This Week on KHOL

March 8 - 14

Tune in to KHOL for local public affairs at 3 pm weekdays after Democracy Now!

Coming up this week we have…

this week on Teton Talk with the JH Chamber of Commerce - Kate sits down with Casey Stout, the Chamber’s Volunteer Program Coordinator as well as the chamber’s executive Director Tim O’Donoghue to talk about the upcoming summer. But before we get to summer, there’s the 35th Annual Snow King Hill Climb and Heidi Tobin from the Jackson Hole Snow Devils gives you the scoop. That’s all this week on Teton Talk.

- Tuesday @ 3 pm

Scott Fizgerald will stop by the studio today at 4 pm to talk about the upcoming 7^th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Bash. This year’s party will be out at Teton Village in collaboration with Snake River Brewing, the Village Café, Nick Wilson’s & Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and featuring the music of Slip & the Jigs.

A portion of the proceeds benefits KHOL!

- Tuesday @ 4 pm

Live in the Hole - local musicians featured live in the KHOL studio every Wednesday evening

- Wednesday @ 6:30 pm

in a lead up to St. Patty’s Day, Iowa Boy welcomes local musicians into the studio for some live Irish music on The Odyssey, just after Live in the Hole

- Wednesday @ 7 pm

the Low Def Film Fest is coming up March 20. Get the details right here on KHOL, tune in Thursday afternoon for an interview with Ryan Falley - the event’s founder.

- Thursday @ 3 pm

The Grand Table with Chef Jason

- every Sunday @ 11 am

PS Post your favs in the comment box!

• The Arcade Fire – Funeral
• Band Of Horses – Everything All The Time
• Beck – Sea Change
• Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
• Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, Its Morning
• Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It in People
• Burial – Untrue
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - ST
• Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood TO The Head
• Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlantasism
• The Decemberists – Her Majesty, The Decemberists
• The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
• Explosions in the Sky – The Earth is Not A Dead Place
• Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
• José González – In Our Nature
• LCD Sound system – Sound Of Silver
• M. Ward – Transfigurations of Vincent
• The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree
• The Notwist – Neon Golden
• The Postal Service – Give Up
• Radiohead – In rainbows
• Radiohead – Kid A
• The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
• Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts of The Great Highway
• Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

KHOL / Snow King Season Pass Give-Away Contest

This contest has been made possible through support from Snow King Mountain, “Jackson’s Town Hill.”

The 2009/10 ski season is underway and KHOL has your chance to win a Snow King season pass!

KHOL will be giving away two season passes to Snow King. Keep listening to KHOL - 89.1 fm for your chance to enter. Our DJs will be entering contestants all week during their shows. The first caller will have their name entered into the random drawing on Tuesday, Jan. 5th. @ 5:15 pm. You do not have to be present to win, but you must be entered to win, so keep listening for your next chance.

Snow King offers over 1,500 vertical feet right off the Town Square with 4 lifts and 16 runs for all ability levels.

For more information about Snow King please visit www.Snowking.com

A few reminders:

• Each season pass is good for ONE person only.
• KHOL will be giving away both season passes at the same time - Tuesday, Jan. 5 @ 5:15

- in an on-air drawing during Tyler’s show - The Cultured Pearl with T-Alfs

• the first-caller to respond to each show’s entry opportunity will be entered into the random drawing
• Only ONE contest entry per person please
• Every Volunteer DJ will have an opportunity to enter a listener into the drawing during each show so keep listening for your chance

Thanks to all who contributed!

-Brad

entries are listed alphabetically and sounds are embedded wherever possible

• A.D. & Christian
• Alex
• B-Mo’s
• Brad
  
• Claudia
  
• Cody
• Colleen
• Crusher and Destroyer
• Curtis
• Dawn
• Jeff Lenon
• Jeremy
• Kelly
• Mark L
• Max
• Neil
• Nona
• Sam
• Walt
  
• Wickey
• Zeke

We here at KHOL would especially like to thank:

• CutLaWhut for making the whole thing happen - you rock!
• Just Kenny & Cano - the other DJs for keeping the dance floor bumpin’ all night long
• Julie Zell & the whole staff at the Stone Table - Will at the door and Tyler & Gardner at the bar (this crew worked tirelessly all night long)
• and of course to our own Cody & Jim for lending Will a hand at the door

KHOL would like to thank the following sponsors and individuals who worked so hard to make Tuesday night’s “Bike-In movie” a great event.

