The Return Of Winter Wonder Grass
Photo by Sam Ray-Johnson.
WinterWonderGrass has always been a special festival for many reasons. My first one was in 2019 and I remember it being a challenge. I was with a large group and having no camping on site means someone has to drive everyone back and forth from the venue. Due to COVID-19, I had leftover tickets I had purchased before the pandemic hit and I completely forgot about them until last month. Figuring I needed the mini-vacation, I headed up the mountain alone — no partners, no family, no friends. I was nervous, but arrived with the intention to feel a part of a community again.
Firstly, I highly recommend to anyone to rent an Airbnb all to yourself, just once in your life. I wasn’t expecting to, but having an entire tiny home to myself for a weekend was exactly what I needed. While driving every day of the festival wasn’t very fun, sleeping in, eating healthy and getting to decompress from the crowds was worth it. I had complete autonomy over my schedule, didn’t have to wait on anyone to get their butts out the door and didn’t have to worry about whether or not my driver was sober, because I would be by the time 10 p.m. rolled around each night. I stressed myself out about how it was all going to pan out, but it ended up being a logistic success.
If the music was great the previous years I attended, they were absolutely phenomenal this time. Bluegrass isn’t necessarily my go-to genre, but wow. Whatever happened during quarantine, the artists that played clearly upped their game. From Grammy-award winners and nominees like Billy Strings and Infamous Stringdusters, it was a privilege to be able to witness the gift of practiced hands of professional musicians, regardless of taste. I can’t speak to their performances enough — it was an impeccably crafted, masterful tornado of string and strum and sound. The two of them weren’t groups I was terribly excited about in the beginning, but after this year I will eagerly try to see them as much as I can.
Other notable bands that stuck out to me were The War And Treaty, Della Mae and TK And The Holy Know-Nothings. I got to stand front and center as Taylor Kingman sang about hard times, a lady swung a toy snake above our heads and Jay Cobb Anderson broke a string (and replaced it before the next track without missing a beat). I’ve seen quite a few cool shows in my time, but that one was life-changing. Getting to connect with a band so intensely is a rare treat and it’s a memory I’ll carry with me for the rest of my days. The same could be said for any of the musicians who played that weekend, from Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount’s mind-blowing vocals to Della Mae’s lighthearted, fun-filled jigs. The amount of talent packed into one venue was bewildering.
Despite riding through this festival solo, the friendships I was able to make this year were also exceptionally memorable. It’s hard to find a sad face at WinterWonderGrass — everyone is friendly, looks out for one another and shares in the joy of music. Children ran around with hula hoops, burly lumberjack men got their faces painted, and friends old and new clinked tin cups to taste local, craft beer of all sorts of flavors (including an horchata stout, which I can say was quite good). The community of WWG is what was able to bring the event back to the Olympic Valley and my heart got a very much-needed refill thanks to them.
I look forward to the next time I can huddle in the dark with my fellow snow trekkers, the wild mountain women and overall-wearing hippies under the snow-covered peaks, blissfully dancing to our roots.
To learn more about WinterWonderGrass, visit this link here.
