Some Photos from Blistered Fingers in June

We drove up with our little Casita travel trailer into pungent Litchfield, Maine (yes, it seemed to be manure-spreading season) and found the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival, the 54th, they advertise. They have two every summer (in June and August), so if that’s been the plan since the start, it’s still 27 years, which is mighty impressive. It’s all the work of Greg and Sandy Cormier.

I’ve picked out a few of the better photos, all taken Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 18, 19, 20, using my Canon Rebel SL3 DSLR and Canon 18-135mm lens. For larger images, click on any photo. For high-resolution versions, go to Flickr, HERE.

Here’s Redwood Hill, from Connecticut:

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Sandy Cormier, introducing the next act; staff member Carl in his car; a bluegrass picker:

The Katahdin Valley Boys, from Maine:

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Rock Hearts, from Rhode Island:

Zink & Company (now from Tennessee):

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The Baker Family, from Missouri:

Festival flavor: concert area, best T-shirt, eats, crafts:

The Little Roy & Lizzie Show, from Georgia:

The Gibson Brothers, from New York:

A storm threatened, but delivered only a shower and rainbows. Later, a spectacular sunset (which the audience didn’t notice) and a neat, tunnel-shaped cloud. Finally, a Sunday-morning gospel sing:

Some festival notes:

• Young lead singer of The Baker Family, Carina Baker, offered a version of ‘Blue’ that recalled Patsy Cline. She’s going places, I reckon.
• Cory Zink remembered performing on HAH in Studio B with Acoustic Blue, from western Massachusetts.
• Alex MacLeod, of Rock Hearts, promises to return to HAH once we’re open for guests and their new CD is out.
• Playing mandolin with The Gibson Brothers was stellar guitarist Cody Kilby, known for his work with Ricky Skaggs’s Kentucky Thunder, and The Traveling McCourys.
• Little Roy Lewis was his usual manic self, but remains an amazing musician and performer, despite his age and bouts with severe illnesses, according to daughter Lizzie Long, who impressed me with both her singing and fiddling. The audience loves the show.
• Photographer’s gripe: the signature cartoon figure backdrop on stage is cute, but makes framing photos hard. Would love to see it moved—maybe atop the stage?
• Thanks to the Cormiers for a very well-run and entertaining festival. /CL