Autopista6 and their unconditional companions (Marisol and Conchita, Alfredo´s and Jesús´s partners respectively) were finally lucky enough to enjoy the incredible musical atmosphere that Didmarton Bluegrass Festival provided during the first weekend of September on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But far more important than that, we enjoyed the company of our good English friends Sue and Mike, who, apart from being two excellent musicians, turned out as the best hosts we could possibly imagine. Thanks to them our stay in England was absolutely perfect in every sense. Thanks to you two! You are GREAT! We really hope we will be able to have the opportunity to give your hospitality back here in Spain in the near future. Nothing would have been the same without you two!
We arrived in Bristol on Friday. Around nine we arrived at the hotel where we had a superb dinner and from there we went to the nearby festival site to enjoy its indescribable atmosphere.
Our show was scheduled on Saturday at 1 p.m., and it lasted forty minutes. Obviously, we tried to do our best. What is sure is that the audience welcomed us really warmly. The sound equipment and engineers were excellent.
But apart from our playing, there was a lot more to it than this.We also were there to enjoy the other bands, the jam sessions (lots of them all over the place) and last but not least to drink as much English beer as we could. And so we were able to see the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Peter Rowan, Growling Old Men (that is John Lowell and Ben Winship who had part of their
show as a duet and the rest supported by a bass and the incredible banjo of Leon Hunt... an outstanding show it was), the New Essex Bluegrass Band (classic bluegrass), Buffalo Smoke (this is Mike´s band -he is the bass player- and they play contemporary bluegrass with covers of bands such as the Bee Gees, the Beatles, etc.; they played an incredible version of The Midnight Hour that Autpista6 will probably steal from them -ha, ha... sorry for that Mike!- but in our own style for sure), Bill Smarme and the Bizness (a comedy musical band where Sue and Mike play the bass and the mandolin respectively and sing too)...
Finally, on Sunday evening and with the festival over, we enjoyed the best moments in a fantastic jam session that started with eight pickers and ended up with more than twenty. It turned out to be the perfect ending for a perfect journey.
After the session, we sadly said goodbye to Sue and Mike and the following day we returned safely to Spain. As far as we are concerned, there is no doubt that we will repeat the experience next year if that is possible.
You can see some pics of all this
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