Bad weather does not mean bad festival....

Well, the weather was decidedly NOT perfect at last weekend's Jenny Brook Bluegrass Festival in Weston, VT, but when all is said and done, that just didn't matter all that much. Hosts Candi & Seth Sawyer still put together a very good lineup, and the crowd always seemed pretty large and enthusiastic, so who can complain?

Of course, the performers were top-notch, from the two big days of unofficial "host band," the Gibson Brothers to the super-traditional sounds of road demons, David Davis & the Warrior River Boys, as well as Long Island's Buddy Merriam & Back Roads, and the inspiring Lynn Morris Band. In the not-quite-Bluegrass category, there were great performances from Northeast favorite, Smokey Greene, as well as Beartracks -- a group from the Plattsburgh, NY area featuring Dobro master Junior Barber, and his very talented cousins, Tom Venne and Julie Venne Hogan. And let's not forget the real hosts, the Seth Sawyer Band. Another big highlight was Saturday afternoon's set featuring the Gibsons' younger sister, Erin Gibson LaClair, in her very own front-and-center set of music (backed by a pretty fine band consisting of her brothers & longtime Gibson bass player, Mike Barber). Top notch.

You may recall that Lynn Morris suffered a stroke four years ago, and has had a difficult time getting back into the music. Lynn seems to have a hard time remembering lyrics, and while her voice isn't quite as strong as it once was, you've got to be impressed and inspired to see her performance. May she continue on her road to recovery.

If you didn't get a chance to make it to this year's festival, you missed a good one. I did see a good number of folks from Connecticut there -- maybe you can make it next year....

Festival volunteer Ted Lehmann has posted a very nice write-up of the weekend's activities on his own blog. If you'd like to read it, click here.

Be sure to drop Candi a note if you made it to Jenny Brook. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you.

Amy