In preparing the holiday feast and delivering two beautifully roasted chickens to the table, I realized that the act of cooking was also part of the ritual, and a ritual unto itself. Every meal represents a sacrifice of some form or other, and we honor that sacrifice by the way we prepare, cook and serve the food. When we cook, we try to transform the raw ingredients into something new and beautiful beyond the utility of fuel, and by doing so we respect the food with our labor, care and creativity.

Certainly not all food preparation is done as part of a ritual, and cooking is required simply to make foods some edible. But in cooking a decent meal, we often go beyond the basic heating needed to digest the food. Why do we go that extra step of preparation needed to add special flavors or change the texture? Why choose ingredients based on non-nutritional characteristics like color and appearance? Why do we present the food on a platter garnished with things that we may not even eat?

We go that extra mile enhancing and arranging the meal because as with the Christmas tree, we recognize it as a sacrifice that has been made for us in the circle of life. We also honor the food by using as much of it as we can: the drippings and giblets for gravy; the carcass for chicken stock; the celery and fennel leaves for flavoring; the stale bread that becomes pudding.

Of course not every meal receives the elaborate presentation of the holidays, but when we take time and care in preparing and cooking our food, we are not only enhancing our own enjoyment, but are participating in a scaled down version of the ritual feast.

What would you add to this list? What would be in your personal list?

Modern Holiday
Sarah Siskind‘s 2010 EP “All Come Together Now” is among my favorite new holiday music, with original songwriting band Sarah’s beautiful voice. For example: “May Love Fall Like Snow“. Grace Potter also has a pair of freshly rockin’ holiday songs.

Nerdy Christmas
Among the songs on John Aneallo’s holiday EP, two stand out for the kid in me: “Batman Smells – A Rebuttal” and “The Millennium Falcon for Christmas”, a song with which I can truly identify since I never got one. Johnathan Coulton‘s Christmas card from the Anderson family is a favorite at our house: “Merry Christmas from Chiron Beta Prime“. “Christmas At Ground Zero” by Werid Al Yankovic is a must have for all Dr. Strangelove fans. One more for the geek’s Christmas is Space Zombie Christmas” by Hecktor Zick Zack and Death Ray.

Dysfunctional Family Christmas
The Pogues great duet from Shane McGowana and Kirsty MacColl “Fairytale Of New York“. “Christmas In Prison” by John Prine – a great song for which I could not find a good YouTube of Prine singing it himself, but judging by the number of home videos I am not the only one who loves this one. “Merry Christmas From The Family“  – Robert Earl Keen. Mom got drunk and dad got drunk at the Christmas party…

Old Time
“Breaking Up Christmas” performed here by one of several great fiddle players we lost in 2011: Benton Flippen of Mount Airy, NC.  Another is West Virginian fiddler French Carpenter’s “Old Christmas Morning“. A great version of “Hard Times Come Again No More” was sung by Mavis Staples on the “Songs of Stephen Foster” compilation,  but I love the Emmylou Harris version as well.

Folk Rock
The Simon & Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is quite at home in a holiday mix, though I like Johnny Cash’s version from American IV. Another from that album is The Beatles song “In My Life”, which bring out memories of family. Jethro Tull’s ”A Christmas Song” is a personal favorite. Hey, Santa, pass us that bottle, will ya?
Leonard Cohen’s beautiful “Hallelujah“ fits right in, but I prefer Rufus Wainwright’s singing or  Jake Shimabukuro’s ukulele instrumental. “Ring Them Bells“, a Bob Dylan song performed beautifully by Sarah Jarosz, whose first two albums are always in high rotation at my place.

Other Spirituals
Several Gillian Welch songs fit in this section: “By The Mark“, “Red Clay Halo” and “Rock Of Ages” are in the mix, as well as her duet with Allison Krauss on “I’ll Fly Away”, though I also love this fresh version by Del McCoury & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band from “American Legacies”. “Amazing Grace” was an obvious choice. My favorite versions are an instrumental by guitarist Andy Falco, and Ani DiFranco jamming on it with a full orchestra backing. Hank Williams’ song “House Of Gold” is also in tune with the season of giving and receiving. I like both the Willie Nelson version from his recent album “Country Music”, as well as Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien’s duet on “Real Time”. I could not find a YouTube of either of those, however, so enjoy this one from the Secret Sisters. Another Hank Williams classic spiritual is “I Saw The Light“, with my favorite version by banjo innovator Earl Scruggs. Last but not least, the haunting vocals of Blue Highway singing “Wondrous Love“. Highly recommended.

