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57-531: The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair was a historic rock festival first held on a raspberry farm on the Skykomish River outside Sultan , Washington . The 1968 rock festival was held between August 31 to September 2. It was the first multi-day outdoor hippie rock festival at an undeveloped site. The line-up included bands the Grateful Dead , Santana , and others. The festival

114-402: A few short years, rock festivals played a unique, significant – and underappreciated – role in fueling the countercultural shift that swept not only America but many other countries [during the 1960s]. It seems fitting… that one of the most enduring labels for the entire generation of that era was derived from a rock festival: the ' Woodstock Generation'." Reflecting their musical diversity and

171-623: A noise impact on cows (“…it would cause them to lose flesh. They won’t be grazing.”) the local court stepped in to stop the festival; the State Supreme Court over stepped them to allow it on the day before it was to open. It was held at the Rainier Hereford Ranch, mostly dry grassland, near Tenino, south of Olympia. The crowd was estimated to be 30,000. Sky River III was held 1970 in Washougal, Washington . One of

228-501: A single CD titled "I Bid You Goodnight" . One of Draheim's hallmarks was her eclecticism, and the first half of the 80s found her recording with a variety of artists including ethereal, new wave pagan/ wiccan Gwydion Pendderwen , the more solidly traditional Cajun and country Delta Sisters, and Rory McNamara with his blend of Irish and American music. Draheim, Jody Stecher (from the Colby Street days), and Kate Brislin (who

285-544: A special concert to show support for and honor her on April 1, 2013. Among those performing in recognition of her contributions to music were musicians Eric & Suzy Thompson, Jody Stecher & Kate Brislin, and Will Spires (who had played with Draheim in the early years of her career), Tempest , Golden Bough, and Kathy Kallick , (who had played with Draheim when her career had been firmly established), as well as Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum , Tony Marcus & Patrice Haan, Paul Hale String Quartet, Live Oak Ceili Band with

342-479: A specific genre and may in turn become known and large enough to be seen as festivals themselves, such as was The Glade at the famous Glastonbury Festival in England. Advances in sound reinforcement systems beginning in the 1960s enabled larger and larger rock festival audiences to hear the performers' music with much better clarity and volume. The best example was the pioneering work of Bill Hanley , known as

399-412: A very warm and rich sound ... that just highlights her beautiful playing. Sue really gets to the heart of the song with her playing and makes the melodies come alive, without overpowering the band" and "Sue Draheim is a revelation on fiddle, bringing years of playing with her, adding texture and tone." One journalist, reviewing a Tempest album released after Draheim had left the group, lamented: "...I miss

456-625: The 15th Anniversary Collection ). Appraisal of Draheim's work with Tempest included such comments as: "The addition of Sue Draheim (Jon Renbourn Group and Sorbye's other unit, Caliban) has added an extra, deeper and (again) more relaxed dimension to the Tempest sound. Her ultra-fluid fiddle lines and soft harmony vocals lend balance...", "The harmony vocals, courtesy of newcomer Sue Draheim (who also plays fiddle and viola) are more prominent than ever...", "Sue Draheim's fiddle weaves exuberantly wild or exquisitely controlled ...", "Sue Draheim's fiddle has

513-518: The Hells Angels and Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club . Gravy in particular called his security group the "Please Force," a reference to their non-intrusive tactics at keeping order, e.g., "Please don't do that, please do this instead". When asked by the press — who were the first to inform him that he and the rest of his commune were handling security — what kind of tools he intended to use to maintain order at Woodstock in 1969, his response

570-503: The Monterey International Pop Festival (16–17 June). The concept caught fire and spread quickly as rock festivals took on a unique identity and attracted significant media attention around the world. By 1969, promoters were staging dozens of them. According to Bill Mankin, in their dawning age rock festivals were important socio-cultural milestones: "… it would not be an exaggeration to say that, over

627-653: The UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive (which misspelled her name as "Drahiem"), and the other, one song (which is not found in UCLA's collection) which was released in CD form in 1999 as part of a Sam Chatmon retrospective. From late 1970 to early 1977 Draheim lived in England , where her talents as a fiddler soon became so well recognized that Austrian music journalist Richard Schuberth counted her among

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684-523: The "Golden Toad", featuring mandolinist and guitarist Will Spires; she joined them for the summer solstice concert at Grace Cathedral in 1970. In 1970, Joe Cooley , Irish button accordion player who was living in San Francisco at the time, visited the Colby Street house and that was the beginning of Draheim's lifelong attachment to Irish music. She and others joined Cooley to perform Saturday nights at San Francisco 's long-standing Irish pub,

