Larry Gillis and Swampgrass | toastofthevalley.blogspot.com

Sometimes, I just can’t get it all together. Another Top Tickets page is out there, and I’m verklempt over a couple of events that slipped past me.

The first one, Toast of the Valley, features bluegrass acts Larry Gillis and Swampgrass, The South Carolina Broadcasters, rock band Collateral, an open jam and a top 40 country band. Wine — from Fincastle Vineyards, Virginia Mountain Vineyards, Savoy Lee Winery and Blue Ridge Vineyard — food, arts and crafts will also be heavily in the mix at this event, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on the lawm at the Kazim Temple, 628 Campbell Ave. S.W., near Jefferson Center. The nighttime country concert will be inside the temple.

On nearby 813 5th St. S.W. The Water Heater will host music for the event across the street — Oliver’s Twist Street Fest and Open House. Another Roadside Attraction and Jesse Ray Carter are on the bill for that action, which begins at 6 p.m. The renovated building across the street features a spa and beauty salon called Oliver’s Twist and an “upscale resale” joint called Twisted Market.

Robert Randolph | File photo

A little bummed out that Robert Randolph would not answer my calls today, but not so bummed that I would neglect to tell folks that Randolph’s headlining slot at the Sept. 29 Big Lick Blues Festival will happen at Elmwood Park after all.

Apparently, renovation work is late starting over the the ‘wood, so there’s no need to throw the bash at the second location, the Reserve Avenue fields.

So, head to Elmwood next Saturday to catch Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Wet Willie with Jimmy Hall, the Southwest Virginia Blues Allstar Jam, Mike Lucci Band and all sorts of ribs, ribs and ribs.

Show details at biglickblues.org.

Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra | Photo by Matt Humphrey, courtesy facebook.com/catawba.fest

The inaugural Catawba Farm Fest was plagued by flash flooding and thunderstorms during flash flood warnings on Saturday and even more rain on Sunday. It caused a lot of shows  to be cancelled — which certainly disappointed a lot of late-night Papadosio fans, but it was Virginia Tech property, and they made the rules.

Not long after the wonderful Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra played its set, a flash flood came through, halting the action on and off through the rest of the night. Better luck next time, Farm Fest.

Megan Jean and Byrne Klay share a moment after a great dance tent set at FloydFest | Photo courtesy facebook.com/FloydFestVA

Every year at FloydFest, show-goers vote for their favorite up-and-coming acts in the festival’s Under the Radar Contest for regional acts.

This year, the buzz around the fest was for Megan Jean and the KFB (Klay Family Band), a remarkable duo from Charleston, S.C. Though it is just two people — husband/wife team Megan Jean and Byrne Klay — the act puts up a mighty ruckus of sound with guitar, stompbox, washboard, upright bass and banjo, with Megan Jean Klay’s vocals and lyrics giving a ton of depth.

Not only did the KFB win this year’s Under the Radar Contest, its appearance at the festival led to a Sept. 6 booking at the Kennedy Center, according to publicist Malcolm J. Wilson. We predict big things ahead for this act, which is as much or more fun to watch as to hear. The Under the Radar first-place prize take is a main stage slot next year, $3,500 and a $3,600 microphone package from Floyd County-based Peluso Microphone Labs. The latter prize is the one that will keep on giving for years to come. Ask any sound engineer worth her ears.

Chapel Hill, N.C., act Lizzy Ross Band finished second ($1,000 cash money, plus $1,600 in Peloso microphones) — Ross has formidable vocal skills and stratospheric range. New York City group Spirit Family Reunion, which I missed that weekend, finished an “honorable mention” third.

That said, shouts to Grass Monkey, Another Roadside Attraction, The Floorboards and The Boatman — all from the Roanoke area or very nearby. All those bands did their thing well, but it’s hard to beat an act like the Klay’s and Ross. I hope to see all of them next year.

