Friday night, Kind Country released their album, Hard Times to a full crowd of tow tappers. The joint was jumping. The scene is jam band, with several artists painting on stage and in the audience. People had booths selling this, that and the other. Lots of neon lights, jeans, long hair and beards. Even a little bobbing and weaving.
Then the music started and the scene is festival bluegrass. I was delighted. The band is string forward with everything from a mandolin, guitar, fiddle, upright bass, banjo and pedal steel. I love a song like Daybreak in Dixie or Ride on to the Dream, where the strings are fast and each instrument seems to be chasing down the next. Like kids running in a field – so joyous and each one with a sound of it’s own.
Turbines is another standout song. The instruments are strong but the vocals and the story push the song. It’s a crowd-pleaser with defiant and triumphant lyrics. That’s really the energy from the stage – joyous and defiant at a turbulent time.
By the end of the night, I understood where the jam band scene fit in. These guys played for hours, tirelessly. Using their own motto – it’s kind music for kind people!
Mostly Minnesota 