Has anyone been to Kerrville?

Subject: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 03:57 PM

I spent a week at the Kerrville folf festival this year. I attended the songwriter's school and a had one of the most profound and enjoyable weeks of my life. Has anyone else attended? What was your favourite part? The concerts? The seminars? the campfires? the bathrooms?

http://www.kerrville-music.com/

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Ferrara
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 04:01 PM

Not since 1980. Loved it then. My sister lived in Austin and introduced me to the festival. Favorite part: driving over to the Medina River and swimming. Really! You can't swim in the Potomac unless you want your skin to fall off.

Rita

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 04:20 PM

I heard the swimming was fun but didn't partake. Skin falling off seems like a bummer.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Uncle Jaque
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 05:00 PM

Old Amigo "Jeff" from Austin has been there twice, and reports that it's been the high point of his life both times. I'm a little envious, but Texas is a long haul from Maine!

Jeff is a talented writer as well as Musician, and his accounts of the festival are most colorful and evocative.
I encouraged him to post about it here on the Mudcat the first year, which he did - and the thread promptly sank like a rock and I don't know if anybody actually posted to it, so I'm not at all surprised that he didn't seem to bother to try it again this time. I actually checked this thread thinking that it might be him trying again. Perhaps you met at one of the events or song-circles he described - who knows?

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 06:46 PM

Some thread drift, with information on the general vacinity. I haven't been to the festival, but have several times traveled through and camped in the area. The Guadalupe River is what runs through Kerrville. Medina is south of there, and Lost Maples State Park is on that river in a pretty area (kind of boring campground, though, out in the open with all the RV's if you're inclined to tent camp). I really like the Rio Frio further west, north of Uvalde. If you visit Garner State Park the water there is so clear and cool and is like the color if lime Koolaid. Enchanted Rock State Park to the north of Kerrville is wonderful, but overused during the busy season. Fredericksburg, also to the north, is lovely. And if you are inclined to go west a bit out of your way to Sonora, the best formations I've ever seen in a cave (and I used to be an interpretive naturalist in a formation cave in Kentucky) is west of town at the Caverns of Sonora. Good little campground there.

SRS

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 09:29 PM

The Kerrville festival is a heaven for a songwriter!!

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 11:52 PM

I'm afraid I haven't been to Kerrville since Kinkey Friedman was a gleam in his publisher's eye. Was he there this year? "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Any More" is truly a classic.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 02 Jul 02 - 11:57 PM

I didn't see him there, would he have been a featured act.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Mudlark
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 03:43 AM

Jack, did you see the Small Potatoes duo there? I think they ran a songwriter's workshop last year, and won the year B4 that with Waltz of the Wallflowers, a great song...and really fine people...

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 09:30 AM

Sorry no Small Potatoes.

Angus Finnan, one of the Newfolk winners impressed me very much. One of the reasons I went there was because the place is promenent in Stan Roger's Biography "An Unfinished Conversation" Kerrville was his last gig and some unspecified Kerrville campfire was the last place he played and sang. Angus's songs reminded me of Stan's, he was the only artist I saw in that type of "traditional" mold. He is quite good.

I met many fine writers and performers. Lucie Blue Trembley was one of the instructors and a featured performer. She is a delight, as is her mother who she had along for the trip.

Anne Fenney (spell?) was a lot of fun in an unamplified late night concert,AND she said a nice thing about one of my songs. Also the "Road Dog Diva's were very entertaining at campfires and impromptu concerts throughout. They are a force to be reckoned with.

Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangson, put on a fine, democratic show, and Steve's "Texas and Tennesee" song writer's circle was a highlight for me.

And many many more.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 03 Jul 02 - 06:53 PM

Had Kinkey Friedman been there, you would have known. He lives there and had a hand is starting the festival.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:34 AM

I am determined that this thread will have more than 26 posts so that it will beat the "Piss off" thread from guest. Where are the priorities?