• Andy Zimmerman, Scott Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald’s Bicycles
• Tom Fortune & Snow King Mountain
• Travis Walker, Aaron Wallace & Teton Artlab
• Ben, Matt & Hughes Production
• Troy & Backcountry Provisions
• Snake River Brewing
• our own amazing KHOL volunteers - Neil Albert, Cody Barber & Trey Hamilton
• and, of course, everyone that came our to brave the cold, despite the week-long rain delay

With your support the Bike-In movie can become a regular summer event!

Tuesday, Sept. 22 @ dusk!

Have a great Tuesday movie night while supporting KHOL!

• Raiders of the Lost Ark will be the featured movie
• Be at the Snow King lawn by dusk to catch every action packed minute of the movie
• Food will be available and provided by Backcountry Provisions
• Beer will be available and provided by Snake River Brewing Company
• All proceeds of the event will go to KHOL!
• Don’t forget to bring a chair and a blanket
• Bike, Run, Walk, or Crawl just use your own two legs to get there!

Special thanks to Fitzgerald’s Bicycles, Teton Artlab and Snow King Mountain!

Festival Report: Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival

By: Jeremy Hess

There’s something about living dirty at a music festival for three days that is just plain fun. I think it helps me release my inner hippy. It doesn’t hurt that the music is bluegrass and that the venue was beautiful Grand Targhee Resort. Yes, I attended this year’s 22^nd Annual Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival, and if you enjoy camping, drinking, and live music, or any combination of the three; then you were probably there as well. If you weren’t, well, there’s always next year.

I don’t know about anyone else, but one of my favorite things about camping is that I don’t have to take showers. It is a rare treat for me to get to live dirty. Get my feet all caked in dirt, my hair all greased up, my hands all sticky. The grubby dirt bag look is fun for a few days. I’m sure there are some who get to do that everyday, and I salute them. But for me, and anyone else who likes to keep a somewhat steady job, personal hygiene is a daily reality.

Okay, enough about dirt, this year’s festival was as good as ever with a load of great bluegrass bands. Some of the headliners included Railroad Earth, Yonder Mountain String Band, and of course the David Grisman Quintet. Now I’ll be the first to admit, I am normally not the biggest fan of bluegrass, but this is my second Targhee Bluegrass Festival and every time I go, I realize how fun live bluegrass is. All the bands that I saw put on a great show as far as I’m concerned. It’s hard not to have a good time when someone on stage is jamming hard on the fiddle or banjo. It’s the kind of music that makes you clap your hands and stomp in the mud. Once it got dark on Friday and Saturday nights, the shows definitely got turned up a notch due to more lighting effects and people’s excitement over seeing the last show of the day. Those were the shows that transformed the festival from a fun family event into an all out bluegrass hoedown.

Sunday was more low key, due to a steady light drizzle throughout the day. Most people were not about to let a little rain ruin their already great weekend and if they had rain gear, they made full use of it, if not; they just got wet and enjoyed the music anyways. The bands that played on Sunday did a great job of keeping people happy despite the weather. Local artists, Anne & Pete Sibley put on a great set with lots of guest instrumentalists from other bands making appearances. The Wilders also put on a great show getting the crowd pretty amped before the headliner of the day, the David Grisman Quintet. Grisman and company played about halfway through their set when the rain went from a drizzle to a fierce downpour. The band fled the stage and everyone in the crowd scrambled for shelter under the nearest tent. Lightning cracked directly overhead and since we were up at such a high elevation the thunder exploded all around. People were advised to seek shelter in some of the buildings away from the lightning. Thus, was the end of the 22^nd Annual Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival. At least the end of the music, many people were still camping out for Sunday night as well.

