Harvest Moon Festival
Wimberley, Oct. 11 This year’s Harvest Moon Festival was a soggy affair. Next to Jacob’s Well in Wimberley, the festival site was a charming spot, with ample shade and plenty of camping space. Unfortunately, the day’s constant rain turned it into a mud bog. The skies were a threatening gray when the Onion Creek Crawdaddies kicked things off, putting on an animated, rollicking set that showed off the Austin quintet’s musical prowess and entertaining interplay. Crazy Chester, a relatively new local band with a sound that recalls the funky side of the Grateful Dead, followed. Though they only performed two tunes before the downpour began, CC’s rhythms and snaking guitar solos were intriguing. As the drizzle turned to a steady downpour, folks were entertained by the Texas-OU football game projected supersize on the side of a tent bursting with folks trying to stay dry. It was a good hour before Slim Richey’s Dream Band took the stage, kicking back with some mellow swing. By that point, everything was soaked and the crowd seemed disheartened by the weather and the lopsided game. Spirits were raised considerably by New Jersey’s Railroad Earth, whose jams were energetic and delightfully short on noodling. Their unrestrained cover of Gram Parson’s “Luxury Liner” was a fine example of the group’s bluegrass roots mixed with youthful spirit. By the time Peter Rowan & Crucial Reggae hit the stage, the rain had almost stopped, and the biggest crowd of the night gathered to shimmy in the mud. Rowan’s band, featuring Ephraim Owens on trumpet, laid out one seriously deep groove after another, including a sly take of the bluegrass standard “Little Maggie,” which merged a couple Rowan personas into one. The Gourds followed, but it continued to rain, and after a long wet day, it was time to head indoors.This article appears in October 17 • 2003.