Equiblues 2015!

This was the third time I have been to the Equiblues rodeo and country music festival in St. Agreve, France -- an annual event that draws upwards of 25,000 people and that this year was celebrating its 20th edition.

It was one of the first big country-western festivals I attended (back in 2004) when I first started following the "scene". Last time I was there was 3 years ago -- read what I wrote back then HERE and HERE.

Equiblues lasts the better part of a week, but this year, I only was able to make it there for Friday evening and Saturday, and -- alas -- I missed all of the rodeo -- though I saw some of the cowboy mounted shooting competition.

One of my reasons for going was to meet with Georges Carrier, an expert on country music in France who had been the director of the Country Rendez-vous festival in Craponne for 18 years.

I parked in front of the scene in the photo at the top of this page -- a fitting welcome image.

But the photo below encapsulates the atmosphere event better: "Authentic Dreams". Festivals like Equiblues are signal embodiments of what I call "real imaginary" spaces -- a re-created; no -- a created -- "America" where everyone wears cowboy hats and boots and hustles and bustles amid the trappings of the frontier; but where little has much really to do with the United States. As usual, except for some of the artists and rodeo performers, I was one of the only -- if not the only -- American there. I did hear English in the crowd from one couple strolling through, but UK English.

Actually, I found this year's Equiblues just about identical with what I found three years ago. Even the same food (sausage and frites; steak and frites; wine; beer...) and physical set-up. For festival-run merch, tickets, food, and events -- you have to pay in Equiblues dollars that you have to buy with Euros: one dollar = one Euro.

As usual, I was fascinated by the use of flag imagery -- American flags, Confederate flags and various other flags and banners. They are used basically without much meaning, as decoration mean to provide an "American" or "Rebel" spin, as backdrops, clothing, ornamentation.

In the photo below, fly in a row, over a souvenir and clothing stand,  an American flag, a Confederate flag with the words "Heritage Not Hate", a  Confederate flag and, I think, an Iowa state flag. I doubt of many people understood the significance of the slogan......

Check out the flag-inspired clothing, too.

The music, of course, with crowded concerts every night -- by American, Canadian and French artists -- under a circus-like big top, is one of the highlights. And there is a big space for line-dancers. I am still fascinated by the hypnotic geometric movements of these masses of people.

 There was even a Miss Equiblues contest.

But most visitors looked more like this:

Upcoming Country Festivals in France

At la Roche Bluegrass festival/ Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

A number of country music festivals in France are coming up in the next few weeks. Here are some of the main ones:


July 26-28 -- Craponne sur Arzon -- 26th annual Country Rendez-vous

July 31-August 4 -- La Roche sur Foron --  La Roche Bluegrass Festival

More than two dozen bands; street concerts; workshops, jamming and more in a wonderful Alpine setting. And its free!

August 2-3 -- Cagnes-sur-Mer --  14th annual French Riviera Country Music Festival

 A top-notch mix of European and U.S. artists, plus line-dancing and more.

August 14-18 -- St. Agreve -- 18th annual Equiblues

Full-fledged Rodeo and Country Music Festival

August 23-25 -- Chateau del Matot (near Caen) --  Country Normandy Festival,

Equiblues Festival in France to Close!

Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Bombshell news from the French country music/western front! After 17 years, it looks as if the great Equiblues rodeo and country music festival in St. Agreve, France, will close.

According to local media, Philippe Lafont, the president of the Equiblues Association, announced last week that he was throwing in the towel.

The reason seems to be financial, specifically a retroactive tax bill, writes the web site ledauphine.com.

It is an open secret that in early August, Philippe Lafont received a reassessment of tax services. The amount claimed for the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012: a little more than € 61 000. Too much for the association and for its president, for whom volunteering and passion have limits: "The tax audit is the trigger of my decision to take a break in 2013, because we simply do not have the means to continue with the amount payable."

Equiblues was one of the first European -- and the first French -- country western festivals I went to in 2004, when I first started following the scene. That first experience was tremendously eye-opening, a lot of fun, and introduced me to a lot of people and ideas -- and I was happy to be able to get back there this past August.