For the Non-Believers
A trio of tunes for the agnostics, humanists and all-of-the-aboves in your life: “Let The Mystery Be” by Iris Dement, the hilarious “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs” by Steve Martin & Steep Canyon Rangers, and the Grateful Dead acoustic classic “Ripple“.

Movie Themes
With so many TV specials and movies that come out for the holiday season, there are bound to be some that strike a chord of nostalgia. For me there is “Linus & Lucy”, the theme from the Peanuts. Probably because they both came out around Christmas, “May It Be” by Enya, from the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings soundtrack and “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter soundtrack. It would not be Christmas at our house without a little Jack Skellington. We love the whole soundtrack by Danny Elfman, but the “Christmas Eve Montage” I find fits best in the playlist.

How about you? What are your alternative holiday songs? What are your favorite obscure ones?

Blueberries from Frog Eye Farm in Knoxville, MD.

Gathering your own food is a very basic human survival function that many people never experience in this day and age, but spending some time to pick your own fruit can have other benefits besides the ripe, delicious fruit you can eat straight from the vine. I recently wrote about blueberry and blackberry picking, and April Finnen has compiled a great list of pick-your-own orchards in the Frederick, MD area.

Why sacrifice some of your limited time to get something you can get at the store? Here are seven reasons why I think you should get outside and gather:

1. It’s a great deal – pick your own berries are much cheaper than in stores, and it’s easy to wash and freeze them for later use so you can impress your guests with a local berry dessert in winter.
2. It’s a great way to get natural, low stress exercise that will help offset the cobbler and ice cream you will have when you get home.
3. You get to meet the farmer who grows your food.
4. You will gain a lot of respect for folks who work the fields for a living.
5. It puts money directly into your local economy and helps that green space continue to thrive.
6. You will learn something about the growing seasons, the land and local ecology.
7. It’s fun for families, groups and dates.

Fresh blackberries from Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville, VA.

With a mountain of fresh, local fruit at your disposal, who knows what recipes you might try? Let me know about your favorite places to pick fruit in the comments below.

Stepen Mackey of Notaviva Vineyards, left, interviews Sam Brown of Crooked Run Orchard.

A gem of green space like Crooked Run Orchard should be cherished and protected by its local elected officials, but unless more citizens and business owners of Purcellville, VA rally to Sam and Uta Brown’s cause, they are fighting an uphill battle against powerful forces that desire their land for development. It is my hope that citizens of both parties can come together to help Sam and Uta Brown of Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville whose land and business are under attack by town officials who seem hell bent on destroying the twenty five year old orchard on historic farmland. For the left, this is an issue of environmental impact and access to green spaces.  For the right, this is an issue of personal property and business owners rights against entrenched government power. For the Browns, it is simply a matter of survival.

Many mature apple trees will be lost with the impending road.

Crooked Run Orchard contains acres of pick-your-own apples, peaches, plums, raspberries, blackberries and pumpkins, but seven acres of the Brown’s land have already been condemned by the town through eminent domain for construction of a road that will cut the land in two, destroying mature apple and priceless elder boxwood trees. For the last many years, the Browns have stoically bore the time and cost of litigation against the full might of the town’s legal assault, but allies are now gathering in support for the besieged orchard led by Stephen Mackey of Notaviva Vineyards.

Fresh local blackberries, but for how long?

Starting with a press awareness event on July 17th, Mackey interviewed the Browns for a video presentation of Crooked Run’s plight. While none of the invited Purcellville town officials were present, many of the press and bloggers stayed for a stroll into the orchard to pick their fill. Not only is Mackey helping to promote Crooked Run’s legal fund, but he’s also harvesting a small mountain of the Browns’s pesticide free blackberries for use in a Notaviva blackberry wine.

