Cool breeze blows for Wartrace MusicFest

The Wartrace MusicFest kicked off Friday night to almost-clear skies and a cool breeze -- a nice change from last year's event.

"We played here last year," said Roger Huffman of The Creek, one of the featured bands. "We almost got blown off the stage."

Despite the bad weather that plagued last year's show, there was a good turnout, said Mayor Don Gallagher. On Friday night, he was expecting this year's event, with its much better weather, to have a much better turnout.

"This is really good for a Friday night," he said, nodding at the visitors in front of the stage, some in camp chairs, some sprawled comfortably on blankets. At 7 p.m., cars were still rolling into the parking lot across the street from the show grounds where MusicFest was being held.

There were old and new faces, both on and off stage.

Angelica Grim (pronounced Grime) entertained the crowd with a rich voice and style reminiscent of Alison Krauss in her debut at the festival, and old favorites The Creek had the crowd clapping along.

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Tom Ely listened to the country and bluegrass music as he sold vivid tie-dyed shirts from his trailer. A former vendor with the Grateful Dead concert circuit, he's been to music festivals of all kinds, from Bonnaroo to bluegrass, but it was his first visit to Wartrace.

"Little old ladies love my stuff," he said laughing.

Robert Monaco, of Beech Grove, was also a first-timer at the event.

"It's not what I expected, but it's been very nice," he said.

Wayne and Joann Whittington, however, come every year from Manchester.

"We like the music," said Wayne.

Wartrace resident John Glass hadn't been to MusicFest for a couple of years, but came Friday night.

"I wanted to bring my family," he said.

Family, said Gallagher in an earlier interview, is really what it's all about. Children played tag and bounced balloons back and forth while parents and grandparents listened to the music. They gathered under awnings to eat burgers or cobbler, and visited with neighbors and strangers alike.

Of course, the MusicFest is also about guitars, with Gallagher Guitars as one of the primary sponsors. This year, Steve Kaufman, the only person to have won the National Flatpicking Championship three times, not only performed, but gave clinics, and his relationship with Gallagher Guitars goes way back.

"He got his first Gallagher guitar in '74 or '75," said the mayor.

In 1978, a Gallagher guitar was chosen as a prize for one of the top three places in the national guitar championship. The winners were allowed to chose which guitar they would take home, with the first place winner choosing first, and so on.

"Steve just happened to come by the shop when we were building the guitar for the championship and said he was going to be competing," said Gallagher. "I asked him, 'What size do you want the neck?'"

Sure enough, Kaufman won first place that year, and sure enough, he chose the Gallagher for his prize.