The Appalachian String Band Festival, that is held annually at Camp Washington-Carver in Clifftop, West Virginia, is becoming an intricate part of our lives much like Thanksgiving. It’s the event where the big family of Old Time and other musicians gather to rekindle friendships, make new friends, share in the music we enjoy, and dance the days away. Predictions of weather doom and gloom did not come true. The only rain we had was the last evening, on Saturday. Even this did not dampen our or anyone’s enthusiasm. We learned a lot from last year’s experience of camping and took those lessons to make this year more enjoyable. Everything from bringing better equipment (we just loved our cots) to picking an even better spot for our camp site. Also learned that getting up early promised you a nice warm shower.
Many of us adjusted our travel schedules to allow for more time this year. Some of us were able to enjoy 3 days of all the events and jam sessions that Clifftop had to offer. Thursday and Friday nights saw very large jam sessions both on the porch and in many of the camp sites. We tended to keep our instruments close by and walked to each of these to join in. The porch jams were full of energy with a large number of players that included Roger Sprung, Jim Costa, and many of the veteran and experienced players that make the trip to Clifftop each year. Their music and interaction with everyone continues to be source of inspiration to stay involved with such a great and caring community. At our camp site we held our own jams with others kind enough to join us. John had the good fortune of meeting up with Cindy Harris who is a highly skilled player and teacher of the Autoharp. She provided John with tips on improving how he plays, joined in singing some wonderful songs, and played her Autoharp with songs such as “Wild Mountain Thyme.” Mary Sue and Kim from Maryland came to play and sing with us. We even got our good friend Sid to play his banjo and his daughter Taylor sang us a song. Taylor even tried her had at other instruments (mandolin and bass). At other times we just took in everything there was to offer; walking along the nearby trails, square dancing every night, a bit of flatfoot dancing, and attending the contests and concerts. Just cannot think of a better way to spend a weekend and cannot wait until next year.
