We had a rough time getting there ... after driving several late night hours from Rosendale NY (thanks again Mark, we loved it there, wish we could have stayed), we arrived at Nate's grandparents' house in Susquehanna PA (not NY, brophil)... we had a whole three hours to sleep there. Then drove on little windy roads to Hills Creek State Park near Wellsboro, PA. We arrived about 30 minutes before our first show. In true Wilders form, we proceeded to play our butts off and the crowd warmed to us as the day went on... our evening set was very well received and we met a lot of super nice folks. That's always fun after a show, when we have time to meet other folks -- it makes the experience so personal.
It was a pretty little festival in this park, and I'd do it again. We just need to not get there quite the same way next time! The Hickory Project band is how we got there this time, and thanks to you guys and gal for that. We met them at Winfield last year and this fest is in their neck of the woods, literally. Nice folks and great pickers... we'll look forward to seeing you again!
My personal highlight: the SGRO Brothers! A pair of harmonica-weilding geniuses. They recently played the White House, and they played with Mr. Sinatra back in the day. I'll try to get more Sgro Bros. stories in another post... they are worth more than a post but at least a book and perhaps there will be a documentary forthcoming from Ken VanEtten... I'll be sure to let you know about that at the proper time. Their appearance with the Corning Grass Works made the festival for me.
This area of PA is considered to be the canyonlands. Apparently in Wellsboro (near the park where the fest was) there is the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania"... we didn't see it, but since we've been to the real thing, anything less might have been a disappointment. (someone also mentioned to us that it wasn't really that much of a canyon, yeah ok -- also note the state park is called "Hills Creek"... so maybe Hill Country would be a better name?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's kinda hilly there, but I saw nothing that resembled canyons. Though the lack of cell phone service there indicates the hills are enough to disrupt mobile technology, for what that's worth. That said, it's a beautiful part of the state -- all this is said while admitting that I love the east, so any of it's good to me.
I am glad that you like the east, wasn't it Horace Greely that said "Go east young woman?" I have been watching the Kennedy Center show and I am surprised that you played "Fireball Mail", I did not know that you all knew it. I'll pay you to play it for me sometime. It looks like you are playing with some very good bands and the line up at Rocky Grass looks marvelous. Change the filter and get some sleep.
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