Bluegrass by the Blue Waters

The summer afternoon soundtrack featured mandolin riffs layered over the sound of kids splashing in Medical Lake.

Spectators at the Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival spent the hot weekend cloaked in shade and music. More than 100 people sprawled in lawn chairs and on blankets Sunday afternoon to listen to fantastically quick picking and slow ballads of bluegrass bands from around the region.

It’s the third year the weekend festival has been held at Medical Lake’s Waterfront Park.

Darrin Craig plays guitar for Jackstraw, a Portland bluegrass band that has been at the festival all three years. The members of Jackstraw look and play like down-home rockers, mixing melancholy standards with foot-stomping original songs. Craig – whose hair curls out from under a worn cowboy hat – said the group comes back to Medical Lake each year because they have an “overall good time.”

“The people are really nice here, It makes us want to get up and play well,” Craig said.

Musicians often jam together during and after their sets. On Saturday, the musicians kept playing long after midnight, said Tom Bogley of the Inland Northwest Bluegrass Association.

Since its inception, bluegrass has been unpretentious, American music. It relies on the virtuosity of its musicians rather than elaborate stage shows or outrageous costuming.

“There’s no fancy stuff to distract from the music,” Bogley said.

Approximately 400 people bought tickets to the weekend festival, which featured Hit & Run as Sunday’s headliner. During the Jackstraw set Sunday afternoon, festivalgoers spread across the grass on lawn chairs and blankets.

Denny McDaniel, who owns the only grocery store in town, founded the festival out of the conviction that the park would make a perfect music venue. Bluegrass seems like a style of music that fits well with down-home Medical Lake, McDaniel said.

McDaniel and others also realized the music could benefit the community. Proceeds from the festival help several charities that serve the West Plains area. The group Friends for Children helps kids in the community with school supplies, eyeglasses and summer camp. Dollars for Scholars gave out 49 scholarships to high school graduates this year. Medical Lake Outreach helps provide food and prepared meals to needy families.

Wanda Fletcher came from Republic, Wash., to watch her five daughters play as part of the Fletcher Sisters. Fletcher said she loved the festival’s setting and atmosphere.

“It’s way different from going in and being a captive audience for a concert. It’s really relaxed,” Fletcher said.