The music was excellent, but what about the intangibles of a music festival? The merchandise, the food, and of course the beer! Well there was plenty of beer and you could buy a festival mug to drink inside the festival grounds. The mugs were pretty cool and if you go back to another Targhee Music Festival you can bring it and use it again. One of Targhee’s on-going “green” efforts to reduce waste. The food was also good with a wide variety of dishes available ranging from pizza, to burritos, to Asian food. As for merchandise, you could buy a festival hat, t-shirt, and lots of CDs. They also had henna tattoos, festival dresses for the ladies, and plenty of hemp clothing. If you made the mistake of bringing a wad of cash, like I did, you found it pretty much gone by the end of the weekend. But for me it didn’t matter, it was like a mini-vacation.

One of the best things about this festival is that it really isn’t that big at all. Even though camping space was almost nearly, if not completely full, there really didn’t seem too crowded. It gives the performances a lot more of an intimate feeling to them. You’re not lost out in a sea of people 100 rows back, if you want you can get right up next to the stage and stare your favorite banjo player right in the eye while he’s blazing through a blistering banjo solo. Also, a lot of the bands signed CDs that they had for sale and just met with fans after their set was finished.

All in all, it was a great festival. Despite some bad weather on the last day, I’m sure most people had a great time. Lots of amazing bluegrass music, lots of friends, and a beautiful setting to enjoy it all in! So if you didn’t make it out this year, be sure to take time to check out Grand Targhee’s Bluegrass Festival next summer.

• Yonder Mountain String Band
• The Danny Barnes Trio
• Casey Driessen & the Colorfools
• Bearfoot
• Railroad Earth
• Tony Trischka
• The John Cowan Band
• Solas
• The David Grisman Quintet
• Anne & Pete Sibley
• Steep Canyon Rangers
• The Darrel Scott Band
• The Wilders

For More information go to GrandTarghee.com

It might have been my allergies but I am pretty sure I was crying.  That is how much fun I had at the Grand Targhee Music Festival.  Anytime you start an article out with an admission of tears there is a chance that half of your audience stopped reading.  However, if you are the kind of person who enjoyed Targhee fest I am going to do my best to pay homage to the experience.  The weeks building up to the festival are always filled with anticipation, planning, and visions of mountainous good times.  This helps set the mind properly for immersion into music festival world.  I find to really get in the spirit a trip to the dollar store and $30 can fill your trunk with squirt guns, kites, goofy glasses, crazy straws and all the other fun goodies that make people smile around the campsite. Don’t forget the sunscreen.

No matter how prepared you are the night before you can never leave at the designated time.  We left town at 11:00 instead of the pre-determined 9:30. Any rush we were in to get a campsite faded as we climbed the Teton Pass and checked our last voicemails and changed our phone messaged to let everyone know we wouldn’t be taking calls till Monday.  It’s all about the music and your cell phone or any other technology has a tendency to suck you in and remove ya from the festival spirit. Targhee is a small enough festival site that you will always run in to the people you are looking for.  Besides if I gotta talk you into Targhee fest you probably don’t belong there anyway.

It is rare that I can make a statement that is all encompassing and not feel like I am lying.  Every one of the staff people at the Targhee festival is nice.  Not just nice; smiley, helpful, understanding, patient, and truly there to enjoy the event. To start out the guy who took our tickets and checked us in was the first staffer we talked to and he set the tone for the whole weekend.  A big smile and all the information we needed.  Security was tight enough to keep things safe but not in your face and never once invasive.  Big thanks to the toilet cleaning crew.  The Port o Johns stayed tolerable all weekend.  But the friendliest interactions I had were with the trash sorting folk.  In the words of my friend Eric with full hands of trash “I gotta sort this out.”  Part of Targhee’s green agenda involves sorting the trash and you would be surprised what is compostable.  I was having so much fun with the sorting folk I even hung out to clean up at the end of one of the evenings.

