maxmax - Posted - 02/11/2008:  09:32:25

It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to go to one of the big Old-Time scenes in the US. This summer I finally will! My girlfriend and I will be going over to first attend the Swannanoa Gathering and then drive over to the festival in Clifftop. I am so excited I just can’t wait!!!

So who will I meet at one of those two events?

/Max

Edited by - brokenstrings on 08/01/2008 08:25:39

ZEPP - Posted - 02/11/2008:  10:11:22

Well, shall be vending at Clifftop again, and I certainly look forward to meeting you!

Cheers,
ZEPP

chip arnold - Posted - 02/11/2008:  11:14:26

Tish & I hope to be there again. Walk up the hill and ask for us. We'll look forward to meeting you.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

gailg64 - Posted - 02/11/2008:  11:36:31

Hello Max,
I have only missed one clifftop & sure hope to be there again this year. My husband Dwight & have a red VW van & set up in the large camping area that's off to the right. The Old-Time Herald magazine will be there too with a small booth in the vendors' area. Come say hello!
Gail
PS We visited Sweden a few years ago & Ulf Jagfors introduced us to some of the Stockholm area old-time musicians.

quote:

---

Originally posted by maxmax

It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to go to one of the big Old-Time scenes in the US. This summer I finally will! My girlfriend and I will be going over to first attend the Swannanoa Gathering and then drive over to the festival in Clifftop. I am so excited I just can’t wait!!!

So who will I meet at one of those two events?

/Max

---

lifeinajug - Posted - 02/11/2008:  15:11:18

I'll (hopefully) be work trading at Swannanoa this summer and then off on my touring bicycle to Clifftop. I'm doing a 2-3 month long Farm and Fiddle bicycle tour this summer going to a bunch of Organic Farms in the NC,KY,TN,and WVa area and fiddle festivals in between on my polka dotted Univega. Wahoo!

Have Fun!
Travis

rinemb - Posted - 02/11/2008:  15:19:05

I will sulk the rest of the summer, if something keeps me from Clifftop this year. If I get same place again this year I will be behind Chip and Tish along the trees to keep the bees and hornets company. Bringing a bigger fly swatter for those rascals this year. Ok. yes, I did try trap some with my hat and a piece of cardboard (my live trap) so I could release them unharmed. Afterall, I am the intruder on there turf.

Brad

May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.

Debbielee - Posted - 02/11/2008:  16:57:20

We will be "first-timers" at Clifftop. We'll be with the Georgia folks! Lots of flies, eh???

Debbielee

Edited by - Debbielee on 02/12/2008 06:23:43

chip arnold - Posted - 02/11/2008:  17:05:15

gnats. The higher up the hill, the fewer the gnats. Drier sheets work a little and help you to feel as though you're putting up a fight. A hat with a wide brim really does seem to keep them out of your eyes and nostrils. The hat will cause you to sweat which creates a constant rinsing of the body. This is good because you can jam instead of showering. And this is good because the light brown water at Clifftop gets scarce early in the week and showers are often rationed. This also is good because everyone smells pretty much the same. This is good because your nearest neighbors are camped about 6" away from you.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

Edited by - chip arnold on 02/11/2008 17:06:28

Debbielee - Posted - 02/11/2008:  17:19:00

Very inticing Chip! Can't wait.

Debbielee

jasper - Posted - 02/11/2008:  17:37:30

YEE-HAW.....I'll Be looking to play with all you BHO members at Clifftop, can't wait for that drought Chip!! I'm shooting to get there this year right @ 1p.m. Friday to get a great spot up top o' da hill.Can't wait......

Relax,grab your Banjo, have a Homebrew.

Joe Newberry - Posted - 02/11/2008:  20:06:00

I'll be at Clifftop for a day or so between weeks 4 and 5 of Augusta. Hope to get a chance to pick a tune with you.--JN

www.myspace.com/joenewberry
w

MountainBanjo - Posted - 02/11/2008:  21:03:18

I'm dreaming about going to some of these things this year too. I can bring some Minnesota mosquitoes to keep the gnats away.

quote:

---

I'm doing a 2-3 month long Farm and Fiddle bicycle tour this summer going to a bunch of Organic Farms in the NC,KY,TN,and WVa area and fiddle festivals in between on my polka dotted Univega.