About two months from now, the major domos at FloydFest will get together, post-decompression, and figure out what went right and wrong at No. 11. The wait allows them time to receive feedback from the thousands who have been here this weekend. And while most of the feedback probably will be good, there will be some legitimate gripes — particularly from folks who waited for hours for shuttle buses after arriving today.

It’s FloydFest’s first-ever Sunday sell-out, with about 12,500 people on the grounds, and today was the only day for which the festival sold single-day advance tickets. About 1,000 single-day reserved tickets went on sale Friday before last, and it’s certain that folks bought up the 250 tickets set aside for 11′s ultimate day.

But for some Sunday-only folks, it was the ultimate bummer. Joie Ayala, of Charleston, S.C., said that people in the lot where she parked spent up to three hours waiting on a shuttle bus. She and her friends gave up waiting and began to walk before someone in a pickup truck saw them and gave them a lift the rest of the way.

Ayala said one man she spoke with in the lot told her that as he waited, he had missed every act he came to see.

From the timeline that Ayala gave me, it seems that many of those stuck waiting had not arrived particularly early. Others onsite said they showed up early and got in fine. But it’s definitely something for the organizers to look at next year.

“I love FloydFest, and I’m not dogging it,” said Ayala, who has been to many of them and was just meeting up with her mother, Diane LeBlanc of Roanoke, as we spoke in the line at Sugar Shack. She just wants them to work out that kink. Send them your feeback, Joie.

Alison Krauss headlining the main stage on Sunday | Photos courtesy Ty Brady

I didn’t get to hear much of Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, but what I heard was nice, though pretty reminiscent of the show the band put on recently at Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre. Here’s the review from that July 2011 show. Wow. A year has passed.

Bruce Hornsby at the main stage

Ricky Skaggs doing a workshop at the folklife porch

Read notes from Hornsby and his band’s set with his “country cousin,” Ricky Skaggs.

Sam Bush, the festival king

What do you do if you have a long line of festival-goers slowly making their way out the gates? If you’re FloydFest co-founder/music booker Kris Hodges, you find The Primate Fiasco and get it out in the field.

I didn’t hear very many of the Under the Radar bands this year, but this act was to me one of the most adventurous of any act here, period. You won’t necessarily see that in this clip, as the band busts out a cover of the Ohio Players “Love Rollercoaster.” But catch this Fiasco sometime and see for yourself. If you know Zambi, you’ll recognize a kindred musical spirit in this Northhampton, Mass., act.

Here is the band, getting folks happy as they wait in line about an hour ago (yes, it takes that long to lead two=odd minutes of hi-rez video from here). Within 10 minutes of this, the line had moved on. Looks like it’s really over now.

Larnell Starkey & the Spiritual Seven band warm up a folklife porch audience for the S7 singers

This great Franklin County gospel act played late Sunday afternoon at FloydFest. Larnell Starkey & the Spiritual Seven, known internationally for their smooth, deep grooves and tight old-school harmonies, was a great Sunday choice.

The band’s keyboardist/manager, Dar Alexander, said a documentary about the S7 is in the works, with a premiere date set for Oct. 13 at William Fleming High School. The doc, produced by Two Rivers, out of Williamsburg, will cover the act’s decades-long history and includes a performance shot recently at the old Mount Moriah Baptist Church, near Bonsack.

Check out some video of the band in action, a scene that must have been nice for folks standing in a long line out for shuttle buses.

AJ and me. Love you, buddy. Thanks for shooting this, Ginny B.

Way back on Thursday — seems like a lifetime ago, I wrote a little tribute to my friend A.J. Moose, who has run admin here for years and is retiring after this one. On Sunday afternoon, I handed site volunteer Ginny Boehling my phone and asked her to snap a shot of A.J. and me. Here’s what happened before we got serious.

You all know I normally don’t post pics of myself here, but this woman has been such a help to me over the years I’ve been covering FloydFest that I just wanted to get this online. Fest co-founder Erika Johnson says the crew is trying to talk A.J. into staying. We’ll see. I say she deserves at least a break for this time next year. Enjoy it, friend!