who's going to GALAX?

[kudzugypsy]

OK friends, the grand-daddy of them all is just a week away. just checking to see who all might be going.
what else can i say - i'm so ready to get out of this heat and head for the hills and pick some good music!!

[csstanley]

well, kudzu, it's been near 100 for a week around here. hopefully the humidity will stay down.

although i'm in the foothills, you only knock off around 5 degrees from here to the top of the mountain.

but, i'll be there Lord willin and the creek don't rise.

[banjomanva]

I dont want to offend anyone on here but Galax is getting so bad I have quit going. Not only is it packed so tight with people you have to walk sideways but the judging is horrible for the competitions. Just my opinion.

[Flowerpot]

Yep, packed in like sardines, either hot as blazes or a rain-drenched swamp, unpredictable results in the competitions, and no decent sanitary conditons...

I'll be there with bells on -- misery loves company! 8 days straight, pick till you're sick. Wouldn't miss it. I get to see a lot of friends just once a year, at Galax, and there's always some stellar picking going on. Though I gotta agree, there's a lot to be desired about the way the thing is run.

Early in the week, it ain't so badly crowded. But you've gotta take the competition with a grain of salt. That ain't what it's all about, anyway.

[banjomanva]

You are correct....it is not about the competition, but that does seem to put a damper on things. As far as seeing friends, a lot of the galax crowd seems to be going to other events like Glen Lyn so I get to see them there. Hopefully it won't be a swamp for those of you going this year. Hope everyone has a blast

[sunburst]

This will make 22 years in a row for me (!!)
How can I be that old?!

Right you are, it ain't about the contest. It's not a real contest, and they don't even seem to try to hide that.
The stage part is entertainment for the crowds, the campground part is entertainment for the pickers. It's like a week long pickin' party.
Sometimes I long for the old less-crowded days when there was plenty of room to camp, and the whole thing seemed simpler, but I still go every year, and I still have a good time.

[Bobbie Dier]

When I go to Galax, I like to go early in the week Sunday thru Thursday then leave when the crowd came in. That would be Thursday thru Sat night. Early in the week you can pick, still have clean bathrooms and take a decent shower. I hate that Fri and Sat night crowd. That's when it's time to go home or stay in the campsite. I might get to go early in the week this year.

Seems like the Bluegrass has taken over there. Most Old Time pickers go to Clifftop the week before http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif.

You are right about the judging. One year Arney Solomon got only 6th place as great as he is.

[kudzugypsy]

hey friends, i'm with ya 100% on the "cons" to this festival. it is really no real secret that the "contest" is nothing of the sort - if they didnt refund some money, then i doubt that 10% of the contestants would even bother -- the old timers have just quit going onstage and sit in the campground and pick! the Moose KNOW that they have complete control over this event and let me tell you, they are making SO much money that they dont care (i hear from a longtime lodgeman that only 2 people know the exact dollar amount - #733 mooselodge is the most financially successful in the country)

now MANY have said it has gotten worse, and i dont argue there. but let me pose this question - where in this country can you go camp for 7 days, pick bluegrass with the BEST musicians in the country and do it all for a $40 camping fee (even if the ONE shower is ice cold and the portalets are "off limits" after midnight) - think about the old days with the biker gangs and drunks - they have really cleaned that mess up. they (moose/cops) really dont mess with you in the contestant camping area and i've never had any problem in all my years - now the ballfield is another story, but i dont have any reason to go over there anyway.

the fact is, this event is really the last of a dying breed. you have the last remaining old time fiddlers event, and enjoy it while you can, cause this part of our great southern culture is DYING hard - i love it. i love to see the young kids competition, and see the old timers ( the REAL ones, not the hippies and granolas - i'm not disrespecting them, i just enjoy seeing the real OTers) in truth, we are really fortunate to still have this event - even with the problems.

my take on the "hard" conditions of Galax are that this is the rite of passage for the hard core - we LOVE it - you know what i mean - its friday, your caked with mud, you've been sleeping in a tent for 6 days - picking 10-14 hours a day, and you see all these clean, fresh people come in - its almost like they arent one of us. i have had many friends go one year and they just arent cut out for it - they are great pickers and enjoy it - but yes, the conditions are too much for them. just take a walk around there at 3am one morning and hear the real deal - its all worth it!

the rain is gonna come - just bring your rubber boots and forget about it.

[Bobbie Dier]

kudzugypsy,

AMEN to 100% of what you say!

I hope you have a great time http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif .

[flatthead]

Got to agree with most everything mentioned. I've been going for about 25 years....Yes John H.... We *are* old.....

Almost every year I say "I'm *never* coming back here again"....till next year!!

Can't wait......See you all next week!!

Jim Rollins

[Flowerpot]

It would be cool to meet up with the cafe members some time, but I hardly ever wear a watch at Galax... it's fun when somebody asks what time it is, and some long-timer looks at them with a straight face and says "Wednesday!!".

John, be sure to bring that new mando.