---

rinemb - Posted - 02/11/2008:  21:38:43

Debbielee, The fly swatter was for the bees and wasps that lived near my camp. I could not live catch em all, had to kill a few-a lot. That was one reason the spot was open, there was a rather populated underground hornet nest over which I pitched camp. The camp directors gave me wasp killer to treat the hole and neighbors provided coleman stove gas.

Brad

May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.

Hilarie Burhans - Posted - 02/12/2008:  00:49:42

Hi Max-
My husband and I and some banjo students always have a big camp at Clifftop. If you email me before you go I'll send you a map with directions to our camp. We cook a lot of big meals and you are welcome to camp and eat with us; just contribute in some way and we'd be happy to have you join us. That might make it easier for you if you are camping. We usually arrive on the Sunday before the festival officially starts, as we like to make Clifftop last as long as possible!


http://www.hotpointstringband.com
http://www.hilarieburhans.com
http://www.restaurantsalaam.com

bagunhe - Posted - 02/12/2008:  01:01:34

You may have a chance to meet rattlesnake, too.
Bosco

konnichiwa, arigato, sayonara

Edited by - bagunhe on 02/12/2008 01:03:57

maxmax - Posted - 02/12/2008:  05:46:47

I look forward to meeting all of you! I'll have to write down notes in my notebook to remember where everyone will be located. Is it a very large area?

quote:

---

Originally posted by bagunhe

You may have a chance to meet rattlesnake, too.

---

Debbielee - Posted - 02/12/2008:  06:30:52

Okay...Brown water, rationed showers, bees, gnats, RATTLESNAKES (yikes). I think I could handle any of those things, although I might have a slight problem with the rattlesnake. Anything else one should prepare for? Looking forward to meeting, listening, playing and learning.

Debbielee

Clawdan - Posted - 02/12/2008:  08:52:03

We'll be there Max.

Play nice,
Dan "Ain't no bum-ditty" Levenson
www.ClawhammerBanjo.us
Come to Clawcamp!

carlb - Posted - 02/12/2008:  10:31:39

Max,

The question is who won't be there (check performers for conflicting festivals). Scientists have their conventions, realtors have conventions, all kinds of professions have conventions. Well, this is our convention. It's just great, year after, year after, year.............................

Carl
Drive to the basket and into the woods and there we are, hopefully. Nothing is guarenteed in this world.

"Just around the corner is someone who plays better than you....." "There will always be someone who likes your music and someone who dislikes your music. Get over it......." [Dan Haerle, former music prof at University of North Texas]

gailg64 - Posted - 02/12/2008:  11:01:07

Yep. There are a lot of competing festivals & workshops around the same time that always draw off some of the regulars. Joe N. will be at Augusta, but I am glad to hear he'll put in a Clifftop appearance. So, if there's someone who you're dying to jam with or hear that will really be a highlight for you, be sure & check their schedule.

As folks have mentioned, the discomforts we cheerfully endure are a measure of how much we value clifftop. You've heard about the yellowjackets & gnats, but has anyone mentioned the enormous timber rattler that lives in the woods to the right of the lower campground? She goes for a slither among the tents & campers every year just before the weather changes. And, you've heard about the brown water, but how about the brown recluse spiders? Tare care & be aware that there is a whole lot of NATURE at clifftop!
G

quote:

---

Originally posted by carlb

Max,

The question is who won't be there (check performers for conflicting festivals). Scientists have their conventions, realtors have conventions, all kinds of professions have conventions. Well, this is our convention. It's just great, year after, year after, year.............................

Carl
Drive to the basket and into the woods and there we are, hopefully. Nothing is guarenteed in this world.

