Festival season is winding down, and what better way to end it that with two of the crown jewels of kindness: Walther Production's Autumn Equinox and Magnolia Music's Magnoliafest. These make up the rest of the itinerary for the HGMN Krewe, and are sure to be a blast. Stop by our festival page ( http://www.homegrownmusic.net/events.html) and get the scoop on these great events! Also look for a full review page containing my educated ramblings on all the festivals the HGMN Krewe attended this year, coming soon to Home GrownMusic.net. In the meantime, check out our all-new website. Easier to use and full of tasty mind nuggets.

New additions to the Kind Music Catalog:

Strangefolk - A Great Long While CD - Immaculately produced by Nile Rogers, Strangefolk's third album contains an abundance of the lush three-part harmonies, guitar wizardry, and innovative songwriting that the Vermont foursome is known for. Trust me, this one is a must-have! $15.00

Acoustic Syndicate - Crazy Little Life CD - The newest work from this innovative bluegrass group was produced by 6-time Grammy winner Bill VornDick. Their songs stretch the boundaries of acoustic music and incorporate influences such as reggae, jazz, and funk. The McMurry clan's time-tested harmonizing is as brilliant as a Appalachian sunrise. $14.00

Various Artists - Live at Berkfest CD - If you didn't make it to the Berkshire Mountain Music Festival in 1999, you can still experience some of the incredible sounds from that weekend! This high-quality disc of live recordings features tracks from Project Logic, Miracle Orchestra, Jiggle w/ Jen Durkin, Leftover Salmon w/ Oteil Burbridge, Tony Trishcka, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and more! $14.00

10 Foot Ganja Plant - Presents CD - This John Brown's Body side project was inspired by the recording process of the great Jamaican studio bands of the 70's (and their American counterparts, Motown and Stax) where a song was potentially written, learned, and recorded by the band in one session with the band playing live on one track and then being voiced on the second track with no regrets, and no apologies. Smokin' 70's-style Jamaican dub! $12.00

Fat Mama - Loadstar: Live at Theater 99 CD - The new live CD from this free-jazz/funk outfit will leave you reeling! Their bulbous grooves and excursions into deep space flourish in a live setting, and Phoenix Presents has made this special sound available on CD! $12.00

Various Artists - Three Sets Volume 2 CD - The follow-up to the popular Lauan Records compilation Three Sets! This volume features live tracks from Wise Monkey Orchestra, Ancient Harmony, and Larry. $10.00

ALERT! Hard-to-find CD now back in stock! It's the elusive "Color in Bloom" from Percy Hill, which has been unavailable for the entire summer. Get yours now before they vanish again! $13.00

Joules Graves - A Sacred Tantrum CD - This new release features more spirit-stirring, people-conscious rhythms and lyrics from festival favorite Joules Graves! She connects with the audience on a primal level, inviting everyone to join her earthy musical tribe and make the world a better place with love, music, and awareness. $15.00

Sound Tribe Sector Nine - Offered Schematics Suggesting Peace CD - This is a dazzling new work from this hard-charging techno-rock quintet from Georgia! Their effervescent, sublime grooves hypnotize while glorious musical climaxes take the listener to new levels of improvisation. $14.00

Living Daylights - Electric Rosary CD - Astounding avant/jazz from these Seattle natives! Their musicianship is unparalleled and their inventiveness springs from an infinite source, creating a truly unique musical experience. Features revered guitarist Bill Frisell on four tracks. $15.00

Gone Phishin': A Bluegrass tribute to Phish CD - The phamous Vermont phoursome has made bluegrass a regular part of their sound for 15 years; now a stellar group of musicians folds Phish songs into a suitcase and takes them high into the Appalachian hills on this CD! Features Rob Ickes, Brent Truitt, Richard Bailey, Byron House, and Tim Crouch performing bluegrass versions of "Glide", "Rift", "Tweezer", "Cavern", and more! $16.00

Robert Walter's 20th Congress - Money Shot CD - The founding member of The Greyboy Allstars has concocted this supersonic funk album with his 20th Congress! This is their full-length debut and they cram every minute full of funk! Features Galactic's Stanton Moore on drums. Includes bonus audio tracks and a live performance video. $15.00

Papa Mali and The Instigators - Thunder Chicken CD - More bayou sounds now available through Home Grown! This is down-low Louisiana swamp funk at it's most snarling and grungy. In addition to many spellbinding originals, this disc also features a cataclysmic version of Dr. John's "Walk on Guilded Splinters". "Who are these dudes? Haven't heard swamp music this good since Tony Joe White" - Lee Froehlich, Playboy Magazine $15.00

Various Artists - Stolen Roses: Songs of the Grateful Dead CD - This CD is a true representation of how universal and essential the music of The Grateful Dead has become, and how it influenced multiple generations of musicians. The artists paying tribute on "Stolen Roses" range from the Stanford Marching Band to Bob Dylan to New York City's fusion outfit Sex Mob. Other artists include Widespread Panic, Elvis Costello, Illuminati, Leftover Salmon, and David Grisman. $16.00

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Buck Jump CD - Get down to this newest release from New Orleans' preeminent brass band! Their world-class musicianship and masterful funk groove make this CD hotter than a barbecue on the bayou. $16.00

ReBirth Brass Band - The Main Event: Live at The Maple Leaf CD - Yet another sinuous fixture in the New Orleans' music scene! These "undisputed...undefeated champions of the world" create an orgiastic frenzy that blends the traditional New Orleans' brass band sound with heavy urban rhythms. $15.00

Foundation: The Doc Watson Guitar Instrumental Collection 1964-1998 CD - If the name of this disc isn't enough to get your ears begging, consider that this CD contains the finest instrumentals of one of bluegrass music's most revered musicians and songwriters. $16.00

More amazing music is on the way! The Recipe's new CD, Geode, will be available September 26 and you can preorder it now at http://www.homegrownmusic.net or by calling us at 1-800-6LEEWAY. Check out the track list in our store and order yours today! We have heard the album and it is spine-tingling good!

