Report the Fourth

Today's the big day. Everything is up and running with a full schedule of music starting at noon and lasting until 10:30. I decided to steel myself with some breakfast at my favorite espresso parlor, Venus Rising, owned and operated by Butte's favorite barista Jennifer Grant. First, I took a stroll through the Butte Farmers Market to scan the local wares and produce. Breakfast was a bagel with raspberry jam, blueberry and mango fruit smoothie, and a cup of Morocco tea.

A short walk up to Broadway and Arizona took me to my first selection of the day--a performance of Blues Legends and Legacies at the Family Stage. The gathering of blues singers set to perform and talk about the blues included Phil Wiggins, harmonica; Henry Gray, keyboard; Rev. John Wilkins, guitar; and James "Super Chikan" Johnson. Now, Henry Gray is a legend at 85 having played a major role in the formation of both the Chicago blues and Louisiana swamp blues. Rev, Wilkins is the son of the blues legend Robert Wilkins whose song "Rolling Stone" provided the inspiration for the name of the British rock group, and they put out a cover of his song "Prodigal Son" in 1968. Wiggins is considered to be one of America's top harmonica players coming out of the Piedmont tradition. Sitting in with them was James Johnson.

They played a variety of old blues songs each taking the lead with a special nod to Henry Gray who played with Howling Wolf for 12 years. Wiggins provided commentary between the numbers and bantered with his cohorts who he was playing with for the first time. They received a standing ovation for their Electrifying performance.

The next performer at the same stage was Elizabeth LaPrelle, an Appalachian acappella singer. Her voice is powerful and wraps right around your bones.

The Montana Folklife area further down Broadway presented aspects of the lifestyle of the people who made their living crawling into the earth each day. It included a Pasty making demonstration. These pasties are not worn by exotic dancers. They are the favorite food of the miner. Introduced by Cornish immigrants from the tin mines of Cornwall, they are designed to be a perfect food to fit the miner's occupation. The pasty is a meal unto itself being a baked crust with a meat, potatoes, and vegetables filling. The crust had a scalloped ridge for the miner to grasp without getting his food dirty. The grip could be tossed away once his food was consumed.

All that made me hungry, so I walked a few more steps down Broadway to the Broadway Cafe and got a modern day version of the pasty--a slice of pizza. The polka stylings of Stanky and the Coal Miners drifted up to us as we ate from the Montana Dance Pavilion. I selected the Hilltop, which topped its crust with basil pesto, olives, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and mozzarella. Washed down with fresh lemonade, I was prepared to forge on.

After Stanky, Geno Delafoso and the French Rockin Boogie band took the stage so I headed down there. The dance floor was filled with gyrating bodies of all ages bouncing to the zydeco sounds of Gena and the boys.

Time for a break so I headed back to my room to put my feet up before venturing out again for more entertainment.

Back down at the Family Stage, Lou Mauri gave a demonstration of Flatfoot dancing with his family providing musical accompaniment. At the Granite stage, Super Chickan and his Fighting Cocks held the audience in thrall. Then up at the Quartz stage the Apsalooke dancers with the Nighthawk Singers put on a dancing demonstration. When they were through it was back down to the Granite stage to listen to Love Troubles with various representatives from other groups.

I popped into see how venerable Tibetan Buddhist was doing on his mandela sand painting. I'm planning to sneak in his tent tonight and finish it up, so he can go dancing tomorrow.

I grabbed something warm to wear from my room as the air had cooled and the wind had picked up. Last stop for the night was back up at The Original to hear some gospel music from the Legendary Singing Stars. They were all dressed in identical gold striped outfits. I got another dose of vegan noodles and ran into my pal George, executive director of Mainstreet Uptown and one of the local organizers. When this is all done, he will need Asian women walking up and down his back with bare feet. We took a survey of the site in his golf cart before he returned me home.

As I type, I can hear the crowd going crazy up on Quartz Street as the evening comes to a close. It's been an incredible day for music and folk art and more tomorrow.