Someone at the Maryland Department of Tourism probably needs to intervene here, because I don’t know if Maryland’s DelFest, pictured above, should really be on the same weekend and in the same state as Maryland’s DeathFest, montoged here:

But if you’re into music that involves masks, don’t say Slow States never met your needs.

beards!

Bank Members: 4
From: Not the city (but actually I can’t seem to find it)
Wiki Page? Semi-surprisingly, no.
All Good Runaways? Locals, maybe. 

Last.fm calls them “energetic hillbilly music machine,” or maybe the band wrote that.  It’s pretty accurate.  There’s another part about blowing our mind with clever lyrics, but I that part I don’t agree with.  I’m reading they play over 250 shows a year, which seems the best possibly application for this kind of music.  I can see an afternoon session being a very, very good time given the right amount of light beer.

When they’re not being a little too deliberate with they’re lyrics, they play well.  That I like.

The current big board, four down, 26 bands to go:

1. Mon River Ramblers
2. Mountain Sprout
3. Sleepy Man Banjo Boys
4. Madison Violet 

Langhorne Slim just released an album the old fashion way — by himself — and it’s one of the very few times I’ve ever heard a set of songs live before it was released and realized something excellent was on the way (“Murdered In The City” at All Good was a previous, and potentially only other, example).

“New” song from 2009 via Delta Spirit that, well, I’ve never heard anywhere else.  It sounds like it made it on the short lived not-really-a-supergroup Middle Brother album, which has never been anything but a YouTube search for me.  Well reviewed though, and perhaps worth a download.

I can’t remember seeing a woman play the harmonica.

Bank Members: 2+
From: Canada
Wiki Page? Short and sweet.
All Good Runaways? Furthest thing from it.

There’s something very unusual yet common about Canadians singing about (or at least touching on) decidedly American themes. The world would be a much sadder place without them, of course, but what the hell causes this, anyway?

I can’t think of anything less steriotypical Canadians singing about Georgia, and if here are Canadian smarties, and Canadian bacon, why isn’t there a Canadian Georgia to reference?

When I heard this was a Canadian singer/songwriter act that’s popular in the US and Europe, this is about what I expected, so good for them.  This ranking is selfish, though, and I’m going to DelFest for the foot stomping.  They aren’t rocking the harp enough to make up for the lack of percussive instruments. 

The current big board, three down, 27 bands to go:

1. Mon River Ramblers
2. Sleepy Man Banjo Boys
3. Madison Violet 

I mean, they’re kids.

Bank Members: 3
From: New Jersey
Wiki Page? Um, yes, banjo prodigies get wiki pages.
All Good Runaways? Clearly, no.

They’re currently 10, 12 and 14.  They’re actually playing a couple of sets, including being a centerpiece for an “special” evening show.  They’re go-to also happens to be my favorite banjo tune.

I can’t help but feel bad for the older brother, he’s up to par with the group but doesn’t seem to be getting any of the attention.  In fact attention is clearly inversely correlated to age, here.  I guess that’s what he gets for picking the guitar, by far the least sexy instrument in the genre.  You know it’s funny how that works, the centerpiece of American pop, rock and country — I mean look at this Rolling Stone Cover (warning: Rolling Stone cover) — becomes the clarinet of bluegrass.

Anyway, obviously well trained, but I like my songwriting and lyrics.  

The current big board, two down, 28 bands to go:

1. Mon River Ramblers
2. Sleepy Man Banjo Boys

To reincarnate an old project in a vastly different form, I’ll be ranking — based on purely selfish criteria — each member of this year’s DelFest lineup in an effort to overcome the single greatest  deficiency of just about all music festivals: living in constant fear that by staying at one state, you’re missing something better at another.  We’ll call it “Stage Fright” for the next couple days while we lead up my the internet absence starting this Thursday evening in western Maryland.

Since there’s not much debate with the first one, here is your currently #1 ranked act, from lowest biller Mon River Ramblers:

Bank Members: 5
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Wiki Page? Nope
All Good Runaways? Doubt it. 

The most interesting thing happening at DelFest is the band competition, a contest among a group of sell-funders who all seemed to be parked next to each other in the swampiest part of the camping area.  The Mon River Ramblers won the competition in 2011 and where thus invited back as a big boy band.

And I see they’re upping their game on the PR front as well — they’re signature look last year is what we like to call Akron Football Coach / Bass Pro Shop Employee Discount Program — shorts, maybe some sandals, and definitely dark wrap-a-round shades.  The can flat out deliver on the fiddle and mandolin, though, so performance gear is acceptable. 

Bonus: check out their take on Sweet Child of Mine.

The current big board, one down, 29 bands to go:

1. Mon River Ramblers

From one of the many former Cleveland logans.  The article also makes a great distinction a couple of college athletic department PR folks could learn from:

To that end, the success of any city brand campaign is dependent on how you go about it, that is: are you trying to be a thing or are you being it? The distinction is important, as nobody likes a fake, especially when the “brand” of the Rust Belt is about being as real as possible.

Which is a funny prism to look at the recent Big Ten abandonment of competitive logic and constituent pleasing for the new conference slogan: OMG ROSE BOWL, a game that’s evolved well beyond anything it every meant to anyone anyway.

What’s missing in the above quote is the issue of trying to be not who you are but who you were — the Rose Bowl was a very real thing at one time, but it’s been decades and besides two of your four premier brands are less connected to the game than Alabama.

My favorite, your winner.

Punch Brothers - Rye Whiskey

Reposting some of the better stuff you never bothered to listen to before we default on our hosting bill and send the old digs to Internet Cemetery.