Across the country, demand for fresh, local food is growing as knowledge spreads about the health consequences and environmental impact of industrial agriculture and processed food. At the same time, suburban sprawl and big box stores are eating up farmland at an alarming rate in pastoral Loudoun County, VA.

Please spread the word about the situation at Crooked Run Orchard, especially if you have any connections in the Purcellville, Loudoun County or Virginia State governments who may be able to help the Browns though actions or advice.

Frog Eye Farm

Gathering your own food is a task that is central to the survival of most species, but for many humans it is becoming lost knowledge. Celebrate this critical survival skill by picking your own berries this summer. For the last three years, my wife and I have picked blueberries at Frog Eye Farm, where row upon row of blueberry bushes droop to the ground with tasty fruit from late June to early August. A fun family activity, this pick-your-own operation is also a great value, where the pesticide-free berries are only $3 per pound.

A bounty of berries.

Baskets are available from the proprietor, who is quick to offer a tutorial on how to pick the best berries. Although it is getting late in the season, we found plenty of berries in the lower rows and came home with 10 lbs. Some of that immediately went into this blueberry crumb bar dessert, some was cooked down into syrup for an ice-cream topping, and the rest were washed and frozen for later use, like in hot oatmeal.

Blueberry hill? More like blueberry mountain. Got any recipes to share?

To commemorate this milestone, here are some observations and notes from my first year of tweeting.

• One of my favorite bands, The Infamous Stringdusters, was the first “person” I followed.
• Nora Jane Struthers, songwriter and lead singer of the band Bearfoot, was the first person to follow me back.
• Laura Click was one of the first people to actually interact with me, when she suggested that I update my Twitter bio so that folks could know more about me.
• The best Twitter advice I ever got was to actually respond to other tweets rather than just retweeting them as I did for the first several months.
• The worst Twitter advice I ever got  was to reduce the number of people I follow, especially celebrities and others who don’t follow back, to bring the following count more in line with my follower count so that my “Klout” score would increase. It did not  affect the score at all, and I missed the entertaining tweets from folks like Michael McKean, George Takei, Wil Wheaton, Paul & Storm and Patton Oswalt.
• The best result of joining Twitter have been the regional connections I have made, especially folks who support local agriculture, real food, roots music, craft beer, wine and spirits.
• The most fun I have had on Twitter was a recent #bluegrassbeef with @eartyme.
• Facebook is great for keeping in touch with old friends and family, but Twitter is better for meeting new people with common interests.

@SthMtnMike

With a set containing new arrangements of traditional tunes, original songs and instrumentals, a couple of covers and just a sprinkling of Stringduster sound, Falco’s guitar and Pandolfi’s banjo duets gave us a more living room style of performance than you get at the festival-like Stringdusters shows. Playing seated in center stage facilitated the interaction between the bluegrass jamming veterans as they started off with a vamp into “Angelina Baker”. Falco set the bass with a dropped D tuning while Pandolfi built the tune, enticing the crowd away from the bar and towards the stage. Soon the two were trading breaks back and forth, building energy and improvisations into the classic fiddle tune. They maintained that energy as they shifted rhythms to the highly danceable original instrumental “High Country Funk”. I hope you all get to hear this infectiously funky jam some day!

Stringdusters fans who have long asked for Andy Falco to sing some blues will get their reward at a Founding Fathers show. For the first of three songs for the evening, he reached into the catalog of Grateful Dead acoustic favorites with “Rosalee McFall”. Chris Pandolfi the led the next tune with Bela Fleck’s “The Open Road”, where the two once again played  a game of musical badmitton, passing the breaks while always maintaining a solid groove.

Falco returned to the drop D tuning while they riffed on another classic fiddle tune “Whiskey Before Breakfast”, starting deconstructed and ending with lightning fast breaks. Giving us each one track off of their solo records, Andy Falco sang his original composition, “Sentenced to Live With The Blues”, augmented by an extra jam that I am glad to be able to share with you in the video.  Following that was “Big Bend”, an instrumental off Chris Pandolfi’s album Looking Glass, that rolls along like a mountain landscape, not too fast and with room to move.

