1972

1st Kerrville Folk Festival

This festival had a volunteer staf of 3: Dick Goodwin, Joe Bermeja on tickets and the third was photographer for the Dallas Times Herald.
Rod Kennedy

1973

2nd Kerrville Folk Festival

This year we had a volunteer staff of 8
Rod Kennedy

Kerrville Ragtime Festival

An Evening from the Kerrville Folk Festival

closing on Quiet Vally Ranch took place in December 1973
from Rod's "Music From The Heart"

1974

Bluegrass Open House

3rd Kerrville Folk Festival

This was the 1st 4 day festival

This year the staff was 25. It was the first year on the Quiet Valley Ranch.
from Ky's interview with Rod

This was Tony Simmons' first year. He bought a ticket, but got drafted onto staff before he got across the parking lot. He worked on the overnight "mixmaster." there was no in-out gate, there was gate situated between where the ticket booth is and the present outhouses. "Allen Damron did a coffeehouse concert at Lamar University in Beaumont in (I think) March of '74. We were in the process of putting a non-commercial station on the air, the first (Intentionally) non commercial in Southeast Texas. I was to be the station's music director, and introduced myself to Allen at the show. He invited me to the festival on the memorial day weekend, so I went! My most vivid memories are arriving at the ranch and parking somewhere near where the comm shack stands today. (or where it stood last time I looked, anyway) When I got out of my car, I heard hammers a-hammering nearby. Since I had a hammer too, I siezed it and went to join the fray. I recall helping to nail the front boards of the stage in place and meeting long-time stage manager Mack Partain. The other vivid memory I have is trying to get backstage by showing my KVLU business card, and doing the "don't you know who I am" routine. Security wasn't having it, so I stayed out front. Some things just never change, do they? hehehe!"
Bob Crockett

Mary Jane Farmer was a kerrvirgin

2nd Kerrville Ragtime Festival

1st Bluegrass Festival

1st Glen Miller Orchestra Chamber of Commerce Benefit

Kerr County Days 1974

"I met Allen Damron when he was playing at Richard's Lounge in Harlingen sometime in late 1973, early 1974. He somehow talked me into coming to see him play at this one night performance. I got to the ranch early in the afternoon, no one was around except the sound man setting up. He needed help, so i helped. That is how I started working on stage. I had to convince Mack that I could do the job at Folk the following year (officially my first festival), and have continued to stage manage most years since."
Brian Urban

1975

2nd Bluegrass Open House

Kerrville Folk Festival 1975

Lee Green gave Brian Urban a piece of 4x4 which Lee says was salvaged from the altar after the big oak split.

This was the year that Rod sponsered hot air balloon races. The meadow was used as the launch site.

Ace Hindman built the first altar for Chapel Hill and installed it a day or so before the Festival opened. Ace's flat bed truck couldn't make it alll the way up the hill so Ace, Joe Zammarron, myself and at least one other person carried the altar up the last slope." Brian Urban

Benefit Concert for the Kerrville Folk Festival

1st Country & Western Jamboree

2nd Bluegrass Festival

2nd Glen Miller Orchestra Chamber of Commerce Benefit

1976

3rd Bluegrass Open House

5th Kerrville Folk Festival

I got the transportation job by volunteering to pick someone up at the airport. Steve Caruthers was also living in the buiding that was to be the Kerrtry store. There was a first aid crew that came up from the Gulf coast.
Mary Jane Farmer

Frisbee Demos in Meadow
My very first festival. I didn't quite know what it was that captured me, but I knew I would return to find out.
Mary Potter

Red Steagall Celebrity Golf Tournament

2nd Country & Western Jamboree

3rd Bluegrass Festival

1977

Bluegrass Benefits

Kerrville Folk Festival Reunion

6th Kerrville Folk Festival

Charlie Land came in this year with CB radio club. Eddie Creel came that year also and worked on Communications, but got sent to work all over the crews as a kind of "gofer."
Charlie Land

