Festival season is coming to a close which means you have to get your time in while you still can when it comes to outdoor music events. On 09-09-11 I headed to East Haddam, CT to The Solar-Powered Local Music- Tribal Summit. This was a really special place. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I like to do yoga and live somewhat of a hippie type alternative lifestyle. So the Sanctuary (http://oursanctuary.org/Our_Sanctuary/Home/Home.html)   in East Haddam, CT was a perfect place to spend a Saturday. I got there early around 12:15pm. I pulled in and had a look around the property. Beautiful place and the energy felt really good from the start. I checked out the main event area and there was a jungle gym with kids and families playing, a wrestling mat, and some cool vending. There was a also a cool band called “Say What” (http://www.myspace.com/saywhatchester ) that was kicking off the music. They played some cool covers from Artists like Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, and Hendrix. The girl who’s name I didn’t catch had a good voice and she sang the tunes well. I was really impressed with the lead guitar player who had what a appeared to be a Jimi Hendrix style wig on.  I believe his name is Ryan Newman. I listen to the rest of their set from my car as I needed to chill out for a few minutes and cool off in some AC. Right after Say What went off stage there was a guy (I don’t know who) who recited a nice poem. It was beautiful.

I then decided to take a walk into the woods and find out more about the Sanctuary. I found some cool berries, mushrooms growing out of tree with cancer, and what we believe is bear scat. I then also found the beginings of what will eventually be a sweat lodge. It was a very cool woods area with rocks turned into sculptures and what seemed like good energy. I then headed back to my car for a nap and eventually met up with my friends Bear & Beth from the String Band. They introduced me to a few of the guys from the other bands one of whom was from South Africa. I thought it was pretty cool this guy came all the way from South Africa to play a cool little day festival in CT. Dizzy River Band and Hannah’s Field played next. They were both great. I was really happy to finally get a chance to see Hannah’s Field live as I’ve been reading and listening to them on the internet since 2006 and had never seen them play. They are really awesome and I love everything they stand for musically. The next three bands were Womb of the Desert Sun, Jen Taylor, and Bokum Road who were all really great.

One of the cool things about the Sancutary was that the entire property was completely solar powered. They had a huge solar panel which looked beautiful.

There was a major storm coming thru which was going to have heavy downpours. So we showed the festival organizers the radar map and convinced them to have the rest of the bands play inside the Yurt. The yurt was a really cool thing and it appeared they did yoga and probably some other energy work in there.  So you knew the energy was going to be really good inside there. String Band was the first band to play inside the Yurt and they did it justice. I even snapped a pic of Bobby Pickett (of String Band and the Fretz Notz) doing some really strange fiddle playing with an Alien life form.

String Band played a great set which included songs such as Till The Morning Comes, Beautiful Morning Dew, Mercury Blues, and Modern Girl. They also did this funk jam which I was lucky enough to catch on video and you can view it here…….( https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3515032205403 )

After String Band went off stage we were all pretty hungry and while I’m sure we would have liked to catch the rest bands that played it was a long ride home. So my friends and I went and got some pizza and beers nearby and then headed home.  The rest of the bands that played that night were Desert Rain Trio, Mason Luca, Cosmos Sunshine, Exit 6 Band Dance Party all of which I’ve heard good things about.

The Sancturay is a very cool place with great energy and I really feel  like you should visit at least once for what they are doing there. Just the fact that they are running the entire property on solar power sets a great example of how we all should use more alternative energy sources.  The yurt was a really unique thing and I don’t ever think I saw a band play in one.  I know money is tight for money for most of us these days but if you have an extra dollar or two consider donating to the Sanctuary.

Overall it was a beautiful day with great memories and spectacular bands and energy. I am really sold and believe on what they are doing at the Sanctuary. It was a wonderful place to spend a Saturday in  Northeastern Connecticut. Namaste.