Shifting gears, the duo showed the depth of their bluegrass roots with a tribute to banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, where Pandolfi led several of Scruggs banjo tunes that alas I cannot name.  The only Infamous Stringdusters material of the evening was an instrumental jam riffing on “No More To Leave You Behind”, and the final song of the cited Tim O’Brien’s ballad “Pretty Fair Maid”, starting low and serenely and ending in joyous crescendo as the tale unfolded. With big smiles, the Pandolfi and Falco closed their inaugural set with the classic bluegrass jam tune “Salt Creek”.

The Founding Fathers gave a great performance for any music fan and not just for the Stringduster fanatics such as yours truly. The two showed obvious joy in playing together, but while they communicated with each other through their instruments they also maintained a connection with the audience throughout the set. The next chance you’ll have to see The Founding Fathers will be on July 28 in Baltimore, MD at the 8 x 10 Club opening for The Devil Makes Three.

As I mentioned in the beginning, don’t let the level of detail I’ve given to the Founding Fathers take away from the Hackensaw Boys, who followed up with a raucous set that had the crowd dancing and hollering. With all six cylinders firing at full speed, the Hackensaws delivered the backwoods party-time set they are known for with favorite tunes like “Cannonball”, “Miner”, “Sweet Petunia”, “Dance Around”, “Nashville”, “The Parking Lot Song” and “We Are Many”. With the success of bands like Old Crow Medicine Show and Trampled By Turtles, I can’t help but think that the long running Hackensaw Boys should be bigger on the festival circuit, and I hope their upcoming appearance at the All Good Festival will help propel them down that road.

Since the earliest days of the iron horse, trains have been celebrated in song by those who have lived, worked and played along the railroad tracks. It is a potent symbol for many  tensions that mark the modern world: man vs. machine, nature vs. man, future vs. past.

On a recent trip into D.C. on the MARC train, I asked my Facebook friends and Twitter followers for their favorite train and railroad songs, and the large response proved to me that trains and train songs still hold a special place in many hearts and memories. They are songs about trains, stories that take place on a trains, sounds that mimic trains and trains used as a symbol for relentless progression or nostalgic remembrance. Some are over a hundred years old while others have just recently been released. They cross the borders of geography, race and musical styles. This list is by no means meant to be a complete list of train songs, but it does show the diverse interpretations and use of the train in American music.

I have done my best to give proper attribution to the writers of these songs. Any corrections are most welcome. Did I miss your favorite? I’d love to hear what they are, so me know in the comments or tweet me @SthMtnMike.

The Del McCoury Band

Not counting the mud, I came away from this year’s Delfest with a new respect for Ted Lehman and his intrepid blogging of bluegrass festivals all over the country. My dreams of daily Delfest reporting were met with the realities of weather, family, the need for a real vacation and lack of WiFi. Life intervened and it has now been several weeks since the mud has dried, but here are the memories I wrote down during and right after the festival of Del.

Thursday

We arrived later than expected amid the large, cold rain drops of a rolling summer storm. This contributed to long lines and confusion at both the check-in and the campsite, where misdirection and conflicting orders from security led us on a forty five minute goose chase for a place to camp (there were plenty of sites available in the main field where we have camped every year, but for reasons that were never made clear to me were not allowed to set up there). Eventually more staff were released from emergency storm duty and helped us find a place to settle, but it was the most chaotic arrival I have experienced at four years of this festival.

The rain let up just enough for us to set up camp and eat dinner, though we were bummed to have missed both the Del McCoury Band’s festival opener and most of Donna The Buffalo. At least we made it out for The Infamous Stringdusters in the crowded but rain-sheltered Delfest Music Hall. Having recently seen the ‘Dusters in Falls Church, VA a few weeks prior, it was amazing to see how the happy-go-wild festival crowd energized the band even more than at the previous show. I saw Chris Pandolfi point his banjo cam at the call and response Ronnie McCoury/Jesse Cobb mandolin break on Deep Elem Blues, then Del joined the party on stage for “On My Way Back To the Old Home”. The Stringdusters fed on the festival crowd energy and gave it right back with a great performance.