3rd Country & Western Jamboree

1st Kerrville Gospel Jubilee

4th Bluegrass Festival

8 Great Hours

1978

7th Kerrville Folk Festival

I think I was a KerrVirgin that year. The old stage was still there. The first staff person I met was Brian Cutaen. I remember watching Patty Peebles and Vicky Bell dancing all the time by the fence. I remember wondering for years what wonderful things were behind that fence. It was several years before I got up enough nerve to ask to be on staff, and my daughter ended up asking Tony for me when we were volunteering at Aquafest.
Susan Roads

4th C & W Jamboree

2nd Kerrville Gospel Jubilee

5th Bluegrass Festival

1979

8th Kerrville Folk Festival

This was my first festival. I was there only 3 days and at first I didn't know if we'd get in, but we did and got assigned to the Nightime Whiskey Barrel watch.
Ky Hote

Bobby Bridger's "Heal in the Wisdom" premieres

1st Antler Dave Memorial Run

1st Kerr County Fair

3rd Kerrville Gospel Jubilee

6th Bluegrass Festival

I was on Tickets. We got $8 a day, all the beer/soda you could drink, breakfast from Jimmy Mesley's booth, t-shirt every day, free staff guest, free camping, free parking, free hot showers.
Carolyn Norulak

1st 12 Great Hours

Texas Tour - 1st Kerrville on the Road

1980

1st Sponsor Association Concert - Terry Waldo

Kerrville Music Foundation Benefit for Competitions - McClain Family Band

2nd Sponsor Association Concert

9th Kerrville Folk Festival

This year I arrived a couple of days early and I had hitched in getting this wonderful ride in a green schoolbus belonging to Ann and Dan Greenlee with another hitchiker by the name of Fat Jack. The first sight that greeted me at the Festival was Frank Hill leaning into the bus asking, "Do we have any electrical volunteers in here?" I said "sure," and dug ditches for the electrical lines in teh theatre that year.
There was wonderful post-Kerrville gig at the Waterloo Ice House on Congress hosted by Gary P. Nunn and Bobby Bridger. Clyde Buchanan went first and I went second.
Ky Hote

2nd Kerr county Fair

2nd 12 Great Hours

I had worked several festivals either in tickets or selling music or whatever needed to be done. I used to do the typesetting for Rod in Austin at CompSet Typesetting. This particular festival I remember as I had fallen off a motorcycle the night before at Soap Creek Saloon and yet made it to Kerrville the next day. Lee Green looked at me and said "you look pretty rough, why don't you go pick up B.W. Stevenson at the airport in San Antonio." Ahh air conditioning, no problem. And BW was one of my favorites, so I go to the SA airport, get him, we have a drink at the bar, then begin the drive back to Kerrville. He proceeds to tell me he was supporting Ronald Regan for president and I about stopped my car. I was and am a yellow dog democrat and here was one of my heros telling me he is a republican. I took him to his hotel and said someone else would come get him for his performance.
Gayle Reece

7th Bluegrass Festival

1st Austin Street Dance

Texas Tour - 2nd Kerrville on the Road

Mary Jane started living on the ranch after this tour.

Bob Gibson dedicated the song "Abilene" to the town "Abilene" on this trip. he had previously never been there.

Staff meeting at Symphony Square was held the day after the Armadillo concerts (Nov. 1st)

1981

3rd Sponsor Association concert - Tribute to Hondo Crouch

New Stage built in the main theater.