741-818: The "crème de la crème of the English folk-rock scene". She brought with her a background of US genres of folk music which blended well with the British folk-rock scene. In one case at least, her influence on the British music scene rebounded to have an effect on the US music scene: American guitarist and author of several instructional manuals Duck Baker wrote that he had learned the Peacock Rag from John Renbourn "who would have gotten it from Sue Draheim". Draheim had begun her association with John Renbourn in 1971, and joined

798-457: The "father of festival sound", who provided the sound systems for numerous rock festivals including Woodstock. Other examples included the Wall of Sound invented in the 1970s to allow the Grateful Dead to play to larger audiences. Camping and crowd control Many festivals offer camping, either because lodging in the area is insufficient to support the crowd, or to allow easy multi-day access to

855-573: The Albion Country Band also recorded and had broadcast a piece ( Four Hand Reel/St. Anne's Reel ) for the BBC radio show called Top Gear , which also featured contemporary musicians; the recording was later released in 1994 on Ashley Hutchings 's compilation The Guv'nor vol 1 . Two tracks on The Guv'nor vol 2 released in 1995 are from that same 1972 broadcast. Also in Albion at this time

912-723: The Albion Country Band which included Steve Ashley , they backed up Ashley on his first album Stroll On , which Folk Review named "Contemporary Folk Album of the Year" in 1974. Just before leaving the UK to return to the US in 1977, Draheim recorded again with John Renbourn to produce the album A Maid in Bedlam . In late 1977 she returned to Oakland where she joined the all-women group Any Old Time String Band and recorded two albums with them, Any Old Time String Band and Ladies Choice . Both albums were re-released in 1996 by Arhoolie on

969-666: The Crow Told Me , Cohen's only album released without the New Lost City Ramblers . Additionally, during the 1990s nearly a dozen retrospective compilation albums (including three by John Renbourn) were released which featured earlier recordings with Draheim, some of them going as far back as the 1970s (see discography). In 1999, Draheim joined Golden Bough , a Northern California group which focuses on traditional Celtic folk music. After producing two albums with them which were released in 2000 and 2002, she left

1026-521: The Fish , Flying Burrito Brothers , Buddy Guy , Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks , Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band, Kaleidoscope, Mississippi Fred McDowell , The Steve Miller Band , New Lost City Ramblers , Pacific Gas & Electric, Billy Roberts , Sons of Champlin , Mark Spoelstra , and many others. "Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band and Medicine Show" consisted of Sue Draheim , Jim Bamford, Mac Benford, and Will Spires. Most counties in

1083-658: The Harrington Bar, making up the band which they called "Gráinneog Céilidh ." Years later, Draheim's command of the Irish folk music idiom as well as her versatility in other genres would prompt one fan to comment: "And that is a very apt illustration of the point: Sue Draheim, a classically-trained violinist who has been mistaken for a real-deal Sligo fiddler who nowadays has a chair in a San Francisco symphony orchestra as well as playing in old timey bands". In 1970 Draheim also got involved with several musicians at what

1140-572: The John Renbourn Group, cutting the album Faro Annie with John Renbourn , Keshav Sathe , and Jacqui McShee in 1972. Impressed by Draheim's old West Clare style which she'd learned from Joe Cooley , John Renbourn observed: "I found out more about Irish music from Sue than I could ever have imagined." That same year she also performed on Henry the Human Fly , an album by songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson . 1972

1197-809: The Mexican American Federation of Washington, the Foundation for American Indian Rights and the Central Area Peace and Improvement Cooperative. The Camlin Hotel hosted performers for the festival. Bands and musicians scheduled in the lineup were; the Santana , Country Joe and the Fish , Richard Pryor , Dino Valente , Freedom Highway, Blues Feedback, Sandy Bull , Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, John Fahey , Byron Pope Ensemble, H.P. Lovecraft , Pink Floyd (who were on

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1254-473: The Night Tripper, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Steppenwolf A recent innovation is the traveling rock festival where many musical acts perform at multiple locations during a tour. Successful festivals are often held in subsequent years. The following is an incomplete list. The following is a list of festivals that predominantly feature rock genres that take place on a regular basis. Most are held at

1311-576: The Sea, Gale Garnett 's band The Gentle Reign (sans Garnett), The Peanut Butter Conspiracy , Marble Farm, The Allman Joys , Black Snake Boogie, Flamin' Groovies , Salvation , Anonymous Artists of America. The last day members of the Grateful Dead jammed with James Cotton , Big Mama Thornton , and Billy Roberts . The festival was held Labor Day Weekend August 30 and September 1, 1969, in Tenino, Washington . The lineup had James Cotton , Country Joe and

