Following Larryfest last year, I think a lot of folks were a bit hesitant to return after the rain, floods, and mud. This year turned out to be a great weekend of good music, free sweet corn, late night pickin’, and beautiful sunshine in the Kickapoo Valley.

We headed up to Larryfest on Friday afternoon having no clue who was even playing because the line up was never posted. All we knew was that we were smart/lucky enough to send in for tickets two days before they sold out. However, if you have been to Larryfest before, you know that half of the fun is the music. The other half is being in the woods, drinking beer with all the barefooted folks from all over the Midwest, eating sweet corn, and playing baggo a.k.a. cornhole in the afternoon sun. We realized when we got to Richland Center (halfway there), that we had forgotten our tickets. Luckily, our dear friend Paul Kienitz was kind enough to buy a cell phone recently and learn how to use it, so we didn’t have to drive all the way back to Madison.

There was a lot of great music throughout the weekend including the New Bad Habits and the Foghorn Trio (Dear Santa, please bring me a tripod for Christmas!), both which are always great to hear. Saturday night was headlined by the Dan Tyminski Band. To put it lightly, these guys totally kicked butt! The music and singing were awesome. The fiddler, Justin Moses, was exceptional. Dan actually broke a string on his guitar while singing lead and didn’t miss a single note while he changed his string during the song. It was a phenomenal show and I hope they make it back to the Midwest soon. Another fine year at Larryfest had by all. I am already looking forward to Larryfest 2009!