Didier Cere and the Bootleggers play Equiblues. Photo © Ruth Ellen Gruber

This year it seemed to me both "bigger" and "smaller". The Western market seems more crowded -- but less "western." More booths, but far fewer "western" booths -- and far far fewer western T-shirts, and much more generic kitsch and other "stuff." People didn't seem as "dressed up" western as before, either -- aside from ubiquitous hats and boots (including on my own feet).

Lafont's announcement came just a few months after Georges Carrier  announced that he was stepping down as the director of the great Country Rendez-vous festival at Craponne, not far from St. Agreve. (See my blog post on this.)  The two festivals were among the top country summer venues in France.

Georges has now started up a consulting agency that will serve as a middle man for bands and festivals.

More on Equiblues 2012

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber


I've been mulling over Equiblues, its changes, the way the "real imaginary" space is become more conventionalized, more real? more imaginary? How the festival seems both "bigger" and "smaller".... I had a late night conversation about this with Dale Mitschke, the producer of the rodeo, last night -- I kept apologizing for thinking out loud and running through my ideas instead of holding a conversation.

I'll try to figure out what I want to say get it written down.  I had a brief moment of almost bursting into tears at the rodeo.... It was over for the day, thousands of people in their cowboy hats and boots and American flag tee-shirts and scarves and even sun-glasses were streaming out, and they were blasting out Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" on the loud-speakers. I know, I know this song is used as an anthem! Hard-driving, powerful triumphant-sounding background music. OK it IS anthemic.... but the words? Rage. Frustration. Anger. Dismay. Is it triumphant? Bruce is a cool rocking daddy despite everything. The power of the music fit the real imaginary French scene. But the lyrics? The song?

Meanwhile -- here are a few pix of the rodeo....

Capsized bull-rider. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The classic shot... Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

A lot of bull... Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Equiblues

A linedancer in Equiblues T-shirt shows some Americana... Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Equiblues was one of the first European -- and the first French -- country western festivals I went to in 2004, when I first started following the scene. That first experience was tremendously eye-opening, a lot of fun, and introduced me to a lot of people and ideas -- and I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to get back here again.

Equiblues -- now in its 17th edition -- takes place outside the little town of St. Agreve, in the Ardeche area of south-central France. It is one of the rare examples of a country western festival that also includes a full-scale rodeo, as well as concerts (under a big, red-white-and-blue tent) and the so-called "western market" of booths and activities.

The rodeo was just about over for the day when I got there, but the long, late afternoon shadows made for some nice images:

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I've noted before that it was at Equiblues in 2004 that I saw and photographed -- but alas didn't buy -- the iconic "Heritage Authentic" T-shirt whose imagery (truck, Monument Valley, shaman, Native American chief, made in France label) encapsulates a lot of what the imaginary wild west is about.

I haven't run across this T-shirt design since, though it has long been my goal -- almost an obsession -- to find it and actually buy it. I looked through all the booths at Equiblues last night, but came up again empty.

Examining all the booths like that demonstrated how merchandise has change -- in fact, the changes in the Equiblues scene are what I have been noting.

It seems both "bigger" and "smaller". The Western market seems more crowded -- but less "western." More booths, but far fewer "western" booths -- and far far fewer western T-shirts, and much more generic kitsch and other "stuff." People didn't seem as "dressed up" western as before, either -- aside from ubiquitous hats and boots (including on my own feet).

Remarkably, there did not seem to be one booth where you could buy country music CDs or DVDs. There also seemed to be a lot less "Stars and Bars" confederate imagery -- and what was there seemed more decorative than, shall I say, ideological.

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

I reconnected at Equiblues with Georges Carrier -- who recently announced he was stepping down as the director of the great Country Rendez-vous festival at Craponne. (See my blog post on this.)  George will be started a sort of agency as a middle man for bands and festivals -- he told me it will be a non-profit organization, just to help his friends and acquaintances make contact with each other and spread the music.

I also reconnected at Equiblues last night with Didier Cere, a French rocker and biker with heavily tattooed arms, whom I met at Equiblues the first time round and haven't seen since (though we're friends on Facebook). His southern rock band, the Bootleggers (pronounced here Boot-laigg-AIRS) opened the more than 3-hour concert under the tent with a with a rousing set.

Didier Cere onstage, framed by the cowboy hats of the crowd.

Georges Carrier and Didier Cere at the DC sales table during the concert. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The other acts were the American singer-songwriter Brennan Leigh and Canadian Dean Brody.

