Clifftop 2012

My first Clifftop (Appalachian Stringband Music Festival) was in 1998. I had just started playing guitar in mid-1996 and “discovered” rhythm guitar when I started going to a beginner friendly jam session in Arlington MA later that year. When I was planning my vacation time early in ‘98, one of my fiddle buddies invited me to camp along with him and his friends at Clifftop that year. So I did. We all got along very well and I camped with them up on water tower hill until I started full-timing in 2004. After that it was by myself in the main field.

I had resumed camping with them last year and looked forward to seeing them again this year. Ulrika had arrived on Friday to stake out a section for us. I pitched my tent to one side in an effort to protect our claim from encroachment in that direction. As it turned out, I ended up way outside the central area since the big canopy was erected further back by the woods. I liked that set-up, however. I was close enough to easily walk over and be part of the group but far enough away to have some “private” space for alone time if I wanted it.

Last year, I had sworn that was going to be the last year I tent camped. So I had done some research to find out what campers I could tow behind my HHR and settled on the Aliner Alite. Essentially a hard-sided pop-up bed-on-wheels. I had even bought one last November. But then came the eventful Mexico trip and my subsequent partnering with Ken. The Alite was definitely *not* suitable for two people who both needed to get up in the middle of the night – sometimes several times. So I sold it without ever using it. Such is life. I still think I got the better deal. So I’m tent camping again this year.

I’ve forgotten how many people were there this year (I’m writing this much after the fact), but it seemed to me to be fewer than last year – there was plenty of space on water tower hill. But there was plenty of good music to be had and I had as much playing time as I wanted. I also spent plenty of time just wandering around and visiting.

This is the booth for Smakula’s Fretted Instruments. Friend Bob Smakula is the one in the fancy shirt bent over the banjo body. I liked to sit back behind and watch the people try out the instruments. I had also consigned my fiddle there and was seeing if anybody was interested. (It did sell to the woman I had watched picking it up, playing it, putting it down for another one, and then coming back to play it some more.)

All in all, a good time. As usual, I forget to take my camera around and take photos so these are the only ones I have.

I hope I can figure out how to avoid tent camping again next year, however.

Events leading to Clifftop

The two weeks after Ken left passed pretty uneventfully. I watered the gardens (hot & no rain meant no lawn mowing tho) and went to the Wednesday night Pretty Shaky Band jam sessions. I’m going to miss those people. I’d been plagued by hand problems the last year and couldn’t play my guitar as much as I had opportunity to, but I could always go and listen and play just a little bit. When I get settled out there, I’ll have to hunt up another group to play with. It might take some doing - there’s a lot of bluegrass in the Phoenix area, but Appalachian old-time is harder to find. Love that old time fiddle music.

The premier event of that music style occurs every August at Camp Washington Carver (near Fayetteville WV) – the Appalachian Stringband Music Festival (aka Clifftop): http://www.wvculture.org/stringband/. This is a gathering of nearly 3 thousand people who are there primarily to camp and play music. Yes, there are contests and nightly shows of the the contest finalists, but that’s not the real focus – it’s really about meeting old & new friends from across the country and playing music together. I had been attending Clifftop almost every year since 1998 – shortly after learning to play guitar and falling into this type of music.

Anyway… I typically would head down there the Friday or Saturday before the official start of the festival and just hang out with friends. Ken & Guy were returning from England Wednesday afternoon the 25th. Sooo, I decided to head down to Ohio on Wednesday and spend a few days in Springfield with Ken before continuing on down to West Virginia. (No, he wasn’t coming with me. We had a deal – I wouldn’t attend NASCAR races and he wouldn’t come to music festivals.)

I planned on meeting Ken & Guy at the airport. It was just for the emotional high since I didn’t have enough room in the car to drive them back to Springfield. There was plenty of time so I had a leisurely start mid-morning and was southbound on Waverly toodling along in the right lane when a major glitch in the plans happened. I was side-swiped. Just a mile into my trip. ARGHHHH! A woman in the left hand lane switched to the right lane but didn’t allow for the fact that I was there. I could see her in my mirror but couldn’t speed up to avoid the collision because there was another car right in front of me.

As you can see, not major damage, but I just didn’t need that. Not only was I leaving on a two and a half week trip, I was going to sell the car shortly before we planned to head back to Arizona and the time it would take to repair the car would eat into my advertising time. So back to the house to contact the insurance agency and find out what I was supposed to do next. It was early afternoon by the time all the statements and phone calls were made and I had the repair quote (and the assurance the car was OK to drive) and got on the road again. I left a message for Ken briefly saying what happened and that I would see him at Guy’s house around 6pm instead of at the airport. I must have still had a lot of adrenaline in my system then since he said I sounded real panicky. I *was* speaking pretty fast.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and I spent a couple of days in Springfield with Ken and Guy. Guy’s a lovely person and I can see why Ken likes him.