4th Sponsor Association Concert - Eliza Gilkyson & New Folk Winners

Bluegrass Winterfest

2nd Austin Street Dance

Texas Tour: 3rd Kerrville on the Road

Texas Legislature passes bill honoring Kerrville Folk Festival's 10th Anniversary

1st Free concert at Miller Theatre in Hermann Park (Houston)

10th Kerrville Folk Festival

Paisley Robertson started working in the office this year. Lee Green and Buddy Sims were in charge of checking staff in. This was the first year the Friends of Bill W met.
Mary Jane Farmer



The staff shirts were black with white lettering.(HOT} It rained big time, Turtle Creek was too high to cross and Radar's VW van washed down the creek.Radar had to be resqued from a tree.
Staff received One tee-shirt,one ticket to exchange for breakfast at Jimmy Mosley's foodservice and an $8.00 per day stipend [Most of the days anyway]. We got one guest as well.
Joe Montgomery

That year all of the electrical ditches I had dug in the theatre the previous year got washed out and I had to dig them all again. I may be shy on details, but the fact remains that I was digging ditches all day and picking my blisters into callouses all night.
Ky Hote

Kerrville Tears of Joy Reunion

1st Summer Music Festival (Classical)

I was camped up on the hill overlooking the theatre and it was lovely to sit up there in the evenings and hear the Festival orchestra's music sweep up the hillside. At other festivals, ROd and Nancylee's horses would make themselves scarce, but at the classical festivals, they would lean over the fence separating their domain from the theatre and perk their ears up...
Ky Hote

8th Bluegrass Festival

3rd 12 Great Hours

Louisiana Folk Festival

1982

2nd Free concert in Hermann Park

3rd Austin Street Dance

1st Mesquite Folk Festival

11th Kerrville Folk Festival

1st Staff Concert. It was held on the main stage at about 10:00 in the morning.

When I first started, 1982, I remember we started checking folks in following the staff meeting and after that it was done from the back room at the office.
Sue Medley

That's when we cooked and ate staff dinner in the theatre.

I was a Kerrvergin this year , but I have no memory of this because I was only three months old. So if you do the math this actually means I was concieved during the Fest the previous year. And Ive been back every year since. Guess I liked it. ---- Jon ,son of Jeff Davis. XOXOX
Jonathan Davis

A journaled memory of this festival:
o boy... we get there Tuesday still dreaming visions of Banjo Jim to show up before Wednesday, which was when he was sure to show up by. Well, he showed up Thursday of course... and with an odd hitchhiking tale about getting hassled by cops on the road...
Mike Williams showed up claiming retirement - no more money, he would just play music and have fun.... The two weeks at Kerrville were impossible to imagine even though I was there. I made lots of new friends and strengthened many old acquaintances and played guitar practically 24 hours a day. I learned how to do it in my sleep. I made closer friendships with lots of folks - Crow Johnson, Jim Hancock, Carol H* Cardozo, Elizabeth the storyteller who told us great stories on the way home from Luckenbach.
There was a women's campfire this year. It was a real nice focused non-exclusive campfire. Can I ever describe the power and the beauty and the LIFE when Lisa Gilkyson sang "Tennessee Roads?" Or the sweet roughness and timeless historical value of hearing Dave Van Ronk singing "Song To A Seagull" down by a campfire in the middle of the night. Or the fun of playing with Woody Paul, Paul Pearcy and Banjo Jim in the stoned darkness trying to have fun all around... "Lets' keep walking, Ky..." If I only could've written then, I'd have told a thousand stories then, but I could only spend my energy on picking... nothing else mattered as much...

2nd Summer Music Festival (Classical)

9th Bluegrass Festival

4th 12 Great Hours

1983

4th Austin Street Dance

2nd Mesquite Folk Festival

12th Kerrville Folk Festival

I was on Security. After I got my RN (what year?), I became the roving Security at night before we had an organized first aid crew to do it.
Larry Fein

Tee-shirts were yellow that year, Rod said gold but they were yellow. Security was called hospitality that year.
Country Joe

Shakey Bean was a KerrVirgin

This was the year Stan Rogers sang loud and tall at the Crow's Nest and then died in a fiery plane ride the next day after leaving our valley of paradise.
Ky Hote

The first song Stan Rogers sang was the "White Collar Holler" which was written by our own Nigel Russell. His band, including his brother, left early, but he stayed on for the fish fry. It was very powerful seeing these three large men get up on stage singing acapello. I believe Connie Kaldor, Ray Bookbinder, and Valdy were there also representing Canada.
Susan Roads

