Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival 2008: Friday Review

Submitted by eggs on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 22:57.

Friday, September 12th was the first day of the Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival that found bands playing on all three stages. The biggest draws of the day included both jam heroes Leftover Salmon and up-and-coming indie bluegrass band The Avett Brothers. A full day of music preceded those headliners, and we were there to take full advantage of the long schedule of events.

Read about the day after the jump

Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival: Friday

Use the quicklinks below to read about specific artists, or just scroll down to read the whole article.

Chompdown on the Mountain Deux
Shannon Wurst & 3 Penny Acre
Oakhurst
Elephant Revival Concept
Speakeasy
Great American Taxi
Family Groove Company
New Monsoon
Blue Turtle Seduction
Split Lip Rayfield
The Avett Brothers
Leftover Salmon
Boombox

Chompdown on the Mountain Deux: 9:00am-11:00am

Mulberry Mountain Harvest Festival: Friday

Chompdown on the Mountain Deux

The morning started with some much-needed breakfast (BACON!!!) at the 4th official Chompdown. For those unfamiliar with the Chompdown, it is an event that was started at Wakarusa 2007 by Rabbit, a friend of the festival and a regular on its message board. Since the initial event was such a success, Rabbit and friends carried the idea over to Mulberry Mountain, with many of the same contributors attending. To our disappointment, we learned the night before that Rabbit was unable to attend this year's event; the Chompdown was still go on as planned bright and early in the morning. As Cereal mentioned in her Mulberry Thursday review, we had already visited "Camp Chomp" the night before, and were familiar with the posh lifestyle they were living: couches, coffee tables, lava lamps and much more adorned the campsite. On this particular morning, though, Camp Chomp had a little something extra to offer - Shreveport-based band Dirtfoot, who have performed at every Chompdown thus far, were there to entertain the crowd with their rowdy brand of "grumble-boogie." We arrived in perfect time, as the music was in full swing. The decent-sized crowd made up of fans, vendors and artists alike chomped down on eggs, bacon, sausage, cinnamon spinners, fresh-cut fruit, juice, and much more deliciousness. As always, we left the Chompdown with full bellies, ready to begin our much-anticipated day of music.

Shannon Wurst & 3 Penny Acre

After refreshing ourselves back at camp, we headed over to catch our first band of bluegrass pickers, 3 Penny Acre. Fronted by songstress Shannon Wurst, and featuring guest spots from Green Mountain Grass' Adam "Pickles" Moss and Trevor Smith on fiddle and banjo respectively, this bluegrass quartet ran through several traditional bluegrass tunes, including quite a few ballads that showed off the vocal workings of Wurst. They did an impressive job bringing the Campground Stage alive by providing a nice, mellow soundtrack that allowed the festival's attendees to ease into the day. Through the trees we heard the beckoning call of the weekend's MC, Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon, screaming "Gooooood Mooooorning Muuuulberry!!!" to ensure that anyone still asleep would wake up and head towards the action.

A.P. Hill of Oakhurst

After hearing nothing but good things about them from Toast - and missing their set at this year's Wakarusa - Oakhurst have been a must-see for Cereal and myself for quite some time. Due to the proximity of our campsite to the tent they played in at Wakarusa, I at least had the chance to hear their set back in June. After they closed with The Flaming Lips' "Turn It On," I immediately knew that they were my type of band. At Mulberry, we made our way to the main stage just in time for the start of the band's second song. It was a familiar bluegrass tune, but they delivered it in way I have never heard from other pickers. They had a certain energy about them which made them stand out from the rest of the festival's acts. That is one of the greatest things about these genre-centric festivals. Even though most bands are playing a very similar style of music, they all add their own dimensions and sounds to the standard. The first highlight of the set came when they played through their tune "Jim & Nan," a favorite of BOT. Soon we found ourselves getting hungry, so we headed back to camp to see what our cooler had to offer. After deciding on some burgers, and catching a seat, I soon heard the opening bars to Ween's "Bananas and Blow" blasting from the main stage. As quickly as I sat down, I was back up and retracing my steps to the main stage. It was a very on-point version of the Ween classic, and was immediately followed by set closer - and one of my favorite traditional bluegrass tunes - "Mountain Dew," which was the cue for me to grab a couple of bags of ice and head back to camp before Elephant Revival Concept's second set of the weekend.

