first off, Terrapin, thank you so much for the wonderfully nice things you said. You made my night. Being as I have a full time job, these days, i haven't been able to read nor post as often as i would like... but either way... i thought i might share my first experience with barefoot manner....

It was Mannerland 1 that first brought me to Barefoot Manner. I had discovered the festival through a boyfriend and we decided to go for 2 reasons... 1) it was cheap and 2) Larry Keel. So, a few days before the camping extravaganza I recieved a notice from a barefoot fellow that there was a young woman who needed a ride out to snow camp... so of course i volunteered. oh man what was i getting myself into?....i had never allowed someone i didnt know to enter my life like this before... so it was completely thrilling and scary all at the same time. this wonderful young woman was GRASS CAT, or Christine to others. her boyfriend had to work that weekend and she had decided to go on with out him... the first thing she asked was "can we put this AWESOME BAREFOOT MANNER magnet on the back of your car?" uhmm, i didnt really know what to say... being as i had never heard them before, but i relented and we were on our way....

when i arrived at mannerland i was shocked at how intimate it was... and the first person i saw was shane carol with his long dreadlocks. i started to wonder what i had gotten myself into at that point... but then i saw jeff running around witch his cowboy hat and then learned that he had just gotten engaged (to genevieve of course), i met some really wonderful people, like Grady, who i recognized from the Guilford College radio... after a few hours i was definetely enjoying the people and the great environment.

when the music started i wasnt too impressed. the other bands were.... okay... but nothing like what i wanted. then barefoot came out... and honestly, i wasnt impressed with them either. i attribute it to the fact that my boyfriend was a dickhead and wouldnt leave me alone so i could try to check it out, alone, and personally... and i ended up goingg to bed shortly after the first set began. the second night... the same thing... i left the festival wondering if i had wasted my money... even tho i did enjoyed Larry.

so... yes... i didnt like barefoot manner at first ... but i soon realized it wasnt THEM that i didnt like... it was other people and they were kicked out.

a few weeks later my phone rang and to my surprise it was christine. she wanted to go out to chapel hill and see barefoot at the mellow mushroom. at the time she was unable to get out there herself, and pizza sounded pretty good, as well as the inticement of being able to drink soem beer... i was down. so i drove her out and somehow made it in to the 21+ show, which i was able to do countless times following. WHOOT!... so anyway, i guess i had quite a bit to drink because i started yelling at the band while htey were playing like a complete idiot... telling them that they were awesome and i was so glad to be there... i remmeber specifically yelling at jeff when he tried to get me to shut up by saying "we are recording this for an album" (hint to ashley: shut up)

Then, they played some amazingly fast song, that if i remember correctly, was Barefoot Blues. My feet took on a life of their own and i was in for it. i didnt stop dancing the rest of the night. i was stuck... completely glued and after the show christine had to DRAG me out of the restaurant.

from that moment on, for the longest time, i never missed a show... unless it was 21+ and somehow, even that didnt always stop me... but regardless... something in those guys really clicked with me that night...

spinning spinning spinning, they just kept me moving.

it's amazing to me that i can be completely exhausted but barefoot just keeps me going. their talent passion and kindness are three things that i will never forget.

and i havent stopped dancing since.

and walter, i came, i saw... so now... you can kiss MY butt (yeah! in your face bia!)