Final Day

And so it begins, the final day of folk fest. I was grateful for Andy, Van and Nate as they laid the tarp. It allowed me to rest my knee and sleep....sleep. Met up at the tarp in the morning as a crew and then headed off for a little morning worship. We arrived just as the Blind Boys were playing. I knew then that we were in for a treat with the main stage performance. There must have been too many artists to have one big gospel hour and so they handed the stage to Linda Tillery and CC and Bettye Lavette. I knew something was terribly wrong wtih her first comment being about how she doesn't know any gospel.....GREAT! (Another favorite, that she doesn't understand the women group 'thing!--Shocking!) The best part of gospel hour was that I got to spend it cuddling with Gracie. I think she looked particularly cute in her little pink jumper with her Big Girl Folk Hat. She provided far more entertainment than the stage. It is funny because we were talking about how it is normally one of the main attractions..definitely not this year.

I went up to the tarp after the session to grab a few things. Mainstage was fine but nothing extraordinary. The afternoon "Sing Out" session with Sarah Harmer, The Wallin' Jennys, Lennie Gallant and Sandy Scofield was likely my favorite session of the weekend. Cam and I just laid inthe grass and relaxed to great harmonies and beautiful lyrics. I really enjoy when artists jam together. On this stage they did but it was with rich harmonies and background vocals....LOVED IT!

I grabbed some lunch during the final session of the day and found myself some shade and some time with my thoughts. It was nice to just breathe for a few minutes. On the walk back to meet Cam I ran into Katherine and she recommended that I come with her to catch Teddy Thompson. I appreciated his honest lyrics, his amazing voice and his stunning, stunning look. Men with giutars and a good set of pipes are definitely on my list of weakeness. People should definitley check this guy out.

After the session it was up to the tarp for mainstage. I enjoy Sunday as I get to visit with the family and think back over the weekend and the summer. Tim said it best....it signals the end of the summer. I won't get to that yet. The family is great. It is really fun to have the babe as part of our family. It is completely different than a few years ago. She brings so much joy to our family. It is amazing how you can love a little baby that much. Gracie is developing her personality everyday and is so fun to watch her meet the world. I know she is in good hands.

I did enjoy Chumbawamba. Again some great harmonies. They are far different than I expected. There was no sign nof Tubthumping just a lot of anti-war stuff. I LOVED the Blind Boys of Alabama. They were just rockin and got the hill rockin. I love when people get to their feet and get right into the performance. Once of them men even took to the crowd. Their showcase finale of all the individual talent was incredible. I don't think that you would find someone non the hill that didn't enjoy the performance. The final performance of the night was Sarah Harmer. I really enjoyed her. She is a singer songwriter with some blue grass sound in her new material. She was a real drop in energy from the BBofA which I think put some people off but the last act typically is quieter...at least that is what my memory seems to recall. I am sure I may be corrected for that one.

All in all the night was perfect. Great family, great friends, great music, great conversation...I really enjoyed my tarp chats over the four days...reconnecting with old friends, taking sperficicial friendships to a stronger level and just thinking.

As we left the hill, I already felt good but then it was off to our own session. Armed with a violin, four guitars, good friends and a few bottles we didn't know that the night was that young. I think that I would call our session "Escarpment" (Definition as promised Cam: A long cliff or steep slope separating two comparatively level or more gently sloping surfaces and resulting from erosion or faulting.http://www.google.ca/url?sa=X&start=0&oi=define&q=http://www.geographic.org/glossary.html) All these level and isolated surfaces brought together through erosion - a weekend of fatigue, inspiration and friendship. Escarpments mark a break in geological structures. It was a break....after certain pieces from Aaron and Tim...who blew me away with their own creative genius...left the room rather silent in contemplation and contentment.

It was an amazing night. My body is tired but my mind refreshed. It was another great year. I appreciate the amount of"incredible" "great" "amazing" adjectives I have used in the post...but you will have to let it be...either that or serve me with a yellow card.

Life is good.

Heather