1368-550: The Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter Than Air Fair which occurred later that year. The first Sky River Rock Festival and Lighter than Air Fair', took place on August 28 through September 3, 1968; the town of Sultan, Washington was visited by approximately 4,000-5,000 young people during the festival. Though the event was ticketed, many people showed up without tickets and snuck in. The promoters claimed to have lost $ 6,000, although proceeds were to be donated to

1425-470: The album notes for Berkeley Farms , Draheim gives us some background on that transition: I've lived around the Bay Area most of my life. There wasn't much money at home. I had to talk my parents into letting me take fiddle lessons. I started that when I was eight years old. This was public school instruction. After three years of that, I began private lessons. I stopped when I was fourteen, and didn't touch

1482-477: The blazing elegance of fiddler Sue Draheim...". Draheim and others were founders of a group known as "Stuart Rosh and the Geniuses", releasing the album Accept No Imitations in 2004. The group was led by Stuart Rojstaczer scientist, writer, and musician performing under the name of "Stuart Rosh". Referring to her "flowing fiddle lines and backup vocals", Rojstaczer wrote that "Sue's lessons will set you on

1539-468: The event moved to the town of Windsor, the rock and pop acts clearly dominated the jazz artists. A similar, though more rapid, evolution occurred with Jazz Bilzen , a solely jazz festival that was inaugurated in 1965 in the Belgian city of Bilzen. The 1966 festival still featured mostly jazz acts. However, by the time of the third festival from 25 to 27 August 1967, rock and pop acts had edged out most of

1596-407: The festival's features. Festival planning and logistics are frequently a focus of the media, some festivals such as the heavily commercialized Woodstock 1999 were crowd control disasters, with insufficient water and other resources provided to audiences. Many early rock festivals successfully relied on volunteers for crowd control , for example individuals like Wavy Gravy and biker groups such as

1653-597: The group just two years later in 2001, but still got together to play with them from time to time. Joining Craicmore , a group which describes itself as "a contemporary traditional Celtic band", Draheim released an album with them in 2002. Teaming up with mandolinist Lief Sorbye, Draheim completed the other half of the duo known as "Caliban" which led to her joining the Oakland-based Celtic rock band Tempest which Lief had founded; she recorded two albums with them on Magna Carta Records (Shape shifter and

1710-625: The jazz bands and become the main attraction. In the United States, rock festivals seemed to spring up with a more self-defined musical identity. Preceded by several precursor events in the San Francisco area, the first two rock festivals in the US were staged in northern California on consecutive weekends in the summer of 1967: the KFRC Fantasy Fair & Magic Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais (10–11 June) and

1767-476: The longest-duration festivals, lasting 10 days from August 28 until September 8, with daily attendance in excess of 10,000 on some days. Over 40 bands were featured on the event posters. In 1970, the nucleus of the Air Pirates cartoonist collective met at the Sky River Rock Festival. Bay Area residents Ted Richards and Bobby London met Shary Flenniken and Dan O'Neill at the media booth, where Flenniken

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1824-404: The money often gathered through fundraising and angel investors . Stages and sound systems While rock concerts typically feature a small lineup of rock bands playing a single stage, rock festivals often grow large enough to require several stages or venues with live bands playing concurrently. As rock music has increasingly been fused with other genres, sometimes stages will be devoted to

1881-659: The music scene there, performing at Berea's Center for the Arts as well as with a small contra dance group known as "Sea Change" at Berea's Main Street Café. When she was diagnosed with cancer in March 2013, Berkeley's Freight & Salvage (long a Bay Area center of folk music and a favorite of Draheim's, having performed there many times over the years from the beginnings of her career with Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band and Medicine Show and as recently as 2010) held

1938-592: The path to musical bliss". Later in 2004 she worked with the young singer Michael Bannett to produce an album featuring a collection of British Isles songs from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. Draheim got together with Golden Bough again in 2006 for a 25th anniversary reunion concert, which resulted in an album release of traditional British folk music. Moving into a different genre altogether, Draheim joined " Hiss Golden Messenger ", which has been described as " alternative country " and " country rock ", to produce an album in 2009. An Arhoolie Records retrospective