Philppe Lafont looks on as Brennan Leigh signs CDs

Getting ready for Equiblues (and thinking about Roy Rogers)

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I'm gearing up for Equiblues, the annual rodeo and country music festival in St. Agreve, in the Ardeche region of south-central France... Equiblues starts Wednesday and lasts through next weekend. Concerts, line dancing, rodeo, competitions, "western market" etc, all in a charming little French town. The last time I was there -- a local winery even produced "Equiblues" wine....a merlot....

Meanwhile, doodling on the internet here in France, I came across this article about Roy Rogers, the American Singing Cowboy .... I was a huge Roy Rogers fan when I was a kid; I used to watch lots of westerns on TV -- Gene Autry, of course. And Hopalong Cassidy. Then the Range Rider, Cheyenne, Sugar Foot, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Bonanza, Maverick.... etc etc. Roy Rogers was one of my favorites, especially in my, ahem, earliest youth. And Davy Crockett, which was sort of a western. My brother had a coonskin cap that he took off only with the greatest of reluctance. And I wore a fringed leather jacket and led a pack of kids racing about as if we were on horseback....(in the suburbs of Philadelphia)....

French Festivals!!

It was at Equiblues that I photographed (but alas did not buy) this iconic Heritage Authentic T-shirt. Photo (c) with Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Wow, a whole month has gone by since I said I had a lot of catching up to do .... which means I have even more catching up to do!

But -- it's a good moment to do so, as three of Europe's best Country/Western/Etc festivals are beginning -- all three of them in France, one weekend after the next: the Country Rendez-vous in Craponne; the La Roche Bluegrass Festival in La Roche sur Foron; and Equiblues in St. Agreve.

I've been to all three in the past -- I posted from Craponne and La Roche.   Each festival is quite different, and it would be fantastic to be able to spend three weeks in France going from one to the next and taking them all in. This year, though, it looks as if I will only be able to make it to Equiblues -- which combines concerts, line-dancing and a "scene" with a rodeo.

COUNTRY RENDEZ-VOUS, CRAPONNE

Country Rendez-vous  Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The annual Country Rendez-vous in Craponne got under way last night, with a five-band set including  ERIK SITBON & THE GHOST BAND (France), CROOKS & STRAIGHTS (Croatia!!), THE STEELDRIVERS (USA), THE TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS (USA) and TWO TONS OF STEEL (USA).

Country Rendez-vous is probably the most prestigious of the dozens of country music and western scene festivals that take place in France each year. Most of the bands are from the U.S., and the Festival's savvy director and guiding spirit, Georges Carrier,  travels to the U.S. each year to make contacts and see bands. The Festival also has representatives on the ground in Nashville and Austin.

A couple of festival-goers at the Country Rendez-vous, 2007 Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

LA ROCHE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

The La Roche Bluegrass Festival is one of the biggest and friendliest of the scores of bluegrass festivals that take place each year around Europe. This year there are 30 bands from 14 countries. All the concerts are free, and there are lots of street events in the lovely town of La Roche. The festival also entails a band contest.

EQUIBLUES, ST. AGREVE

If all goes well, I will make it to Equiblues for the first time in some years.

Different from the other two festivals, it combines country music with a full-fledged rodeo -- there is lots of line-dancing and a colorful "western market" scene. Equiblues was one of the first European western festivals I attended, and I am eager to see it again. I still have a special bottle of Equiblues wine that I purchased the first time!

Line dancers at Equiblues. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

France -- Wild West Theme Park

 


By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I just found out about this Wild West Theme Park in southern France, the OK Corral -- located between Marseille and Toulouse. It seems to have everything typical for a European Wild West town -- including a new "urban area" called Silver Dollar City.... the map of the park (above) shows  a range of attractions, from a rodeo ring to various rides, a general story and the "Mountains of the Grand Canyon." It all seems geared to "family fun" -- but let's not forget that there is a big country music and linedance scene in France, and that fans look fashionable when dressed up in western duds. Also -- France (at the annual Equiblues Rodeo and Country Music Festival in St. Agreve)  is where I saw my favorite "imaginary wild west" icon -- the "Heritage Authentic" T-shirt that incorporates images of an Indian warrior, a shaman, Monument Valley and a speeding truck....

Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Gotta go there! (Hey, why else to go to the south of France....?)