Kerrville Folk Festival Review

Post-festival report for WAMU's Bluegrass Country...

The town of Kerrville was formed in the 1850’s in the Texas hill country Northwest of San Antonio as a riverside community based on the trade of Cypruss tree shingles. It’s proximity to the Guadalupe River, cattle drive trails, and the eventually the railroad made sure the community stayed on the map over the years.
Today Kerrville is home to a creative community with plenty of musicians and artists, all hearty and giving enough to survive the heat.
The 50-acre Quiet Valley Ranch is the home of the 39 year old Kerrville Folk Festival. Set up as a Public Trust, the Festival is owned by the Texas Folk Music Foundation.
An extremely laid back, long festival – 18 straight days – it is the longest continuously running music festival of its kind in North America.

It’s clear that this is truly a community festival. The credits on in the festival guide list everything from the Board of Directors to the head of the “pottie patrol” (thanks, Terri Blackard!).
It’s also clear that the festival is determined to be sustainable and give more than it takes. Disposable cups are not provided on the entire ranch, all of the vendors use either your own permanent cup or you can purchase a souvenir cup. Recycling and composting bins are placed throughout the campground. The only copy of the festival map I saw was on a cloth handkerchief.
“Mix Master” is the name for the do-everything gate when you head in. And there’s a huge sign that says “Welcome Home”. A sentiment that was echoed by several friends and strangers alike when I got to the festival on Monday June 7th.
My friend escorted me to my guest tent. It’s typical for long-term campers to have a tent set up for occasional guests who only stay a few days. There are various theme camps including the Leopard Lounge (with a leopard print wrapped car), Camp Carpet (the name says it all), The G-Spot (named for it’s owner Gingus), Crow’s Nest (with a geodesic dome), and Camp Caffeine.

Upon walking into my hilly and remote site, I was quite surprised to be offered a fresh double shot of espresso with a nice crema and a hint of homemade kahlua (made by Security Steve), and I was on my way to understanding just what people meant when they said, “welcome home.”
The music at Kerrville spans several genres (folk, bluegrass, jazz, blues, Americana) with the emphasis being songwriting. There are two official stages at Kerrville Folk Festival: the Threadgill Theater and the Kennedy Outdoor Theater. But it’s entirely possible for people to get lost in their campsites and never make it to the main stage.
Every camp has a music circle and everyone is interested in hearing your music. I walked around with my guitar and met new friends, people called me into the shady spots of their camps and listened intently to every lyric I sang. One thing that is not permitted in the campground is amps or electrical instruments, so here’s a photo of Tim pretending to destroy camp with this guitar (which was never plugged in).
At Camp Caffeine I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing the music of Jon Hogan and Maria Moss. Jon’s unique blend of “scorch-folk”, as he calls it, includes originals, traditional songs, and most recently he released an album of the songs of Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley. Sitting down with Jon was like attending history class. He played and explained the evolution of some of Blaze’s music and also explained his own left-hand upward brush stroke that he uses on the guitar. Jon & Maria invited me to join in on the harmonies of the tune Laramie, a song he wrote for Matthew Shepard.


After Camp Caffeine, I caught the first official show of my visit: a tribute to the bluesy singer-songwriter John Vandiver. There were even two of John’s guitars being played on stage.

Besides the campsites, another unofficial site for music is the CD store, Staff Rekerrds (note: everything has a Kerrville inspired name at the festival). One afternoon I was able to hear a set from Chris Parreira and John Craigie. As they were playing Roy Pilgrim joined in on banjo and Marylander David Glaser filled in some mando chop. I particularly got a kick out of John Craigie’s song about Chuck Norris.


One main component of Kerrville Folk Festival is the “Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition”. The competition was started in 1972 as a way to showcase new songwriters. Each year songwriters who have not performed on Kerrville’s main stage are invited to submit 2 songs, 6 winners are eventually chosen out of roughly 800 entries.
I finished up my brief 4 day visit to Kerrville Folk Festival on Wednesday June 9th with the New Folk In-The-Round Concert featuring past winners Rebecca Loebe, Raina Rose, Robby Hecht, & Nels Andrews.

Overall, Kerrville Folk Festival is one that is worth checking out, even for those who prefer more bluegrass music. There are pickers in the crowd, but again the focus is on songwriting, so if you need some inspiration or just want to hear some new tunes, stop by the ranch, there will be plenty of people there to welcome you home!