Finding camp was the task that I put the most mental energy into all weekend.  Good neighbors, level ground and shade are the most important.  We were the first of many of our friends to get there so we were also trying to find enough space for all of us.  We wandered and scratched our heads for a while until I found Pablo.  Pablo is a lovable river rat/modern hippie who I met last year.  His group had a perfect shady flat spot and I knew being next to him would mean we had neighbors we liked.  And friends from last year—how fun is that!!!  Thus began Camp Awesome.

Being a renter in Jackson means my house isn’t exactly something you would see on Cribs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to pimp a campsite.  The two biggest things are shade and dryness.  We found a great place and Pablo loaned us an oar so we could prop up the fourth corner of our green translucent tarp.  Thus the green room was born.  We set up extra tent and put out chairs to make room for our arriving friends.  A couple logs for tables and a few fold out chairs made the place come together.  It was the addition of hammocks, tiki torches, happy birthday banners and a pink flamingo that really made it into camp awesome.  That’s right camp awesome!  That’s what we called it. Saturday night after all residents had gone to bed; the drunk invaders seemed not only to know its name but one kid even claimed to be the mayor of Camp awesome.  The spirit of the festival was accepting and open.  All were welcome at camp awesome so long anyone within 50 yards can hear you and you can hear them.  Watch what you say cause it may become a catch phrase for the weekend.  This open and exposed environment not only helps to keep things lively it also keeps them honest and polite.  Rude and disrespectful behavior seems unacceptable by implication.  Nobody has to yell at you or tell you to keep your clothes on.  There are just enough kids and families around to keep it cordial without it ever feeling too much like a family event.  It was like a good wedding reception with the cool cousins.  It is the kind of utopia that you wish could last all year.

Then the music starts.  All campsites are close enough to hear the music and hear it well.  It allows you to take your time getting ready or it alerts you to run cause they are playing a song you love.  It also allows you to spend more time in the shade and mix another drink ‘cause you can hear the band really well.  The music draws you in.  Whether you are hiking in the woods, taking a pee, or getting a fresh new pair of pants (oh how good they feel when the sun goes down) the music will bring you back.  You walk towards the stage with the rhythm when its time to jam or you go back to your seat when it is time to listen to the lyrics and relax.  Like any good music event the crowd grows and shrinks with the pulse of the music.  But in the festival spirit on the side of the mountain it seemed there were bands and songs that demanded standing and dancing.  These were the songs that made me run towards the stage and made the people at the back in tent city emerge to stand in the sun and rock for a little while.  The music was what it was all about.  Grace Potter and Johnny Lang seemed to know this the best.  Grace was in this humble entertainers opinion, the greatest presence of the weekend.  Jonny Lang rocked, as did Bettye Lavette.  It was Grace Potter’s local ties and her understanding of the Targhee Fest crowd that really blew me away.  Men want to marry her and women want to be her.  She held us in the palm of her hand and made her gorgeous dress move in ways I didn’t believe possible.  What a voice and what a show—the Nocturnals seem to be the perfect partner for her onstage.  Their drummer looks like Animal from the Muppets.  They wail and when anybody talked about the weekend everybody said how sexy she was.
It is to be noted that as I am writing this I am sharing a seat on Levelland (a James McMurtry tune of which I am quite found).  I call it Levelland because it is the cement base of a snowblower at the very back of the festival grounds that allows you to stand on level ground and still see the show.  After three days of constantly creeping downhill and into the toes of your shoes it is nice to stand somewhere level.  My neighbors here in Levelland are Seth and Katy from Victor, ID who confirm my suspicions that this day has been epic.

Each artist draws their own crowd to the stage, but for the good music and the good songs us die hards were all there jammin’.  Neighbors are important especially when it comes to blanket placement.  Fortunately, our neighbors had a squirt bottle with a fan and a great attitude.

