Musical Musings of a Tiny Rager

Click here to read: Camp Barefoot 4: Thursday (08.19.10)

Good Morning Barefoot 4…Oh Wait...

I wish I could say Good Morning but I never went to bed…and for GOOD REASON!!  There are so many great things I would love to write about for Camp Barefoot 4.  It was just such an eventful, wonderful good time.  Even though this was the smallest festival I have attended this year, it was the biggest in terms of adventure and just pure fun.

I was not prepared for the weather on that mountain.  The drop in temperature was quick and fierce Thursday night.  By the time 5am Friday morning had rolled around, I was covered in a sheet of dew and running around the camp site with my new friend Tyson and my buddy Paul, gearing up for Kickball.

DAWN KICKBALL!!..

Team Whiskey vs. Team Spunyun

Three kickball games were supposed to take place over the course f the Barefoot weekend. The first went down Friday morning at DAWN!!  Hillary Dovel, the Queen Bee of Festival Kickball, had organized Kickball the previous year at Camp Barefoot 3 so there was already a following.  Camp Hardcore also made sure to help spread the word Thursday night before everyone passed out.  The teams were to consist of those who had been awake all night vs. those who passed out.  I, of course, wanted to be on the team that stayed awake so I could take Hillary’s team out.

At this point it’s about 6am.  Paul and I have made our way back to the campground and are contemplating passing out, my eyes heavy.  Paul decided to head to his campsite and passes out leaving me as the only member of Camp Hardcore awake.  I refused to sleep because I had missed Jam Cruise Jamaica Kickball by passing out a mere minutes before the game was called back on.  I REFUSED to miss Camp Barefoot Dawn Kickball.  However, I knew this game was a MAYBE situation, depending on when Hillary woke up…was Dawn kickball going to happen?

All of a sudden, eager wookies begin appearing from the mist and shadows of the dew-filled air, filling available seats within Camp Hardcore.  Our resident Camp Clown, Stevie P., pops out of his big red truck with a blow-horn and a smile.  Wookies started whispering on all sides of Hillary’s bed…KICKBALL!!  KICKBALL!! The whisper’s gained momentum.  Hillary emerged from the VW bus and so it began.

Stevie hopped on our friend’s fold-up bike, placed the disco ball helmet on his head and proceed to ride around the festival grounds recruiting.  Hillary and I attempted to wake Paul (that wasn’t happening) and then walked the grounds for our own wave of recruitment. (I was just hoping to be miracled a mimosa at this point and this comes into play later!)

As we wondered the festivals grounds, I heard: “KAREN! Go to bed!”  The lovely owners of Beandawg Artworks, a gorgeous tye-dying company, were awake and beginning their day.  “I don’t know what that means,” I holler back.

As Stevie comes flying down the hill towards us, he hits one of the many rocks in the ground and takes a tumble over the handle bars, face planting into the hill as the bike goes flying to the left.  He jumps up, with a huge smile on his face. “Thank god for helmets!” He had done his job as we made our way to the field in front of the stage to find at least 30 wooked-out hippies raging to play.  There was no Awake vs Asleep this time.  Everyone but Hillary seemed to have been awake throughout the night.  So, now it was Team Whiskey vs. Team Spunyun.

There are no pictures of this fiasco as I was playing the entire time.  Hillary and I were on Team Spunyun and we were getting killed 1 to 6 until one of our members called for a huddle.  “This is serious!  We need something to help us focus.  If you got it, smoke it.”  And as Team Whiskey yelled at us to hurry up, we all commenced with the “TEAM MEETING.”  It was hysterical…and genius…because we came back and beat Team Whiskey 8 to 6.

I ate breakfast during Barefoot Wade, a Zach Deputy-type with Caribbean flare. Another member of Camp Hardcore made sure to check him out and brought back seashells that B-Wade was handing out.  B-Wade was also handing out Popsicles.  How thoughtful is that…seashells and Popsicles. He made my friend Beau very happy and the ladies in the camp appreciated the gifting of the shells by Beau after the set 🙂

I toyed with the idea of trying to catch some rest for a few hours before checking out Pants for Bears but playing kickball had given me my third wind.  There really is something to playing a quick sporty game to get your blood going.  The sun was shining on us but it was cool out because of the morning dew.  The sun would be taking over in a little under an hour.

