THROUGH THE LENS: Roots Music Legends Abound at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024

Every October the eyes and ears of roots music fans everywhere turn to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The Park’s landscape includes 680 forested acres, 130 acres of meadows, and 33 acres of lakes, but it’s the one-of-a-kind fest Hardly Strictly Bluegrass that draws our attention.

This is the seventh time the column has reported on the fest, which this year was held October 4–6. A brief history of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, that began in 2001, can be found in last’s year column.

Peter Dervin reports from the festival, with photos in the gallery below. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2024 by Peter Dervin 

On one of the hottest weekends in San Francisco, with temperatures exceeding 90°+ F, thousands of roots music fans enjoyed another Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park.

This year was the year of legends. First, a spry 93-year-old Ramblin’ Jack Elliott performed a classic folksinger set. Then there was a pair of 90-year-olds, Bobby Rush and Alice Gerrard. Rush, who’s been inducted into more blues hall of fames than you can count, amply displayed the Chicago style he’s most famous for. 

Harkening back to her days as a duo with Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, a Bluegrass Hall of Fame member, sang her brand of protest music about guns and violence. Dickens was also instrumental in the creation of this free event.

Dave Alvin, who appeared with Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones, just received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association in Nashville.  Together they played a variety of songs from their Texicali and Downey to Lubbock albums. 

What can one say about Emmylou Harris, who also performed, that has not already been said — she pretty much singlehandedly rescued real country music from extinction, and then expanded it. Along the way the Godmother of Americana helped save the Ryman Auditorium from the trash heap, and championed new generations of songwriters and musicians.

But there were more legends: 1) the Lucinda Williams tribute “Songs from a Gravel Road” led by Steve Earle; 2) Cat Power’s “Sings Dylan ’66” set; and 3) Tony Trischka’s Earl Scruggs tribute band, “Earl Jam.”

While other legends Buddy Miller, Patti Smith, Mavis Staples, Laurie Lewis, and Jon Langford were also there, there was no shortage of younger artists who are carrying on the traditions of roots music, included Molly Tuttle, Alison Brown, Brandy Clark, Dom Flemons, Greensky Bluegrass, Yo Lo Tengo, Robyn Hitchcock, and AJ Lee. A full scheduled line-up can be found here.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has gone to great lengths to bring such an eclectic mix of bluegrass, singer-songwriters, world beat, folk, country, and rock making it the premiere free festival in the country, if not the world.

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.