What a great experience "on the hill" for Greyfox Bluegrass Festival 2005. We arrived at noon time on Wednesday and we finally got our turn to go up the hill at about 4:00pm. We picked out our camp site and got busy setting up camp.

While the festival officially starts on Thursday afternoon, Wednesday evening was spent socializing with the neighboring camp sites and enjoying the impromptu jams that sprung up across the entire camping area. There are some incredible musicians among the festival goers who are not performers. They come to jam. They come to party. They come to have a good time. AND they come for the extraordinary music both on stage and off stage.

As we socialized, I was struck by the idea of how quickly communities can form when all of these campsites sprung up around us and each of our neighbors were helping each other out. It is an interesting dynamic in a shared experience when complete strangers become instant friends; even if it is for a few short days.

Through out the weekend, the biggest buzz was about what was going to happen if the Rothvoss farm were to be sold. Everyone was horrified by the thought that the magic of GreyFox could be lost. The good news was announced on Saturday evening by Mary Dodd and Dan Rothvoss, a 4th generation member of the Rothvoss family. The farm had not been sold and the family has guaranteed that the festival will be held on the Rossvoss farm in 2006, its 30th year celebrating the best of bluegrass. The announcement was met by rousing cheers from the spectators sitting at the main stage area.

The festival kicked off at 2:00pm, Thursday afternoon with the Grey Fox Talent Showcase featuring four new bands:
• Julie Lee with the New England Bluegrass Band
• Biscuit Burners
• Slipstream
• Grassy Knoll Boys

The evening brought some old favorites with Southern Grass, Quicksilver and Lonesome River Band. On the dance stage was the ever popular Cajun band, Steve Riley and the Mamou Players. New to Greyfox's main stage was Uncle Earl, a new all woman group who's performance was a heck of a good time. Coming together from different states and musical backgrounds, their arrangements are deeply traditional yet performed with a fresh contemporary energy. Their set was like a choreographed dance with each of them sharing the limelight while trading instruments and lead vocals and indeed a couple of clogging dances. They have won my heart with their genuine down home and energetic style.

Darol Anger brought the house down with his Psycograss buddies on Thursday nite ... WOW! Sharing the stage with his long time collaborator on Mandolin, Mike Marshall, along with David Grier and Todd Phillips, the set was pure high charged energy. These guys were tight and smokin'. One interesting cut during this set was a cover of Jimi Hendrix 3rd Stone from the Sun, bluegrass style and it worked wonderfully.

Friday dawned steamy hot and sunny. The day featured Adrienne Young & Little Sadie, Mountain Heart, Dry Branch Fire Squad, and the Grascals. The Friday evening line up gave us the best of what Greyfox has to offer. Tim O'Brien Band led the evening off in his unassuming but captivating style, building up a momentum that was kept going as the stage transitioned to the David Grisman Quintet. The Grisman set kept the crowd fired up with his signature Dawg Music, – a blend of styles inspired the master mandolin player, David Grisman. Without ego, Grisman invited his good friends and fellow mandolin artists Mike Marshall and Sam Bush for a cut each. This kind of camaraderie and collaboration is the cream of the festival experience.

Sam Bush Band took the stage at 11:45 for a fiery set that ended after 1:00am. Sam was completely energized and played to the crowd. Half way through the set, the ever renegade Sam, defiantly tore off his festival bracelet and then methodically tore them from each of his band member's wrists. The crowd wildly cheered this band on and on. Notably on the Masters Stage early Friday evening, the mandolin session with Sam Bush and Dan Roberts from the Grascals heated up the music to an astonishing level rarely achieved when Mike Marshall and Dave Grisman appeared on stage.

The Republic of Strings set was wonderful but since it was mid-afternoon on Saturday and the weather was blazing hot, the attendance at that set was not as well attended. I thoroughly enjoyed it though! Before the dinner break, the alluring voice of John Cowan carried across the amphitheater at the Main Stage. That perfect pitched tenor voice always sends pleasurable chills up my spine. When you watch John sing, it is clear that his voice comes from deep inside his heart and the passion within him.

Del McCoury Band was the featured artist on the Saturday evening stage. He kept the crowd calling out for more and more as he performed a wide selection of hits. Del's set was followed up with the traditional All-Star Jam with a promise of surprise. The All-Star Jam got really interesting when Darol Anger joined Tim O'Brien, Laurie Lewis, Rushad Eggleston, and Scott Nygard on stage with Brittney Hass and two other fiddlers. Then Tim broke it down to just the fiddlers, Rushad's cello and Craig Smith on Banjo. At that point Tim picked up his fiddle and three more fiddlers came on stage, making a total of 9 fiddlers. It was quite incredible to see them all playing in concert with one another. What was obvious to me was all of them were taking their lead/direction from Darol as the piece unfolded. Pretty much everyone got a shot a showcasing a section of the piece including Rushad who got a rousing cheer from the crowd. Then the mood and the tone changed again but didn't lose its charge as the audience was surprised by an appearance by Peter Rowan. John Cowan joined Tim, Laurie Lewis, Peter Rowan for a couple of pieces and gradually the stage transitioned to a set with Peter Rowan and his two lovely young band mates. The jam was as hot Saturday night as the temperature was during the day.

Sunday morning dawned with a light rain as the campers began to breakdown their camps and people said their goodbye to new found friends and neighbors who shared a wonderful weekend of music together. While the music scheduled on Sunday continued, we didn't go to the stage as the rains grew steadily harder. Concerned about manipulating the mud, we had our breakfast after breaking camp and took our leave. Tired but completely on a high, we made our way home. The memory of another festival experience burned into my heart.