I remember Stan Rogers' set (sort of). After Stan played the first song, the theater erupted! It was POWERFUL STUFF!! No, I don't remember what he played. That's all I remember as I sat on the back of the stage shell and slept through the rest of the set. Stan was a grand master talent taken from us way too soon. At least his last days were spent at Kerrville. May we all be so blessed
Brian Urban

3rd Summer Music Festival (Classical)

10th Bluegrass Festival

3rd Free concert in Hermann Park

1st Goodtime Music Festival

1984

1st Celebrate Austin

4th Free concert in Hermann Park

Pleasure Island Music Festival

3rd Mesquite Folk Festival

13th Kerrville Folk Festival

I was on Smoothies. I also worked transportation for 3 days. Shakey Bean



I believe I was on Hospitality at this point
Ky Hote

5th Free concert in Hermann Park

11th Bluegrass Festival

Jimmie Rodgers Jubilee

2nd Goodtime Music Festival

NancyLee's Birthday Campout

1st Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1985

2nd Celebrate Austin

14th Kerrville Folk Festival

Kerrictionary published

5th 12 Great Hours

Joe "King" Carrasco

My first 'official' time to work on krew. My daughter had asked Tony Simmons if she could be on staff, and could her mother be on staff, too. We worked drinks.
It was HOT! There had been no rain. There was no camping, so I set my tent up in the parking lot and stayed up all night killing hundreds of piss ants.
Susan Roads

6th Free concert in Hermann Park

12th Bluegrass Festival

3rd Goodtime Music Festival

I think I was on backstage hospitality for this festival. I was if this was the one that Trapezoid played at?
Ky Hote

1st Isla Mujeres Festival

2nd Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1986

15th Kerrville Folk Festival

I was the '2nd' for running tickets. Back then we called ourselves, 'Stupidvisors'.
I camped with a group at the end of the meadow near the old ticket line entry. It was called 'Camp Atlantis' because it was always underwater. Later the landscape was altered to avert the water flow there.
Susan Roads

I joined backstage Hospitality. Later on Tamara (sp?) was the Kerrleader (what year?)
Shakey Bean

It rained throughout much of this festival. That summer Michelle Shocked's album "The Campfire Tapes" was a hit over in Europe and she gets a 20 minute guest spot on the main stage. She was on the trash crew and had been for a while. BanjoJim, Flash, Tom Pershey and I all play with her. We also recorded a bunch of tracks by the campfires, at Flash's house and in hotel rooms in hopes of creating another campfire album with a band feeling. I don't think we ever got much worth keeping at those sessions, but we had a lot of fun.
Ky Hote

I remember that year! I think I was there as Ky's guest, or something like that. It was rainy and nasty, and I woke up one morning with Sudden Creek at the door of my tent. You're right, Ky, it wasn't too much worth keeping on tape, but it was fun!
Tom Pershey The beginnings of Camp C.A.L.M.
Lendell & Evie figured out for sure that they were camping in the same location we are now since 1983, but think it might be earlier than that. CALM came to be our name in 86 or 87. Lendell came up with the acronym. (Conroe Association for Live Music) She took the logo (cat & dog) from a mouth painting artist that we are still trying to locate (Ann Adams).
Blair Powell

7th Free concert in Hermann Park

Celebrate Texas Tour - 4th Kerrville on the Road

Midland - Odessa Folk Festival

8th Free concert in Hermann Park

13th Bluegrass Festival

4th Goodtime Music Festival

If this was the last Goodtime festival, it was extremely cold and wet. Rod called off the last day of the festival due to the weather. I remember going over to the office, and there was a note on the door that said, 'Darcy Farrow - phone home', which I assumed was a wry joke.
Susan Roads