Pants For Bears

Ben Geiser – Guitar
Lee Hartman – Bass Guitar
Praveen Chhetri- Guitar
Brad Corallo- Drums
Avery Fary – Percussion, FX, Theremin
Adam Miller – Vocals
Josh Horst – Keyboard, Percussion, Synth

Sadly, I passed out at a pretty crucial time.  I was looking forward to catching a close friend’s band, Pants for Bears.  I tried so hard to make it to their 1pm set but ended up utilizing the hammock for the first time that weekend around 12pm, missing the Pants for Bears set. Happy to report, I had friends who did see the set.   General consensus was “they were jammin’.”  Coming from my friends, who I consider to have great taste in music, that is a huge compliment.  This made me feel worse but I was so happy they were impressed.

LarJar

Larry Alen Jarrell-drums
Jason Jarrell-basses
Dave Klemencic-keys

I missed LarJar and I keep wondering about their name.  There were not many videos of anything from Camp Barefoot 4 but there was a LarJar video so I felt I should include it.

The Mantras

Keith Allen – Guitar/Vocals
Marcus Horth – Guitar/Vocals
Justin Loew – Drums
Brian Tyndall – Bass/Vocals
Brent Vaughn – Percussion/Vocals

I woke up around 4:30 from my “nap”.  I had missed Pants for Bears and was kicking myself.  I made a point to catch everyone else so long as I was awake.   The Mantras, from Greensboro, North Carolina, were playing and I was immediately perked up by their sound.  I grabbed a Veggie Burger from one of the vendors and walked over to the stage.

The Mantras!! Now say it again and remember it.  MAN!! I just LOVE being introduced to new music.  I like it even better when I LOVE what I am listening to.  With three guitars on stage, I sometimes got lost in their sound as a whole, not focusing on individual talents as I generally do.  Eventually though, I ended up transfixed on Keith Allen and the fury of his guitar for the most of their set.  Playing a few new songs from their newly released cd, Dharland, The Mantras were tight and full of rock ‘n’ roll-vibin’ jams.   I’ve been listening to them ever since seeing this set.

I don’t want to elaborate on this band any further as I hope to one day (very, very soon) catch them in the NYC or the surrounding areas and write a big fat positive review on their music.  Come to NYC soon Mantras…come to us soon.

Setlist: Improv ->, The Prelude ->, Five Roads, Cross The Divide ->, Abacus ->, Further ->, Boy In The Bubble* ->, Popna, Crowd/Banter, Hobo Ken ->, Song For You -> Barefoot Jam, Funky Jank Patrol**

Notes:
* Boy In The Bubble (Paul Simon)
** w/ Bobby Muncy (Funk Ark) on baritone saxophone and Joe Hererra (Funk Ark) on trumpet

Download: The Mantras Live at Camp Barefoot 4, Bartow, WV on 2010-08-20 (August 20, 2010)

DJ Williams Projekt

DJ Williams – Guitar & vocals
Gordon Jones – Sax & vocals
Dusty Simmons – Drums
Todd Herrington – Bass
Mark Ingraham – Trumpet & Borine
Joey Ciucci – Keys

The next band that blew me away was Richmond-based DJ Williams Projekt.  Being that I am from Williamsburg, Virginia, for a moment, while listening to this group, I actually felt I could move back to my hometown because there would be some dope music only 20 minutes away.

DJ Williams, a spindly, attractive, studious-lookin’ lead guitar player has the spark of Jimmy Hendrix flowing through him.  Where some guitarist’s are full of flare and movement when they play, DJ Williams was stoic and stood planted in his spot most of the time and the corresponding  sound coming from his guitar might have well been coming from a schizophrenic flipping out all over stage.  I mean, just chaos and raging guitar sounds out of someone who barely moved.  And then when he did, his smile was so wide, his legs were trying to break free like his fingers.

Todd Herrington, of Modern Groove Syndicate, was phenomenal, thumping his bass over every beat the drums threw down.  I looked over to my left and the Pants for Bears bassist was just staring with his jaw open.  He later would dance over to me exclaiming: “That bassist is amazing” and mention something about hoping being on his level one day.

My focus kept shifting between DJ Williams and Todd Herrington.  Wow.  What a duo.  What a great group. What a pleasure to be seeing some sick ass funky music come from my old hood.  Now, I could only pray they would make it to my new hood, NYC.

