8th Annual Subdued Stringband Jamboree

It was kind of a toss-up between the Jamboree and Meltdown this year, but I decided to head out to Deming and see what all the fuss was about. I got there late Friday night, since I had stayed in town to watch the Muddy Boots play at the market and eat some delicious unagi from Makizushi. We arrived just as Kristen Allen-Zito was started her set, with Yann on the mandolin and a couple other musicians. Then Robert Sarazin Blake, the man of the hour himself, graced us with a rambling appearance on a fittingly rustic homemade stage (materials courtesy of the Re-Store!) I think I tuned out several performers (I was running on about three hours of sleep, and the ground was just so inviting), but luckily I caught C.R. Avery and his derring do at the end of the night. I do believe he closed the show. It was a lovely night, but I probably don't do it justice in words since I was half asleep.

Saturday was great. I went back into town and got some more provisions for the Jamboree. We hitchhiked out around 3, and didn't have much trouble getting lifts down the Mt. Baker Highway. It was a drizzly Northwest sort of day, but that didn't discourage any festival-goers. Now that it was actually daylight I saw a lot of people from Bellingham and met some from beyond. Whiskey was at hand, as were hula hoops and other merriment. This year they set up a second stage (the Slanted Stage) for bands and other acts during intermission on the big stage. The Sour Mash Hug Band was playing when we got there, and that's also where the infamous Band Scramble took place, during which members were randomly selected from different bands and combined with others. One of the results of this was a trio involving an acoustic bass, a washtub bass and a stand-up bass. They were moseying along, pickin' some folksy tunes, and then all of a sudden they busted out a Black Sabbath classic. You can only imagine. The Gallus Brothers, Monday Night Project and the Tall Boys all played on the big stage, and there were a couple more Slanted Stage acts as well, including something hilariously elephantine from the Gallus Gals and a parade of face-painted children. Rain came sporadically throughout the day, making it all a guessing game, and that much more fun. It really started coming down around midnight, when we lit up the bonfires and headed for shelter. At the fire we were at, there was something like a jam involving a fiddle, a guitar and a harmonium. We sat and talked about anything and everything and most of us got about five hours or so of sleep.