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The Recipe's Down-Home, Appalachian-Style Family Cookout

by Dean Budnick

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The first thing that The Recipe's guitar player Joe Pritchard wants you to know about the band's coming three day festival, is that it will require a bit of patience in order to get there. The band has selected a site so deeply ensconced in the hills of West Virginia that it doesn't have its own address. He promises though that it is relatively easy to find the grounds and that there will be plenty of signs along the way (as well as detailed directions which are available at the band's web site www.therecipe.com). The upside he promises is that since the festival "is located so far away from any communities, the police won't be hassling anyone and best of all, there will be no curfew." The plan is for music to continue outside until three a.m. after which everyone will walk over to a barn for some impromptu jams until seven or eight in the morning (Pritchard notes "September in the Appalachians can get chilly enough so that it makes sense to head into the barn.").

The festival reflects the band's West Virginia roots. Pritchard recalls that while growing up in the area as a teenager, his parents used to bring him to a series of Appalachian folklore festivals. One of the most memorable ones was called Jubilee. There every Saturday and Sunday there was a mass gathering on the lawn where people of all ages sat in chairs playing mandolins, fiddles and even a stray acoustic guitar or two. Pritchard recalls "I had been playing some electric guitar in rock bands at the time so I went there pretty reluctantly but I was blown away. There were all these people in the their eighties who couldn't even walk of their own volition but they just crushed on their mandolins. And they were out there because they just had it in their blood, they had to make music, and they enjoyed doing it together. There was this communal, community vibe to it."

Pritchard intends to bring such spirit and sensibility to the Family Cookout. For instance, The Recipe has personal ties with most every band on the bill. Some of these groups it has shared stages with in the past, including Ekoostik Hookah, Keller Williams and Acoustic Syndicate ("which if you polled the members of the band, just may be our favorite group right now.") Additionally, The Recipe has made it a point to showcase some groups which have garnered acclaim in Morgantown but have not yet been seen by many of those who will attend the festivities, including Stewed Mulligan and Cheap Truckers Speed.

As for the Recipe, Pritchard is quite excited by two recent additions to the group. The band recently welcomed Mike Vitale on bass. "This guy is an animal," Pritchard notes "He can do it all. From one song to the next he moves from upright to the six string fretless with us." Additionally, Hannah Ross has joined the group on fiddle. After the departure of original member Mark Rapson the group had invited a number of musicians to sit in, most notably Evan Wolmoth on keys. Pritchard adds "We figured, let's just make rain for a while so we brought in a series of great players." Eventually, Mike tipped off the band to Hannah, who had performed for many years with her family in the Ebenezer String Band (the group appeared at Mountain Stage among other notable gigs). Pritchard beams "She plays with perfect intonation, and she has some great ideas."

Along with the new players, Pritchard and vocalist Kristen Wolverton anchor a line-up which recently has opened ears and eyes with festival appearances at BeatJam, Gathering on the Mountain and a forthcoming slot at Hookahville. Following this, The Recipe will embark on six week national tour, traveling out west to play at the High Sierra Festival, with multiple stops along the way, including an evening in Las Vegas at Legends which will be simulcast. While the band is looking ahead to those dates, as well as a return to the studio in January to record the group's follow-up to "Night of the Porch People," the band members are particularly excited about the festival. Along with music there will be horseshoe pits, volleyball nets and other hallmarks of an Appalachian get-together. Pritchard states "This will be the type of party that people here throw. At this point I've partied most everywhere in the country but what we have here is special and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to share it with everyone. "

For more info on the Recipe's visit their website and the Walther Productions web site.