(NOTE FROM AUTOPSY IV: Today’s piece comes from a frequent ninebullets.net reader, Adam Fenwick. He emailed me last week asking if he could submit a Rock Report about a festival he’d recently attended. I sad “Of Course” and here it is for y’all.)

I’ve never been one for camping.  I’m far too accustom to a comfortable bed and a warm shower in the morning.  But when my parents decided they were going to buy an RV to take to music festivals I had no excuse not to begin attending them.

With that said, I took some well needed vacation days at work and took a trip with my family to Flat Rock, N.C. for the 2008 Flat Rock Music Festival.  I’ve been looking forward to this festival for months and came prepared with my digital camera to take as many photos as possible.

We arrived at the festival grounds Friday morning around 11:30.  Unfortunately for us it was pouring down rain when we arrived and things didn’t get any better after that.

Rather then pay full price for our tickets my family decided to volunteer, meaning we had to spend 8 hours during the three day weekend helping out at the festival doing various tasks.  My job on Friday was checking arm bands on the shuttle bus that took festivalgoers from the field at the bottom of the mountain to the top.

That would have been just fine, had the van not gotten stuck four times.  By the time my shift was over I had mud up to my knees.  I was in bed by 10:30 p.m. after that mess.

Day two, meanwhile, was a much better day.  The sun came out, the good bands arrived and I got the last part of my volunteer work done early in the day so I could enjoy the remainder of the day.

6 p.m. - The SteelDrivers

I discovered The SteelDrivers when researching the bands at the festival this year.  I loved their sound and thought they would be a fun band to check out.  Boy was I right.  They came on stage and went right to work winning over a crowd who seemed apprehensive at best.

The further they got into their set the more the crowd began to respond.  Soon the band began interacting, talking with the crowd and giving intros for each song.  At one point, the band talked about their songs being “Uneasy Listening” or “dark bluegrass.”  I don’t know about anyone else, but that’s my favorite kind of bluegrass.

Songs that got a lot of response were “Midnight Train To Memphis” and “If It Hadn’t Been For Love.”  Also of note, the band had for sale a live CD from the Station Inn in 2006.  If anyone has the chance to pick it up at a live show, do it, you won’t be disappointed.

The Steel Drivers - If It Hadn’t Been For Love [live]
The Steel Drivers - Midnight Train To Memphis [live]
The Steel Drivers - Whiplash [live]

Video of “If It Hadn’t Been For Love” from Flat Rock Music Festival:

8 p.m. - Skinny Legs and All

This band was the surprise of my weekend.  When I read the profile on the Flat Rock Music Festival website it said these guys were a bunch of kids who played the blues. Well, that would be a very accurate description.  The oldest member of the band was 18 (the keyboardist) and the youngest was the bass player (he didn’t look anymore then 13 or 14 at best).

The lead singer, a gorgeous young redhead, had an amazing voice and boy did she show it.  The band didn’t have any songs of their own but they did a good job covering songs made famous by others.  They jumped everywhere from Led Zepplin to Santana to Susan Tedeschi to Aretha Franklin to The Band.  I would have stayed for the entire set but Sonny Landreth was about to hit the main stage and I had to bolt and meet up with my family.

Video of Skinny Legs & All performing “The Weight” at Flat Rock Music Festival:

9 p.m. - Sonny Landreth

Interestingly, Sonny Landreth was the musician I was least interested in seeing out of the entire bunch but he was the one I had the most fun listening to.  The atmosphere around Sonny was amazing and the crowd was totally into his set.  Popular favorites like “Native Stepson” and “U.S.S. Zydocomobile” keep the crowd into the set from beginning to end.

I ended up seeing a lot of old friends during Sonny’s set, including a family friend named Jason (who I hadn’t seen in at least three years, maybe longer) and some former co-workers from four or five years ago.  Who knew Sonny Landreth could act as a reunion of sorts?

Midnight - WSNB

If you like nasty blues, check these guys out.  WSNB, which stands for We Sing Nasty Blues, took the stage for the midnight jam session in the gym just down the path from the main stage shortly before midnight.

I spoke briefly with the lead singer before the band started and he seemed pretty excited about the set, even if it was so late in the evening.  It certainly didn’t seem to matter to the festivalgoers, they arrived in force ready to jam.  And jam they did.

I ended up staying in the gym watching and listening to the band until nearly 1:30 a.m., at which point I realized what time it was.  I had two options, either stay and finish out the set or risk missing the shuttle and having to walk the scary path down the mountain back to the field.  I decided I wanted to live, so I quickly grabbed a CD and made my way to the shuttle.

WSNB - Rusted
WSNB - True Love

All in all the festival was a good one.  I got to see a bunch of great bands, meet a bunch of great people and enjoy a rocking good time.  I just hope next time I go it doesn’t rain on Friday, cause you know, that just spoils all the fun.

The Steeldrivers are a virtual super-group of the Nashville background featuring Richard Bailey (Banjo), Mike Fleming (Bass/Vocals), Mike Henderson (Mandolin/Vocals), Tammy Rogers (Fiddle/Vocals) and Chris Stapleton (Guitar/lead Vocals). The first thing about these guys that jumped out to me was Chis Stapleton’s ’sandpaper to silk’ voice. It immediately seemed familiar. Having worked with so many popular musicians in the current ‘pop with a fiddle’ country music, scene I wonder if maybe I picked up on his voice in the background of a song at some point. Another particularly interesting thing about the band is that while they do look like a bluegrass band on paper, their sound really doesn’t fall into the Bluegrass category….smooth-grass maybe, if you were forcing it in. I’d prefer to just call it Americana with bluegrass instrumentation.

I will agree with the common consensus that any song on this album is a juggernaut alone, but as a whole it can be difficult to listen to the album. It’s an interesting phenomenon that can easily be conquered by the “shuffle all songs” option on the iPod. For their second album I think the band should get out of Nashville for about 6 months, then re-address the songs and record them in some analog-only studio down in Louisiana somewhere.

Regardless of cohesiveness, the high points on this album are well worth placing this album on the ninebullets.net Essential Listening list. Shit, I knew it was going there the moment I heard “If It Hadn’t Been For Love” the first time.

The Steeldrivers - If It Hadn’t Been For Love
The Steeldrivers - Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey
The Steeldrivers - Hear The Willow Cry

The Steeldrivers’ Official Site, The Steeldrivers on myspace, Buy The Steeldrivers