Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

Autumn Indies Festival

There were many days in Autumn that were particularly close to my heart. One of my all time favorites though had to be when we went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park, and it was a blast. From the collection of eclectic folk, to pink dogs, to the smoke rising through sun light filtering through the giant trees, to the gorgeous voices of the two angels in the Civil Wars- I don’t know that I can say that I’ve had such a great time in a while.

I love concerts in the woods. I love sitting knee to knee with people. I like when gingers with full beards clear out a place for you to stretch your knees without you even asking them. And I love how friendly people are, and how they climb trees, and hum and sway along to the music.

And I love the smokey smell, mixing with pine, and the booths, and plaid.

It was just so good.

It was a really great time too, that aside, because I got to spend it with a new friend that I had made over the summer. My new buddy Jordan Woodruff quickly became like the older brother that I never had. He came down from Tennessee to do some work in California for the election, and moved into the Young Life house where I spent most of my time in the summer and autumn months.

Turned out that he was a huge fan of the folk and indies scene, and it worked perfectly for us, because he was the one who clued us in to this Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest in the first place.

The Civil Wars were coming and we couldn't miss them.

Delightful Diversity

It was a very interesting group of us who ended up going.

We had a politician, numerous musicians, actresses, and our friend who had recently immigrated from the Middle east.

I'd have to say though that while anywhere else we would have stood out, at the festival we blended in. The folks that filled the park were probably my favorite part. I think that different is beautiful. There were so many people from so many different walks of life.

There were people who were dancing and having a good time down by the stage, older folks who were sitting up in the trees with their long beards, kids piled along the fences, and I sat behind a couple of guys with their long beards, girls with chain crowns, and an older woman who was sitting on her own and knitting.

People were just genuinely kind to everyone around them. They were sharing, so open to conversation, and everyone was smiling and laughing.

All of the bands that played were good, but from the very beginning I was most excited for the Civil Wars.

I think the crowd was on my side too, because it increased two fold and soon the forest housed almost five thousand people.

The Civil Wars

The Civil Wars were fantastic. I have such a newfound respect for them, because I can say with confidence that they are even better live then they are on their cd. They are just charming and so fun to watch and listen to.

I haven't heard such haunting music in a long time.

The crowd was absolutely mesmerized by them, as they played to the setting sun.

They even admitted that we were the largest crowd that they had ever played for.

I feel so blessed that I was able to see him, especially since they recently split up due to artistic differences- which by the way, broke my heart.

After the concert we decided to go to Ocean beach. It was already dark, but the sky was clear, so we could see all of the stars over the ocean. We played in the water and ran around the beach, and just marveled at how beautiful the horizon was. The soles of my stockings were soaked. But it was just too gorgeous out.

And finally we closed the night with Pier 39. It just so happened that it’s fleet week this week too, so it was funny watching all of the navy boys karaokeing and just enjoying their time off (the ones that weren’t drunk anyways). But instead of partaking in their roudy making, we went to Boudin and had ourselves some chowder bowls.

It was a great night.

Couldn’t have asked for more!