Dom Flemons at Rooster Stage, October 5, 2024

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 24 presents Buddy Miller's Cavalcade of Stars, featuring Dom Flemons
Rooster Stage, Marx Meadow
Golden Gate Park, 898 John F Kennedy Dr, San Francisco, CA 94121 USA
2:00 PM, Saturday, October 5, 2024

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• 11:30 AM – 11:50 AM ☸ Red Dirt Boys
• 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM ☸ Jobi Riccio
• 1:00 PM – 1:50 PM ☸ Teddy Thompson
• 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM ☸ Dom Flemons
• 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ☸ Carlene Carter
• 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM ☸ Buddy Miller
• 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM ☸ Jackie Greene & Anders Osborne

[2:00 PM] {Greetings & Introduction by Chuck Poling}
[2:01 PM] {applause for entrance of Dom Flemons}
[2:01 PM] {Greetings & comments by Dom Flemons about the first tune}

1. [2:02 PM] Cindy Gal ([traditional])
   [2:04 PM] {DF credits Mike Seeger and Henry Thomas in his introduction to the next medley}
2. [2:05 PM] Charmin' Betsy ([traditional])
   [2:10 PM] {DF introduces the next tune as a medley of Piedmont guitar-pickin' blues}
3. [2:11 PM] Freight Train/Railroad Bill/the Cannonball
   [2:14 PM] {applause at end of tune}
   [2:14 PM] {DF introduces the next tune as an original celebrating the black cowboy Nat Love}
4. [2:16 PM] Steel Pony Blues (Dom Flemons)
   [2:20 PM] {DF talks about Eck Robertson and DeFord Bailey as he introduces the next tune}
5. [2:21 PM] There's a Brown Skinned Girl Down the Road ([traditional])
   [2:24 PM] {applause at end of tune}
   [2:24 PM] {DF thanks; says that's it for the first half of the set; invites us to welcome the Red Dirt Boys onstage}
   [2:25 PM] {DF introduces the next song as a country waltz; pause for tuning}
6. [2:26 PM] Slow Dance with You (with false start)_ (Dom Flemons)
   [2:29 PM] {DF talks about writing the next tune during the dead of winter}
7. [2:30 PM] It's Cold Inside (Dom Flemons)
   [2:34 PM] {DF talks about how everybody loves food}
8. [2:35 PM] Hot Chicken (Dom Flemons)
   [2:39 PM] {DF talk about GDTRFB; pause to make sure the Red Dirt Boys are ready to roll}
   [2:41 PM] {GDTRFB false start}
   [2:41 PM] {GDTRFB take 2: aborted again because DF thinks his guitar is out of tune}
9. [2:42 PM] Going Down the Road Feeling Bad ([traditional]) [2:45 PM] {DF: thanks all around; time for one more tune}
10. [2:46 PM] Til’ the Seas Run Dry (Dom Flemons)
    [2:50 PM] {applause at set end; final thx from DF}
    [2:51 PM] {CP lauds DF & the Red Dirt Boys; announcements; set ends}

• Dom Flemons: acoustic guitar, harmonica, quills, bones, vox;

Red Dirt Boys

• Chris Donohue: contrabass;
• Fats Kaplan: pedal steel guitar;
• Phil Madeira: keyboards, accordion, harmony vox;
• Eamon McLoughlin: violin, mandolin, harmony vox;
• Bryan Owings: drums.

It's always educational to hear Dom Flemons, and todays set was no different: he preceded nearly every tune with a short talk about it's origin, or about his instruments, or even his inspiration in writing the piece. Today I was in the mood for that sort of thing, but I understand that sometimes it might seem a little tedious hearing a three minute soliloquy about a two minute tune!

The addition of the Red Dirt Boys midway through Dom's set was a welcome surprise. It didn't sound to me as if they'd had much of a chance to rehearse, but the only big train wrecks happened because Dom's acoustic guitar kept slipping out of tune.

Hot Chicken was the jauntiest tune of the set, and should have been good to whip up a proper dancing fever, only it was so hot at this point in the day that a sizeable portion of the audience had fled for shadier seats off on the hillside. Makes me think I should go see him when he appears at the Freight & Salvage later this year.

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2024 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2024 event list! ☸ On to the next event!