Saturday, November 22, 2008

Good Folk Fest-- the more things change, the more they stay the same


There aren't many events in Loueyville that I attend every year, but the Good Folk Fest at the Mellwood Center has become one of them. I went last year and the year before; last year it was later, after Thanksgiving. For me, the calendar move was a good one; I wasn't blindly focused on buying Christmas presents for friends and fam, and that freed me up to buy a beautiful bluebird blue clay pendant (unfortunately from an artist whose name I didn't catch) for myself.
The musical headliner for this year's GFF was Daniel Johnston, the famously offbeat songwriter and artist. Kind of a big deal concert for such a low key venue, in my humble opinion. Johnston, a relatively iconic figure and subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, is just back from a European tour and "headlined" the event at 2pm today. I made the mistake of getting lost (lost! I know! silly!) and didn't get there until 210p or so, and it was impossible to get close enough to hear more than just snippets here and there, but he seemed in good form and the crowd enjoyed the show.

I did stick around to see the one-man-band who followed Johnston, and although the accoustics were such that I couldn't understand a damned word he said, I seriously dug J. Marinelli. All by his little lonesome up there he was conjuring up the sound of my youth, bands like Dinosaur Jr and Pixies and Sonic Youth. Marinelli said he just moved to Lexington, KY, so we can expect to see more of him soon. I certainly hope so. Marinelli (pictured above) was one of four one-man-bands to perform at the Good Folk Fest this year.
As tradition seems to dictate, every time I go to the Good Folk Fest, I have to stop at the art supply store on the way out to feed my own inner folk artist. No more Hobby Lobby for me. Artist & Craftsman Supply seems to have better prices than the big boxy crafty stores. And they're much more convenient!
Good times.
BTW: I've stayed true to my word and stayed local (to downtown) with my eating and drinking since Melillo's closed, but you won't see me reviewing Bistro 301 or Blue Mountain Coffee any time soon, my friends. Mama's hanging up that hat for now.
And FYI, Melillo's is closing but the Bodega is not! That's marvelous news! And based on the flow of traffic in and out of there this morning (and the yummy breakfast smells coming from their kitchen), they're doing ok. The Bodega is a good Saturday breakfast alternative to the hour waits at Toast, perhaps?

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