Boats and Bluegrass

This festival was so music-focused I initially got confused.  Expecting a long line of vendors and a big beer tent, the scene was decidedly more low-key than the average La Crosse festival.  A couple of food vendors, a few local artist tents and one tiny little beer tent (with great craft beer, though) and lots of kids running around with wagons and glow lights.  And two very cool stages on the river.  Call it the Oktoberfest mindset, but I had in mind a little festing and then a little music.  So a trip to Ed's No Name Bar solved that problem.  And then we came back to the best round of music.  Night descended, the crowd got bigger, the music was a great mix of banjo/fiddle/bluegrass with some steel guitar/mandolin/fiddling rock music.  

Farmhouse Band out of Minneapolis--oldtime Minnesota partygrass.

   the always wonderful Fayme Rochelle and the Waxwings, La Crosse's own Americana band, with a lot of original bluegrass music.

Deadman Winter, a band out of Minneapolis playing rugged roots rock music with the sound of The Replacements...I will be downloading some of their music today.

Trampled by Turtles, wow!  Some of the same members from Deadman Winter

The Boys N' The Barrels--up-tempo bluegrass with a great beat...

Parker and Mike enjoying the show in silhouette...

Sandman, The Rappin' Cowboy--I was equally fascinated and confused by this guy.  He's a performer and fun to watch...the crowd loved him.

thanks Boats and Bluegrass, see ya next year.