[sunburst]

Kudzugypsy, you nailed it!
I remember the first time I walked up to the stage area on a Friday night after I'd been there since Wednesday, picking for hours every day, without shaving, and here were all these people in their good clothes...and makeup and stuff! (Getting there on Wednesday used to be early.)

Jim, yeah, yeah, rub it in! I changed the head on the 7. Wait'l you hear this!

Mark, I'll have an F and an A. (I don't wear a watch any time. Day and night, that's all there is.)

The airstream is already parked next to the porch and I'm cleaning and packing. Looking forward to seeing y'all there!

[flatthead]

It's one of the (very) few times of the year where I don't have to worry about time. The two times I keep track of are: the time I get there, and the time I leave....

John, looking forward to playing the 7...I've got a 2 you'll like.....

Jim

[djangolin]

"I'll be there man..."

[kudzugypsy]

i think the great mud bog that we had there 2 years ago really did a lot of people in. that was a mess! i wore my "hog boots" for 4 straight days and it took a whole day to later adjust to a real pair of shoes. i think it was the best picking and music that year of all though. it was raining so much, and the place was so muddy,folks couldnt get their trucks out (even in 4x4) that most just hunkered down under a good tarp and just picked like crazy - probably the most memorable music year ever. i bet i spent the whole week there and didnt wander more than 4 rows over in either direction.

i'll probably be camping again this year with the infamous McGee boys (Rex & Ralph) so come on by and sit in for something "different" - hopefully, the old original Muddy Creek bus will start this year and we will have some relieve from the elements.

sunburst, i wish i could haul my airstream up there, but its a 31', and i dont know that my truck could pull it up that hill from fancy gap. dont most people with campers take 77 and come down from hillsville?

[foggyvalley]

Ok guys, despite the ominous stories I've talked my wife into going!!!! We'll be there Sunday nite through Wednesday afternoon, I'm taking the advise of one poster to leave before the w/e gets too crazy. We'll be cruising around the camp lookin' for jams, I'll be the lefthanded mando player on a Weber and my wife will have her fiddle in tow. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Flowerpot]

OK, it's all over and I'm almost caught up on sleep. Any high points? I'd like to hear.

I got to see so many old friends, it was quite a blast. Our kiddies had other kiddies to play with, and they were content most of the time. Camped across from a professional photographer who got some killer pictures of all our campsite's kids. Only got stuck in the mud once, on Wed, and it took the Moose only an hour and a half to find the chain for the big truck to pull me out (the tractor was out of the question, because it was "only two wheel drive" and wouldn't have worked -- that's par for the course for them Mensa-type Moose there).

Got to hear and record a session right next to us with Bibey playing the mandolin; it was a pretty good jam with guys from Blueridge and other bands playing together.

I did quite a bit of picking considering we were taking care of 3-year-old twins along with everything else going on. Had a lot of fun playing with our regular crew of guys (Tony Collins, Steve Fraleigh, Lee Dunbar, Dewey Peters, Greg Honeycutt, in case you know any of them). Learned the fiddle tune "Indian Killed a Woodcock" and the bossa nova "Watch What Happens Now". Played some archtop guitar over at Swing Central, and took the kids to see a blacklight lasso twirling exhibition there. Hmmm, anything else? No ribbon this year on the mando, but my buddy Steve took 1st in the fiddle, so that was a good deal. Saw Sunburst's new demo F5, a very nice mando, might powerful indeed, with impeccable finish work. Overall a great week, can't wait till next year!

[flatthead]

Lots of higlights for me this year: Great jams with Hunter Berry (holy cow!), Shannon Shaughter, Ron Inscore, The Blinky Moon Boys, and Twin fiddles with Tim Smith and Tom Brantley. I was certainly in high cotton with those guys....

Best to all

Jim

[kudzugypsy]

yeah, that was good to see alan bibey up there this year. i did get to hear a great twin fiddle jam with hunter berry and jimmy van cleve - HOT!
met lots of new friends.
another great year - and a long wait til next august.

[banjomanva]

didnt go this year but my cousin took 7th on the guitar and a friend of mine took 2nd (i think) on the dobro.

[Roachcoach]

Ahhh Galax the land of simultaneous mud and dust. Spent most of the festival feeding people(quesadilla and apple crisp booth) but got to do a little late night pickin over at the soup kitchen. Starting to take a liking to ol timey. Even braking down and buying an old Gibson A tomorrow(felt kinda dumb sitting there playing O.T. on an "f". Really enjoyed hearing that fella that plays mando with Larry Keel,didn't catch his name tho. See y'all next year. Stop by the roachcoach and say hey.

[sunburst]

Hey, that apple crisp put 10 pounds on me in one evening!
Good meeting you at Pokey's. Didn't see you at the soup kitchen, but I was in the airstream right behind it.

[Bobbie Dier]

Roachcoach,
I had one of your quesadillas and man was it good. It was nice meeting you too. You can cook and play mandolin. That's pretty cool!!