"Just around the corner is someone who plays better than you....." "There will always be someone who likes your music and someone who dislikes your music. Get over it......." [Dan Haerle, former music prof at University of North Texas]

---

rinemb - Posted - 02/12/2008:  11:14:48

Are they letting the dogs in again. I love dogs and had a couple great freindly and pleasant dogs around me, put there were some pain in the butt dogs around. Its not the noise they make-who could hear them anyway over all of the campground music. Just don't like the fighters, biters, and trash eaters.

Brad

May not the incidence of success, nor the pretense of retirement-
Lessen the want of enlightenment.

chip arnold - Posted - 02/12/2008:  12:41:01

The rattler is attracted to the triangle and washboard in the Cajun camp. His karma is to reincarnate as a Cajun rhythm player. In this life he has to content himself with playing his rattle. Okay, don't mess up the beat and nobody gets bit.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

banjozane - Posted - 02/12/2008:  13:18:23

I will be there with a couple of my banjos if I can keep enough in stock!

"I know something sure enough, you'll never get to heaven with a lip full of snuff."

banjo bill-e - Posted - 02/12/2008:  13:41:59

Dang, I can't let my wife see this thread, she will never agree to go. So, am I correct that most of you guys are tent camping? Does anyone do the popups or van based RVs?

chip arnold - Posted - 02/12/2008:  13:54:10

Most are tenters. There are lots of pop ups, campers and vans as well. We bring our tiny little '67 Shasta. We also set up a 10' X 20' canopy for a kitchen, living room and jam place. If you have a big camper or RV, you'll have to set up in the field in front of the stage. No shade but it's flat. During the last half of the week when there are non stop competitions on the stage, it can be hard to jam there because of the racket from the stage. If you want to run any kind of generator, air conditioner, etc. you have to camp outside the park in a big gravel parking lot. A long walk up to where everything is happening. We love our little camper but we only use it for sleeping. All our light is kerosene and all our cooking is on a Coleman stove. There are always pot lucks to go to and plenty of non musical stuff to do like hiking, crafts, swimming, driving around the countryside and so on if your spouse doesn't play music.

Edit to add: Badcock State Park is right next to Clifftop and may still have vacancies for cabins or campers. They are booked early so if this is of interest to you, you need to contact them quickly.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

Edited by - chip arnold on 02/12/2008 13:58:35

inniepie - Posted - 02/14/2008:  23:40:22

Is Clifftop the place to go? I would really like to hit a festival this summer but I'm not sure which one to go to.....
(see Clawhammer thread...convince me to go to Clifftop)

Edited by - inniepie on 02/15/2008 15:06:27

dustyelmer - Posted - 02/15/2008:  00:12:12

i'll meet you Max, i'll be at Clifftop.

jasperr - Posted - 02/15/2008:  11:58:41

Hey Max, Look for me and Jamie's campsite next to the volleyball court.

Jim

robertsart - Posted - 04/18/2008:  07:08:56

Hey Max,

Come by and see us when you are at Clifftop. Old Groove will have a booth again this year. All kinds of old-time related t-shirts and other useless stuff to take back to Sweden with you!

Don't let the water horror stories scare you. It ain't that bad!

Scott Roberts


www.oldgroove.com
Old-Time Music & Culture

brokenstrings - Posted - 04/18/2008:  20:53:00

Looks like I'm going to Swannanoa.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

maxmax - Posted - 07/18/2008:  15:02:42

Ok, we're off early tomorrow morning! I hope I'll run in to all of you!

Take care,
Max

chip arnold - Posted - 07/18/2008:  17:07:09

Come up to the water tower and look on the right for an OLD shasta camper. And a catfish (!) That'll be me and Tish. See you there.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

Don Borchelt - Posted - 07/18/2008:  17:21:14

I'm coming to see you Arnold. You d**n well better be right there by that freakin' water tower, with your picks on, or Ed and I will have made the whole d**n trip from Massachusetts for NOTHIN"!


"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

Check out my webpage.

Edited by - Don Borchelt on 07/18/2008 17:25:25

chip arnold - Posted - 07/18/2008:  17:52:04

i'll be there and I ain't afeared of no banjer pickin yankees neither.

