up at old 78

Colorway performing at the Old 78 Farm Fall Festival

Ethan and I were at the ninth annual Old 78 Farm Fall Festival. It's an all-day music festival (though some insisted that it's a one-day sh'-bang-bang) in Warwick, VT. Ethan was there as a workaway, having spent the entire week up there helping to prepare. I drove up Friday night so I could attend, maybe help out, and then drive him home. I was kind of torn about whether to be a workaway or an attendee. As an attendee I'd have to pay the $15 fee for a ticket -- but I would have the freedom to relax and not work. In the end, I paid for the ticket so that I could refuse to work, but did help out a little. Emphasize "little."

Interesting thing about the name. You hear "Old 78" and "music festival" and assume the name is a reference to the old 78 RPM records. In fact, it's because the festival is physically on top of old route 78. For that little fact (and more information, the festival's website is here.

Anyway, the festival seemed to have a good variety of bands -- some bluegrass, acid blues, power pop. Psychedelic pop... No one I'd ever heard of, but that's fine. You'll never hear music if you never hear music you never heard. One interesting highlight was the band, August First, who did bluegrass versions of "Life in Wartime" and "White Rabbit."

But my purpose here isn't to review the festival. I couldn't stay through the whole thing, and Ethan had a cold, so we left early. And I don;t want this blog to degenerate into a series of reviews. I do, however, want to share what was the highlight for me. Colorway, a power-pop trio was playing. It came late in their set. I was chilling with Ethan, just chatting while the music surrounded. And then I heard it. Have you ever heard a song for the first time and immediately thought "Holy shit! This is what music is supposed to be!"? I've had that experience maybe a half dozen times in my life, and this was one of those times.

I thought, based on the refrain, that it was called "Shelter from the Storm," but lead singer Alex Johnson corrected me -- it was "Heidi." I had asked because the group had a few CDs for sale, and I wanted to buy the one with that song. Sadly, Johnson had to explain to me that the song was by his former band, Drunk Stuntmen. I know it's probably bad form to post a video from a band that wasn't part of the festival, but that song was just so good I have to share it with my reader: