Nelson Ledges Quarry Park (NLQP) was an operational rock quarry for nearly 20 years until the late 1950s when mining operations accidentally tapped into an underground freshwater spring. Much like a dinghy with a hole, NLQP quickly filled with water, making it impossible for the miners to continue their work. Operations were shuttered, and local phreaks of all sorts became the only visitors to the 250-acre hidden lake near Garrettsville, Ohio. In the early 1970s, it became a commercial campground, and in 1995, ownership passed to Evan Kelley, a former campground manager. Evan made several improvements to the campground and eventually began hosting music festivals several times a year. There are five festivals scheduled for 2024. A barefoot Deadhead at heart, Evan infuses each festival and the park itself with that unique current of sweet musical bohemia that Garcia and company sowed into our world.
I had known about NLQP for years and had been tempted to check out "Grassfire," the mid-summer festival devoted to all things pickin' that Evan hosts annually. Not exactly a bluegrass fest per se, but an all-inclusive celebration of all things strummable—some tradgrass, some jamgrass, some psychgrass, and a whole heap of Ohio Americana, all staged right on the sandy shores of the ol' quarry, surrounded by a beautiful forest filled with 400+ campsites. This year's lineup pushed me over the edge, and I set aside some of my precious festival time to head down to Cuyahoga country to see what NLQP and Grassfire are all about.
The Site
NLQP has two stages roughly 100 feet apart, continuously scheduling live music from about noon until midnight-ish. Headliners perform on the main stage, a well-built, semi-enclosed older stage with great sound, elevated about 4 feet above the sand-covered dance area in front. The viewing area is wide and shallow, backing into the area of the second stage, which is a paved, covered pavilion built more recently. It’s smaller but not small, narrower but deeper. You can sit in this pavilion and see both stages just by turning your chair as needed—a great way to spend the day, and many fest-goers do just that. Or you can grab space at any of the ample selection of picnic tables or cable spool chairs that dot the area. Second-stage acts often play split sets, with 45 minutes between one set of headliners and then 45 more between the next. The sound and stage crews are very efficient; the only deviation from scheduled set times I saw all weekend was due to a minor rain delay, which resulted in the whole day being reset just 15 minutes later. It’s cool to hear one band end and then hear the next one start up at the alternate stage 2 minutes later. Both areas are no more than 250 feet from the water’s edge, and it’s quite the experience to soak in the water while listening to bands wailing on stage. You can’t quite see them, but for some bands, visuals aren’t required.
I’ve attended quite a few music festivals over the years with access to open, swimmable water, but apart from ‘Strings N Sol,’ none of them allow festivarians to even dip their toes. A nice morning swim to rinse away all of last night’s funk is great, and for parents with kids, it’s like nirvana—you can hear the tunes while kids build sandcastles, swim, or float the day away. Kayaks and SUP boards joined the piles of beach floaties surfside and could often be seen exploring the pit lake.
Facilities
Port-o-potties were the go-to, have-to-go spots, but they were cleaned often during Grassfire, and I never stepped into one that was overly revolting. We had a lot of rain during the fest, which led to some muddy floors but nothing gross, including odors. I understand there are two showers at NLQP up near the main entrance, though I cannot report on them—I opted for a dip in the lake instead. My campsite was about a five-minute walk to the main area, literally over a stream in a little meadow. It was well marked and easy to find. The whole place has easy-to-see campsite markers. Trash cans and recycle bins dot the entire park and are emptied regularly. The 5 MPH speed limit is strictly enforced, and even though people and cars share most of the roads, I didn’t observe anything overly unsafe while walking around. Drinking water is probably the one area that could be improved. There is only one spot on the property, which is not near the main area, to fill water—a situation that is not ideal for a festival.
Vendors
There were more vendors than one might expect at a festival of this size. Lots of hippie wears, glass items, trinkets, glow sparkly stuff, a merch spot—typical offerings, shopping-wise. I bought a poster. The food, however, is anything but typical; it’s great. There’s a coffee shack, and pizza—I didn’t have the pizza, but the line was long, and the crowd seemed happy with their slices. On the other end, there’s a place dishing comfort plates à la walking tacos and anything you can imagine over tater tots, which was yummy! But the standout was Althea’s, which served amazing cooked-to-order sandwiches and hot dogs. The staff didn’t let on that they had been standing in a hot AF kitchen tent all day cooking up food for 2,000 phreaks—great attitudes, great timely food, and a covered place to enjoy your dinner, too. Every festival food vendor in the USA should strive for this kind of attitude and customer service. Top notch.
What you won’t find at NLQP is a beer line—nor a beer, cocktail, or even a spritzer. It’s 100% BYOB. Coolers full of suds followed festy freaks around like loyal dogs, and some of these fans clearly have their quarry game down! Built-in seats, umbrellas, and wagons full of beach chairs, towels, and sand toys were everywhere. Ice is available at the front, and a trailer with both ice and firewood snakes through the campsites daily. Fires are allowed in fire pits as long as it isn’t overly dry, which it definitely wasn’t this year.
Music
The Thursday night pre-party featured Ohio trashgrass masters The Rumpke Mtn Boys along with the Fireside Collective from Asheville. I wasn’t onsite yet but was informed that both sets were fiery and fluid.
