The Year of Music and Mountains

2014, the year of music and mountains. When the lineup for the Britt Festival came out earlier that year I could barely contain my excitement. This was the first time there was more than just one act that I was excited about and I was determined to see as many shows as I could afford. The festival was opened with Michael Franti’s Soulshine Tour which consisted of Trevor Hall, Soja, Brett Dennen, and Michael Franti and Spearhead. I’ve lost count of the number of Michael Franti shows that I have seen, but watching him perform is always so enjoyable that I have yet to get tired of it. Granted ever since Franti’s song Say Hey (I Love You) got onto the top forty list he has been steering towards a more pop oriented crowd rather than his usual radical hippy crowd. However, He’s still the smiling, dreadlocked, barefooted guy that can make a group of sleeping grannies jump up and shake their booties.

My mum is a huge fan of Brett Dennen and since he was going to be performing only a half hour away from us we couldn’t resist spending the money. Dennen is such a quirky character with his long lanky legs, bright red hair, and unique nasally voice. Watching him sing and twist his tiny hips makes it impossible for you not to smile; he exudes such warmth and sweetness that you just want to run up and give him a big hug. Dennen is a great performer; he gets his audience up and moving. He knows what songs his fans want to hear the most and he’s always ready to give. Seeing him with the Soulshine Tour made me want to see him again on his own tour. With the Soulshine Tour not everyone was there to see Brett Dennen, as I was, and it’s hard to enjoy a concert when a majority of the audience are still sitting down, talking, and eating and not jumping up and down to Wild Child. So, now I have made a vow to see Dennen the next time he’s in my area so that I can share my love of this quirky red head with other people who know and love his music.

The next installment in my musical summer was Amos Lee who I went and saw with my dad at the Britt Festival. The only Amos Lee song I knew at the time was Sweet Pea, and although I had most of his music I had yet to actually listen to a full album before heading out to see him in concert. For all those concert and festival goers I would highly recommend that you do some research before going to see an act that you don’t know. You will enjoy the concert a lot more if you recognize more than one song and you might discover your new favorite band in the process. Even though I didn’t recognize most of the songs Amos Lee was great to see live. He had a really great band supporting him, and he told a lot of funny stories. Black Prairie opened for Amos Lee, and they were quite enjoyable except that I felt they were trying too hard to joke around and connect with their audience and not succeeding. It felt a bit as though I was hanging out with a group friends who knew each other really well and had all these inside jokes that I wasn’t a part of, so it got very old very quickly.

A few days after seeing Amos Lee I went back to the Britt with my dad, my sister, and my friend Raina to see Tedeschi Trucks Band. I was completely blown away by their performance. Derek Trucks is absolutely amazing, his fingers possess magical powers, and Susan Tedeschi has a voice that makes you turn into a puddle of goo, not to mention she is also a killer guitar player. My dad is a huge Tedeschi Trucks fan so I had heard their music while it was playing around the house, but once you’ve seen them live there’s no going back. The band makes great recordings but seeing them live is a whole new thing; you get to see those amazing solos (guitar, piano, and vocal alike) being created before your eyes, which for a musician like myself is extremely inspiring.

I didn’t see anymore live music until the middle of August when I volunteered at the Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado. Once again I failed to do my research and didn’t look up most of the bands that were performing although I had heard of many of them before. It was a very small festival with only two stages, the main stage and the Wildflower Pavilion, so for three days I enjoyed the folk music bouncing off of the Rocky Mountains. My favorite part of the festival was the Songwriter Showcase. Before the festival thousands of aspiring musicians auditioned so that they could play there. Only ten were chosen and these ten had the honor of playing two songs each on the main stage to officially open the festival. I spent most of the next two days in the Wildflower Pavilion watching these unknown musicians playing their own sets. I was extremely inspired by all of them and I had a chance to speak to several of them afterwards and tell them so.