1995-476: The poster but in Europe at the time and did not play), Country Weather , Easy Chair, Floating Bridge, Steppenwolf , Frumious Bandersnatch , New Lost City Ramblers , It's a Beautiful Day , The Youngbloods , My Indole Ring, Mother Tucker's Yellow Duck , Billy Roberts , Alice Stuart Thomas, Josh White , San Francisco Mime Troupe , Ramblin' Jack Elliot , Juggernaut, Phoenix, Sons of Champlin , Mystic Knights of

2052-596: The rapidly changing musical tastes of the time. For example, the United Kingdom's National Jazz Festival was launched in Richmond from 26 to 27 August 1961. The first three of these annual outdoor festivals featured only jazz music, but by the fourth "Jazz & Blues Festival" in 1964, a shift had begun that incorporated some blues and pop artists into the lineup. In 1965, for the first time the event included more blues, pop and rock acts than jazz, and by 1966, when

2109-429: The same location on an annual basis. Some, like Farm Aid are held at different venues with each incarnation. Sue Draheim Originally trained as a classical violinist, Draheim became involved in many other genres and recorded albums with groups representing Cajun, Old Time, country, Zydeco, folk jazz, Irish and British folk music. Early on in her career, Celtic fiddle became Draheim's major focus. While Draheim

2166-674: The same organization. Production and financing Several of the early rock festival organizers of the 1960s such as Chet Helms , Tom Rounds , Alex Cooley and Michael Lang helped create the blueprint for large-scale rock festivals in the United States, as well promoters such as Wally Hope in the United Kingdom. In various countries, the organizers of rock festivals have faced legal action from authorities, in part because such festivals have attracted large counterculture elements. In 1972, Mar Y Sol Pop Festival in Manatí, Puerto Rico attracted an estimated 30–35,000 people, and an arrest warrant

2223-491: The same time she started playing with a Colby Street group that, when she performed with them at the Sky River Rock Festival ( Tenino, Washington in 1968 and 1969), called themselves "Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band and Medicine Show". The band consisted of Sue Draheim, Jim Bamford, Mac Benford, and Will Spires and owed its name to their manager and sound man Earl Crabb (aka "The Great Humbead"); by

2280-665: The state of Washington had outlawed rock festivals by 1968, although Gov. Dan Evans said, “We can’t ban a rock concert, per se." Promotor John Chambless, who otherwise taught philosophy at the University of Washington , first found a site near Enumclaw , that was offered and then taken away, before settling on the Tenino site. A day after the Woodstock festival began, the Sky River II festival began to be noticed. When Woodstock

2337-485: The then-common term ' pop music ', for the first few years, particularly in the US, many rock festivals were called 'pop festivals'. This also served to distinguish them among the ticket-buying public from other, pre-existing types of music festivals such as jazz and folk festivals. By the end of 1972, the term 'pop festival' had virtually disappeared as festival promoters adopted more creative, unique and location-specific names to identify and advertise their events. While it

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2394-675: The time Mike Seeger arranged for them to be recorded for the Folkways Berkeley Farms album in 1970, they'd shortened the charming but cumbersome name to simply "The New Tranquility String Band". Performing with the band, her photograph appeared on the poster for the 1968 Berkeley Folk Music Festival . Draheim and Dr. Humbead's New Tranquility String Band also appeared at the 1969 Third Annual San Diego State Folk Festival; links to recordings of their performance there are provided on folkartsrarerecords.com's website. Colby Street housed other groups as well, one of them being

2451-456: The venue. Some festivals are singular events, while others recur annually in the same location. Occasionally, a festival will focus on a particular genre (e.g., folk , heavy metal , world music ), but many attempt to bring together a diverse lineup to showcase a broad array of popular music trends. Initially, some of the earliest rock festivals were built on the foundation of pre-existing jazz and blues festivals, but quickly evolved to reflect

2508-556: The violin until I was 19. I moved to Colby Street when I was eighteen years old. It was there that I met Jim Bamford. He taught me my first fiddle tunes (as opposed to the classical violin music I'd learned). This was in 1967. Draheim quickly got involved in American mountain string band music, forming a group called the "Diesel Duck Revue" in 1967 with Mac Benford, Hank Bradley, Sue Rosenberg, and Rick Shubb, performing with them at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage in 1968. At about

2565-464: Was Steve Ashley , who later referred to Draheim as "the great American fiddle player". (For a photo of Draheim with the Albion Country Band, see The Peel Sessions: The Albion Band ). Not confining herself to the folk rock genre, she recorded the album Solid Air in 1973 with John Martyn , who has been described as blurring "...the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues". When Draheim worked briefly in 1973-1974 with Albion's incarnation as