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: sed
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 08:35 AM

Way back in Boston in 1978 I sent in my application to be on the NEW FOLK show at Kerrville. I was among the 40 people chosen. I bought a small tent and took a plane down there. When getting off the plane in San Antonio I was hit by a warm blast of air so unlike New England. I hitched into Kerrville and on out to the Quiet Valley Ranch where I met Rod, Alan Damron (sp?) and some other folks and then pitched the tent over near an outdoor altar on a knoll. After having tried for years I finally got the hang of yodeling while sitting on that altar playing my much-missed Guild guitar. It was enjoyable being there. I remember the snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, cacti and dry climate plants, the wide open spaces and the sparsely vegetated rolling hills. Also being able to see a storm coming from way off and having it break on top of you is rather spectacular. I remember all the wonderful girls there. Some of the best. But this whole pay to play phenomena on which Kerrville and too many other festivals rely is to me quite repugnant. In a better world we musicians would boycott such practices as talent contests and the like. When I applied to be on the Kerrville New Folk there were no entrance or application fees. I don't know about now but later fees were charged to apply. This sends a bad message, I think, and I sincerely wish that musicians would not allow themselves to be exploited. That labor organizer musicians participate in such gatherings is quite puzzling to me. But I've never run a festival and so don't really know the nuts and bolts of these activities. It seems that being a professional musician is a very difficult thing and there is a certain amount of desparation in the souls of some musicians which spurs them on even to violate their own principles. Maybe fate plays a large role in success than anyone can see. I just don't know. But people stepping on others to get to a higher vantage point troubles us as a human family and surely cannot lead to any ultimate good.

Steve Sedberry (former professional folksinger 1971-1996)

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith50
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:43 PM

I have attended the last three KFF's and thoroughly enjoyed each one despite the obvious pitfalls - heat, thunderstorms, cold showers, lack of sleep, etc. I live in Austin so it's in the neighborhood. I have auditioned for the New Folk competition without success but I have enjoyed and been impressed by most everyone who was chosen to perform. As a lifelong musician Kerrville is the last place I feel exploited.

When you arrive there is a sign that says simply "welcome home" - a more appropriate sentiment I couldn't imagine. If you're interested several folks (including myself) have posted pages about our time there - you can find them here: http://www.itcanbethiswayalways.com/ I invite you all to check it out. Jeff Tveraas, Austin TX

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Ferrara
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:43 PM

Sed, you've described the terrain pretty well. But if you drive around there are beautiful, green areas as well. When we drove down to the Medina, there were big cypress trees all around the wide area that was the swimming hole. The water was deep green and I've never seen a more beautiful, welcoming place. Some years later, storms took out the trees. Still a pretty place but not sheer magic any longer.

Have no idea what the music is like nowadays. Allan Damron was always a highlight for me, especially his "Fort Worth" song, one of the truly hideous songs of all time.

One year they had a terrific yodeling contest, won by a fellow who did Swiss style yodeling.

I was there so long ago that Hondo Crouch was still alive and mayor of Luckenbach, TX. We stopped at the annual Luckenbach Cow Pie Throwin' Contest on the way back to Austin where my sister Jan lived.

As to "paying to play," I don't think Kerrville would pay for itself otherwise, I may be wrong. I heard it's hard to make ends meet at Quiet Valley Ranch nowadays, that could just be a rumor but it makes sense given the way the world is going. Too bad but I suspect it's a necessity.

Rita Ferrara

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: GUEST,Tunesmith50
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:44 PM

I have attended the last three KFF's and thoroughly enjoyed each one despite the obvious pitfalls - heat, thunderstorms, cold showers, lack of sleep, etc. I live in Austin so it's in the neighborhood. I have auditioned for the New Folk competition without success but I have enjoyed and been impressed by most everyone who was chosen to perform. As a lifelong musician Kerrville is the last place I feel exploited.

When you arrive there is a sign that says simply "welcome home" - a more appropriate sentiment I couldn't imagine. If you're interested several folks (including myself) have posted pages about our time there - you can find them here: http://www.itcanbethiswayalways.com/ I invite you all to check it out. Jeff Tveraas, Austin TX

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 03:53 PM

Steve, I take it you were not one of the finalists. I have mixed feelings about Newfolk, the entry fee and "competition" aspects are not exactly community builders. Peter Yarrow said the reason he started it was to encourage the folk acts which would replace Peter Paul and Mary and all of their ilk.

I don't see how a 1 in 40 chance at a $400.00 check is going to help any musician very much nowadays. Many of the Newfolk winners I met, were quite disappointed at the lack of networking opportunities. I don't think the Kerrville festival is the best place to go if your interest is marketing or promotion. It is a great place to go to be inspired. But maybe the contest detracts from that inspiration.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: sed
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 11:13 PM

No, I wasn't one of the finalists but that's not a problem. There was some very good music all over the place. I wasn't really there to compete. It's just a simple matter of economics. How does a creative person make a living? It's a beautiful place, of course. I love the area. I'm battling an ideology not people or places.