After Grace Potter rocked our world it was time for Gov’t Mule.  The break between the final two acts is the perfect time to hike into the woods to watch the sunset.  The first night found me in nothing but shoes a cowboy hat and pair of blue short shorts that were most likely worn by one of my gym teachers.  You know the ones I am talking about.  This led to a severe allergy attack and countless bug bites that represented the only rough hour I had during the entire festival.  Still an epic sunset and I am happy I had a moment to myself.  A quick hippie bath with paper towels and water from a jug got me back in the spirit.  Long pants and a long shirt kept the cold at bay as I cleared my head and was drawn into Gov’t Mule’s second sets.  They seemed to play forever and that was just fine.  I actually heard someone wake up the next morning and say “Is Gov’t Mule still playing?”  Great musicianship and probably the best light show of the entire weekend.  The real trick is to turn around once in a while and look at the light show on the trees.

My wandering found me sitting with friends from Jackson Hole Community Radio (Brad Desmond Music Director and his lovely lady; Walker White JHCR’s resident awesomizer; and Lonesome Johnny) and for a minute I was absorbed into musical geekdom.  With a few quips of my own I managed to keep up; but mostly I enjoyed learning those little tidbits that only the truly musically passionate geeks know.   More wandering brought me to the lighting tent where I politely asked if the technician minded if I watched him work.  He didn’t seem bothered so I grabbed the desk chair behind him and watched him orchestrate the show.  Really cool!  Exhausted from a long day of festivalling and having nowhere to be I must have spent an hour or more just sitting and enjoying the show the way the techies do.

Tiki torches lit camp awesome as we watched people stumble through the dark to their cars and tents.  Some not even set up yet and still looking for a spot.  People came and went with marked admiration for camp awesome.  Messy guests dropped beer cans and cigarette butts as Camp seemed to no longer be in the polite festival realm but now in the rowdy everyone waiting for something to happen mode.  Eventually the outsiders left and we headed to bed with smiles of anticipation for a whole new day of music.  For this is day one and we are just in the beginning part of space - we are not even into outer space yet.

Can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.  Breakfast cocktails, a refreshing hike, a few showers, topped off with egg and cheese sandwiches cooked by Aussie Tim.  No matter how long I’ve known him (six years of being one of my best friends) his accent always makes me laugh and the weekend was filled with good natured ribbing and a ton of giggles at the fact that he talks funny all the time.  It is now that it truly set in.  I don’t have anywhere to be.  Everything I need is within 3 minutes walk or within reach of my comfy reclining camping chair.  Most enjoyable is being surrounded by true friends who accept you for what you are.  And expect very little but to have a good time with you.  They also see things the way that you do.  From the way that guy in that shirt was dancing to the way you tend to get sucked into the port o johns like they are this mysterious place.  Even though it smells and you want out you seem to spend an inordinate amount of time inside.  Group observations are all a part of the festival experience and help to create a sense of family around the campsite.  Each day is new but the same.  Familiar Chair backs and hats.  Faces you recognize but don’t know.  Smells, drinks and gear could make it the same exact day as yesterday but instead we get a whole new journey with a new set of bands.

For me the environment started to feel like the best parts of kindergarten.  This was enhanced by things like kites, Frisbees, wiffle ball, and glow sticks.  But what really gives the feeling of kindergarten is the sense of wonder.  Surrounded by beauty and hanging out with you best friends with nowhere else to be.  What will the next act bring.  Should we play or nap?  Do I have to go potty before I get into the festival?  Will my friends be at the blanket waiting?  Who will be in the campsite when I get there?  Does that girl have a crush on me?  These are festival questions as much as they are questions I pondered in kindergarten.  You make friends as easy as you did in kindergarten that is for sure.

Tift Merritt begins and I find myself drawn towards the stage again.  Any knots in my brain from the night before have long faded as I lather with sunscreen and walk away from camp.  Impatient with my friends and knowing I’ll see them soon I walk in nothing but a sarong and cowboy hat with smiles and greeting for all.  Twenty bucks in a wrist sized fanny pack is all I need.

