Main Blues

SANDY RIVER PLANTATION — The Saddleback Mountain Bluegrass Festival was such a blazing success that organizers have announced that it will become an annual event –-most likely developing into a two-day festival. “We broke even. The Berry family and Saddleback crew are ecstatic!” said festival organizer Mark Robie. “I’ve been told by a promoter that’s never been done. It usually takes a few years to get to that point.”
Robie did his homework. “I’ve reached out to the Bluegrass community and turned over all the rocks under which they hide! It was really them who put this together. I couldn’t have done it without their generosity.”
Mason Strunk (above right) sings Daisy A Day, accompanied by Steve Prince, while a lone couple in the crowd dances (below). To get a feel for how these festivals are run, Robie attended several events earlier this summer including White’s Beach Annual Traditional Family Bluegrass Festival in Brunswick, the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival in Litchfield and the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland.
He received invaluable guidance from Jamie Isaacson, who is the co-promoter of the North Atlantic Blues Festival, and Nick Bloom. Bloom booked the talent for the Saddleback event; Isaacson was Saddleback’s consultant.
Ticket sales were brisk the week leading up to the festival according to Robie. “We had to put an extra person on the reservations line last week.” He said there were close to 2,000 people at the show. Sixteen hundred tickets were sold and the remaining went to sponsors, etc. People came from across the country, from Santa Fe, Ohio, Connecticut and the Maritimes.
The event officially kicked off Friday night with The Muellers and Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection playing to a standing room only crowd in the Swig n’ Smelt Pub in the Saddleback Base Lodge. Sebago Brewing Company also introduced its new Saddleback Ale Friday at the pub and served it in the Beer Garden during Saturday’s concert.
Dozens of people took advantage of the tent sites and camper parking Saddleback offered Friday and Saturday nights. The temperatures dipped into the 30s accompanied by a brisk breeze Friday night –-but it didn’t deter anyone from having a great time. Music could be heard from various campsites Friday and Saturday as campers got together and jammed into the night. The official term for this is “field picking” and it is a long-standing tradition at bluegrass festivals.
Saturday morning started out brisk as the breeze. Armed with blankets, layers of clothing and chairs, many had already arrived to claim their perfect spot in front of the stage when the gates opened at 9 a.m. By the time the concert got underway at 11, a steady stream of people was filing through the gates and the sun had finally won its battle with the clouds.
Maine’s own award-winning bluegrass group The Jerks of Grass opened the show with their lively acoustic music. They have performed several times locally at Saddleback and Sugarloaf, and have developed quite a local following.
Darol Anger, Scott Law, Sharon Gilchrist and Sam Grisman, put on a rousing show with Anger’s sizzling violin and Gilchrist’s beautiful, crystal clear vocals. Later, The Stowaways, known throughout Maine as the “Empire Dine and Dance Band” in Portland, were accompanied by Anger, who appeared to enjoy his guest spot with the band.
By mid-afternoon, the Infamous Stringdusters came on stage and blew away the crowd with their music. It was clear they were having a great time as they interacted with the crowd and showed no mercy on their stringed instruments. By this time, there was a large dancing crowd that didn’t stop until the festival was over.
One of the most touching moments came when 11-yearold Mason Strunk sang “Daisy A Day,” a song that his grandfather, Jud Strunk, wrote and first recorded nearly 40 years ago. As young Strunk finished the song, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Many in the crowd were visibly touched, whether it was from remembering Jud Strunk and his simple love song that spans generations, or for the striking resemblance between young Mason and his grandfather.
Sharon Gilchrist The show’s headliners The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience and The Del McCoury Band were outstanding by all accounts. The performers seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves as they played for the crowd and jammed with each other. McCoury and his group couldn’t seem to stop smiling as they ripped through their music. At one point the crowd was treated to an outstanding show as Grisman and Anger returned to the stage to jam with McCoury. One festivalgoer noted that veterans Grisman and McCoury “were awesome and shared the stage unselfishly and enthusiastically with other musicians.”
“I just loved everything about the festival! So many ‘feel good’ memories,” said Dotty Kelley, from Freeman. “The bands were outstanding. The festival volunteers were so helpful and always smiling. Mark Robie helped me blow up my air mattress and then drove me up to my camp site with it on his Harley. I watched volunteers help families carry their stuff up to their camp site. There were many jams going on around the mountain on Friday and Saturday nights. Music everywhere —a very happy event!”