Friday

Cramped quarters and confusion continued in the campsite as folks arrived the next day to find that non mud-pit camping spots were few and far between.  Our baby was too young for the kids activities, but we joined our camp mates down at the make-your-own tie-dye event at Kid’s Pavilion. We proceeded to the main stage for festival M.C. and multi-instrumentalist Joe Craven, whose traditional Delfest morning set mixed old time fiddle tunes with world music and jazz influences. Using found object instruments such as the “Bedpan-dolin” and the “Paint Can-jo” along with several other percussion and string instruments, Joe Craven imparted a love for the the creative process and respect for musical tradition to the eager-eared audience.

Joe Craven

We moved up to the Delfest Music Hall for another highlight of the day – Ronnie McCoury’s Family Jamboree, where the Del McCoury Band showed that family is at the heart of everything they do. Parents and kids danced and sang along with the host band on songs like “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad”, “The Monkey And The Engineer”, “Man Gave Names To All The Animals” and “This Land Is Your Land”. By the time the show ended, our cheeks hurt from smiling.

We went back to the main stage for Sierra Hull”s first Delfest appearance, but ended up rushing back to camp at the approach of another series of storms which let up just enough for us to see a scant three songs of the Stringdusters’ second set before pouring again in earnest, turning roads to rivers and deepening the mud. Although the clouds cleared by evening for Chris Robinson, Del McCoury & Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Old Crow Medicine Show to take the main stage as planned, we stayed back at camp and listened to the stage on  the radio and were grateful that it was being broadcast locally so that we could still enjoy the music from the comfort and relative dryness of our camp.

Saturday

Tie-Dye Time

As the morning sun burned away the heavy dew, we tuned on Delfest radio once again and were soon bobbing our heads to newcomers Hoots & Hellmouth, followed by western swing-rock of The Sweetback Sisters. Even through the radio, both of these bands made a big enough impression on me that I came home with recordings from both groups and am happy to be a new fan of these bands. Saturday also presented one of my festival highlights – mandolin innovator and bluegrass legend Jesse McReynolds’ set of classic bluegrass and Grateful Dead songs from his latest recording, A Tribute to Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter. His cover of “Black Muddy River”, sung with the deep soul and sincerity of McReynolds’ eighty three years of life experience, clearly moved the Jerry-friendly audience. He went on to perform several more Grateful Dead gems like “Deep Elem Blues”, “Alabama Getaway” and “Ripple”.

Back at the Music Hall again, we caught part of a violin workshop with Jason Carter, Darrol Anger, Tim Carbone and Joe Craven. When not playing tunes, these four fiddlers imparted knowledge about playing by ear, playing backup, practicing and jamming tips. After the workshop, we strolled back to the main stage for a superb Emmit-Nershi Band set that had the late afternoon crowd dancing in the sunshine. This band of jamgrass veterans has solidified into a formidable foursome, and it is my hope that they can ride this groove for a long time to come. Setting a high bar, Emmit-Nershi were then followed by the best Railroad Earth performance I have seen since the very first time I saw them five years ago. Whether on old material or new, RRE played with a energy you could almost touch, and I can’t wait to relive this set though the fan recordings.

Saturday’s finale was provided by blues guitarist Warren Haynes, who brought soulful singing and haunting tunes which, like the David Rawlings Machine who closed Delfest last year, may have been too mellow for the groove-thirsty audience. His material was deep and thoughtful, but required more attention than the dance-happy audience seemed to be willing to provide.

Sunday

The Infamous Stringdusters w/ Del McCoury

Some bands fall victim to festival schedule overload, and I’m sad to have missed both of the Rockin’ Acoustic Circus sets, but the last day offered many other highlights, such as the “Man Oh Mandolin” workshop with Ronnie McCoury, Chris Thile and Mike Marshall which was nothing short of amazing. The triple mandolin tremolos on “Wayfaring Stranger” were unforgettable, and even oft played session tunes like “Angelina Baker” found new life in the hands if these masters.

