Hey everyone, I'll be heading to the Appalachian String Band Festival (Clifftop, WV) soon and gone for a week. This American roots music festival leans heavily toward traditional fiddle and banjo tunes but there are also groups of blues, cajun and New Orleans brass band folks there as well - all acoustic music. One thing I love about this festival is that the overwhelming majority of the 3,000 + people who attend play music at various levels. There are a few who just come to listen but it's mostly musicians. It's a humbling/uplifting experience for me since many of the guys and ladies play circles around me but are still willing to jam with the likes of me! I'm hoping to talk a group of folks into playing cigar box, cookie tin, and other homemade instruments on stage for what I believe will be a first there! I usually enter the banjo contest. They give prizes for the top five places as determined by the judges. I always tie for 6th place along with about 50 other banjo players! Anyway I'll be happily away from computers for about a week and will report back upon my return/recuperation!

Yup, that's a CB Fiddle on stage there last year.