Home Grown Trips Vol. 2
The Second Recipe Family Cookout - Sept. 8-10, 2000
Cheat River Festival Site - Albright, WV

Tim Walther can draw people to the most tucked-away, natural venues on the East Coast for his festivals. Picture 5,000 music freaks waiting to get into this year's All Good festival, their vehicles forming a steel serpent around miles of winding West Virginia mountain road. Walther's venues and festivals are always well worth the wait, but so far this summer no venue or it's inhabitants has been as kind as the Cheat River Festival Site, where the Recipe held their annual ho-down this year.

The abundance of wildlife in and around the site was reminiscent of Big Cypress Reservation, where Phish rang in the year 2000. The humans were literally out of their element! Squirrels bounded through the campgrounds, crickets threatened to drown out the music if you wandered too far from the stage, odd-looking insects made their appearance right in your face, studying you as carefully as you did them. The site is laden with trees, providing shade and natural paths as well as natural boundaries.

The Cheat River's situation is an uphill battle to say the very least. The potentially serene scene of the river, gurgling through the rocky West Virginia hills, has been marred by acid mine drainage. The water is the color of rust, and has in turn colored the rocks and banks of the river the same color. Also, the water has a thicker texture than is found in nature. The Friends of the Cheat were on hand all weekend, informing the festival attendees of their battle to save the river.

The place is spacious too. There was no hint of crowding among campers, vendors, or porta-pottys. The staff and band area were completely seperated from the concert field and camping area by an imaginary line (and fencing) slicing the site in half. This made the site incredibly easy to navigate. Vendors, campers, cars, and staff all had a place, not at all tangled among each other. This hassle-free vibe permeated the weekend.

The tribal-tronic madness of Dr. Didg juiced the crowd fully as the sun settled behind peaks Friday evening. Hypnotic Clambake wryly welcomed the night with a belly-laughing set of their trademark zydeco psychedelia, highlighted by a stellar version of "Whack-A-Mole" with Kristen Wolverton joining in on vocals. The Recipe kicked the weekend into high gear, dotting their set with songs from their amazing new album, "Geode". The show reached a dizzying peak when Dr. Didg joined the band for "A Little Yellow Pepper", a song whose ethereal quality could only be furthered by the ancient sounds of the didgeridoo. The night ended with the assurance of a special surprise for Saturday night's show. How do you make a recipe set at the Cookout more special than it is already destined to be? Read on.

Saturday began languidly with a solo guitar-and-vocals set by Joe's Pritchard's sister (Joe is the main vocalist and songwrite extroidinaire for The Recipe). Vendors, fans, and staff moved about slowly as Cheap Trucker Speed and The Davisson Brothers churned out a decidedly crunchier sound to get the day moving. Their energy was contagious, and by the time Blueground Undergrass hit the stage, the crowd was back into the groove. The Rev. Jeff Mosier and Company effortlessly slid through one of the best BGU sets I have seen, punctuated with a monstrous version of their staple "Oh Death". West Virginia's own Stewed Mulligan played next, and provided a glance into the tradition of bluegrass, but also the unpredictability, as songs bounced in and out of each other like some insane Bill Monroe record set on warp speed.

The evening closed in and loomed ominously. We were all about to have our musical endurance tested with the finishing combo of Max Creek, Derek Trucks Band, and The Recipe. The Creek wasted no time in displaying their veteran chops, pleasing the masses with an emotional "Tangled Up In Blue" only 3 songs in. The remainder of their set channeled everything from Neil Young to Widespread Panic, and the crowd ravenously awaited the arrival of the newest Allman joy, Derek Trucks. Simply put, this relative youngster has "it" in his blood (he is the nephew of ABB mainstay Butch Trucks). The band's set swan-dove through style after style, even providing their charasmatic keyboardist with a short and hilarious interlude. We're not sure if he was kidding or not. After a jam with Jeff Mosier that bent the boundaries of music to their breaking point, Trucks politely blew the craniums of all in attendance when he rose out of a faint drum-dominated jam with a rainbow of slide guitar heroics that cut through the humid night air with the force of a descending meteor.

The special surprise was to come next. The Recipe set began normally, if you consider their crowd favorite "Luna Parade" seguing into the KISS classic "Dr. Love" and back again a normal occurance. Then, as the band would have normally stopped for a setbreak, some of the band remained onstage and were joined by drummers from other bands as well as fans. Polyrhythmic swells of percussion surged through the site. Disbelief was suspended when Dr. Didg rejoined the fray and turned the whole drum jam into a whirling half-hour dream session. As expected, the rest of the night was pure gravy, punctuated by a whimsical encore of the theme from "Petticoat Junction", porch people style.

This is "the chosen festival". Over the past two years, the Recipe Family Cookouts have been an enlightening, relaxing, family event. The venue was left incredibly clean. Without a doubt the cleanest vibe of the past two years had settled over the Cheat River. Ideally, this vibe will remain there, the river will rise from the ashes, and the Recipe Cookout will call this site it's permanent home.

Bryan Rodgers spends a lot of time in front of stages that have been placed at high altitudes.