Big Sky Blues

Coming off a high time last week, Big Sky got the blues this week.

Fortunately, the blues came in the form of Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, recently named BB King Entertainer of the Year, which based on the performance at Music in the Mountains is well-deserved.

They were also recently named Blues Band of the Year and won Blues Album of the Year.

The show opened with a terrific set by Madeline Hawthorne, who Julie and I have enjoyed hearing at the cozy setting of Acre Kitchen in winter and also at a Thursday night concert last year.  She reassembled her band that had been touring when Covid-19 shut down their burgeoning national ambitions.  Back then, she retreated to the Big Sky area where she wrote a new album, playing an occasional free show in what at the time felt like the last bastion of freedom in a world gone mad.

The lineup looked like it might be too guitar-heavy when they took the stage.  Madeline 's skilled acoustic rhythm guitar was accompanied by not only bass, lead guitar and drums, but also a pedal steel guitar and a second lead guitarist who was an expert on slide guitar.  I assume it she wants to be ready in case some bandmates aren't available for a gig on their re-emergence tour, starting as opening act for the Wildlands Festival that featured several well-known national acts in Big Sky's PBR stadium this weekend.  Julie and I did not attend that two evening event, because while we recognized the names, we would be unable to name any of their songs. 

Madeline's band was a hard act to follow, having put on a stellar performance, but when more people arrived for the main act, as always happens at these concerts, Tommy Castro and the Painkillers were more than up to the challenge.

As you know, the blues isn't necessarily about being down in the dumps.  The Painkillers played a show of wide-ranging styles including rousing rhythm and blues that true to the band's name had everyone invigorated and joyful.

It was a terrific performance, as good as Eric Clapton's show that I attended at Long Beach Auditorium back in July of 1974 or bluesman Freddie King's set as opening act for Black Oak Arkansas at the same arena in October of 1972.

The next morning, Julie and I drove toward Bozeman and took a sidetrack through scenic ranchlands to a winding road through forest lands, past the Hyalite Reservoir and onto the gravel road out to the trailhead for Grotto Falls.  We hadn't been there this year, although with a gradually rising path to the falls and a relaxing downhill stroll going back, it is one of our favorites.

We arrived early enough to have the trail to ourselves on the way out.  It was a bit on the chilly side, which is probably why others started later.  At the waterfall, there was a single photographer who was standing on rocks in the river to get photos of the water fall.

We stayed to enjoy the tranquility of the falls for a few minutes and then headed back down the trail, encountering several hikers making the ascent as the sun warmed up.

I thought I fit the waterfall setting in my Hawaiian shirt, which I realize upon seeing Julie's photo has shrunk to be too short.

Much to Julie's chagrin, I have interspersed photos of our hike through this post.

It isn't that she dislikes the photos, but she prefers photos to be directly related to the text that surrounds them, which as on my last post, they don't.

After a quick shopping trip in the big city Walmart, we headed back home for a short rest before driving up to join Darlene, Brooks and BG3 for dinner.

Darlene made a delicious meal of Caprese Salad, Chateaubriand with Bearnaise Sauce, baked potato and petite peas mixed with fresh cut corn.

We enjoyed the fantastic family feast and interesting conversations.