How many people are required as a minimum for the feeling of a family unit to commence? Three? Four? And, on the other end of the spectrum, what is the maximum capacity for the feeling of family to be retained?… FloydFest holds the answer to this question. We have attended and performed at an ongoing slew of festivals and I must say that I am quite impressed that FloydFest has made such conscious efforts to retain the overall sensations of familial reciprocity and joy with an attendance of approximately 13500 people. They have a fantastic recycling program that has children at every station informing people of what to do with their trash (these children are far more competent in this capacity than any of the adults who come to them with sullied hands, confused expressions and gifts of garbage…actually, it is a fascinating role reversal). They have designated bar tents so that alcohol consumption and the littering that results is confined to certain areas. They have amazingly good and respectably healthy food. And, here is the kicker; they have phenomenally great music that inspires all of the people present. We were happy to be a part of the bill of wonderful performers.
We were present in seven-piece mode (two percussionists- Julian Douglas and Michael Rutherford, kit drummer- Ocie Davis, Bass- Dan Walters, Sarah Bowman- Cello and back up vocals, and of course, Jemal on Guitars and back up vocals and myself on lead vocals and harmonium). It was quite the posse. I adored playing with such an attentive and synched crew of excellent musicians. I have come to a place in my musicianship with HuDost where I adore the opposite extremes…either the raw, intimate and stripped down duo mode of Jemal and I (the addition of Sarah to this is lovely), or the full powerful shebang of the larger ensemble. All of that to say that at FloydFest we somehow delivered both intimacy and large-scale rock. Audiences expressed this very thing to us…I salute the fantastic happy dancing audiences that were present at our shows.
We also had the opportunity to attend the shows of some fabulous bands including Blues Traveler (who I had never listened to before and was bedazzled by what they do musically), the Lee Boys, The New Familiars, Belleville Outfit, and a huge slew of others. Yay FloydFest!
Oh, one last thing, the mountains of Virginia are unbelievably gorgeous. A glance in any direction will yield potentially phenomenal photographic results. I would love to go back with nothing but camping supplies. And, possibly a guitar. Ok, and maybe a small recording devise. But nothing else. Seriously. Oh, did I mention gourmet campfire food? But that is it. I swear.
– Moksha Sommer