I was lucky enough to get accepted as a volunteer for the festival and I was really excited that I was posted at the west gate which had access to the backstage area, so I had multiple opportunities to talk to a lot of the artists, including several members of Elephant Revival. The entire festival was well organized, relaxing, and very fun. It was a great location since it’s right on the South St. Vrain river which was helpful since it was in the high 80’s during most of the festival. I did struggle with loneliness while being at the festival. I only worked four hours a day so I had a lot of time on my hands after my shift ended, but looking back I’m glad that it was just me. I had an opportunity to go out of my comfort zone and try to talk to strangers which has always been hard for me. I also think that if I had been with friends I wouldn’t have stayed in the same place watching act after act for so long so it was nice to just sit and listen for hours on end without worrying about where we should go next.

A couple of days after I got back from Colorado I went back to the Britt with my dad to see Peter Frampton. My dad was really excited about this and would randomly spit out bits of information about Frampton and his career. We were also lucky enough to see Buddy Guy who opened for Frampton. It was thrilling to watch these amazing guitarists just mess around and do what they do best. It was also hilarious to watch my dad singing along and play air drums and air guitar.

When September began I went back to Britt with my friend Mimi and my mum to see The Head and The Heart who are one of my favorite bands. Living in a small town like Ashland it’s rare to have a well known band come through town let alone the Rogue Valley, I usually have to commute to Eugene or Portland so when I saw that The Head and The Heart were going to be at Britt I jumped at the opportunity to see them. They did not disappoint at all. They were all very sweet and Mimi and I had a lot of fun watching the bass player who was easily over six feet tall with a big beard and looked like he was gently tip-toeing in place while playing his bass. San Fermin was their opening band. Charlene Kaye as the replacement for their lead singer who had decided to work on her solo act. I had seen Charlene Kaye a few years earlier when she was with her own band so it was cool to see her again. I can’t say that I was a huge fan of San Fermin, some of their music I enjoyed but I didn’t like the male lead singer’s voice and even Charlene Kaye’s voice got on my nerves after awhile. Later I looked up a video of San Fermin with their original lead singer hoping that maybe she would turn me into a fan but no such luck. My favorite part of the entire concert was when one of the lead singers of The Head and The Heart invited a girl from the audience to come up and dance on stage. She was bursting with happiness and the crowd was cheering like crazy for her. As soon as she got on stage and they started playing Lost In My Mind everyone got to their feet and started dancing. That’s one of my favorite things about concerts, sharing the music that gives everyone such happiness.

The finale of my 2014 summer was The Avett Brothers. I cannot put into words how happy it made me to see them. I have been a fan for a long time and I’ve been wanting to see them for years. This was their fourth time performing at the Britt and I had managed to miss their three previous performances much to my disappointment. The worst miss was in 2012 when I was working for the Northwest Youth Corps in Idaho and The Avett Brothers played at the Britt the day before I came home. As soon as they came on stage I was up on my feet with the rest of the crowd cheering and screaming. They played for a solid two and a half hours and I could have watched them play all night. The Avett Brothers didn’t have an opening act which surprised me but was actually a blessing since that meant they were able to play for much longer than usual. Even with The Avett Brothers I realized that I still needed to do research before I came to a show. I was very ignorant in thinking that I knew a large majority of their music when in reality I owned all of their albums but I had only listened to four out of the eleven that they have. So I was slightly embarrassed when I didn’t recognize many of the songs that they performed.

After this amazing summer of music I have made a vow to always do my research before seeing a show. I also have several important tips to give if you want to fully enjoy a concert; bring water and drink lots of it through out the day and the concert, and, do your research!! Make sure your phone is fully charged, bring delicious food with you (if it’s allowed, that is), bring extra layers, talk to the people you’re sharing the venue with, talk to the artists if you see them and they don’t look like they’re pre-occupied, try not to let little things, like people talking really loudly throughout the entire show or drunk people, get in the way. If you have some spending money go to the merchandise booth and spoil yourself (everything is expensive but it shows your support and the merchandise at concerts are always much better than the stuff you’ll find in other places), and above all have fun! Music is a chance to have fun with your favorite band and people you’ve never met before and will probably never see again so take advantage of it.

All pictures are property of Autumn Micketti