Enjoy this clip of a fabulous wookie raging to the DJ Williams Projekt:

FunkUpOnYa

Doug Carter – Guitar
Carl Blackwell – Drums
Brian Werner – Keys
Leo Kishore – Bass

Special Guest: Keith Allen (The Mantras)

We picked up a friend from the Beandawg Artworks tent and made our way up the hill to the SKU tent for FunkUpOnYa.  My friend, AB, had boasted heavily about this group and so we weren’t to miss them.

Calling themselves “Certified Organic Funk”, I was hoping they lived up to their self-proclaimed branding and they certainly did. This band brought a little maturity to the festival as they appeared to be seasoned musicians. I wondered why they were raging the side stage but found out they had a main stage booking tomorrow.  Bassist Leo Kishore stood out heavily.  Keys player Brian Werner appeared to be utilizing some interesting techniques to make his sound, smacking the keys as fast as lighting like he was swatting a fly.

As I stood there dancing, they started playing a familiar tune by Soulive.  They were covering 76.  Could it be that I couldn’t get away from Soulive even traveling miles away from them?  It was true. In my frame of mind, I was completely confused for a minute trying to place the song.  I look at my friend and he confirms my confused look with a simple ” Yes!” Well, this made me love FunkUpOnYa even more as Soulive can do no wrong in this New Yorkers book.  They also covered Stanton Moore’s Blues for Ben at some point.  It was raging.

A few songs in and I noticed a gentleman in front who turned around and smiled.  He went back to dancing and then did it again.  After the third time, he leaned over and said: “You like this?” I responded, “Most certainly do.”  And with that he handed me FunkUpOnYa self-titled debut cd, still in its shrink wrap.   They were wonderful and I just popped in the cd as I write this 🙂

It was also during this set that Instant Mustache reps handed out various mustaches on a convenient little stick.  Seriously, it was fun for all ages.  And with the crowd that was raging the stages late night, it provided countless hours of manipulation of faces, voices and attitudes when the staches got into anyone’s hands.  Excellent idea 🙂

Finally, one of the best parts of the set was when FunkUpOnYa invited up Mantras guitar player, Keith Allen.  Wow.  Talk about rippin’.  The banter between artists and their respective instrument on the stage at during those few songs was palpable.  Keith, clearly having a great time with his friends as we all watched in on the art taking place before us.

Sadly, but for a positive reason, I was playing in the Charity Kickball game during FunkUpOnYa‘s main stage set the following day.  I shall leave you with a video from that set….they rage 🙂

Kyle Hollingsworth Band

Kyle Hollingsworth Keys & Organ
Garret Sayers – Bass
Dave Watts – Drums
Dan Schwindt – Guitar

Special Guests:

Kris Jensen (Kung Fu)
Jordan Giangreco (The Breakfast)
Cory Potrafka (Jackass Flats)

Another RIPPIN SET!!!  This time with a few familiar faces from Jam Cruise. With Garret Sayers and Dave Watts of the Motet backing Kyle Hollingsworth of The String Cheese Incident, we were bound for some dancing action and a taste of the West Coast.

Kyle Hollingsworth‘s slick voice flowed nicely behind his phenomenal bass influx of Garret Sayers. SO GOOD!  Covering Led Zeppelin and Guns ‘N Roses, the set was full of crushing solos and jamming fun and smiles from the entire band. By the end of their set, the stage was filled with members of various bands who were all having a blast.

There was definitely an energy at Camp Barefoot that I hadn’t experienced in years and again I was happy to be back in the mountains, reliving my college days with some of my favorite people.  I ended the set sitting down on the side stage backstage.   Lack of sleep, playing sports and dancing all day and night was starting to take its toll.

After their set, the band exited the stage and they were bombard by genuine fans from other bands.  I made eye contact with Garrett and just said “Jam Cruise!,” with my fist in the air.  His eyes perked up immediately and he steered my direction, repeating “Jam Cruise!” with a smile.  Chatting it up with Garrett was a highlight of my weekend in terms of backstage entry.

