I’m back from Falcon Ridge. I was too tired to write yesterday now I’m pressed for time but will do my best. The adventure started before I left home. My ride had a family emergency and suddenly there was no way to get to Falcon Ridge and to make it worse he has my camping gear. I posted that on Facebook and as I have the best friends in the world, we figured out a way to make it happen. Joe said he would provide the camping gear. Then Steve said if I took the train someplace close, he’d pick me up. I did research and found that the closest station was Dover Plains NY, 45 minutes from the Goshen Fair grounds, the new home for the Festival. Unfortunately, that was a three-and-a-half-hour train ride. Why so long? It involved switching trains twice, the last to a diesel. The kicker was I had an hour wait for the diesel. I suspect I could have left an hour later but that’s not what Google Maps told me, and I did not have time to figure this out. I had less than an hour to pack and leave. I had to travel light, I had one large sports bag and a camping chair. There were more travails and an idiot story on the trip but that’s not what My Gentle Readers want to hear.
The Falcon Ridge has a new site, the Goshen Fair Grounds in Connecticut. It’s a totally different experience. For one thing there is far less space for camping. That means not only can less people camp but that we had far less open space around our campground. We could not hear the music from the main stage like we could at Dodd’s Farm. There we were at the top of the hill looking down on the Main Stage. This site is all flats. We didn’t know what to expect so there was no Budgiedome. The Budgiedome is usually my focus and favorite part of the Festival. On the plus side there is running water! That’s a bigger deal than you might realize if you haven’t camped. That means flush toilets and a shower. That’s singular, one shower for all the men camping. Sorry to say that is the only advantage for me of the fairgrounds but the bathrooms and the availability of water not from a tank is nothing to sneeze at. I know others loved it, but I miss the natural beauty of the Dodd’s Farm and before that Long Hill Farm. I miss being in the Exurbs. Plenty, most people camped on the flats at Dodd’s but never us. In real life I want the City, at a Festival I prefer to live on the outskirts and visit the town.
The music started on Thursday with Not the Lounge Stage. It’s under new management and still only semi-officially part of the festival. It’s now booked by Kathy Sands-Boehmer so you know the music will be good. I missed the first set, but I got to see Annie Sumi & Travis and Phil Henry do the second set. I love them both musically and personally. Don’t get jealous but the thing I was most looking forward to, was a hug from Annie. She’s a champ. I don’t want to make you more jealous but when I hugged Cheryl, she said I was the best folk hugger, right up there with John Platt! I sat with Allison, Phil’s wife. This was a perfectly wonderful standard start to Falcon Ridge. As always, I can’t stay in one place during the Thursday music. I’m too busy saying hi and hugging people that I haven’t seen in a year, this time it’s three years. I bounce from friend to friend. I went backstage and got my hug from Annie, and her husband Travis Knapp. I got to wish them Mazel Tov as they only recently got married. They are officially in the running for the Pete and Maura Kennedy Cutest Couple in Folk Music award. Pete and Maura are retired from the competition to let others have a chance. I don’t have a program in front of me to remind me of who else played. My memory gets blurred, Did I see Shanna in a Dress perform then? I know I gave her a hug and realized this was our first time meeting in person. We have zoomed multiple times, so it feels like she’s a meat-zone not online friend. I know I saw Crys Matthews and Heather Mae; they are also in the running for the Pete and Maura award. When they came over and set up their merch, I said hello to Heather first as I saw Crys a few weeks ago at New Bedford. Crys was totally focused on set-up and didn’t even see me. I put off her hug until later. You realize that saying hello means hugging. I got that good via lots of practice, 10,000 hours, just like everything else.
The big issue with the venue was that it was a inside a large Quonset hut with no AC. It was 100º with 200% humidity. I of course wore a mask but had to take it off, I couldn’t take it. The same space was used for the workshops, so I decided to eschew them. Why add to my COVID-19 risk? I test myself twice a week, I’ll let you know if I succumb. So far so good. My next test is later today.
I split my offstage time split between two camps, the one with Steve & Lori, Joe & Andrea, and Danny and his kids. The rest of the world calls Danny Lou but we have a special relationship. He calls me Goldy. Why? Because of Gord’s Gold people have taken to calling me Gord. I said I should ask for them to call me Mr. Gold. But Danny is a friend, so he calls me Goldy. That’s where I camped. The other one with Emily, the girls, the Gorsses, and Cally with occasional visits from Mel. They were as far away as possible in the campground, about half a mile. I walked over 6 miles that first day which included getting up there. That involved a lot of walking too. I walked over three miles every day. Did I mention that I have the best friends in the world? As I went up by train, I brought no food. I thought I could get food from the vendors but there were only two vendors and the lines at the good one, the Jerk Chicken truck were enormous. I thought it would not be possible with everyone cutting down what they brought but I was able to live off the land, i.e., my friends’ food supplies. I’m the Kramer of Falcon Ridge.
I should mention the biggest negative, we were missing so many of our usual crew, River and their friends Paul, Angel and her daughter, Carolann, Mark, and Felix, and those I know I’m forgetting. Here’s the thing though, even with all the negatives Falcon Ridge is still magic. You’ll be hearing more in the upcoming days.
I haven’t even gotten to the Fest proper. That will have to wait. I have to eat lunch, get an infusion, shop, and record Gord’s Gold today. Good thing I planned it out before I left.
Wise Madness 