First published in  Lonely Goat Print Magazine Volume II - #7

Spirits of the Suwannee: Suwannee Springfest 1999
by J.D. Edwards (July, 1999)

There was no question about it when we received the early order ticket form. Our experience at Sunshine Daydream in 97 was so altogether positive and with so many of our all-time favorite performers on the same stage at the coolest outdoor facility around, we didn't even think about the eight-hour drive. And on top of all that, the whole weekend was cheaper than one day of the Watson Festival!

We arrived early Friday afternoon and saw that there were already a couple of must-see sets occurring on the workshop stage. First on the schedule, we made it partway through a fiddle workshop featuring Richard Greene and Vassar Clements. What an indescribable thrill it was to watch two of bluegrass' all-time giants trade off licks and stories as the intimate workshop stage offered the perfect setting with the instructive atmosphere of a classroom.

Well the bell rang and next period guest lecturers Guy Clark, Peter Rowan and Verlon Thompson tutored a crash course on the art of song writing. The instructors mainly let their respective songs speak for themselves and boy did they enunciate volumes. From Guy's outlaw storytelling of "Out in the Parking Lot" and "Chili Parlor Bar" to Verlon's homespun self-deprecation of "Foolin' Myself" and "Lucky Dog" to Peter's spiritual sport of "Free Mexican Airforce" and "Spirit of the West," the three exchanged lessons on crafting thought-provoking songs by example.

My greatest unrequited hope was that there would be more interaction - Peter playing and harmonizing on Guy and Verlon's songs and vice versa. Frankly I believe it bespeaks the truly impromptu nature of these sets - no rehearsal, no choreography, just tunes, stories and harmonies.

In the evening, we bypassed Richard Greene and Grass is Greener on the main stage because it was Friday, and we felt like grooving. That urge directed us to the dance stage for Donna the Buffalo's scheduled set and what we hoped would be some vicarious kinetic energy. We caught the last song from Blueground Undergrass (which was all we seemed able to do with them that weekend) and sat and waited as Donna sound checked their way through their entire set allotment replete with electronic buzzes and deafening crashes.

Well by the time their actual set started, Richard Greene had already completed his main stage set (despite the two's similar starting times.) We could have seen Richard's entire set and still caught Donna's by-now mini-set. Anyway we wound up blowing off Donna's set out of utter frustration; we also wanted to situate ourselves on the main stage before Jorma Kaukonen's set (the festival's rarest appearance) closed things out Friday night.

The trio treated us to some serious acoustic blues and finger picking as well as some revamped Airplane favorites. Jorma's not the same without Mr. Casady on bass, but Michael Falzarano on rhythm guitar and Pete Sears on keyboards helped fill some of the void. The three provided a unique capper to an already busy day, especially when Vassar Clements wailed away with them on "San Francisco Bay Blues" and "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad."

On Saturday, we passed up some promising early afternoon sets to hike down to the river. At Sunshine Daydream, we spent the entire weekend there and never even saw the river. Despite having shriveled from a mighty river to an oversized creek, the awe-inspiring Suwannee retained its unique natural magnificence. Shaded by grand oak trees and haunting Spanish moss, the winding rocky serpent still pulses with a prehistoric grandeur, especially along its pristine white-sand banks in the silent undisturbed morning.

The afternoon once again belonged to the intimate workshop stage and another song writer's showcase. This time, Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson welcomed Lorin Rowan (Peter's brother) into the mix, and the trio swapped touching anecdotes fueled by Lorin's more personal style than his sibling. The highlights included Verlon's tender reading of "If I'm Not Already Crazy," Guy's only offering of his self-proclaimed favorite "She Ain't Goin Nowhere," and Lorin's duet on "My Father's Son" with brother Peter who happened to be arriving for the next set. There was some of the interaction I'd wanted from Peter's set but just too little, too late.

Lorin even admitted that he has never met Verlon before, but he also appeared unfamiliar with his material as well, which doesn't exactly make him a statistical anomaly or anything. But I believe it's high time everyone heard more of that humble country troubadour Verlon Thompson. He is an outstanding guitar picker and songwriter whose only career shortcoming is that he performs in Guy Clark's enormous shadow.

I was also disappointed that Verlon's singing partner and wife, Suzi Ragsdale, had cancelled a slated appearance at the festival. There was a love like no other in their sugary vocal harmonizing as well as the added dimension of her deep heartfelt songs. Inside word has it that their untimely and disquieting separation caused her absence, but you didn't hear that from me.

As I stepped out between sets for some re-energizing, I detected a raucous version of The Dead's "The Eleven" blasting from the nearby dance stage. I welled up inside and understood that this was what it was all about. Following that on the workshop stage, former Bluegrass Boys Peter Rowan and Richard Greene assembled with Tony Rice for a Bill Monroe tribute set that included familiar standards like "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Walls of Time" as well as more obscure nuggets like "In The Pines" and "Panhandle Country." They shared reminiscences of the good ol' days declaring the workshop stage "The First Church of Bill Monroe."