Whopeeeeeee..............we're leaving for Va. on Thursday and heading up to W. Va. first thing Friday to get in line. Carpetbaggers been gettin' the jump on me and takin' my favorite spot the last few years. Nope, ain't afeared of no yankee banjer pickers. Shoot, they can't even spell darn.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

Don Borchelt - Posted - 07/18/2008:  18:58:55

Well, h**l, I even learnt that tune Sycamore Shoals so's we'd have at least one tune we both knew. And that took some doing because that tune don't make no sense a'tall to an ordinary man like me. Check it out, if you think I'm puttin' the shuck on ya'... it's a little rough, 'cuz I don't have the charming Miss Tish to keep my rhythm right!

Don struggling with Sycamore Shoals, not bad fer a yankee...

We should be rolling in midday Tuesday at the latest. We're leaving Monday morning, but Britt is too old to make the trip in one day.


"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

Check out my webpage.

Edited by - Don Borchelt on 07/19/2008 03:07:14

Debbielee - Posted - 07/19/2008:  05:36:27

We'll be there too. I want to check out Chip's leapard skinned lounge chair! I have a dandy picture of him taking a snooze last year. I'd share, but can't figure out how to send pictures on a thread yet. Don, I hope I get to meet you as well as other hangout members. This is our first time to Clifftop and it will be a great way to end summer vacation. The following week is "back to school" week.

Debbielee

Don Borchelt - Posted - 07/19/2008:  06:15:29

Debbielee wrote: "The following week is "back to school" week."

Back to school week starts August 4th?! This is just wrong! Who are we trying to compete with? Oh, yeah...



"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

Check out my webpage.

chip arnold - Posted - 07/19/2008:  07:00:16

Counting down......................

Deb, we'll play Old Mother Logo which I never get to play with anyone since I learned it. And while we're in a droopy, minor D mood we can play Sally in the Garden too.

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

GSCarson - Posted - 07/19/2008:  09:48:22

We'll be camped next to or near by "Buckingham Palace", be happy to meet and pick with BHO folks. Chevy van with black cartop carrier. Don, why don't you drag Ed over and we can have a four way banjo jam on some of those old standards with Ed and Russ. (or we can get the fiddle and guitar out and get a big jam going...)

Glenn C.

Don Borchelt - Posted - 07/19/2008:  12:44:59

Glenn wrote: "Don, why don't you drag Ed over and we can have a four way banjo jam..."

That's sounds great to me. We'll see you there. Of course, dragging Ed can be tough. Once he gets planted somewhere talking about banjos...


"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

Check out my webpage.

Edited by - Don Borchelt on 07/19/2008 12:45:49

GSCarson - Posted - 07/19/2008:  16:42:12

I have no room to talk in that department Don, but I like to play once I get there so the banjo talk tends to happen in the mornings and the rest of the day (and night) is for music! I'd like to hear that Arnold/Borchelt/Britt banjo jam too.

chip arnold - Posted - 07/19/2008:  17:02:18

Glenn, you don't need to hear it, you need to be playing in it. We'll just have us a banjo orchestra!

**********************
Take what is given
Give what is taken

Chip Arnold

Don Borchelt - Posted - 07/21/2008:  18:38:22

You just can't have too many banjos. Only one more week!


"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world." - Albert Camus

Check out my webpage.

brokenstrings - Posted - 07/31/2008:  14:03:03

SWANNANOA Old-Time Week 2008 Well, I met Max and his girlfriend Emelie (she was taking mandolin and dancing and had a neat home-decorated mandolin bag). Max now sports a beard and was taking Banjo III, two sessions, and String Band. He played for the dancing the last night in a somewhat banjo-heavy group (was it 4 or 5 banjos, Max?). By now many more of you have met him at Clifftop. Myself, I had to get used to playing in A and DD. Dang those fiddlers, anyhow! The music went on all day and all night, and Acoustic Corner rents out instruments. (I brought my banjo but rented a guitar.) Another business has a staggering selection of CDs (OT, blues, Celtic, you name it). Smokers be warned: there are now only two places you can smoke on campus (uphill and downhill).

