SIDNEY — John Sanborn Sr. of Stockton Springs sat in a lawn chair Tuesday, reminiscing about going on tour with his now-defunct bluegrass band, the Ft. Knox Volunteers, 10 years ago.
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Staff photo / DAVID LEAMING Molly and Dave McDonald of Windham practice on guitars as Gail Arsenault, left, of Bingham, and her mother-in-law, Carol Arsenault, listen on Tuesday morning at the Silver Spur Riding Club on Route 104 in Sidney. The 20th annual Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival is Thursday through Sunday. | click to enlarge |
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"When we were on the road, we used to cook hot dogs in the radiator," Sanborn said with a mischievous grin. "We used to take the hub cabs off, boil water in them and shave with it. ... That was back when I was young and handsome." "You were never young and handsome," June Buzzell of Skowhegan said, jokingly, while her daughter, Sharon LeClair, grinned. The trio is one of many that converged on Sidney's Silver Spur Riding Club Tuesday, to set up camp, reunite with old friends and wait for the opening act of the 20th Blistered Fingers Family Bluegrass Music Festival. They'll still be waiting today. Although the event doesn't start until Thursday afternoon, over 100 recreational vehicles —crammed with groceries, tarps and musical instruments —formed a veritable RV congo line on West River Road hours before festival organizers began admitting bluegrass fans to the event at around 7 a.m. Tuesday. "There were RVs almost all the way out to the Interstate (95 exit on Lyons Road)," said Sandy Cormier, who organizes the festival with her husband, Greg. Organizers said the early-bird turnout is indicative of the growing popularity of not only the Sidney festival, now in its 12th year, but of bluegrass as a musical genre. The Cormiers said the 2001 film "O Brother Where Art Thou," which starred George Clooney and featured a bluegrass soundtrack, helped spawn youth interest in the genre. It also made several former Blistered Fingers performers famous. The lead vocalist and several instrumentalists in the movie's theme song, "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow," by the Soggy Bottom Boys, have played at the festival, Greg Cormier said. The Sidney event has become a popular stop on the year-round bluegrass festival circuit, a winding, cross-country journey that takes mostly retired, RV-driving travelers across rural America several times over — to places such as Ocilla, Ga., Ancramdale, N.Y. and Douglas, Wyo. Greg Cormier said he expects more than 4,000 bluegrass fans to attend the four-day festival. The Cormiers — who will also perform with their band, also called Blistered Fingers, at the festival — said attendance at the twice-a-year event has steadily increased over the past few years. Employees at the Budget Host Inn, where many performers stay during the festival, said the event has left the hotel with few vacancies for this weekend. "(Blistered Fingers) is larger than most festivals," Greg Cormier said. "It didn't start out that way ... it takes a few years to get the word out." Saturday, the festival will play host to two nationally acclaimed bluegrass acts — The Lewis Family, and Rhonda Vincent & Rage. Vincent recently made an appearance at the Grand Ol' Opry in Nashville, Tenn. Cormier's Web site — (www.blisteredfingers.com) —contains guestbook signatures from as far away as Yuma, Ariz., Forest Ranch, Calif. and Jacksonville, Fla. Many of the signatories claim to have attended a Blistered Fingers Festival. Sandy Cormier said it is the sincerity of bluegrass, and those who play it, that attracts fans to the genre. "The bands will shake your hand after the show," she said. "Rhonda (Vincent) will come out there and hug you. ... (The artists) make you feel like you're somebody." Performers also make a habit of "field pickin' " — engaging in impromptu jam sessions around campfires, tents and RVs — with spectators who bring instruments, Buzzell said. The jam sessions sometimes last all night, she said. "Even the big stars will come pick with you. ... that's how you can tell they play because they really like it," said Buzzell, who has frequented bluegrass festivals since she was in her mid-forties — over 25 years. LeClair, who attended her first festival four years ago, agreed. "I haven't met a bluegrass person yet that I haven't liked," she said. "These people are wonderful, they're like a second family." Single-day tickets for the festival, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, range from $10 to 20 per person. Four-day tickets cost $45 per person, and are available at the gate. Elbert Aull — 861-9253 eaull@centralmaine.com
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