Ocrafolk 25

Ocrafolk ’25: A Destination Festival
Good music, riveting stories, and human connection

You could live in North Carolina your whole life and never make it to the lacy edged shawl of islands slung carefree over her hip that includes Ocracoke. No one gets there by accident. The multi-pronged journey conjures thoughts of the 1987 movie Planes and Trains and Automobiles–except the Orange Blossom Special takes the form of a ferry, like the one at Swan Quarter. Driving to that point takes an explorer through some of the most isolated marshy grassland that one can hope to see in modern society. But the Ocrafolk music and storytelling festival, held the first full weekend in June, has more in common with the John Candy/Steve Martin flick than you’d think. The movie is described as “a story about gratitude, human connection, and finding the good in unexpected places.” That’s practically the festival byline. Good music, riveting stories, and a slice of humanity that is keeping the right edge of the state bolstered and beautiful.

Louis Allen

On June 6th, Master of ceremonies Louis Allen opened what he declared to be the 25th year of the festival, giving or taking due to a hurricane and a pandemic, with quite possibly the only serious remark he made all weekend: “Patriotism used to bring people together and these days it seems to become divisive. We want to bring people together again.” Then Gary Mitchell, Louis Allen, and Robert Bodie sang “The Star Spangled Banner” a capella.

Allen was later joined by longtime bandmates in a group called Warren, Bodie and Allen for several tight-harmony songs. Arguably an audience favorite was one that told the autobiographical story of singing 3-part harmony in the high school bathroom where there was “natural reverb.”

Reggie Harris, musician and storyteller from Philadelphia, began his first set with “Walking down that Freedom Road” and “The Times They are A-Changin’.” With stories deftly bookmarked with music, he introduced a song he wrote about Woody Guthrie, saying “He stood tall against the forces of indifference,” with yrics appropriate for the festival:

You gave us hope by singing your song
And now we’re here to carry it on .
Roll on, Woody, roll on.

Harris then underscored the importance of music in society: “Songs are the glue that holds together the culture of the world. They are the fabric that reminds us of who we have been and could be.”

When multi-instrumentalist and storyteller Josh Goforth took the stage with his trademark Appalachian style, he talked about the devastation of Hurricane Helene, but also the heartwarming examples of people helping each other. “I saw things I thought I’d never see,” he said. “I saw big truck rednecks hugging Asheville hippies.”

Both Goforth and Harris performed the song that many associate with their church-going childhood, “This Little Light of Mine.” Goforth said it was the favorite song of a woman who claimed to be 123 years old and told fellow musician David Holt that the secret to living that long was to be good to everybody and eat ice cream every day.

At the end of Goforth’s set, on the workshop stage with Joe Troop and David Benedict, he paused to think about what to play next, and a woman shouted in jest, “Wheels on the Bus!” Without skipping a beat, the trio demonstrated their unrehearsed agility by impromptu playing of the familiar childhood tune, modulating keys several times, culminating in a haunting A-minor.

George & Charles Clements

Ocrafolk is a festival known for musical surprises such as the incongruous pairing of Larry & Joe (North Carolina banjo player and Venezuelan harpist). This year also included the Jeff Little Trio (piano, guitar/banjo, and mandolin), with unconventional, old timey camp-meeting style instrumentation for songs such as “The Orange Blossom Special” and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

The wide spectrum of music included the mellow Simon and Garfunkel influenced twin brothers, the Clements, and husband-and-wife duo (with roots in different continents), the Foreign Landers. A touching festival moment was when they performed on Sunday with their baby strapped to her mother’s chest.

Tabitha Benedict of the Foreign Landers

The Wilder Flowers, a trio of young female musicians accompanied by bass player Jonah Horton, who often plays mandolin with the Kruger Brothers, who charmed during their Ocrafolk debut. Another first-timer group was the Sam Fribush Organ Trio featuring the group namesake playing a sophisticated yet proudly analog keyboard instrument accompanied by drums and saxophone

The Green Grass Cloggers, founded in Greenville in 1971, were on hand to bring heel-toe, hoe-down style flair to the festivities. Saltare Sounds, a classical international group, added soul-soothing sophistication.

Storytellers Donald Davis and Donna Washington took festival-goers through a range of emotions. When Washington told the inspiring tale of self-worth about cracked pots on Sunday, ending with “Be your cracked self,” master of ceremonies Louis Allen quipped, “That’s right. I’m cracked and have been leaking all weekend.”

Introducing host band and local favorite Molasses Creek, Allen explained, “Gary Mitchell had the idea of the festival, but I’ve known Gary since the 8th grade and he couldn’t organize his closet. David Tweedie is the reason they were able to organize the festival.”

Lipbone Redding

Greenville’s Lipbone Redding hosted the all-star jam that closed out the weekend in high-spirited festival fashion. His bubble-fueled, voodoo musical magic awakened the rain gods and set them loose in a heavy footed tap dance gullywasher accompanied by heavenly pyrotechnics that made even Ocracokians batten the hatches.

Festival fans from years past–the retro hand-held tongue-depressor handle sort used in un-air-conditioned churches and funeral homes–were distributed throughout the weekend for self-service, metronomic cooling. On the back of the 2014 fan was written a phrase that summed the festival up well, even a decade or more after it was printed: “Life is one grand, sweet song, so let the music begin.”

All photos by Donna Davis.