Arrived safely at the Wilkesboro Waste Water Treatment Plant, set up our tents, barely beating a brief rain shower. Then we set ourselves in the right frame of mind... and off to the show!

First up, John Cowan:

He did a set of rock/soul-tinged new-school bluegrass - so new-school that it was sometimes hard to tell if you should call it bluegrass at all - sounding more like classic rock, or 60's soul. Pretty good though. A good way to get started.

And then the rain started for real.

Unfortunately for the rest of our party, who arrived later than we did, they got stuck setting up their tents in the rain. The four of us just had to sit in it and watch bands. For example, Cherryholmes:

Dad's on bass, mom's playing mandolin, the kids handle banjo, guitar, fiddle and vocals. They're a high-energy, all-in-the-family, bluegrass band - great playing, fun to watch, good songs, etc.. Worth sitting in the rain for, thankfully.

And that was all we saw the first day. So it was back to the tents to do some eating and drinking.