I visited open-hearted Luckenbach and a very friendly Austin after the festival before hitching back to the Florida panhandle where my grandmother was still living. It was a great trip. But how does a creative person make a living by spending more than he makes?

Pay to play. It's funny really. Very funny. Sad and funny.

I think what's really missing is people learning how to make a living together. That's what I want to do next: quit the solo thing and find some way to make music and money with other people.

But then the following scripture comes to mind:

Matthew 6: 24. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 01:28 AM

Sed, I get your point. I have agreed with you vis a vis newfolk. The finalists I met thought it was a great thing. the Nominees were not as complimentary. One thing that this Kerrville offered was a four day workshop on the "business" of songwriting. and there are plenty of chances there to learn from people who are making a living in music. Lots of inspiration lots of support.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: GUEST,Polecat
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 06:36 AM

Never been there myself,but according to the book "One Warm Line" it was the last place that the late,great Stan Rogers played... Before he crawled onto that fateful flight to Cincinatti, the last anyone saw of him was the figure of Stan with guitar slung over his back going from fire to fire during the last night...

Wish I was old enough then to share the last night of magic...

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 04:37 PM

Yes Polecat. One of the reasons I went to Kerrville this spring was because last winter I read "Unfinished Conversation" another Roger's biography which contains that story. One night at a campfire aptly named, "the Crow's nest" I "got" it, I saw why he went to Kerrville and just how enjoyable the atmosphere and Comraderie was to a man who enjoys writing songs.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: open mike
Date: 01 Jun 08 - 08:04 PM

We had a discussion about Kerrville this weekend around the campfire at a music jam. I was just wondering if other mudcats had been there, and i saw this thread and This one, too.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: open mike
Date: 01 Jun 08 - 08:10 PM

It looks like it is going on right not. May 22- June 8, 2008

according to their web site, Kerrville Folk Festival

It looks like a wonderful
place

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: GUEST,Mike B.
Date: 01 Jun 08 - 08:39 PM

Part of the Kerville festival was broadcast live on XM satellite radio last week - I caught the last half hour of Tom Russell's performance.

Didn't see a thread on the two day Washington Folk Festival which just ended a few hours ago - mostly local (DC area) artists who agree to perform without compensation.

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Jun 08 - 09:03 PM

If'n yawl like country music, lissen to KRVL FM, on line, from Kerrville and also Junction and Ozona.
http://www.revfmradio.com/index1.html

(Lotta junk, also)

Subject: RE: Has anyone been to Kerrville?
From: GUEST,Texas Guest
Date: 02 Jun 08 - 12:21 AM

I'm very sorry to say that I lived in Texas for twenty-five years before I got down to Kerrville - and I was a working musician for virtually all of that time.

Ferrera (up above) mentioned Allen Damron; he helped found the Kerrville Festival with Rod Kennedy, and he was a music friend of mine - which is to say that we didn't hang together but conversed often and saw each other when our schedules permitted. Allen died a few years back and Marie, his widow, called me several months after and insisted that I come to Kerrville that year to sing at a memorial concert for Allen. I assured her I would be there and on that day I found myself having casual conversations with the likes of Guy Clark, Eric Taylor and a slew of fine national touring performers too numerous to mention. I'm used to playing in loud pubs, not doing concerts, but there were several hundred folks out there who listened to every damned note I sang and played and I got thunderous applause afterward to boot - too cool.

I must say that I was the only act to sing two songs - one was a favorite of Allen's, "Mary Ellen Carter," and the other was a favorite of mine that Allen wrote, "Come To The Bower" - the best damned song ever written about the Texian revolution. Marie Damron called me a month or so later to say that some of the Kerrville officials had heard my performance and asked her who I was and where
I'd been and would I be interested in having a slot next year? Yeah,...well - I'm me and I've been around, but since I don't write my own songs I just told her I'd be in touch and let it go at that.

At any rate, it's a great festival with a slew of national and some world performers and a ton of campfires that feature song circles that go all night and include many of the touring acts if you happen to be at the same one they are visiting. You can camp out or stay in town; me, I've done both, but I'll take a clean sheet and a private shower every time. If you're into folk/americana music festivals it is a "must do." Give it a shot. Cheers.