2nd Isla Mujeres Festival

Great Texas Outdoor Celebration

3rd Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1987

3rd Isla Mujeres Festival

Celebrate Texas Tour: California - 5th Kerrville on the Road

9th Free Concert in Hermann Park

16th Kerrville Folk Festival

I believe the old staff central building was the old second beer booth. It was originally built to serve a double purpose - staff central and a place to store ticket supplies and armbands. I don't think it was built yet. Susan Roads

I remember staff central was by the side window of the office building. Does anyone remember when we moved out?
Ky Hote

I'm pretty sure Steve Lackey was staff coordinator. This was the year of the rain. Somewhere around 15" in 18 days. Lendell & I got married at the Threadgill Stage. No one could get up to Chapel Hill. This was the year our camp acqired the name Camp Calm (Conroe Association of Live Music) although the same people had been camping in that location since the late 70's. All those kids in schoolbus got swept down the Guadalupe after the festival. At one point, the ranch was isolated as Turtle Creek was up over the road and Hwy 16 towards Medina was washed out. That brought about a shortage of ice, so Steve & I sort of organized a share the food (before it went bad) buffet at Threadgill.
Blair Powell

Blair and Lendell, spiritual paretns of Camp C.A.L.M. were married at the Threadgill Theatre. They had planned to marry on Chapel Hill, but it was too wet and muddy. Their jeep couldn't get up there. Walter Lee officiated and Nancylee was in attendance.

Check the dates you have listed-should be '87, not 88. This was the year Turtle Creek was out of it's banks & road to Medina washed away, so we were trapped on the Ranch. Began to run out of ice, since they couldn't get to us either. Also the year Lendell & I got married. We had to use Threadgill, since Chapel Hill was not accessible. We came up with the idea of a community buffet @ Threadgill to feed the hungry & use up what was in the ice chests before it went bad. BW Stevenson played at my bachelor party, along with many others
Blair Powell

1st Folk Aid Tour: 6th Kerrville On the Road

10th Free Concert in Hermann Park

14th Bluegrass Festival

Folk Aid Festival

4th Isla Mujeres Festival

Kerrville Benefits: 7th Kerrville On The Road - Austin, Houston

4th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1st Kerrville New Year's Eve

1988

2nd Folk Aid Tour: 8th Kerrville on the Road

11th Free Concert in Hermann Park

17th Kerrville Folk Festival

I think This was my first year on staff. I was on tickets.
Ned Mefford

My last festival...a personal memoir
The first weekend I think I worked comm central. I don't remember too much more about the first weekend, except a vague feeling that it would be the last festival I attended. I got a ride back to Austin with Frank Hill on Tuesday.
When I came back Saturday morning, June 4th, I went to staff central to check in (it was at the side of the office at that time), I was told I needed to call my mother. I called and was informed that my sister had delivered a baby girl that morning, and that my father had died the same morning, after seeing his newest granddaughter.
I called to get a flight out of San Antonio, and could not get on one until Sunday night. So I decided to stay for some of the music, the campfires, and I knew I could find comfort from the great people I knew on staff. I have not seen many of you at all since then, but I want you to know I appreciated all the many kindnesses that came my way!
Most of that day has been blurred by time, but I remember spending several hours with Townes Van Zandt.
The next morning, after breakfast, I attended the folk mass, and during the public prayer part, I asked everyone to pray for my father and my niece. Tom Chapin was playing at that mass, and when he came up to the mike to play, he acknowledged my request, saying something to the effect, a man dies, a child is born...and then he sang his brother Harry's song, "All My Life's a Circle".
Tom Pershey

Bambi was a Kerrvirgin this year. She came here as part of Joe Bruenell and his Chorpus Christi Friends playing cello and singing them. They had an afternoon concert back before the Threadgill was built and it was in the main theatre in the hot hot sun.

