Skunk Fest 2012 Recap

I am actually not sure if recap is an accurate term.  For those of you that attended The Albino Skunk Music Festival, I doubt I can tell you anything you do not already know. On the other hand, if you missed it then I would be kind of jerk to rub in your face just how awesome the festival was and how vacant and empty your weekend must have been doing whatever it was you were doing besides attending Skunk Fest.

Okay, so do not think of this as rubbing it in but rather a celebration of the first time we were able to camp all three nights and not miss one second of Skunky fun.

Music, music, music… where to begin?  If you were to hand me a recording of the entire three days of Skunk Fest musical goodness there would not be one band I would even be tempted to fast forward through.  Glynn Zeigler does a phenomenal job of finding and reaching out to bands all over the country that fit the Skunk Fest spirit.  Actually, check that.  Thanks to I Draw Slow “driving here all the way from Ireland” the Skunk Fest is officially an international event if it was not already.

Colorado’s The Congress kicked things off on Thursday afternoon and the music continued straight through until Georgia’s raucous Seven Handle Circus brought musical mayhem into the wee hours of Saturday night (or was it Sunday morning?).   Every band that took the stage was more than worthy of their place at the Skunk Farm but we do have to take a second to point out a few favorites.

On Thursday I was most looking forward to Elizabeth Cook and she did not disappoint.  This is the second time we have seen her at Skunk Fest and both times she was nothing less than a hot little country riot. What I was not expecting, though, was The Lee Boys who immediately followed her.  I admit to being completely ignorant about “America’s finest African-American sacred steel ensembles” but I am officially now a fan.  They threw down a set of gospel, blues, jazz and funk that even made this uncoordinated cripple get up and dance. Do not get caught sleeping on The Lee Boys and check them out the first chance you get.  

One more Thursday note:  Food Will Win the War was not only an extremely entertaining band but they also win my unofficial award for “best band name at Skunk Fest”.  Chris and I chuckled a little bit every time we said it out loud and may continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Friday kicked off the first full day of music with The Steel Wheels covering Tom Wait’s “Little Drop of Poison”.  Actually, it kicked off with a screwdriver and amazing bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich thanks to Roddy at Greenbrier Farms but that is beside the point.  The music went all day and if you told me I had to pick a favorite, I would tell you to commit a physically impossible act.  The Deadfields, Sol Driven Train, The Steel Wheels and all the others… yeah, Friday was solid all around.

 

Saturday is the big day at Skunk Fest.  Music starts before noon and goes past midnight. If you were only going to pick one day to Skunk it up, Saturday is always the one to pick.  

Darby Wilcox started us out Saturday morning in what was maybe the highlight of our weekend.  We are not saying this because she is our friend and neighbor and we love her but because she is an amazingly talented musician.  It is a crime that she is not rich and famous but we are kind of glad she is not because then we would not be able to enjoy dinners and drinks with her 3-7 nights a week like we do now.  If you missed her Saturday morning then your life is forever incomplete but you can try to remedy the situation by catching her elsewhere around town.  We will keep you posted on that very soon so you can start to fill this void in your life.

Anyway, Saturday started with soulful sound of Darby Wilcox and closed with the pandemonium of Seven Handle Circus.  In between there were six other bands putting together ten sets of music.  Darrell Scott was the one I was most looking forward to and he delivered in spades.  He is definitely added to our list of guys that we will not miss within a 100 mile radius of our home no matter what. 

A music festival is all about the music, of course, but there is more to the festival atmosphere than just the bands on stage.  Allow us to take a moment to thank everyone else that made the Skunk Fest experience complete…

The food vendors were all great but big props to Zeigler for having the Asada truck roll in for the weekend.  We are glad they were able to step away from their normal centers of operations and take care of all of us hungry Skunkers. I visited their window at least three or four times during the weekend and we could have definitely been happy with a few more quesadillas and tacos.

The clothing and craft vendors are always an integral part of a festival.  We were especially fond of Screaming Horse Iron Works and regret not leaving with a bag full of their work.  I suppose that is what the internet is for so we will be visiting them online well before the next Skunk Fest.

And what would a festival be without beer?  Most importantly, what would it be without super tasty craft beer from the Community Tap? Those guys worked their tails off to keep the Skunk Farm well hydrated and I like to think that we contributed our fair share to making those kegs just a little bit lighter for them when it came time to load up Sunday morning.  Thanks for the beers, gentleman. 

Ultimately our favorite vendor was, well, us.  Working a booth at Skunk Fest gave us a unique opportunity to get to know a lot more people at the festival than we would meet as just concert goers and we enjoyed every minute of it. We would especially like to offer a big thank you to everyone that stopped by and bought some Big Daddy’s hot sauces.  They are made with love by some of the coolest people Texas has to offer and we are proud to share them with anyone in the area that likes a little extra heat in their lives.  

All in all, this was a great weekend from top to bottom and we hope to see even more friendly faces at the Albino Skunk Music Festival in the years to come.  Glynn Zeigler and all of his loyal Skunk volunteers work their tails off all year to deliver this festival to the music loving community and it shows in a big way.  Thanks to all of them for making this event happen.  We look forward to seeing you guys in the spring.