Black Twig Pickers: Rasp of the board, thump of the tub: Mount Airy report from Nathan
The Twigs and family puttered into Veterans Park on Friday afternoon and set up camp on a slight incline below the infamous main "hill," stomping ground of the gnarliest old-timers and anarcho-crust-punk old-time hipsters. Our sunny spot provided us easy access to the late night hill jams, not to mention the fairway, competition stage, porta-johns, and a ditch peppered with poison ivy: perfect for the little ones.
Our performance in that night's old-time band competition was energetic and hungry, if not also a bit scattered and unfocused. We have yet to really capture the ideal "Old Joe Bone," but Friday night's runthrough was an important step towards the end of the tunnel. Memory recall becomes tougher if I try to call up anything past the contest. I had been sneakily sipping on Knob Creek since 2 p.m., chasing the sweet bite with cold beers hidden in cozys (huzzah to the Mt. Airy "don't ask, don't tell" drinking policy). I recall scouting the late night jams with Isak...making my way up "the hill," sitting in with a wide-eyed and jittery group of younger, hard-drinkin players...empties littering the campsite...French-Canadian fiddle tunes...iron maiden t-shirts...what? At some point I found myself stumbling downhill, joining Mike in one more brew before bedtime at 4 a.m.
Saturday morning is not worth discussing in detail. Unholy heat index, crippling hangover, unrelenting humidity...the list goes on. Two advils and one jug of water brought me back to the land of living before the day's series of competitions: Isak's stately 6-string reading of Buckdancer's Choice with washboard accompaniment in the guitar contest, Tim's prize-winning "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" on dulcimer, and the trance-y Twigs + Tim runthrough of "Ebenezer." Other highlights: Benton Flippen's righteous performance of, what else, "Benton's Dream" (Mike's "holy !@#$!" face was priceless), Carolina Chocolate Drops gettin the !@#$ done and taking first in the old-time competition, jams with the Roan Mountain Hilltoppers, hitting the Cleft Ear booth for some crucial Yazoo pickups (ed. note: and the homedone Norm Edmonds reissue cd and some vintage Richard Bowman/Abe Horton vinyl), Clyde's jokes (ed. note: and Nancy Sluys' "this is for foot foot" reply as she claimed her first prize on old-time banjo), etc etc etc etc
Sunday morning was marked by a pissing rainstorm, full-to-the-brim porta-johns, and Mountain Man biscuits and hashbrowns. An appropriate ending to an exhausting and rewarding weekend. 'till next time, Mt. Airy. Next year the Twigs will be bringing home first prize with a 45-minute o-mind "Old-time Fire on the Mountain"............. nb
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