Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day Two, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 5, 2024
It was strictly bluegrass to kick off Day Two of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass as the Dry Branch Fire Squad offered stories about HSB founder Warren Hellman and songs of the Civil War and death and Jesus alongside instrumentals on the Banjo stage. There were no amps during the day-opening set that found the quartet playing and singing into shared mics and telling slow-to-develop tales with good humor.
Later in the day, Moonalice would grace the Towers of Gold audience with the second âWhite Rabbitâ of the festival - following Molly Tuttleâs Oct. 4 version - and Tuttle would return with Golden Highway to back Steve Earle for a set that included a surprise appearance from Emmylou Harris on âGoodbyeâ and a rare festival encore of âThis Land is Your Landâ to end Oct. 5 in San Franciscoâs Golden Gate Park.
As a warm morning turned to a sweltering afternoon that found festivalgoers gathering in shady areas and leaving sun-drenched stretches of grass empty, Jobi Riccio and her rhythm section created a stripped-back, Hejira-era Joni Mitchell/Harris hybrid for the Rooster-farians, as the emcee called those gathered at Rooster stage. Playing during Buddy Millerâs daylong Cavalcade of Stars, Riccio surely earned some new fans.
Showcasing their new How to Make Mistakes LP, Fruition entertained the Swan stage shade-seekers as the quintet with multiple lead singers and multi-instrumentalist members took a a Bandian approach to 21st-century Americana with faux-blood harmonies buttressing ballads like âStill on My Mind.â
Following immediately on the adjacent Towers of Gold, Moonalice - with drummer John Molo, guitarist Barry Sless, singer Lester Chambers, bassist Pete Sears and others - turned in a hugely entertaining and soulful set that included the front-line trio of female vocalists leading the large band through such covers as Marvin Gayeâs âYouâre all I Need to Get Byâ the Grateful Deadâs âBird Song,â â(Turn on Your) Lovelightâ and the aforementioned Airplane number.
Back on the Rooster for the ongoing Cavalcade, former Carolina Chocolate Drop Dom Flemons played bones, harmonica, guitar and quills on traditional songs to demonstrate what being an American Songster is all about. As he performed Elizabeth Cottenâs âFreight Train,â on guitar and âBrown Skinned Girlâ on harmonica, Flemons proved himself the rare solo-acoustic performer who could hold a field full of festivalgoers in rapt (near) silence.
But he also had assistance from the Red Dirt Boys - whoâd previously played a rich-gumbo show of their own - on original country and western songs from Traveling Wildfire and an old-timey rendition of âGoing Down the Road Feeling Bad,â as he danced with rubbery legs of joy. A couple of false starts added to the spontaneous nature of this surprise mini-set.
Carlene Carter provided midafternoon lunchtime country music as the Sound Biteses prepared for Mavis Staples on the Banjo. And she did not disappoint, cooling down the afternoon with such hopeful numbers as âIâm Just Another Soldier,â âHandwriting on the Wallâ âRespect Yourselfâ and âFreedom Highwayâ as she declared the healing power of music and her gruff, joyful laugh.
âWe come to bring you some joy, some happiness, some inspiration - we want you to feel good,â Staples said.
And she made people feel just that though it was disheartening to see the 85-year-old American treasure needing to sit during a portion of her show, which she did not do in Ohio several months ago.
Earle, Tuttle & Golden Highway ended the day with 75 minutes - HSBâs longest performance - and opened with âWarren Hellmanâs Banjo.â The show was a little under-rehearsed but a prime example of live music without a net with songs from the Del McCoury-Earle joint the Mountain, a cover of Little Featâs âWillinââ and perhaps the most-emphatic version of âCopperhead Roadâ to date.
âThis turned out exactly the way I wanted it to,â an exuberant Earle said with a comment that summed up Mr. and Mrs. Sound Bitesâ day perfectly.
Read Sound Bitesâ HSB Day One coverage here.