Elephant Revival Concept

I was very impressed by Elephant Revival Concept's sound the previous day in the Harvest Tent, so I was excited to see what they had to offer for round two. After a quick lunch, I headed over to meet up with Cereal, who had already made it to the Campground Stage to begin shooting their set. The nice vocal harmonies of Bonnie Paine (very Natalie Merchant-ish) and Bridget Law provided the right addition to the layered, at-times Celtic bluegrass instrumentals that the rest of the band provided. The different mixture of instruments used by ERC was what really made them stand out, though. Paine moved from washboard to djembe and other percussion while Dango Rose moved from upright bass only to trade it out for a mandolin during the next song (Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones comes to mind). Several other stringed instruments were also used including banjo, guitar and fiddle by Law, Sage T. Cook and Daniel Rodriguez. Their sound definitely fits in the bluegrass realm, but their addition of percussion from Paine adds a whole new dimension to the genre.

Speakeasy

I had heard several good things about Speakeasy coming into this performance, but after checking out a few tracks after reading Cereal's preview, I was a bit skeptical about how they would fare in a live setting. They opened their set with a gritty funk number that was truly promising. Upon hearing the set opener, we headed to the Campground Stage from our tent to find them ending that particular number. After that their set for me went completely downhill. Their sound moved from that raw funk to what I could only describe as 80's cock rock. Lead singer Shawn Eckels soon turned the smooth vocal style of the first song into somewhat of a howl, and at times a scream. The music stayed quite consistent and full of energy, but overall they did not prove to stand out amongst the rest of the up-and-coming progressive rock acts that are making waves in the jam scene these days. Cereal and I soon decided to forgo a bigger chunk of their set so we could get our first taste of Vince Herman's Great American Taxi.

Great American Taxi

Vince Herman was all over the place. I was lucky enough to have seen him perform twice already on Thursday, once with Mountain of Venus and also later that night jamming in the campgrounds with members of Green Mountain Grass, 3 Penny Acre, and Elephant Revival Concept. He also had taken on the job of MC'ing the main stage from the beginning of the day, making Cereal and I break into grins every time we heard his voice. Because he held the headlining set later that night, we knew Herman's appearance with Great American Taxi would not be the last time we saw him that weekend.

While I knew that GAT had country tinges, I did not expect them to bring any rock aspects to the table. I was mistaken, though, and found their set to lean more heavily on their jammier material rather than their country tunes. At times they even brought out their reggae influences, especially during their second song, which sounded not too far off from some of my favorite 60's ska records. I mentioned earlier that Herman was all over the place, but it must be pointed out that his number of appearances throughout the weekend was closely matched by Bonnie Paine. She joined Great American Taxi for a few numbers, most notably for Bob Dylan's "Rock Me Mama," which proved to be the highlight of the set for me. Another notable guest spot went to Leftover Salmon's "Big Daddy" Bill McKay, who played keys throughout the entire show. The rest of their set finished quite strong, but I was really in the mood to get down, so we headed over to the Campground stage to catch the beginning of Family Groove Company's set.

Janis Wallin of Family Groove Company

I had the chance to catch the last song of Family Groove Company's set at this year's Wakarusa, and was immediately drawn to two things: the NOLA-style funk present in their sound, and the uniqueness of lead singer and organ player Jordan Wilkow's voice. As we approached their afternoon set, we were immediately overtaken by the deep sound of Janis Wallin's bass. A few songs into their set, they covered Bob Dylans' "Subterranean Homesick Blues," continuing the Dylan theme that Great American Taxi started earlier. Instead of staying completely true to Dylan's original format, they decided to throw a little Meters- and Bootsy Collins-esque style into the mix. This set made me enjoy the vocals of Wilkow even more than I had at Wakarusa. His distinct, almost whiny voice adds a new dimension to the familiar funk sound permeating from the rest of the band. After shaking our asses for a few more songs, we headed over to New Monsoon's set, which had already begun on the main stage.

