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The Camp Barefoot 4 Music and Art Festival

Marc Brownstein – Photos by Julia Rickert

The Camp Barefoot 4 Music and Art Festival
Camp Hidden Meadows
Bartow, WV
August 19 –21, 2010

With the festival season rapidly coming to an end and with the announcement of fall tours, it is easy for end of the summer festivals to be overlooked. One such festival is Camp Barefoot, a 2,000 person mini festival nestled in the mountains of West Virginia. However, this year the festival has surely made its mark on the map as a hub of fun for all—the artists just as much as the festival-goers.

Headlined by two nights of RAQ and the Breakfast, along with Kyle Hollingsworth Band, EOTO, Particle and Conspirator, the festival saw a bunch of giddy, friendly musicians jumping from stage to stage for collaboration after collaboration and having a great time doing it.

“We should’ve called this whole festival Collaboration Fest 2010,” said Scott McLain, HeyBro founder and Camp Barefoot producer. “I have never been to a fest with this many sit-ins from each band. It just looked like all the artists backstage and onstage were having a blast.”

“The collaborations this weekend were a blast!” confirmed RAQ and Kung Fu keyboardist Todd Stoops. “Besides the two RAQ sets and a Kung Fu set, I played with Particle, Conspirator, and the Breakfast –all of the bands are friends and have known each other a while so the collaborations were pretty spontaneous. We pretty much just talked about sitting in right before the sets happened.“

Thursday evening started the festival off with a bang. RAQ and the Breakfast each had their first of two sets of the weekend, with Tim Palmieri and Adrian Tramontano sitting in with RAQ.

“It’s nice jamming with familiar faces like RAQ,” said Tim Palmieri, Breakfast/Kung Fu guitarist. “And that was the first time with two drums with Stukey and Adrian going at it, so that’s pretty fucking cool.”

The night rounded off with Toubab Krewe and Big Gigantic keeping the opening festival-goers riled up until 5 in the morning.

Friday brought a day of local funk. People were stirred from their campsites when Harrisonburg, Virginians, Pants For Bears threw down a party on the smaller, hidden Sku Stage. Then Richmonders Farm Vegas and DC’s The Funk Ark rocked the mainstage. While the crowds were smaller, they were filled with rowdy dancers.

DJ Williams Projekt started the night off on the main stage bringing the energy. Segway, an instrumental eletronic jamband from Baltimore continued the upbeat atmosphere until Kyle Hollingsworth Band took the stage. Hollingsworth brought the heat playing “The Way That It Goes” and several others off his new album and covering Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir.” Kung Fu’s Kris Jensen and The Breakfast keyboardist Jordan Giangrecco sat in with Hollingsworth for a cover of Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles.”