The Pagosa Folk 'n Bluegrass Festival is over but the memories live on. The festival itself couldn't be in a more ideal spot. It's on top of a wooded hill that is accessed by a one mile winding road. Once on top, the only reason to come down is to either go into town or to go soak in the wonderful hot springs. We got a lot of hoots and hollers as we biked the last one mile (up a gnarly big hill) as all the campers and trailers passed us. I have to admit, while I enjoyed our 20 minute set-up time, I was seriously coveting my neighbor's campsites once they were all set-up, like camp chairs and a 20x20 tarp about 25 feet up in the trees, so high up in fact that they had a raging fire directly below it. They would weather the rain to come quite nicely.
The music was really fun. The festival has a main stage and also an acoustic stage. Both of which offered some gems throughout the weekend. The highlight for me had to be the Infamous Stringdusters. Their amplified set was off the charts and they even had Benny Galloway join in for his song "Sugar Town". Then their acoustic set was equally entertaining as they were loose and winging it but with superb results. Jeremy Garrett's fiddle solo on a song I didn't know was top notch as his body wiggled and twisted as he felt out each note.
First time to see Sarah Jarosz who at such a young age (16?) certainly had what it takes to entertain a bluegrass crowd. John Jorgensen was equally impressive with his "extreme" guitar (his words). He play gypsy jazz among other styles. He played a whole break in harmonics at one point. Tony Furtado was definitely on fire. The sounds he can get out of his guitar with the slide and with no rhythm player to back him up is so inspiring!
This festival is so special because after (or before) the music, you can go down to the hot springs and soak and relax. The coupling of hot springs with camping with music is hard to beat.
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