The third music festival I attended this summer was Ormstown Branches and Roots. I thought it was great. It is much smaller than it was 2 yrs ago, when it essentially split into 2 smaller festivals. It's moved to early autumn, which is actually a nice time for a festival, and gone entirely to an indoor stage, which on a cooling evening is a pretty good idea. And the music was great.

Chris Bartos, a skilled multi-instrumentalist no only played his own imaginative set, but filled in throughout the evening while bands did the "set-up". A magic moment, when Terry Joe "Banjo" unexpectedly hopped on stage to do a fiddle-banjo duet with Chris. Wow! Wild!

John Speed and his Little Band - more pop than folky, but a tight group with a knockout backup trio, and excellent new songs.

Notre Dame de Grass - some new faces since I last saw them, but still instrumentally top notch. The banjo player, whose name eludes me, never ceases to amaze.

Lake of Stew - Still great new songs, and they've improved (tightened up) since I saw them last. Now a truly exciting group.

By the way, the fact that this festival co-exists with Apple Hollow is fine with me. Both are smaller than they were, but the fact that I can make two trip to listen, enjoy the country, shoot the crap, and knock back a few... ...I ain't complaining!