Saturday evening belonged to the main stage (especially after Donna's dance stage debacle on Friday night.) Native Floridian Vassar Clements shook things up with an uncharacteristic set that included of all things a small big jazz band. He proved that his versatile fiddle playing fits comfortably into any context, and he even treated the faithful to a few numbers featuring that gravelly voice including a saucy duet with blues badass Gail Bliss.

Next Guy Clark dazzled the main stage with his evocative images and acrobatic twists of a phrase. It was nice to hear a full set of his songs as many that had been hiding such as "Let Him Roll" and "LA Freeway" made their appearances. Following that, Peter and Tony again employed the services of Richard Greene and Grass is Greener to great effect. The set featured Peter originals like "Panama Red," Midnight Moonlight" and "Land of the Navaho," a Tony Rice solo portion that was nothing short of breathtaking and more Bill Monroe classics.

The incomparable Sam Bush closed out Saturday night with his trademark rock-flavored sound. Rumors abounded that it was to be John Cowan's last performance with the quartet to pursue his own solo endeavor. It's not at all surprising because his voice always seemed more comfortable within Motown's concrete labyrinth than in Kentucky's blue fields. But he can still give life to a song like no one else, sometimes even over reaching his own seemingly-endless abilities.

If the rumor mill proves accurate (and there's a first for everything), then those pipes will be missed sorely, especially after Darrell Scott defected from Sam's ranks last year decimating what was shaping up to be bluegrass music's most celebrated supergroup. Incidentally Darrell was originally scheduled to perform at Springfest, offering all sorts of reunion possibilities with Sam Bush and Guy Clark (he also played on Guy's CD Keepers.) Unfortunately Darrell backed out somewhere along the way and is probably sipping on Pina Coladas on a South American beach with Suzi as we speak, and you definitely didn't hear that from me.

Sam's set was typically raucous with a few surprises like "East Virginia Blues," James Taylor's "Ridin' on a Railroad" and Johnny C's Garth-shattering vocal calisthenics on "Callin Baton Rouge." Sam has still been unable to settle on a guitar player; this time around relative unknown Jeff Autry filled the slot, with every bit as much competence as his predecessor, John Randall Stewart, although without contributing any vocals or material.

One unique feature of the Suwannee festivals is that the music concludes around dinnertime on Sunday to allow travelers the opportunity to get a jump on the homeward journey. We had a solid eight hours driving so we planned on at least logging two hours Sunday night and therefore decided to bypass the main stage closing jam. That left us with three main stage gems for Sunday afternoon: another Guy and Verlon duet, Peter Rowan and Tony Rice joined by both Richard Greene and Vassar Clements and finally the Donna the Buffalo dance set for which we'd been waiting.

The Guy and Verlon set was a morning wake-up call as Guy himself looked fresh out of the hotel sleeping bag. But the two didn't fail to entertain as they had all weekend long with a few more surprises up their sleeves like "Picasso's Mandolin" and "Desperados" and a tasty mini Verlon set. Peter and Tony's set that followed was definitely one of the highlights of the festival featuring the twin violin combination of Richard Greene and Vassar Clements and a lengthy collection of traditional bluegrass.

Then we waited for Donna the Buffalo's set packed up and ready for the road. Well, it got later and later. Various band members straggled on and off the stage to sound check their individual instruments. The time arrived when we had hoped their set would be ending, and they still hadn't even come onstage. We decided to leave despite truly wanting to catch at least one Donna set. Message to the band: just get out there and play and don't worry so much about minor imperfections. I mean it's a festival set not a studio album.

All in all, we logged another near-perfect experience at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, made even more idyllic by the surprisingly pleasant springtime Florida weather - no thunderstorms, no humidity and temperatures under eighty degrees. The promoters of Springfest just know how to organize a well-planned festival. Their greatest strength seems to be their booking with a variety of local and nationally renowned acts. Other pros of the festival include the all-important sanitary port-a-johns (serviced more than once a day.) This included the Holy Grail of all festival discoveries: toilet paper on the third day. The festival also boasts a remarkably easy check-in at the main gate.

The park employed a police presence that could have been daunting, if it weren't for their laid-back friendly attitude. Despite the potential for hassle, their presence soothed me because we don't have to travel to Green Acres to realize just how dangerously obnoxious a field full of unsupervised hedonists can be. Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park treads that thin line between the hippie anarchy of Green Acres and the authoritarian stranglehold of commercial venues like Walnut Creek.

Some of the weekend's drawbacks included unpredictable sound quality away from the main stage. The dance stage in particular was subject to bad mixes. Another con is that there actually was too much good music. Many of the sets overlapped prompting concert goers to choose between artists. In contrast, Sunshine Daydream seemed more centralized on the main stage, not as much shuffling from stage to stage or direct schedule conflicts.

I would love to have caught more of favorites Donna the Buffalo and Blueground Undergrass. And I also would have loved just to hear the much ballyhooed Glass Camels and Crawfish of Love. But such is the risk of orchestrating a festival of this magnitude. All things considered the promoters deserve an enormous round of applause for their organization and foresight, and they've secured our loyal patronage for years to come. Now if we can just convince all of our friends that the eight-hour drive just flies right by.