Who went to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass? I was lucky enough to be able to go all 3 days, and most of the bands that I really wanted to see (with a few exceptions) weren't overlapping. Here's my rundown of the bands I paid attention to (starting with my most favorite):
The Dukes of September Rhythm Review ft. Boz Scaggs, Michael McDonald, & Donald Fagen: Yes, AC Lite music, but wow, this was easily a $100+ show. Perfect in every way, great music, great sound, great production, overall great performance. Kudos to them for playing "I Keep Forgettin'" & "Lowdown."
Richard ThompsonPeter Himmelman, despite missing all but the last song. I came up here an hour early just so I'd be able to find parking and get there on time, and it took me
an hour and a half!!! 
. Fortunately I was able to make it to his very last song, "Mission of My Soul," which was spectacular in every way. Wish I would have been able to see the rest -- does anyone know if he played "The Discipline of Rain"?
Patti SmithRandy NewmanConor Oberst: Seeing as he's so mondo with the hipsters I was fully expecting this native of my state (
) to be entirely overrated, however I was pleasantly surprised.
The Avett Brothers: Similar to the above, I was fully expecting them to be overrated as I know they have quite the following but all I've heard from them up to this point are their radio singles. "I & Love & You" is one of the most grating songs (not to mention titles) of the year & "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise" didn't help their case much. However, now I realize it's a textbook example of a sellout album; they have earlier material all of which is quite good & gave one heck of a performance (especially liked their jumping cello player); everything they played off of their latest album, on the other hand, was crap.
Steve Earle & The Dukes: Seemed a bit lethargic at first, but showed stamina. Loved hearing "Jerusalem."
Sarah Lee & Johnny: Have not heard of them, but I liked their accessible folksy sound.
Fountains of Wayne: On the dividing line between '
' and '
' but they get bumped up for playing "Someone to Love" & "Stacy's Mom," bonus points since they weren't too cool for the latter (as artists like these sometimes are with their big hit.)
Elvis Costello & the Sugarcanes: Maybe I was just annoyed that I could barely see the tops of their heads, and maybe I was annoyed that he didn't play any of his recognizable songs (at least not during the last ~50 minutes, as I was @ Keller for the first 20) but I thought they were just ok.
Keller & the Keels: I do respect Keller's talent a lot, but felt that his covers project did not live up to its full potential. "Rehab" was good as that essentially is a country-bluegrass song, but his remake of "Pepper" was just...flat. And it could have been not flat. Then he lost me @ the Grateful Dead cover.
James McMurtry: Performance wise he was fine, but he's here primarily for poor song selection. I missed the first 15 minutes as I was @ the end of P. Himmelman, but over half of the remaining 35 minutes were taken up by the seemingly obligatory (but totally unnecessary) jam-type song followed by an even more unnecessary 10-minute ballad. We didn't even get "Painting By Numbers," "Where's Johnny," "Talking at the Texaco," "Just Us Kids," or "Bad Enough," unless he played at least three of those in the first 15 minutes. At least when I came by he was playing the next best, which was "Hurricane Party."
Jenny & Johnny: I've never seen the appeal in any of her incarnations: Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, and now Jenny & Johnny. She's not horrible, but she's just so incredibly average. Her music is what happens when people who know how to play instruments and use the English language, but aren't prodigies at either, decide to pick up a guitar & start singing. Seeing her live confirmed this, rather than made me a fan as it did with Conor Oberst. The description stated "This is not a Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis, or Johnny album...it's Jenny & Johnny." Coulda fooled me.
Mondo Cane: Ehh...I tried to like it. It worked quite well for the first 10 minutes, but then it just became too ridiculous.
(Not that I can complain too much, since it was free, but...)
Patty Griffin: What a disappointment. I love her for her lyrics, and here she comes on doing a bunch of gospel covers!!! To be fair, her covers were competent...but why torture us with merely competent covers when she could have delighted us with her brilliant originals. No "Rain" or "Kite".
T-Bone Burnett ft. The Punch Bros & Secret Sisters: Sorry, but when the billing is
T-Bone Burnett ft. yada yada[/u] & the short bio in the program is primarily about T-Bone Burnett, I expect T-Bone Burnett to be the focus of this set. Not the Punch Brothers or the Secret Sisters. T-Bone appeared like twice. Yes, the Punch Brothers were good, but couldn't make up for false advertising & by themselves did not deserve to be in the headlining time slot.