New Monsoon

By the time we made it over to the main stage, New Monsoon had already thrown themselves into a long jam with an almost tribal feel. We made our way to the front of the stage to see another set from one of the most familiar jambands to our local Houston scene. While they hail from San Francisco, they have made quite a few friends and fans here in the Bayou City. They always seem to put on very inspired shows every time they make their way here. I have to admit that it makes me feel a little special when I see them in other places and their shows are not as good. That was the case this weekend as well. While they put on good shows consistently, this set lacked the something extra that makes their Houston gigs stand out. I am sure that most non-Houstonians in attendance would probably disagree with me completely, but then again, they haven't seen them at Last Concert Cafe or the Jellyphish Lounge. This set did stand out to me over their Harvest Tent showing the previous night, however. The highlight of the set was a fun rendition of "Blue Queen" that featured a mandolin-toting Vince Herman pulling fast solos during a guest spot. A buzz was stirring about Blue Turtle Seduction, so we waited for New Monsoon to finish with "On The Sun" before departing for the campground to see them in action.

Blue Turtle Seduction

My notes for this show go like this: "Best show so far. Nice jams, and well put together. They all look quite happy." That pretty much describes them perfectly. We got to the Campground Stage just in time, as the one big rainstorm of the day had just started. The downpour affected our picture-taking ability, but never dampened the fans' spirits. More and more people were being pulled in by the incredibly danceable tunes that Blue Turtle Seduction were providing. While the band was full of smiles, so was the Campground Stage's largest audience of the day as they grooved along. It was a true highlight of the weekend to see the sun break through the clouds after dancing in the rain to the tunes of Blue Turtle Seduction. They had another set planned for the next evening which we had full intent on enjoying every minute of, so we opted out of this show early to catch one of my most anticipated shows of the weekend.

Split Lip Rayfield

Seeing Kansas-bred Split Lip Rayfield live has long been in my sights, but I always end up missing them due to unfortunate circumstances. They were originally slated to play Wakarusa in 2007, as they always had in years past, but the death of founding member Kirk Rundstrom took SLR off the road for the majority of the year. Even though they lost one of their founding members, and an integral piece of their sound, they decided to continue on in the spirit of Rundstrom. At Wakarusa 2008 I again had hopes of seeing them perform, but due to torrential storms and poor festival management, we had to exit early only to learn later that they did indeed take the stage that night. I had listened to their material before 2007, but never really fell in love with them until after one of my favorites, Yonder Mountain String Band, performed a tribute to Rundstrom with a cover of "Used To Call Me Baby" during a late-night set at Wakarusa. After devouring their music post-Waka, I found myself in front of their set at Mulberry Mountain. They tore through a set of short originals that made everybody in attendance hoot, holler and scream for more. The highlight came as a one-two punch in the form of quick and quirky "Biscuits" followed by "Used To Call Me Baby" that found me singing along loudly. After the set closer, which seemed familiar to the rest of the audience, but not to Cereal or myself (looking back, I think it was probably "Outlaw"), we headed back to camp to catch some rest before The Avett Brothers took the stage.

The Avett Brothers

Emotionalism was undoubtedly one of the best pieces of music to come out of 2007. I fell in love with the album a bit late, picking it up towards the beginning of this year. The opening track "Die Die Die" appeared on several blogs and magazine sites throughout this and last year, making me like it more and more with each listen. Cereal and I found ourselves most excited to see this set over any other of the weekend. We knew that it would be something different than the rest of the music on display at the festival. Highly touted in many different music rings including the intertwining indie, jam and bluegrass scenes, The Avett Brothers made us want more and more with every note that came from their strings. Listening to them play through "Salina" on the Mountain made me realize that they would soon be one my favorite live bands. "Shame" also stood out, while "Paranoia in B-flat Major" was my favorite of the night. By the time "Die Die Die" rolled around, Cereal and I had already chosen our favorite set of the weekend. Their stage presence is one thing, but the harmonizing between Seth and Scott Avett is what really makes them stand out. While they are brothers, they fall into completely different positions in the musical spectrum, which brings their sound full circle when performing together. The third official Avett Brother Bob Crawford's additional vocals and stand-up bass skills added loads to the already glowing stage presence. The icing on the cake was the cello playing and the shouting of lyrics into the night by touring Avett Brother Joe Kwon. The Avetts finished off their set by delivering a stirring rendition of "Four Thieves Gone" to the vast crowd of freshly acquired fans. We were extremely impressed, and were not ashamed to share that with everybody we came across on our way out of the crowd. After stopping by our friends at the Post Familie wine tent to sample their fare (and use their power strip) we headed back to camp to grub down on some amazing camp stove-made steak fajitas. Mmmmmmmmm!!!!

