You know what they say about meeting your heroes. It can either go really well or, if they’re not the human being you’d made them out to be in your youthful imagination, it can be deeply disconcerting. Happily those of us who were excited to meet Roger McGuinn at Roots last night came away from the experience with nothing but good feelings. From the heavenly opening notes of soundcheck on that signature Rickenbacker 12-string electric guitar, McGuinn emanated a warm, low-key grace. By the time he got on stage, we think maybe our “surprise” had been blown, but no matter. We had Roger McGuinn singing Dylan songs on our stage, and we’re feeling pretty darn proud of that. 

The show had certain serenity too. Coordinatrix Laurie said from the outset that the day had just gone improbably smoothly and maybe somebody was watching over us. After three post-flood shows where things seemed a bit out of synch and the audiences were clearly smaller, we had a huge crowd of happy folk for what turned out to be a wonderfully rangy and exceptional lineup. 

We invited Knoxville’s Black Lillies to kick things off, and they delivered an even bigger, beat-infused sound than I think we expected. They’ve evolved for sure since they played Roots as Vietti emerging artists last fall, with a harder, bluer feeling overlaying their country/folkie underpinnings. The shaky-shake beat of “Nobody’s Business” was a great showcase for the band’s driving fiddle (Billy Contreras) and twangy electric guitar (Tom Pryor). These guys are in demand these days, so we’re so glad they came back to visit us. That opening salvo was complimented by the slower, darker songs of duo Doug & Telisha Williams. With only an acoustic guitar and a bass, they created an aura. Telisha wrapped her voice around the dangerously seductive “Learning To Drink Whiskey” and their closer “Graveyard Train” had a satisfying, Cash-like drive.

That’s where we interrupted our regularly scheduled program to bring on McGuinn. He opened with Dylan’s “My Back Pages” and got the audience singing along on the “I was so much older then” chorus, which made everyone feel younger I think. And being an inveterate folkie, he also led a sing-along on the chorus of the surreal Dylan classic “Down In The Easy Chair.” He set his final song up with a great anecdote about WSM. The Byrds played the Grand Ole Opry in 1968, and they were not well received by the audience, despite their sincere love for country music. On the same trip, McGuinn got famous WSM DJ Ralph Emery to sample their single “Mr. Tambourine Man” but he refused to play it on the air. In the wake of the experience, he wrote a parody of the all-night DJ with Gram Parsons. “Drug Store, Truck Drivin’ Man” is over the top but it spoke to the divide, musically and culturally, between fans of rock and roll and fans of country music in the late 60s. Roger agreed in our interview that fortunately that was no longer really an issue, and our crowd gave that line a big round of applause.

The bluesy but not bound-by-the-blues duo of Peter Karp and Sue Foley were next, offering songs they’d written together through and inspired by a long distance correspondence. It was fascinating hearing how focused they’d become on expressing themselves in these e-mails to one another and how those grew into songs, some about making love and others about knock-down fights. Up next was they quirky and amiable Sam Quinn, whose songs took the vibe of his previous band The Everybodyfields and added his own sincere charm. His four-piece band included a watercolor wash of pedal steel that gave the mid-tempo songs a real beauty, and Quinn has a bold and expressive voice. 

Finally, we left cleanup duty to the boys of Florida roots and newgrass band Dread Clampitt and their special guest and friend Sam Bush. It was inspiring to see these guys performing and jamming with one of their biggest musical heroes and influences. It took some guts to jam on the mandolin, trading licks right there face to face with Bush, but that’s just what singer/picker Balder Saunders did and did well. They’ve got a large, fun sound that made it easy to imagine one of their beachfront gigs down in Florida. The Loveless Jam, a funky Iko-Iko beat take on “Wabash Cannonball” was a grand rocking finale.

Thanks to everyone who made last night so special and so easy, especially Roger and wife/manager Camilla McGuinn. If everyone was that nice and constructive, the world would turn, turn, turn much more smoothly.

Craig H