AIRPLANE REPORT No problem getting on board US Air with my banjo; but then I had to switch to a smaller plane from Charlotte to Asheville, and they insisted that the banjo be stowed in the hold. Also, on the way back, they made me dump my sourwood honey (with comb) because of something about liquids. I could have taken it in my suitcase, but who wants to risk broken glass and honey all over your suitcase? So I didn't get to have sourwood honey for breakfast this morning. This did not do a lot for my mood, because Zeke, my car, died the night before I left for North Carolina and the tower is overworked and Enterprise didn't have anything but trucks to rent.

ASHEVILLE Stayed on a few days, took part in an all-day singing on the grounds at Swannanoa and stayed at the Log Cabin Motor Court north of Asheville. A porch to pick on and a rocker to pick in. (Folks on the porch next door, far from objecting, were pleased.) Cooking facilities and a shower. Visited a harpmaker I've wanted to meet in Zirconia and Acoustic Corner (banjo, guitar, and more) and Song of the Wood (bowed psalteries, hammered and mountain dulcimers, harps) in Black Mountain and got recaffeinated at the Dripolator, Caffiends, and Asheville Coffee Roasters. Also somewhat startling adventure: police woke me up at 3:00 A.M. Prowler reported in area--who had, it turned out, reached in and pulled out the screen, removing my pocketbook, which he/she subsequently dumped on the grounds with contents intact. Police credit themselves with speedy action; I think whoever it was found my pocketbook as hard to find things in as I do myself.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

Edited by - brokenstrings on 07/31/2008 14:04:41

brokenstrings - Posted - 08/04/2008:  19:02:37

Still hoping to hear from maxmax on Swannanoa and on Clifftop.

Jessy

Frailaway, ladies, frailaway!

maryzcox - Posted - 08/05/2008:  11:49:45

Hello Jessy,
Just missed you--Bob (hub), Ellen (friend) and Gordy (youngest son) and me all went to Suwannoah the week following you--guitar week!
Now--why on earth would I go to guitar camp when I don't even play guitar? Ellen talked Bob and I into going last year and we had so much fun that we all went back again this year and flew in our son from NYC too.

It is wonderfully relaxing to be a student instead of the instructor once a year too. :)
This year I took Pan African guitar--very fun--kind of like a drum circle playing different interlocking music--but with guitars. (Scott Nygard)

Then I had a wonderful performance class with the hilarious Vance Gilbert. My son, and my friend, Ellen were in this class with me and we got all kinds of performance feedback and suggestions to improve our stage shows.

I took the vocal clinic again this year and learned more about improving my singing. The high point was on Wednesday when we were each supposed to write out the lyrics to a song and bring them to class--so we could go over arranging a tune. Of course, I'd been jamming till 2 AM and came unprepared with no words--and wouldn't you know it--she put us with partners so we couldn't fake it and I had no words!

I just told my partner off the bat that I had no words--and he was awesome. We worked on his tune, then I wrote down the words to a chorus of a popular tune that would be easy to pick out the strong words--and he just sprang to life and started playing the guitar chords to it. At dinner, he came up behind me and dropped a folded paper on my plate and it was all the words and chords to "When Dove's Cry." and he said--learn it by tomorrow and we are doing it.

So I did--and this man learned all the chords and backup and even tapped out the percussion on the side of his guitar and I actually sang Prince--if you can believe that. The instructor nearly fell off her chair--and of course, the class went wild because everyone had been doing folk songs and everyone woke up and was kind of rockin' to it.
Anyway--it was great fun and something that I normally wouldn't even try.

I took Vicki Genfen's slapping and tapping course again. I could take that course every year until the end of my life and learn something new every year.

Anyway--maybe we'll go to Clifftop next year instead of guitar camp--but I'm not sure yet. Is there a category for Prince there?

Best wishes always,
Mary Z. Cox

www.maryzcox.com
If you suspect you need a new banjo--you do. Trust your musical instincts. If a banjo calls to you to buy it, don''t fight destiny. It was meant to be. :)