Rocktober 26th - Bearfoot@The Kennedy Center

The Millennium Stage is a small stage that offers free concerts at 6PM every night, 365 days a year. Did you hear that? FREE concerts ev-e-ry night! Even on Holidays! And even on rainy rainy Friday nights.
I think I may have been to a concert or two at the Millennium Stage, and it was some world music that I came into the city to see. Now that I literally work a mile from the Kennedy Center, it seems ridiculous that I wouldn't take complete advantage of this event every night at 6! Or at least once a month, my goodness.

The concert that brought me to The Millennium Stage again, after a 5 year hiatus, was Bearfoot Bluegrass. They are an Alaskan band, which is actually how I've heard of them. I saw them play at a concert on the lawn of University of Alaska - Fairbanks. They were good then, and they were great on Friday.

Every concert is archived on the Kennedy Center's website, so you can check them out. They put on a very lively and entertaining show for all us water-logged Washingtonians. Chill-inducing harmonies and intricate fingering on the guitar and mandolin were the highlights of this show.

Bearfoot is a bluegrass band, sure, but its more of the Newgrass school. The average age of the band has to be about 22. They are young, and they all met at Bluegrass camp in Cordova, Alaska. They've all been playing their instruments since elementary school, some even before that. The thing I find really interesting about this group is that they all learned bluegrass at the same camp, but their sounds are all so different. It makes for a varied show, because as they all take turns singing their songs that showcase their style and talent, the songs change pretty dramatically. So what can I say about this band, then? They were all great and I enjoyed most of the songs, some of them even gave me the goosepimples. But, I felt conflicted because I think I'd rather have one show staying within the boundaries of bluegrass, rather than branching out to soul and pop music.

After talking with Teen Heartthrob about this debacle, we decided it might be wise for all the members to take their careers and RUN. Here is the advice I have to dole out:
Kate Hamre, acoustic bass: You are a darling girl. Obv very talented, but you were in the background too much. You seem a little more laid back and unsure or shy about performing. Your voice is so dainty and soft, but I bet you would really shine up front. I want to hear more.
Mike Mickelson, guitar: You've got that whole Big Man, Deep Voice thing going on. Go with it. You had an amaaazing old country vibe to all your songs and I would love to see you go somewhere with that. You were the result of many of my chills.
Jason Norris, mandolin: Wow. Seriously, wow. I've never seen anyone pick the mandolin with such gusto before. Granted, I could count the number of times I've seen a mandolin player on my 2 hands, but still you were great. And for how young you are, you need to be somewhere to really feature your style of Cajun music. I loved the Cajun portion of the program.
Angela Oudean, fiddle: You're great. You've got some side projects going on. I loved your Loretta Lynn piece. Such finesse with the fiddle. Keep on going.
Annalisa Tornfelt, fiddle: I liked your sound, really. But it doesn't belong in bluegrass. There, I said it. You are a soulful singer and I think you should pursue that, because its where you really shine. Bring the fiddle to vary it up in the soul/pop world. Good luck.

Check out their sound. I liked them in Alaska, and I still do. But apparently, moving back to DC has made me somewhat of a critic. Maybe if I were up dancing around and doing the Boot Dance, I wouldn't have noticed all the little intricacies I did. Note to self: more dancing, less critiquing.

Rocktober gives Bearfoot 8 out of 10 stars.