I love seeing the different ways people make big creative parties. From more traditional mainstream festivals like Vivid to the glorious weirdness of Fringe festivals, each event is a great way to have fun while also learning about local flavour.
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This last week I attended the Master Musicians Festival, in Somerset, Kentucky. I knew Wynonna Judd was the headliner - she was the first musician I ever saw, age seven at the South Carolina State Fair.
Another famously Kentucky-based group, southern rappers Nappy Roots were performing and I loved their hits when I was younger.
I liked that the festival was family friendly, and was a nonprofit organisation run by volunteers. It's dedicated to bringing good music to rural Kentucky at an affordable price. ($US90 for a 3-day ticket).
We listened to the line-up on the drive in, and I realised I was familiar with some of the emerging musicians like eastern Kentucky's Brit Taylor and Appalachian songwriter Ian Noe.
It was a hot Friday arvo when I arrived but with plenty of shade tents and free water and not too far to walk between stages. The acoustic tent was the most modest of the stages, a humble marquee with bales of hay for seating.
"You might see some of the best acts right here," the announcer joked, and he wasn't wrong. First I watched 23-year-old singer songwriter Hannah Howard woo the entire audience with her bittersweet vocals on Once you love a cowboy.
Next was blues poet Nat Myers, whose eastern Kentucky accent melted me along with his fingerpicking. Nicholas Jamerson and the Morning Jays went on to dazzle crowds with originals and covers alike, we got everything from Jungle Boogie to the classic hymn In the Garden.
Brit Taylor was next. I particularly love her hit Rich Little Girls and how she ties that to her celebration and appreciation for hardworking families. "Hell I still clean houses and churches when I need to," she said.
The next day I was in tears listening to West Virginian songwriter Scott T Smith. His show was intimate, with sad soulful songs and honesty, particularly when he played a song that made me cry, Be Free. "I love this country. My family fought for this country and sometimes I feel like Americans can't be free anymore," he said.
Later that afternoon my brother and I jumped around with Nappy Roots who did all kinds of mixes to go with their hits like Aw Naw, Good Day. They donned cowboy hats and rapped songs about country ways of life. One lyric stood out: "made a lot of love in my cowboy hat."
Later I interviewed Fish Scales from Nappy Roots. "We are so lucky that we found the magic formula between country music and hip hop, and I think we found the perfect balance between the two," he says.
Last, dazzling Wynonna took the stage with her big style, sparkly ensemble and legendary bright red mane. She called herself the Queen of Kentucky and told us she was not scared to take chances nor scared to go back to jail. She brought nine-year-old Emily up to sing No one else on earth with her and the audience swooned. "The great thing about country music is it's for real people in the real world," she told us. I couldn't agree more.
Famously Kentucky
I'm going to have to go with Bluegrass. The Kentucky commonwealth is famously nicknamed the Bluegrass State, referring to a common Kentucky pasture grass that is in fact green. But Kentucky is also known for its Bluegrass music, as indicative of Kentucky-born mandolin player and father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe.