2622-465: Was "Cream pies and seltzer bottles ." Other rock festivals hire private security or local police departments for crowd control, with varying degrees of success. Saturday, 21 June - Eric Anderson, Al Kooper, The Band, Bonzo Dog Band, Johnny Winter, Velvet Underground and Sly & the Family Stone. Sunday, 22 June - Ronnie Hawkins, Chuck Berry, Kensington Market, Tiny Tim, Nucleus, Dr. John &

2679-589: Was a busy year for her as she and John Renbourn worked together with Wizz Jones to produce Wizz's album Right Now , in addition to recording albums with Scottish folksinger Marc Ellington . In 1972, Draheim debuted live with the then unknown Albion Country Band . The band (sometimes known as Albion Mk 1, and described by Spanish film and music critic Antonio Méndez as being "traditional British folk with an electric infusion"), appeared on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 program called " Peel Sessions " which introduced up-and-coming musicians. In June 1972 Draheim and

2736-512: Was described by Gael Alcock , cellist/composer with whom she performed one of Alcock's pieces, as "fiddler extraordinaire". In the late 1960s, Draheim moved to a North Oakland house well known in the Bay Area music community and called simply "Colby Street". This move proved to be a decisive one in terms of her musical career as it was where she changed from a " violinist " into a " fiddler ". In writing her short biography in 1970 to accompany

2793-478: Was held the next year on labor Day weekend August 30 and September 1, 1969 in Tenino, Washington , and finally on August 28 until September 8, 1970 in Washougal, Washington . " The Piano Drop ": On April 28, 1968, approximately 3,000 fans attended a rock concert at a farm in Duvall, Washington where an upright piano was dropped from a helicopter. Performances included Country Joe and the Fish . This event inspired

2850-469: Was issued for promoter Alex Cooley, who avoided arrest by leaving the island before the festival was over. British Free Festival organizers Ubi Dwyer and Sid Rawle were imprisoned for attempting to promote a 1975 Windsor Festival. The British police would later outright attack free festival attendees at the 1985 Battle of the Beanfield . Festivals may require millions of USD to be organized, with

2907-565: Was known as Sweets Mill Music Camp, about 200 miles east of Oakland on the edge of the Sierra National Forest . It was there that she played with legendary Delta blues guitarist Sam Chatmon in a group called the "California Sheiks" (named after Chatmon's back-home group, the " Mississippi Sheiks ". Some recordings of Draheim and Chatmon from that period are known to have survived: one, a 7-inch mono tape reel holding eighteen songs and labelled "Box 3, Item 2007.04sdff070" in

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2964-601: Was over, Tenino-area residents held a public meeting to oppose Sky River II. It was billed as the Stop the Rock Festival Committee, meeting on August 21, led by a leader of the local John Birch Society , who claimed they couldn't allow an event that was the “glorification of communist movements in foreign countries.” Landowners and the Tenino Chamber of Commerce filed suit, the suit claimed there would be

3021-563: Was primarily a fiddler, she never lost touch with her classical training, and was a member of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic as well as UC Berkeley 's University Chamber Chorus; Draheim, along with fiddler Kerry Parker, also "augmented" the harp trio "Trillium". She also played in the US premiere of Frank Zappa's experimental orchestral piece A Zappa Affair . She

3078-426: Was producing a daily Sky River newsletter on a mimeograph machine. Before the festival was over the four of them produced a four-page tabloid comic, Sky River Funnies , mostly drawn by London. Rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at

3135-506: Was released in 2013, including some of Draheim's earlier recordings with them, but Draheim's last new release was in 2011, a live recording with Southern country blues singer and guitarist Wayde Blair at Berkeley 's Art House. In her later years Draheim settled in Berea, Kentucky , with her partner Wayde Blair, whom she had known and performed with in Berkeley, and quickly got involved in

3192-416: Was still in vogue, however, over-zealous promoters eager to capitalize on the festival concept made the most of it, with some using the term "Pop Festival" or "Rock Festival" to advertise events held on a single day or evening, often indoors, and featuring only a handful of acts. Today, rock festivals are usually open-air concerts spread out over two or more days and many of the annual events are sponsored by

3249-547: Was with Draheim in the Any Old Time String Band) joined Kathy Kallick and others in 1995 on Kallick's album Use a Napkin (Not Your Mom) , a recording which featured Appalachian style songs composed by Kallick, and was especially aimed at children (a group of whom sang along with the musicians). In 1998 Draheim collaborated with John Cohen , David Grisman , and Jody Stecher on tracks included in Stories

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