My Suburban Escapes

Nature abhors a vacuum; matter rushes in to fill any gap. But we’ve had to wait awhile for the vacuum in live music created by the pandemic to fill. Fans have abhorred that empty space, but bands are finally rushing in.  Live music is back, and there are many options close enough and good enough to scratch your itch. We’re lucky enough to have the Cap, Tarrytown Music Hall, the Emelin, The Turning Point, Ridgefield Playhouse and Daryl’s Place all within Uber reach. Festivals are roaring back too, and you can apparently attend them like an adult: pick and choose your acts, then slide in late and out early while remaining relatively sober. Who knew? I have a bit of a history with music festivals – of the love/hate sort – and don’t make a habit of them anymore, but I had my day.

I was one of the lucky thousands who attended the original Outlaw Music Festival on June 14, 1976, in Downsville, Louisiana. My parents took me and a few friends for my 12^th birthday and I did some serious growing up through the sights I saw. The album “Wanted!” by the Outlaws (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter) had just come out and all but Willie headlined the show, as did Hank Williams Jr, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allan Coe, Doug Kershaw and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. The soundtrack of my life took its first spin on the turntable.

Flashing forward to 1987 Middle of Nowhere Texas (Carl’s Corner in Hillsboro), I had the honor of working Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic. This was long before it grew up and moved to Luckenbach then Austin. I had my first job out of college in public relations for the Hard Rock Café in Dallas, and my task was to keep the artists happy. I ended up flipping burgers with irascible Chef Bo in 105 degrees and having a heat stroke just as I heard Bruce Hornsby’s piano riffs on “That’s Just the Way It Is” waft over to the “Green Room” (aka tent). I came to in the infirmary tent, wondering how I got there, then grateful I didn’t have grill marks on my face. Lesson learned:  water is better than beer and tequila when it’s that kinda hot.

When I moved to NYC several years later, I met a fellow Louisianian who roped me into working Clinton’s Inauguration at the US Capitol in 1993. Each state of the union was represented in a huge food tent, and I proudly hawked jambalaya for the Great State of Louisiana. I enjoyed it so much that I worked several more of his own festival, even though I had ridden to that first one in the back of a U-Haul truck with all the cooking gear… after our car caught on fire… at a gas station. Ahhh, youth.

Now that I’m one of those crazy old groupies I’ve loved watching all these years, the thrill is (somewhat) gone. But I just did Jazz Fest in NOLA, Americana Fest in Gruene, Texas, and a day in Luckenbach and managed to keep myself together.  I even remembered to drink water.  I was cool as a cucumber in seeing Better Than Ezra while in New Orleans, a fascinating cultural experiment as it was the 20^th anniversary of their “Deluxe” album which catapulted them from local to national spotlight. I went to grade school with them, so they’ll always be goofy 12-year-old boys to me. But my oh my how their fans adore them!  I watched with glee as throngs of middle-aged women dressed like college freshmen relived the soundtrack of THEIR youth, singing every word to every song. And they didn’t look like crazy old groupies at all. Music is better than a face lift.

“Music gives a soul to the universe,

wings to the mind, flight to the imagination

 and life to everything.”

Plato

Here’s a few nearby opportunities to let your freak flag fly:

Michael Arnone’s Annual Crawfish Fest: each June at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. (84 miles from Rye) www.crawfishfest.com.

What started in 1989 as a small crawfish boil for 70 homesick Louisianians living in New Jersey has become a bonafide festival attracting thousands to its three stages for a heaping helping of Cajun, Zydeco, Delta Blues, New Orleans B&B, Big Brass, Gospel and Jazz. Arnone has layed out a similar setup to that of its big brother, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but his fest is easier to navigate and less crowded. Festheads are not in the tens of thousands, so you can slide right up to the edge of the stage with ease. You can also eat your weight in all your Jazz Fest favs: boiled crawfish, etouffee, red beans and rice, jambalaya, po-boys and yes boudin balls. Advice: don’t wear your wedding ring as you won’t be able to get it off for a week

Outlaw Music Festival: September 18 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY. (143 miles from Rye) www.blackbirdpresents.com.  

I guess the original Outlaw Music Festival morphed with the Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic somewhere along the way cuz Willie now (still!) headlines it. I took my son and his friend in 2018,  carrying on an ol’ “Family Tradition” and it had definitely grown up.  I fell in love with the guitar licks of Sturgill Simpson, thoroughly embarrassing my son as my Dad had done me in 1976.  Artists include Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Jason Isbell, The Avett Brothers and Chris Stapleton.

Sound on Sound Music Festival: September 23 & 24 at Seaside Park, Bridgeport, CT. (39 miles from Rye) www.soundonsoundct.com.

This is a brand-new festival touting “world-class artists, renowned local eateries, craft breweries and a variety of wines and spirits.” Two stages, 22 bands and no overlapping sets. Headliners are Stevie Nicks and the Lumineers on Saturday and Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds on Sunday.