It’s hot in Tennessee in the summer. You can see it in the drops of sweat sticking to Rayland Baxter’s chin in these videos. It’s at times a debilitating heat. One that allows you only to drag along to the next spot where you’re going to lay down and close your eyes until the sun relents and lets the evening in. At Bonnaroo there’ s the heat and there’s the insanity and they mix together to overwhelm you, no matter how many times you’ve been there. There’s just too much going on, too many things to see and do, too many people, it can be quite a lot to deal with, but so can life.
So when you hear a calming whistle, a soothing guitar, it tends to help slow it down. Then that sun that’s been beating on you relentlessly all day seems a little less viscious, a little more magical. That’s how I rember this performance. One moment there was a whole bunch of stuff going on, people pulling me every which way, asking questions, wanting to go here, there, this that, and it was too damn hot for any of it. Then Rayland Baxter gave a subtle hello, chatted for a minute and climbed into the van, tuned his guitar, started picking, and all of a sudden everything was a little slower. Everyone stopped asking questions, stopped running around, all those worries and thoughts just took a back seat for three songs. Three lovely, lovely songs. Just a man, a guitar, and the summertime. Simple shit, to ease out the complicated, sometimes that’s all you need.