Speaking of kindergarten, they have really boiled things down to the simplest level.  Especially when it comes to the signs on the booths they read like this MEXICAN, ASIAN, BURGERS and BEER, COCKTAILS, SNACKS.  Now that is easy.  No matter what state of mind you are in there is no confusion about what you will find at those booths.  FREE SHOWERS might have been my favorite sign.  What an oasis that was.

The kindergarten theme is only enhanced by my friend Eric aka Easy E.  When we get together it is a recipe for action and adventure.  Game for anything and often more creative than me; Easy E is an inspiration for goofing off and getting into trouble.  Not real trouble, kindergarten trouble.  Like squirting guns at strangers who startle at first…but then smile as they realize they were hot and a good squirt is mighty refreshing.  One kid ran around all three days in a Spiderman costume.  How kindergarten is that?  Do you remember in Charlie Brown when the parents would talk and it was al WAAA wAA WAAA WAA WAA WAAAAA.  I felt like one of the peanuts gang as several of the festival goers who started to early began to devolve out of their ability to speak.

All right back to the music cause that is why we are hear.  That is what I told my friends more than once, “there is live music over there and I am going to go listen it.”  Tift Merritt was good as was Vedera but it was early and I might not have been properly tuned in.  It was James McMurtry that had me sitting and listening to lyrics.  Good song writing and a whiskey voice that isn’t exactly great but is definitely appealing.  A voice accompanied by the kind of acoustics geared at hearing the poetry presented.   My favorite line was from a song called Hurricane Party “I don’t want another drink I only want that last one again.”  Felt just right.  I don’t need more booze but I could go back to the beginning of that last drink and start again. For it was the perfect amount and it put me in the perfect state.

James McMurtry’s “Just us kids” seemed the anthem of our neighbors and friends from last year.  All somewhere between 45 and 65 they made me feel great about my choices for they were doing the same thing in the same place with twice as many years behind them.  That must mean I am on a path that will eventually lead me back here.  I am really great with that.  Who knows where I will go and what will happen   Hopefully with the joy and youthful spirit that Pablo, Tom, Mike, Mary Jo, and Art all brought to the festivities. “Just us kids hangin round today, watching our long hair turning gray.  Not so skinny maybe not so free, not so many as we used to be.”  But still rocking and having accepted the responsibilities of an adult without ever forgetting the joy and wonder of a kid.  You know how a tourist smiles when they look at the Tetons and all their cares and adultness fades away.  For just that second they are a kid….well that is how we live all the time here.  That youthful vigor and amazement that seems to radiate from these mountains.  Look out its contagious especially at Targhee fest.

Sonny Landreth was good and I took some time for a refreshing shower and a refreshed cocktail.  The joy of new underwear and shorts may be lost on those who have never stood and danced for two days at a hot music festival.  But trust me it is better than you imagine.

A little bit of dinner and here come The Wallflowers.  I missed one of their bigger hits trying to exit camp.  Watch out your material things will suck you in as you sort and organize.  Don’t let it happen.  And the good word is turn off your cell phone. Tell your friends what you are wearing and they will find you.  Eric and I left message Being here for the music means staying sober enough to remember and shedding the material for the comfortable.  Need Less and everything gets better.  Yeah I’ll admit it at one point I was sitting on the grass cross legged in a sarong and cowboy hat draped with flowers staring at the clouds and I thought, “When exactly did I become a hippy?”  Back to the wallflowers.  They represented this like 90’s pop stamp dead center of the festival.  But they rocked and I heard more people singing during their three hits than during any other band.

Speaking of singing.  If you can avoid it.  Don’t stand next to a bad singer unless you yourself happen to be singing badly.  It is very distracting and even more of a diversion when said person has an Australian accent and very little rhythm (sorry Timmy) Smokers too.  You stink, literally.  Especially when I am dancing next to you.  I am all about the freedom of tobacco but just not when I am dancing next to you.  One last thing when the music is really jamming and everyone else around you is standing and dancing and into it Shut the F(*%#*^ up.  Those are pet peeves of mine that were violated very little at this show.  Yet another reason I love it.  A truly polite crowd.

