Friday, June 29, 2007

MC Lars is Funny and Anti-Corporate

In case you weren't already aware, the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival is the largest self-sustaining arts festival in the country. That means no corporate sponsorship. While we certainly respect every other festival out there for doing what they need to do to keep on keepin' on, we like that we are able to get by without having corporations around who might just want to insist on having some artistic say-so.

So this year one of our new and exciting performers is a guy named MC Lars. He's a pioneer of "nerdcore", and he's become something of a cult hero. His songs put the ringer on all sorts of different stupid societal trends while still rocking out. Anyhow, Lars regularly makes video podcasts which are pretty hilarious, and his latest one is a bit of a cautionary tale about a band called Cartel, who are sponsored by Dr. Pepper. Watch it here:


We think, despite the fact that he performs a genre of music we've never presented before, that he'll fit right in. We wish his Mom was coming, too, because we are also fans of The Strand Bookstore (18 miles of books!) and we go every time we're in NY. By we, I mean me. 18 miles of books. I digress.
Lars also has a new DVD coming out, which you can order here.

Currently Listening - The Graduate - MC Lars

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Offsite is Beautiful!

Okay, so I have been to the GrassRoots Festival offsite camping and parking area a number of times, but I've never really explored it. A couple of nights ago, instead of having our regular staff meeting in our 100 degree office, we decided to go out and have a look-see around offsite.

We're working on filling in the relatively massive divots and tire tracks created by last year's freakish rain, and it's getting much better. The field and woods are still in their natural state, not mowed or populated in any way. There are daisies and buttercups and phlox. There was also a tiny baby spotted deer (which I may have scared off when I yelled "Baby deer! Tiny deer! You guys! Look at the tiny baby deer! Look!") and there was also, um, a snake. I was assured that it was a harmless little garter snake, but I don't believe in harmless snakes.

Apparently when you leave the office and enter the outside world, you see things like deer and snakes and daisies. This information was not shocking to anyone else, but whatever.

We traipsed through the woods with our fearless guide Jason (offsite crew chief extraordinaire) and looked at the camping back there. It's really, really nice. Surprisingly flat and very quiet and cool (in the literal and figurative senses).

Our offsite property bumps up against State Park property, and if you amble through that a bit, you reach Taughannock Creek, a favorite, though not exactly legal, swimming spot for locals. Now, it's very much swim-at-your-own-risk. The slate and shale rocks that line the creek become incredibly slippery (swimming alone is seriously dumb, if you slip and hit your head - ugh - just don't ever, ever swim alone out there, ok?) but if you're careful, the swimming holes are really lovely... warm and refreshing and very clean. The Park Police fine people who are caught swimming in the creek, and last I heard, the fine was $100-ish. So if you choose to swim, consider yourself forewarned.

Basically, it's a lovely, lovely place to camp and I was so glad to really get to explore it. Especially since the only other option was boring old staff meeting in the stuffy office. :)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Volunteers Office Up and Running!

Well, we've got two new volunteer coordinators this year, both of whom have worked a lot with the GrassRoots organization in the past. Ms. Keli Carlson (our Cabaret Hall crew chief) and Ms. Michelle Wright (the volunteer coordinator for Shakori Hills) are heading up that massive project. GrassRoots has well over 1,000 volunteers these days, and we're always in need of more. Get in touch with them either through the volunteer page of the GrassRoots website or by calling the brand spankin' new volunteer phone number: 607-387-4388 (it's best to go through the website first).

Currently Listening To: Arrested Development - Greatest Hits

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys

We've been talking to Walter Mouton on the phone a few times in the last week, squaring away arrangements, and he's always one of our favorite guys to talk with. Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys are a GrassRoots mainstay. They're an authentic Cajun band from Southwestern Louisiana who will be joining us for the (I believe) 16th time this year. Last year was a sad year for the band, as their longtime fiddle player, Mr. U.J. Meaux, passed away just a couple of weeks before the festival. They played anyway, with Kevin Wimmer of the Red Stick Ramblers sitting in on fiddle, and it was particularly special.

Mr. Walter (as he's called) is considered one of the finest accordion players in Southwest Louisiana. He's a real musician's musician, and if you go to La Poussiere, a club in Breaux Bridge where Walter has been playing Saturday night dances nearly every week for 30 years, you'll often see well-known accordion players sitting near the front, watching every move that Mr. Walter makes.

For a number of reasons, all of which I'm sure he'd be glad to explain to you if you ask, Mr. Walter has never really recorded any CDs. A couple of live tracks appear on the soundtrack to the amazing documentary on Louisiana music, J'Ai Ete au Bal.

He's a really fascinating guy, and his band are the sweetest bunch... catch them if you get a chance - they're the real deal!