett Brothers, Tift Merritt, Jim Lauderdale, Peter Rowan, Dolly Parton, John Paul Jones and countless others who I am sure will be mentioned in future blogs. One year, I sent Jim over a dozen cassette tapes with entries to the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, formerly nailed by David Vai, and was blessed to utilize that same mailing to separate the church and state that was my relationship with my father and step mother. The entries were prepared with wraps and oils on a large glass table in their Texan den. Inside the glass was an altar to Michael Jordon, but their pentacostal ways believed my sentiments, intentions and aromas to be a sacrilege to their home and I was thrown out after a quick trip to the post office, soon to be rescued by one Blythe Hatcher and delivered to Austin for the 2002 SXSW.
SXSW was another groundbreaking entry in the life of a music industry dream. There I was blessed to become acquainted with royalty like Bonnie Simmons, Ethan Hawke, and Roy Carter, which led to a week in California later that summer soaking up the Snake Oil Medicine Show and many more great acts at the High Sierra Music Festival. This was also the trip that conceived one Joshua David Aragorn in San Francisco. I was totally stoked to become friends with Jonathan Schwartz, who took me under his wing and introduced me to a horde of awesome folks. We spent one epic night running around with the guys who founded JamBase and got to swing the scene with Umprey's McGee, Particle and so much more talent than I could readily absorb. He also let me crash in his awesome room, was a perfect gentleman and gave me a Relix wardrobe that I wear to this day. The cherry on the proverbial sundae was an introduction to beautiful brainiac Aeve Baldwin. At the time she was the new editor of Relix Magazine, who went on to become the Editor for all of Zenbu Media. She and I spent 5 hours sitting on the patio at Roy's in downtown Austin, drinking wine and making time to weave our visions together with laughter and tears. A few weeks later we both became pregnant and came to believe over time that our little beans were destined for many great things. She and her favorite aussie, Alex, were gifts to my cosmos and allowed me to bring my children to NYC for the ride of a lifetime. Two weeks of spiritual growth and unison with the streets of my favorite haunting grounds.
All this goodness also led to one global trajectory that shall be evident in future writings but shall only be mentioned today, in a final act of gratitude to all those moments where my mind took a turn at dysfunction junction and it was surely time to go talk to BOB. The blues are self evident and the brothers never stop coming. One summer at VanHoy Farms I was blessed to work for two great men, who I will write more about later. One Warren Haynes and one Ashley Capps. After a premenstrual moment of disdain and the limited publication of an essay called Bonnaruination: the Walmart of Festivals, I was invited to come work the 1st Bonnaroo. I quickly wrapped up a recording session in Baltimore MD at Nottingham Studios and struck out toward Manchester TN at 11pm on a Monday night. Tuesday morning was the beginning of a decade of Mr. C taking me to school and back, by providing a venue where I could check in annually to test my body and mind to it's absolute limits. Although, many a downfall occurred on that sacred ground, many a graduation was felt. I will be eternally grateful for every strained shit, every blister, burn and bellyache, every magic moment at the feet of another idol and every friendship that survived the chay.os. Hell, let's be honest, I am also thankful for every relationship that met it's bitter end. We were all at the bottom of a learning curve under those circumstances and many a good man and woman have found a place there to continue to thrive and overcome. Many a love lost and found. To sit at the feet of Bonnie Raitt, John Medeski and Jim Jarmusch makes every step through the mire worth it. To stand at the feet of Kris Kristofferson, Les Claypool and Stevie Wonder makes walking through the feces of others bearable. You may think not, but it's 100% true.
Along the way, we all find our scents and sense of power and freedom. We each have a destiny to fulfill and a vision to develop and devour. There are still countless songs to be written and dances to be danced. Together we grow, laugh, learn and live to our fullest potentials. Alone we wonder. Alone we find the space to loosen the grip on reality and together we wander without losing. These are merely a few highlights of history, herstory, and I hope you will come back to read more stories and find updates on the current wave of sound and sacrifice the musicians you love bring through the small picture window that is my perspective. Here in Asheville NC, we are blessed with live music every night and a wealth of talent that live in every direction. I hope I can find my way out of the box to tell you about it on a regular basis. Until then, rock on.
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