A sunset walk again but this time with pants, allergy meds and a couple friends.  It truly was great. We even found a treasure in what we dubbed to be the Ewok Village.  An ammo can tucked in a stump revealed prizes and journal dated to 2007 as part of a geo-caching course.  We are working on putting a treasure map onto our tent for next year’s festival. We signed i,t left a prize and I said to Eric.  “There is a concert down there. Let’s go!”  He matter of factly said, “I’m at a concert man” acknowledging his state of mind and the fact that even from our gorgeous spot we could hear the music perfectly.

Jonny Lang!  Who is this guy?  And where did he come from?  Young and energetic he’s got a soulful voice that should not come from a skinny white boy.  Backed by a killer band and one big black dude with dreads and a killer voice he was unstoppable.  They brought the crowd to a boil and people danced without care.  Fully in the relaxed, I don’t care mindset that comes with two days camping in the mountains. I let loose and danced without care.  Really let loose and felt the music.  It was great!  No judging eyes and not a care in the world.  A festival friend behind me said he wanted to charge a fee for people to stand near me.  He said he was gonna pay me to be a crowd-hyper at concerts.  That should give you an idea of how much fun I was having.  “Red Light” knocked my socks off as did his cover of Stevie Wonder’s  “Livin’ for the City” Drawn out with several great ups and downs…this song was a journey.  His back up singer was so powerful and good that it felt he could knock you to your knees with the right note.  They brought it to a boil and then took it down to nothing before raising back up past boil into a frenzy.  What a show.  A great night with my friends and all I could say was, “I am having a really good time.” Universally acknowledged by those there as awesome.

Still alight from the show I helped pick up trash.  And this is when Easy E said with full hands of trash “I gotta sort this out.”  Laughed so hard I cried.  An easy night and chillin in the green room when a voice drifted into camp awesome.  I hope I got this name right, Kara was singing with a voice so beautiful we dropped everything and everyone shut up.  We thought Grace Potter was actually singing as KARA did an acappella version of Grace Potter’s “Stop the Bus”.  I invaded their camp with cookies and tiki torches to earn a seat and be washed in the voice of Kara.  Soulful and good, her voice carried across the entire campground as people told their friends to hush so they can hear.  By the time I got back camp awesome had dissipated.

The bar closed and the truly drunk invaded. As one kid claimed to be the mayor of camp awesome and all talked of it as if they had been there all week, I pondered the fact that I did not know a single person still awake at my camp.  Awesome can’t be denied.  Eventually, I shooed them on out of respect for our neighbors.  But I was polite as possible so as not to harsh anyone’s buzz lest they violently react to being ousted from camp awesome.

Morning came with yet another anticipatory smile.  It seems whatever buzz is left from the band the night before settles into the next morning.  I dropped a little Maroon 5 “Sunday Morning” on the boom box and sat in the sunshine to warm to the day.  No hike today. Still the good kind of sore from the last two days of dancing.  A hike to the real bathrooms and all is well.  Sit and laugh about the night before while we await the emergence of friends.  They come from everywhere; bushes, hammocks, tents, other people’s campsites.  Strangers exit tents in Camp Awesome to a good natured round of applause.  The realization that a whole ‘nother day lies ahead is pungent.

“Eric we still have toys in the car we haven’t played with.”  “How bout kites?” “Yes!” “Wiffle ball anyone?”  We wander past tent city and the family area to find a slanted patch of grass.  During the next 5 innings we make friends with a nearby family whose kids each manage to pull off a homerun with a little cool adult manipulation and a few faked over throws.  Ruby (age 5) quits and says “I gotta get my special drink” “yep” we say.  “We don’t leave camp without ours.”

