Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
It’s an October tradition here in San Francisco — the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Started in 2001 as the Strictly Bluegrass Festival with 9 artists on one day, it has grown into a 3-day event with over 70 artists spanning more than just bluegrass (hence the “hardly”), but still with a nice twangy feel to it.
I’m one of those people that fall into the category that despise modern country-and-western “pop” music. It’s trite and makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. But, I do like so-called classic country and really like bluegrass. This festival is perfect, because a whole day of only bluegrass can get a little old (to me), so the other acts that blend more folk and/or rock keep it fresh.
And…it’s FREE! I really love that. Here are the artists I most excited to see perform:
Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby
Gillian Welch
Bela Fleck
Steve Earle
John Prine
Keller Williams
Boz Skaggs
Robert Earl Keen
David Grisman
Jorma Kaukonen
The Del McCoury Band
If you happen to be in the Bay Area…you should go!!
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Clastic Detritus 
Come to Nashville if you like bluegrass! There is a strong music scene here for non-county/bluegrass music as well. It’s hard to beat a night of bluegrass at the Station Inn or the Ryman.
Sounds like a great concert!
It was pretty good…although it was extremely crowded. We were never able to get very close to the stages, but the sound was okay. I guess about 100,000 people came over the whole weekend.