Drew Emmitt of Leftover Salmon

We stayed at camp during the beginning of Leftover Salmon's set, marveling at how well we could hear it from our temporary home. We knew they were to scheduled to play for three hours, so we weren't in too big of a hurry to get down to the front of the stage. Plus, the steak fajitas needed a bit of time to settle. We made it down to the main stage just in time for Leftover to finish the first of their two sets. We stopped back by to visit our wine friends, then headed down towards the stage to get a good spot for the second set. Leftover Salmon wasted no time as they started ripping away at their instruments after re-appearing on stage. A few songs into the set came one of my favorite bluegrass tunes "Steamboat Whistle Blues," which showed off the vocals of mandolinist Drew Emmitt.

Making another appearance (only the biggest of her weekend) on the main stage was Bonnie Paine, who stepped out with washboard in tow and joined Leftover Salmon for the next few songs. Also taking the stage and returning the favor from earlier in the day was Great American Taxi keyboardist Chad Staehley, who got up close and personal with birthday boy Bill McKay and his keyboard arsenal. The next set standout was a very psychedelic "Ask The Fish," which featured a mind-bending light show projected on the trees behind the stage. It was definitely something out of the ordinary for a Leftover Salmon show, but it fit quite well with the heady scene they were playing for.

LoS saved their party songs for last. They played through a version of the Rolling Stones' "Let It Bleed," then later rocked a crowd-energizing "Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie," which included a screaming opener by one loud fan who had made his vocal presence known all day. Kaivalya hooper Shakti Sunfire also added to the visual stimuli by demonstrating her talents onstage. The show ended with a run through three Leftover favorites including "Euphoria," "Ain't Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "Wake and Bake." Making us chuckle one more time, Vince ended the show with these words of gratitude: "Thank you everybody, we're Oakhurst!" Leftover proved once again why they are an amazing act to see. They were my first soiree into jam and progressive bluegrass music, and are also just another piece in my puzzle of a musical upbringing. After seeing them about ten times, they only continue to improve. They have gone through some changes (banjoist Noem Pickelny was absent), and added some new touches to their music, but Leftover Salmon continue to bring energy-filled shows to the the delighted masses.

Boombox

While this festival had a bluegrass feel to it, it also featured several bands are outside of that genre. Boombox was definitely one of those acts. Their dance vibe was unlike even the funkiest of acts playing over the weekend. The twosome, consisting of Zion Godchaux (son of Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux) on vocals and guitar and Russ Randolph on turntables, mix funk, disco and dance music to make a wall of shake-yo-ass grooves. Godchaux adds his somewhat soft vocal over the top of the layered beats, making their sound distinct from some of the other dance/jam crossovers in the scene today. Cereal and I moved along through the night, avoiding random fedora sporting dancers and wondering how some of the dressed-to-the-nines girls we saw could possibly be so uber-clean.

Halfway through the set, none other than Vince Herman barreled through the crowd, assuredly taking out a few intoxicated patrons along the way. At about 3:30 we hopped back over to camp to chill out and listen to the rest of the set before hitting the hay. Boombox played until a little after four, making the crowd cheer for more. After the louder stage music died off while we laid down to sleep, we were treated to another brilliant bluegrass jam session from the same camp as the night before. As they quietly played through a version of Van Morrison's "Domino," I drifted off to sleep half excited for the next full day of music, and half worried about how much Hurricane Ike was going kick our asses.

Check out our other Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival 2008 coverage:

Thursday
Review
Photos
Videos

Friday
Review
Photos
Videos

Saturday
Review
Photos
Videos

Words by Eggs
Photos by Cereal