Side note here—–the kids and families at Targhee Fest were all cool.  No whining, no tears, and no overprotective parents.  Just support love and joy.  They stayed out of our way and we stayed out of theirs but when our paths crossed it was beyond cordial and actually quite enjoyable.  As I was taking notes on Levelland I saw a girl running away from her dad with a tent pole and dad barely giving chase knowing his daughter is enjoying the pursuit.  Celia was three and her dad Travis both had come up from Jackson and were enjoying the festival.  I thanked them for being cool and contributing to the positive atmosphere with cool kids.  Travis said the kind of people who come here don’t bring their kids if they ain’t cool.  The hula hoops twirl and the Frisbees fly and we wander through the maze of blankets and chairs.

Carrie Rodriguez draws us in with her talent and I set aside my foolish judgment of her girl oriented weepy lyrics and just appreciate her genuine talent.  And thus began a magical Sunday.

The weather was great all weekend. Even the little bit of rain we got was refreshing.  But the weather had its day on Sunday.  After a very warm Saturday we woke to enough cloud cover on Sunday morning to keep things cool and easy.  Nobody seemed bummed or upset about the rain and it was in no way a downer.  When the music began it was almost as if Mother Nature was listening.  She spent the whole day enhancing the music.  Carrie Rodriguez said something about keeping the rain away with a song called Waterbound.  One written about New Orleans post Katrina.  As soon as the first note was struck a light drizzle began.  The timing could not have been better.  The cooling and refreshing rain seemed to fade with the song and it seemed all the festival noticed this phenomenon.  But wait; it gets better.  Bettye LaVette took me to church on Sunday.  Her soulful voice sent shivers of joy through my whole body.  She was incredible and gorgeous and her presence demanded respect.  She belted her first recording “My Man” from 1962 when she was 16.  Jaws dropped through the crowd as she gyrated in opposition to her Giovanni Ribisi look-a-like lead guitarist solo. She spoke to the crowd with a familiarity that sucked you in.  She looks great and the experiences of her 48 year career have turned her into a true entertainer.  During the end of her set when she was hitting the crescendo a breeze came in to blow her robe up.  Better than a fan in a music video.  The wind seemed to respond to the power of her voice and the more she belted the more her robe flared.  Truly unforgettable.  She exited and I turned to the people next to me and said “I didn’t know I was going to church this Sunday.”  “Neither did I!” responded a friendly festivalgoer.     Keb’ Mo’ came on with gusto.  The crowd was hyped from a great three days and Keb’ did not let us down. Somewhere around his third song Keb’ Mo’ began with a little harmonica.  And the third or fourth note was powerful and deep.  As the note peaked it was punctuated with a crack of thunder that you could feel.  It was palpable.  A magic festival moment witnessed by those of us who were there for the music.  Like a prophetic warlock Keb’ Mo’ said, “its gonna rain before the sun shines.” He jammed a little Robert Johnson “come on in my kitchen”.  Somewhere the music played on and the rain began.  We danced in the rain and the sun was emerged to shine while the drizzle continued.  And if all of this wasn’t enough, I turned around to see a triple rainbow stretching over the top of the mountain.  I stared back to the stage with my friends as eventually everyone seemed to notice and turn around.  Keb’ Mo’ acknowledged the end of the rainbows by saying “And then they were gone.”  As if the weather was coming back for an encore the drive home was awesomized by a lighting storm. The whole weekend was summed up by Keb’ Mo’ who said, “We had the time of our lives.  What happens in Wyoming stays in Wyoming.  We won’t tell anyone how much fun we had here.”

Thank you Targhee music festival for always surprising me with great acts and for bringing them all the way to my back yard.  Thank you for smiles and jokes that spread.  For kids in Spiderman costumes.  For the random lady who handed the glow stick tossed her direction to the baby strapped to dad’s back who smiled with it all night.  Thanks for letting me embrace my kindergarten spirit.  Thanks for friendly staffers, great views, a clean environment, free showers, and fresh port-o-johns every day.  Thank you for creating the utopia I wish could last all year.  Thank you for three days that are far removed from my life and still the culmination of my summer spirit.  Thank you for new and old friends.  Thank you for strengthening the friendships I brought with me.  Did I thank you for smiles that spread?