Celebrate Texas Tour: Alaska - 9th Kerrville on the Road

15th Bluegrass Festival

5th Isla Mujeres Festival

Kerrville Benefits: 10th Kerrville On The Road - Dallas, Houston

Staff Retreat in Austin

5th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

2nd Kerrville New Year's Eve

18th Kerrville Folk Festival

This was my first year at Kerrville Folk Festival. Every morning at 7am John & Sherry Arnold would meet Joe at the store and the coffee and the stories would start. There were other regulars at this Kerrfee Klatch. They started calling it the Friends of Juan V. meeting.
I spent one day on the trash crew at this festival. I had a ball.
Anne Feeney

I'm thnking that this was the year I joined the Kerrtry Store krew.
Ky Hote

1st Kerrville Folk Festival Too!

1st Napa Valley Folk Festival

6th Isla Mujeres Festival

6th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1990

Bankruptcy Tour: 13th Kerrville On The Road

19th Kerrville Folk Festival

I think that year Nella Villafranca was my '2nd' that year. Susan Roads

This was my first year. I was on the beer crew. Robin Rues

I joined Hospitality this year. Hospitality was in a building, well... a structure over by the staff gate. Between this year and 1994, we built CD storage and office supply storage.
Bambi

I think this was the year I was the Kerrleader for tickets.
Ned Mefford

This was Owl's first festival. She worked in the kitchen. Calamity Jan ran the kitchen on the weekdays.
Owl Morrison Tuesday nights at Camp C.A.L.M. became the night for a poetry campfire.
Blair Powell

2nd Kerrville Folk Festival Too!

2nd Napa Valley Folk Festival

7th Isla Mujeres Festival

7th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1991

Texas Tour - 14th Kerrville On The Road

20th Kerrville Folk Festival

t was my 3rd festival or second i cant remember and i helped out on staff drove my own vw transporter van to the airport to pick up the bands helped in the kitchen on the odd ocasion and remember a time when i was thrown out of control on a sunday i think it was joe who said though i was working in control i was out of control one of the best years of my life how i miss the festival wish i could be there this year!! love you all
lawrence campbell

3rd Kerrville Folk Festival Too!

3rd Napa Valley Folk Festival

8th Isla Mujeres Festival

8th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1992

Texas Tour - 15th Kerrville On The Road

13th Free Concert in Hermann Park

21st Kerrville Folk Festival

Doug outta Control was a Kerrvirgin

1st Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

9th Isla Mujeres Festival

1st Nashville Kerrville Reunion

9th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1993

Texas Tour - 16th Kerrville On The Road

14th Free Concert in Hermann Park

22nd Kerrville Folk Festival

I joined Communications. I went up to Staff Central and I asked Papa Smurf where help was needed and said Maintenance or Communications. I thought communications sounded good. That was when we had a small Comm Shack, which has been moved over by tickets and is now tickets storage. Tup asked me why I wanted to join Communications and I explained I had theatre experience as well as stage crew experience. He offered me a beer and I was on the crew.
At that time, there was just a few people on the crew working "control" and we kind of doubled as de facto gate security where the Comm. Shack was.
Before we had a Communication crew, the Austin Radio Communications handled the radio work out here. Tony Simmons was always involved with the crew because he was involved with them.
Doug Outta Control

2nd Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

10th Isla Mujeres Festival

2nd Nashville Kerrville Reunion

1st Kerrville Music Awards

New Folk Reunion

10th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1994

Texas Tour - 17th Kerrville On The Road

15th Free Concert in Hermann Park

23rd Kerrville Folk Festival

3rd Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

3rd Nashville Kerrville Reunion

2nd Kerrville Music Awards

1st Songwriter's Circle

11th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1995

1st Cruise: Enchanted Seas

1st Press Tour: 18th Kerrville On The Road

16th Free Concert in Hermann Park

24th Kerrville Folk Festival

I was a Kerrvirgin. I worked in the kitchen, mixmaster and at the Kerrtry Store. The kitchen then was a small shack over by the tree where the serving line now extends to when it's busy. We had only an oven and a stove in there. Our sink was outside and there was a convection oven outdoors also. Staff lined up to a service window and it all it all got done there.
Maverick Goodson