Setlist: Bam!, Too Young, Yo Se, Way That It Goes, All Inside ->, Kashmir ->, Boo Boo’s Pik-a-nik ->, Sweet Child O’ Mine ->, Boo Boo’s (end), Piece Of Mine, Let’s Go Outside, Seventh Step, Naive Melody, Peregrino

Encore: ‘Round In Circles

Download: Kyle Hollingsworth Band Live at Camp Barefoot 4, Bartow, WV on 2010-08-20

Kung Fu

Todd Stoops (Keyboards)
Adrian Tramontano (Drums)
Kris Jensen (Sax)
Dave Livolsi (Bass)
Tim Palmieri (Guitar)

Special Guests: Greg Stukey and Chris Michetti (RAQ) and Chris DeAngelis (The Breakfast)

I had just seen the Kung Fu set at Gathering of the Vibes and had left the stage more then impressed by their individual talents but not loving them when they came together as a group.  I must now equate this to the fact that there was so much insanely good music at GOTV that I was judging them too harshly against the bigger, better bands.  I also didn’t spend enough time to truly form any type of opinion of them as a group.  I knew half of them from other projects.  Anyway, that had to be the case, because tonight…the stage was on fire.

THIS BAND IS ONLY 9 MONTHS OLD!!  Yet, they are regional super group consisting of members of RAQ and The Breakfast, making Kung Fu just a rad bunch of talented musicians having a raging good time.  And looking good doing it. Good ‘Ol Boys club from the Northeast bringing it to the South.

This set was one of the hottest sets of the weekend. They brought the funk immediately with every single note.  Kris Jensen on Sax was  and Todd Stoops slippin into space with the keys.  You can’t help but move.  They scatter at times into spacey jams and integrate numerous styles of music into a single song.  Todd Stoops reminded me of at times.  I was happy to not hear as much singing in this  project. It was consistently jamming with so many layers going on.  Loved me some Dave Livolsi, those fast grimey fingers of funk.

For the encore, Chris Machetti was invited to join the stage along with the musical antics that took place on the stage at this point can only be seen.  I seem to be the only one at the festival who caught this action on video.  The sound is terrible so turn your speakers down a little bit but DEFNITELY hit play!!!

Setlist: “What is up BIG UP?, Actual Proof@, Bopcorn%, Chakrabarty Overdrive#, Lilliputians#, Teen Town$, Stratus*

notes:
@ – Herbie Hancock
% – Palmieri
# – Stoops
$ – Jaco Pastorius
* – Billy Cobham; with Greg Stukey and Chris Michetti (Raq) and Chris DeAngelis (The Breakfast)

Download: Kung Fu Live at Camp Barefoot 4, Bartow WV on 2010-08-20 (August 20, 2010)

Particle

Tim Palmieri – Guitar
Steve Molitz – Keys
Darren Pujalet – Drums
Eric Gould – Bass

Particle.  They had struck me hot and cold over the years.  I was glued to my side stage seat for this set.  I was completey being taken over by my exhaustion.  Afte rI dozed off a few songs in, I made a deal with myself that after I passed out in my chair for the third time , I would take myself “home.”

It must be mentioned, the kindness of my fellow southerners.  Having made friends with the VIP guard earlier in the night, he leaned over next to me as we watched particle, and said, “Lil lady,  I see you dozin off.  Don’t you frete. I won’t move until you wake up.  You go head an feel safe nah.”  I mean, just such a nice crew.

Sitting in for Ben Combe was Tim Palmieri.  Sadly, Ben had to remove himself from the scene for a while to deal with personal matters.  However, lucky for us, Tim Palmieri brought an entirely new layer to the group.  Having heard them for years, having gotten sick of them and genreally not all that interested to stay up any longer, I rallied in my side stage seat more then half way through.  I remember it being amazing but I was falling asleep where I sat most of the set.  I am stubborn and really don’t like leaving any type of live music until it’s over.  I leave you with this video by someone who had more energy then me.

Goodnight…Tonight I Can Say it

I immediately looked into many of the days band’s scheduling when I got back to NYC and noticed they hardly ever, if at all, come through.  This revelation has me feeling happy and sad at the same time.  Sad because who knows when I will see these raging musical acts again.  And happy in the sense that in only a matter of hours, Camp Barefoot had introduced me to and had me floored by some phenomenal musicians and groups that are specific to their region.  For the fisrt time in years, I had more musical faith in my home state and it’s neighboring areas.

I was looking forward to what was in store next. Day II down and one more to go.  Another dawn kickball was going to be happening soon.  I saw members of Team Whiskey as  iwalked home and we all looked in bad shape…perfect kickball material 🙂

Stay tuned for Camp Barefoot 4: Saturday (08.21.10)