This year, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival doesn't officially start until noon on Friday. However we could still arrive on Wednesday to set up camp. This has changed the whole tenor, tone and pace of Thursday.

We started the day just hanging out and chatting with friends as new friends continued to arrive. The weather was beautiful and in the afternoon I took Fiona and a friend to Taconic State Park to swim in the old quarry. The water was much warmer than expected.

We ran into several people from Falcon Ridge including a woman 2ith a one year old. Last year at Falcon Ridge, her very large belly was being decorated with henna and Fiona joined in and got henna designs on her arms. The baby came out two days after Falcon Ridge.

Back at the campsite, we ate some local fruit and berries and then Kim arrived with our seecond wave and some good stuffed bread and pies.

In the evening, the teenagers headed off with their guitars for an improptu jam session at the dance tent. I headed to the lounge where a couple hundred people gathered for an unofficial concert.

The music was quite good, but without a notepad, I'm relying on memory as to who the performers were. Leading the session was a guy with a name something like Ethan James BryantEthan Scott Baird (of Pesky J Nixon, see the note below. When I get a chance I will check online to try and figure out and link to the real name.

Also performing was Brittany Ann. This is her first year at Falcon Ridge and she was really good. David Glayser joined in with some really good music as well.

When that set ended, I headed down to Tribe Hill, where I listened to Abi Tappia, Chris O'brien, Karen Oliver, Brad Yoder and Jason Ramalach. Abi was an emerging performer a fe years ago and came back the following year as one of the most wanted. Chris O'brien is one of the emerging performers this year. If he performs as well as he did last night, as well as on some of his songsonline, he is likely to come back tnext year as one of the most wanted.

After that set, Tribe Hill shifted into an open song swap, but I knew Fiona would be waking up early so I headed off to bed.

The tenor, tone and pace of Falon Ridge on Thursday was quite pleasent. The informal gatherings of musicians was very enjoyable and fits very nicely with a broader understanding of how things emerge.