I came out of the workshop inspired to go practice my mandolin, but walked smack into the second set by The Sweetback Sisters who withstood the withering afternoon sun to deliver a sizzling set of country-rockabilly-swing.  The heat continued over on the main stage with Punch Brothers, who despite their ability to journey into musical astral planes remained firmly grounded and delivered an exciting set of their own original music as well as a few juicy covers like The Band’s “Ophelia” and Josh Ritter’s “Another New World” and Beck’s “Sexx Laws”. After a lengthy thank-you session from the stage, The Del McCoury band lit up the stage for the final time that weekend with the classic “Rain and Snow” and closing with a fan request of “She Can’t Burn Me Now”, with fan support on cue cards for the lyrics which Del had forgotten the year before. Chris Thile joined the McCourys on stage to tear it up on the Ronnie McCoury instrumental “Baltimore Johnny” and they closed with a tribute to the surrounding hills with “Sweet Appalachia”.

The festival finale by Yonder Mountain String Band gave the fans all the groove they could want and more, cranking the bluegrass to eleven with Jeff Austin urging the crowd to channel healing energy back into the earth with their dancing feet on new material like “Sideshow” and YMSB classics like “On The Run”. Joined by Del & Ronnie McCoury and later Drew Emmit for a the second triple mandolin jam for the day on “Death Trip”. The consensus back in camp was that this was a most excellent way to close the festival, and Yonder Mountain String Band provided a display of musical fireworks that made Delfest 4 go out with a bang.

Once again, Delfest provided the perfect mix of progressive and traditional sounds for my ears, and I was able to see many of my favorite musicians as well as discover some new ones. There was quality beer from Lagunitas and Starr Hill and good choices of food that went above (but also included) the common festival fried fare. The great music, family atmosphere and neighborly attitude that carried the fans through the storms, mud and heat will no doubt bring many back for Delfest 5 and beyond.

The Del McCoury Band

Delfest is our first camping festival this year and this is also our first time camping with a baby, so I have a lot of de-wintering and packing still to do. However if all goes well, my next post will come to you live from the fairgrounds in Allegheny County, MD where I will send photo, video and blog updates as often as I can while still enjoying my vacation. I already feel the excitement for pickers in the Delfest Academy who are about to have a great experience learning music from their heroes in the Del McCoury Band, just as I did in 2009. The Thursday night kickoff  with Donna The Buffalo and The Infamous Stringdusters is bound to be amazing, and are many bands that I am excited to see this year, both new and familiar to me:

Del and I sing "The Bluebirds Are Singing For Me" at the first Delfest Academy in 2009.

Old Favorites: Our hosts The Del McCoury Band, of course, Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Railroad Earth, Punch Brothers, Emmit-Nershi and Sierra Hull.

New Sounds: These are not all new bands, but also those who I will be getting to see for the first time, like the great mandolin legend Jesse McReynolds, blues rocker Warren Haynes, the Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson and the jamgrass supergroup Physchograss . Others include The Preservation Hall Jazz Band,  Dailey & Vincent, Hoots & Hellmouth, The Sweetback Sisters, Rockin’ Acoustic Circus, and more. We always come home with a stack of new CD’s due to the wide variety and high talent on the Delfest stages.

Delfest

Delfest also provides kids play shops that we look forward to attending with our baby: Kids Jamboree w/ Ronnie McCoury and Music in the Moment w/ Joe Craven. There are also some exciting musician workshops on the schedule, like songwriting with Nathan Moore, Todd Shaeffer and Bill Nershi, a fiddle workshop with Jason Carter, Tim Carbone and Darrol Anger and a banjo workshop with Rob McCoury and Tony Trischka.

I love these one-of-a-kind of experiences that you can only get at a festival, and will try to share them with you in words and pictures. With all those great bands on stage, I hope that I can squeeze in some jamming around the campfire as well!

If you are as excited for Delfest as I am and can’t get enough, here is another preview from Cosmic Vibes Live.  If you can’t go to Delfest but are happy for the arrival of festival season, here is one from the archives – Roots to Branches: Tips For Growing a Festival Community.