Why I Loved K’ville Festival

Imagine 18 days of camping with people who respect and are nice to each other, while some of the best music you’ve heard is on stage and around every corner. Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, TX, was amazing. This May/June was the 53rd year of the event.

If you are not familiar with the festival or its reputation as a “songwriters’ festival”, you can learn more at www.kerrvillefolkfestival.org

After 18 days, rather than worn out and weary, I was ready for still more. So I’ve been listening to the CDs I gathered while I was there. What impressed me, besides the accepted demeanor of everyone, was the quality of the music. The 20 and 30-somethings knocked me out. Despite these crazy times in America, they are “getting it” and it shows in the songs they are writing. And, as best I know, the ages of performers spanned from teens to their eighties.

The workshop I conducted was a blast. Two hours of reminders and tips on how to connect a song with the listeners, either around a campfire, at an open mic, or on the mainstage. The attendees were brave enough to get up and sing one, and folks appreciated the reminders to be genuine, enunciate, look at the listeners, and a half-dozen other Auntie Crow suggestions.

Steve Fisher did a stellar set of his songs. I hoped that all of the workshop attendees caught his performance. Find it on YouTube !!

It was connecting with old and new friends. It was laughing as well as talking about things that matter, sharing songs, and sometimes being just plain silly.

Back home, I’m writing songs, co-hosting garden parties, painting commissions, and missing Camp Inertia, Camp Cuisine, the Crow’s Nest, and thousands of good folks.

Looking back over this, I don’t think I managed to fully explain why I love Kerrville…. but you probably get the idea.

Hugs, Auntie Crow