The Kerrville Folk Festival and the Path to Kerr-Version Erinn R
Barefield: The Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival and the Path to Kerr-Version Erinn R. Barefield 22 (L-R)Produced Butch Hancock,by The Berkeley Bobby Bridger, Electronic Paul Press, Glasse, 2011 & Eliza Gilkyson at the Rod Kennedy 80th Birthday Tribute, February 2, 2010. 1 Courtesy Alan Lazarus. Journal of Texas Music History, Vol. 11 [2011], Iss. 1, Art. 4 Kerrville.To some it is just a small Hill Country town in Central Texas. However, to others, the name has become synonymous with great singer-songwriters and original music as a result of the now internationally famous Kerrville Folk Festival. The festival, which begins every Memorial Day weekend and spans 18 days, has over the course of its 39-year existence become a unique institution embedded within Texas history and culture. For 23 many longtime festival regulars, it also serves as a reunion of sorts.The sign posted at the entrance, “Welcome Home,” sums up the feeling many attendees experience when they return each year to Quiet Valley Ranch, where the festival is held. Since the festival’s modest beginning in 1972, an extraordinary collection of singer-songwriters has played the main stage and in the campgrounds, including Jerry Jef Walker, Lyle Lovett, the Dixie Chicks, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Steve Earle, Terri Hendrix, Nanci Grifth, Bobby Bridger, Tish Hinojosa, Steven Fromholz, Shawn Colvin, Tom Paxton, Guy Clark, Marcia Ball, Michael Martin Murphey, Steve Gillette, Ruthie Foster, David Amram, Carolyn Hester,Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Randy Rogers, and Wade Bowen. Many of these nationally known artists return yearly to share music and good times with old friends.
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