Friday brought the most traditional set of the weekend with Becky Buller and her band laying down some delicious Appalachian harmonies amidst fierce fiddling. The Steel Wheels from Virginia did a split set of their Americana style. I hadn’t seen this most recent, more drum-oriented version of The Wheels yet, and I found that the percussion didn’t really alter their offerings much—great vocals, Trent’s amazing songs, and Jay’s incredible musicianship. Eric was more of a force on fiddle than in years past, and the a cappella shaky jangly stick did not make an appearance. The Travelin’ McCourys were really the reason I came. In my opinion, they are the best band in bluegrass, the best musicians anyway, and they did not disappoint. They played great covers, including “Whole of the Moon,” the Waterboys classic they’ve been doing of late, the beer song by Rob, some tight picking by Cody Kilby, who is seriously underrated as a guitarist, and the great voices of Alan Bartram and Jason Carter.
They were back an hour later, suited up and respectable, with the man himself, Del. Del Yeah! Definitely the best-received set of the weekend. Del has been to the quarry before, and the crowd loves him—he talked to the crowd, took requests, and laughed longer and harder on stage than I’ve seen him do in a while. Jean was even there selling Del-ware. He had a blast, the crowd had a blast watching him, and the night was over far too soon.
Saturday morning found Cleveland bluegrassers the Sugar Mules putting in an unexpectedly good set, considering where they were billed. I really enjoyed their performance while immersed in the quarry water. I’m looking forward to seeing more from them. The David Mayfield Parade had the challenge of the day as it rained hard during three-quarters of their set. They just went with it, soaking wet and choosing to abandon the relative cover of the stage to leap right out and join the crowd that stayed to listen to their songs. Awash in Mother Nature, everyone amped up a level and then another as they just kept going. I’m not sure it was even safe at some points to still be playing electric instruments, but they did it anyway—gotta love the effort. And the crowd clearly did, swarming over to buy merch and cheer them on after they finally yielded the stage. Desert Hollow from Maui (yes, the island) did split sets after. Not sure they have found their sound yet. It wasn’t bad, exactly, but they never seemed to find another gear, and her speaking voice had ten times more body and volume than when she sang, which was wispy and airy, I think intentionally.
Donna the Buffalo, an Ohio institution loved perhaps even more than OSU football, did an amazing mid-afternoon set filled with their special smooth jams—such a perfect afternoon band, so full of energy and soul.
Peter Rowan did a set of his usual Southern California hippy-dyed grassisms during the dinner hour. Nothing particularly unique or interesting about a Rowan show these days, but he’s always uniquely himself and certainly set the contrast for Leftover Salmon, who brought 100% of their psychedelic Cajun insanity to the stage after a Brown Chicken Brown Cow second-stage romp.
Uncle Vince and crew are regulars at the NLQP site, and like the full-time party warriors they are, they met the crowd on their own terms and delivered a scorching set before running down the road to play yet another show that same night. The set was notable for the inclusion of Greensky Bluegrass member Anders Beck performing a banjo duet with his former Broke Mountain Bluegrass brother Andy Thorn. Anders is typically a dobro player, and it was surprising to note that he is damn fluid on a banjo as well.
Greensky Bluegrass was the Saturday headliner this year, and the Kalamazoo crew was in an odd mood, starting things off with “Bring Out Your Dead,” and when they do that, you know they just want to get weird. Probably a day watching Der’s cliff dive skews the setlist choices? They shredded through a run of favorites old and new, with the crowd loudly greeting each track with shouts of “We love you!” and “Welcome to Bedrock!” “Reverend” was particularly poignant for me—three feet from Bont, alone in the dark stage wings, with Phoff knowing I was there somewhere but unable to see me. Truly love this band. The boys finished with “Radio Blues,” “Old Barns,” and “Worried About the Weather,” before an “Atlantic City” encore. As a side note, the new track “One More Day” has only been played live three times now, and I’ve been at each outing—that quirky stat cannot last.
But... It Could Be Better
Grassfire and NLQP are great Ohio fan-fave festivals and may just continue in that same vein for years to come. Grassfire has room to grow and expand, however. They are gaining some notoriety regionally and are drawing from Michigan and Pennsylvania now in limited numbers. Attendance was below expectations this year, and the fest slashed Saturday tickets to $65 to entice show-goers. The issues largely revolve around organization. The fest is poorly promoted—it’s hard to find information on the fest or purchase tickets, and even the sign out front was poster board done up in markers like a backyard grad party. The private campsite, which is open year-round, clearly has some full-time residents that detract from the inviting festival culture being projected. Security was virtually nonexistent, with only stage bouncers ever in evidence, and only for a few sets. I personally witnessed hard drug use 25 feet from the main stage, surrounded by families with kids. It was hard to find out the daily schedule in advance, and onsite, only one small sandwich board smeared by rain had that info. I expect more from a staff that puts on multiple fests a year. It should be a well-run clock by now, and it’s not. Nearly every attendee I chatted with had some sort of complaint. I didn’t personally have this issue, but several were unhappy with the way they were talked to by staff or vendors. The BYOB status left some fans dry and others far too wet. I did arrive during a rainstorm, and though I was on staff credentials, no one asked if I even had any weapons, let alone searched my car for anything dangerous. I understand that there’s a line festivals need to draw somewhere between an overbearing police state and a college frat party free-for-all. NLQP doesn’t seem to have decided where they want that line yet, and it’s going to keep some music fans away until they know what to expect and that the experience is consistently delivered. Word of mouth is what makes this community want to attend a fest, and the NLQP word of mouth is decidedly mixed.
Next Up
Nelson Ledges Quarry Park hosts the Lazy Days festival on August 16, Summerdance featuring three nights of Lotus over Labor Day Weekend, and an October Funk fest with details pending. All info is available at NLQP.com.