The comm. Shack was moved over by tickets to be used for tickets storage. A new Comm shack was built.
Doug Outta Control



This year I became Tony Simmons' second for beverages.
Ned Mefford

I performed a spoken word piece at the Staff Concert about classism and drug laws that caused me to get kick off staff for a few festivals.
Hey - it's not an easy staff to get kicked off, I was honored! Ky Hote

4th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

4th Nashville Kerrville Reunion

3rd Kerrville Music Awards

2nd Songwriter's Circle

12th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1996

2nd Cruise: Folk Cruise of the Caribbean

2nd Press Tour: 19th Kerrville On The Road

25th Kerrville Folk Festival

This was the year Tag-A-Child was invented. It ran a booth in the theatre that offered a bracelet to any child at the festival that corresponded to an identification of who the parents were and where they were camped.
Ned Mefford

By some subterfuge on the part of Holly and Vaughn, I was named, along with Charlie O, volunteer of the year. I got a silver jacket and Rod suggested not to wear it because I might melt. It was too short anyway. I recall being here for 32 of the 25 days. Like most, I don't remember what we built. Gael Montana called me Big Bird, but she also called me Rico and a few other choice names.
Rico

This was my first year at the festival, I was brought into the fold by Vern Crawford. Needless to say I don't remember much, it was overhwhelming, so many cool people all in one place, supportive listeners, fellow songwriters, I came from a really small town and this was something I had not often experienced.
I worked my first day on tickets and realized it was too fast paced for me, so then I joined up with the trash crew and met fellow songwriter Wilson, Jerry was driving the trash truck.
I stayed all 25 days. wrote a song called "Sidewinder" which was my first campfire "hit" Unexpectedly got the attention of a TV crew from Switzerland that was there filming a documentary about folk music, many people were filmed, including myself and my Canadian friend Samantha Parton who was backing me up on "Sidewinder."
A New Camp I remember from that first year was "Brain Dead" which didn't last long, also Camp Tarps-a-Lot and Camp Duct Tape.
What a great first year to have attended, 25 wonderful days of music & friendship!
Summer Droit

I joined Communications this year.
Maverick Goodson

5th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

I came and worked on trash crew again all three days and stayed an extra day. The most notable things I recall from this festival is that I spotted a really talented acoustic bluegrass band from Arkansas that were kinda shy and only there for a day, so very few people saw them that first year, I asked everyone I met "did you hear that quartet Still on the Hill?" and no one knew who I was talking about.
By the next year everyone knew them. I designed and hosted websites for them and several of my Kerrville Kohorts that were not web savvy back in 1996.
This was also the first time I discovered the Medina river, and met ahhhh!
Summer Droit

Amber Griffin was a Kerrvirgin this festival

5th Nashville Kerrville Reunion

4th Kerrville Music Awards

13th Kerrville Christmas Reunion

1997

26th Kerrville Folk Festival

Amber Griffin was on staff for the first time. She was on Smoothies. She also joined Mixmaster that year.

Ky Hote was on the Kerrtry Store crew.

6th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

Michael Bell fell asleep in his truck in the meadow and Hollywood and I duct taped him to the steering wheel and took pictures.
I met Wrong Way & Lori - two wonderful friends that I shall always cherish. Also Hollywood & Cricket. Also met Tommy Pankritz and Polecat at this festival. Met George Tucker who stayed drunk the entire time and somehow learned one of my songs in the process.
This would be my last year on the trash crew due to a herniated muscle I got from dehydration and hurling heavy bags too hard.
Three days just ain't enough!!
Summer Droit

I believe this was the Summer the RV park was built. I remember coming back from a bicycle tour in Alaska and spending a week in the trenches in the heat. Rude Dawg's first Kerr W/M experience, also.
Rico

