You couldn’t have asked for a nicer day, for the third and final day of the annual Lakefest put on by Columbia Festival for the Arts. More than 50 artisans with booths to peruse their original art, including charming bow ties and inspiring paintings of butterflies, and the pick of the litter for food trucks were on site. The acoustic guitar and accordion duo Song Riot were on first, and their comfy folk eased the growing audience into the “grab bag” of music for the day, with bass thumping and mandolin whirring, along with the novelty and warmth of accordion playing up and down the keys.
There were covers, like Van Morrisson’s “Moondance” and the Irish jig “Turn Away Boy,” and there were original songs side by side for their hour long set. It was folk you might find in a coffee shop or small venue, but the sound carried well in the little valley by the lake. And though there wasn’t a big crowd yet, people spotted the lawn like cheetah spots. Next up was the Washington Chinese Traditional Orchestra, with about twenty players on stage, and they played music you might hear in a Disney animation, with some operatic numbers, strings and flutes, and a nice shot of “wood block” and xylophone percussion.
It was a little piece of Asia in the diverse borough of Columbia, MD, something that you might see in a larger concert hall in a city like Washington, DC, where they are from, but which carried well across the green lawn. The orchestra was dressed in modest formal wear, but the attention was on their satisfying eastern sound. After the orchestra played their hour long set, an MC came on and talked about the “Three C’s” behind the Lakefest project: community, connection, and culture. From Irish to Chinese music so far, it was clear that they had put thought into the featured acts.
It was Father’s Day (which the MCs and performers celebrated from the stage a number of times throughout the day), and I was lucky to be there with my father and my brother for the occasion. We went in between sets to see the Black Cherry Puppet troupe on a small stage to the right of the main stage, with their life-like movements on marionettes. Elephants doing handstands and human puppets that got short or extremely tall at the flick of the puppeteers’ wrists entertained a crowd of children and adults alike.
The next act was the local blues veterans, Swampdog Clark, who have opened for such acts as Chuck Brown, Deanna Bogart, and Betty Lavette. The blues is a staple of American music and can, for that reason, rub me the wrong way, sometimes. (To each their own, right?) But the wailing harmonica of Anthony Clark won me over in their hour and fifteen minute set. Clark did some call and response from the stage. “Make it church, talk back to me!” Clark encouraged the audience. And groups here and there on the lawn, now filled with people, obliged, in good fun. “Ain’t no party but the swamp dog party, and the swamp dog party don’t stop!”
The next act, and the last act I saw for the day, was Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, formed in the Smoky Mountains, and their Tennessee Bluegrass, fit with fiddle, banjo and guitar, continued the vein of distinctly American music. Although they’re called “Boys,” the fiddle player added her lush vocals to the mix, singing about a “Ramblin’ Woman.” It was music that has been in our country for centuries, but recalled the quirky soundtrack to the Cohen Brothers’ Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? which put a smile on my face.
“We’ve been together for ten years. Like a marriage.There’s five of us. That’s like fifty years,’ they joked from the stage. They’re certainly a committed and talented outfit, and this show is just at the beginning of a tour throughout the nation, through September of this year. They talked about how they no longer drink beer, so they’ve turned to energy drinks. There was certainly a pep to their step.
It was about 5PM at this point, and in the perfect poetry of nature and art, the sinking sun reflected directly off of the banjo, turning it bright golden. They played traditionals, (“Samuel Waters was good man after all,”) and rollicking originals, some which are off their forthcoming album. The final act was a local favorite, the Glenelg Jazz Ensemble, which reflects Lakefest’s commitment to building and supporting the local community.
I was bummed to miss some of the acts on the previous days, like Telmary y HabanaSana and DeerLady, but it was nice to spend time with my family, listening to national and international music of the highest order. If you live in the area, you’re lucky to get this once-a-year spectacle and diverse gathering of people. It always gives me hope, to see something like this go off, and I’m glad the weather cooperated this year and that so many people came out to see the carefully selected acts.
Prism Reviews 