Recovering from the Pickathon

Well, all the planning and postering and waiting paid off, the Pickathon was amazing this year. Last year was fun, but this year was far beyond that. I don't really think a blog post can do something like this justice, but I'll say a little bit anyway. The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot. I was grateful to have the lovely and talented Raina Rose to camp with. She really helped me keep my sanity by feeding me Luna bars, keeping me sparkly (really), and singing to me at night. I wish she'd had a real grown-up set and not just two kids sets (although she and Garett totally nailed the kids stuff, they were brilliant) because I realized how much I really do love to hear her play. Next year maybe. In the meantime, see www.rainarose.com.

But the line-up was pretty great anyway. I must admit, a little too bluegrass/old-timey for me in places. Really my favorites were the acts I already knew and helped to bring there. Not new discoveries, but great anyway: Kris Delmhorst, Mark Erelli and The Wailin' Jennys. What really made me happy was how much everyone else there loved them. The Jennys especially kicked some ass. I won't get into numbers, but they sold tons more CDs than any other artist there (and that includes Greg Brown and Iris DeMent, who were good, too). I also liked the Everybodyfields and Martha Scanlan (who I originally met in a parking lot in Missoula).

I was in charge of the merch tent (in addition to the workshops), and that was kind of crazy what with all the T-shirts and trucker hats, in addition to hundreds of CDs. My volunteers were amazing and wonderful, even though Allison and Jeff decided to ride their bikes the 27 miles from Portland, and they got lost in the suburbs and were two hours late. But they made it and were rock star volunteers just like last year.

Highlights:
- Raina and Garett singing to me in my tent at night.
- Kris Delmhorst and Mark Erelli in the workshop barn.
- Driving a golf cart around for the Wailin' Jennys.
- My very favorite Thai restaurant on Alberta St being a vendor there, and it was my idea. :)
- Blackberries right outside my tent in the morning.
- Endless free Pixie Mate Latte samples served by cute people.
- Watching Sherry Pendarvis ride her horse through the middle of the site, followed by her dog, Freckles.
- A really nice chat with Darol Anger.
- A really nice chat with Martha Scanlan.
- Seeing Silas (Zale's son) play in the dirt.
- Hanging out in Jill's family's trailer.
- Being interviewed by the Portland Roots Music Project documentary crew at about 12:30am and being told they heard that I was an integral part of the festival and knew lots of important people (...?).
- My NEW tent from REI (A Mountain Hardwear Light Wedge 3).


The main low point was loud people drumming on buckets and rapping at 4am and having to get up at ask them to be quiet (and then realizing it was the sweet McMenamins guy I knew, and I'd been kind of bitchy). So there wasn't much sleep had, but that's how it goes... Reaching that delirious point is part of the fun. Zale (the director) asked me at the end if I'd gotten any good fulfillment out of it. I got tons of it! It's a crazy thing to be involved in running a festival, but I can't really imagine many other things more fulfilling, when it goes well.... We'll just have to see where my festival inclinations lead next.... (Oh - and pictures of things besides my tent are to come soon.)