Refreshed. Replenished. Nourished. Complete.
A handful of words to explain how I feel right now- after GrassRoots.
Oh GrassRoots…how do I begin to write about such a festival?
When I think of GrassRoots the first thing I think of is love. An overwhelming sense of love. Love between families, parents and children, couples, friends. There are no strangers at GrassRoots.
The feeling in the air is better than anywhere else. Everyone is just happy to be alive, to live, to love, to feel the energy, to feel the power of the moment, of the music.
It’s the best escape from reality. You are free to just be.
In the words of The Makepeace Brothers, “Leave your fears and your worries behind.”
Life, life, life is screaming at you, “Here I am, come get me! Take me! I am yours for the keeping!” and you grab it, grasp it, taste it. By the magic in the air and the smiles on everyone’s faces, you can see that everyone does the same.
Every time I’m there, the music speaks to me. It latches onto my veins, pours into my blood and takes complete control of my body. With each step, spin, and shake, I obey whole-heartedly.
Here’s a video capturing a small slew of how fantastic it is:
(p.s. last year while watching this band I had an out of body experience.)
What other papers/people have said about GrassRoots:
“But for the thousands of attendees, GrassRoots is far bigger than any particular musician, and for many the festival has done more than bring a world of music to town. Now in its 20th year, GrassRoots has forged lifelong friendships for some, served as a standing family reunion for countless others, and for a younger generation of music lovers, helped to put the town of Trumansburg on the map. Attendees enter a place where the line between audience and participants are blurred, and where the fairgrounds feel less like the site of a concert than of a community.” –From Ithaca.com
“There are so many folks who get together it becomes hypnotic, there’s such a sense of expansive well being,” Jeb Puryear, of Donna the Buffalo noted. “This is how people feel the love.” –From Ithaca.com
“At the end of the day, the significance of a festival relies not on the caliber of its headliner but by the quality of its constituents. It is the milieu, not the marquee that makes a gathering memorable; community rather than celebrity. Try to conjure up a mental image of Woodstock: for the most part the focus would surely center on the crowd and not the stage. “It’s not really a concert for famous bands,” Jordan Puryear said. “It’s nice to have one or two, but it’s really a certain type of band, a certain type of music that makes sense.” A considered mix of the global and the local, the festival elucidates connections between zydeco and reggae, hippies and Touregs. At GrassRoots, all music is dance music, and it’s dance music from every nook and cranny of American culture. Dropping by Trumansburg this week answers the question not only what the next American music will sound like, but what community can feel like.” –-From Ithaca.com
“For me Grassroots is four days of people sharing their lives within the moments experienced surrounding music, dancing, peace, harmony and fun. It puts a smile on my face and keeps me smiling through the year. Enjoy life!” –-From the GrassRoots Program
“Jeb, one of the festival’s founders, said it was very much a family affair, and in some cases a reunion as regulars and long-time volunteers reconnected in the fields and the dance tent. As he left the stage following a performance with Bubba Hots, he had to keep pausing for hugs from friends and strangers alike, with one woman saying “thank you for providing us with music we can groove to, that helps to forget the ignorance we experience in this world.” He said the event was like “a study of the capacity of people to really be in a loving space” and that he hopes attendees take that attitude with them when they leave and apply it to their daily lives.” –From The Ithaca Journal
Smile and Be Free 