1998

27th Kerrville Folk Festival

I was voted into Staff Concert this year, played on the Threadgill stage, chose Owl Morrison to perform with me onstage, winners are allowed to perform only 2 songs and I gave one to Owl, so we did a song I wrote called "Four Lane." Then as the second song we did an amazing song that Owl wrote called Capitol "T", truly a great song with a sorely needed message.
We also wore T-shirts airbrushed by De showing our support of Chandler who had been ousted from the festival that year by the festival producer Rod Kennedy. Chandler was back the following year. :o) This Staff Concert was filmed by Harry Larry. Summer Droit

Dawn Reesz was a Kerrvirgin this festival

It was my first Big Folk. One extremely Fond memory comes to mind. While preforming traffic control at Mix-Master, for a medical emergency, a gentleman approached me and asked I knew his sister and where she might be . He said her name was Jackie. I asked what Kerrew she worked on. He could not say, he had not seen her in eight years! After a brief description, I reconized who was his sister!
When the medics had left the Ranch, I asked the gentleman to follow me to a camp location. That being the last camp site on Main Rd. before Kerrtry store. When I rounded the corner of thier trailer I called to Jackie that I had someone that wished to see her. It was quite the a joyful reunoin. It filled me with a great deal of pride that I could be a part of that reunoin. The Spirit of Kerrville shows through it.
"Wrong Way" Chip Rogers

Ky Hote was on the transportation crew.

7th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

Dawn Reesz joined QC this festival..

1999

28th Kerrville Folk Festival

We built the Pavilion, T-shirt Booth, Threadgill slab and CG shower slab this year. All I remember was 8 solid days on a trencher. Water and electricity to the lower meadow and 24 additional RV hookups. Rico

I was a Kerrvirgin this festival. Bill Passalacqua asked me if I would be interested in going. Since I had wanted to for a few years, it was an easy decision. Pulled up to Camp Lubbock Or Leave It (between Threadgill Theatre and High Road/Chapel Hill Rd. 'intersection'. Was about to set up a tent, however, was offered to use Butch Hancock's tent by Barbara (Butch's Partner in CD duplication business). Still, somehow -- have my original festival cup! Wasn't on a krew, however, picked up trash around the ranch... Ben "Pizza Guy" Hamilton

My Father,staff member, and kerviver Mark Mahoney Passed away, and we spread his ashes on Chapel Hill. Special thanks to John King Jacob mahoney

Paul "Papa Smurf" Fleming's memorial was held on Chapel Hill the first weekend.

8th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

2000

29th Kerrville Folk Festival

9th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

2001

30th Kerrville Folk Festival

10th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

Robert Earl Keen Concert

We tore down the old Hospitality in preparation for the huge crowd we were expecting - three weeks after 9/11. Hmmm...
Rico

2002

31st Kerrville Folk Festival

AllKids was born this year. Though not as organized as it bacame the following year, the idea was to find jobs for the kids who were between 13 and 18 for the week days. They usually worked on the smoothies or cokes crews during the weekend and were left with nothing to do and needing drinks and meals during the week. The idea grew to be a way to mentor kids that age for more responsible staff positions when they got older.

Richard moved over to VIP from Communciations.

The Hospitality shack was torn down and we moved over to the building that housed T-shirts. We shared it with them. Bambi

I created the Staff Historian position Ky Hote

11th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

2003

32nd Kerrville Folk Festival

Backstage Hospitality expanded its duties to include backstage hospitality for the Threadgill stage. Shakey Bean Cobb At the suggestion of Dalis and Charlie Land, the Staff Rekerrds Store was born. Built largely by Jason on All Kids Crew, it sprang up across from the Kerrtry Store and sold the products of the Staffers. A first for Festival history anywhere - that I know of? Anyone else heard of any precedent for that sort of thing? Ky Hote

12th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

2004

33rd Kerrville Folk Festival

13th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

2005

34th Kerrville Folk Festival

14th Kerrville Wine & Music Festival

Staff Memoriam

• Antler Dave
• Banjo Jim
• Toby Solomon
• Wayne Kennemer
• Electric Barry
• Mark
• Paul "Papa Smurf" Fleming
• Mark Mahoney