BamaJam -- Saturday, 4:35 p.m.

ABOVE: Props to the Del McCoury band for wearing suits while it's 100 degrees out.

So there's three stages here at BamaJam -- the bluegrass stage, the alternative stage and the country stage (although it's not just country -- ZZ Top played there last night, and Skynyrd plays there tonight). Like most music festivals, the acts overlap, but I'm doing my best to catch most of them.

I'm at the bluegrass stage now, listening to the Del McCoury Band pick. Del was one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys many years ago. He's still picking along, now with his sons Robbie and Ronnie and a few other folks.

This crowd loves the bluegrass. It's definitely a different mood than you find at the other stages, even if the fans are the same. You can't rightly do a jig to ZZ Top.

I'll probably only post one more time tonight ... my MacBook's battery is going quick, and I've got no electricity.

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Update: Click here to view an audio slideshow from BamaJam 2008

BamaJam -- Saturday, 3:52 p.m.

ABOVE: Dan Tyminski Band ... you can't tell but they're drenched in sweat.

We skipped out on early on Marc Broussard to grab a frozen lemonade and catch Dan Tyminski. Even though you might not know his name, you know his music -- he played "Man of Constant Sorrow" for "O Brother Where Art Thou."

His mandolin player, Adam Steffey, summed up the festival: "Where else can you see bluegrass and Lynyrd Skynyrd?" The bluegrass stage has a great lineup ... we'll be back over there in a minute to see Del McCoury before I head back to camp for a quick dinner, then I'll be back again to catch Ricky Skaggs.

We left the bluegrass stage after about 30 minutes to catch Railroad Earth, an Americana/bluegrass jam band. We got an extra treat, though, because as we walked through the BamaJam Saloon (a really big outdoor bar), the Miss BamaJam competition began.

The "competition" consisted of seven girls strutting around in bikinis and answering some of the dumbest questions I've ever heard, like "What's your favorite color and why?" Only one of the girls gave an answer that made any sort of sense at all ... The winner gets $300, a year of free tanning and a cowboy hat. They all get featured in the Miss BamaJam calendar ... I'm still trying to figure out how they are going to make a 12-month calendar out of photos from seven girls.

I think the mullet competition tonight will a little more entertaining -- Railroad Earth definitely was.

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Update: Click here to view an audio slideshow from BamaJam 2008

BamaJam -- Saturday, 2:13 p.m.

It is so hot!!! Even though we've got layers and layers of sunscreen, we're still burning ... This festival is not for the faint at heart. We went into Enterprise this morning to do a little shopping and it was 97 degrees ... and that was before noon!

Just a note: The boll weevil statue was not what I expected at all. I thought it would be just a giant bug, but it's actually a fountain/statue of a woman holding the weevil in the middle of an intersection downtown. I'd post a photo, but the my computer and camera are still fighting. I guess I'll post them all on Monday when I get back to the office.

Speaking of computers, I've got to tuck this back away in my bag. The sand and red clay dust are already coating everything.

Tonight we'll be checking out Del McCoury, Ricky Skaggs, Gov't Mule, Skynyrd and Hank Jr ... this festival is great!

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Update: Click here to view an audio slideshow from BamaJam 2008

BamaJam -- 10:17 p.m.

ABOVE: Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.

** While I type this, it's almost 11 p.m. and I'm sitting in the unlit media tent, just a few feet from ZZ Top onstage. I pause for a moment to look at the huge crowd in front of them. While the media tent is positioned so I can't actually see the band, I have a full view of the thousands of people rocking out to "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide." Our camera and my computer have decided they aren't getting along at the moment, but we'll keep trying.

We rolled into the event grounds at about 8 p.m., just in time to catch Old Crow Medicine Show, who put on a fantastic show, as usual. Fiddles, banjos, a standup bass ... young people jumping around ... old time music with love.

This festival is a redneck Woodstock -- or "redneck heaven," as Ted Hacker, event producer for Ronnie Gilley Entertainment said. And that's not an insult by any means. A lot of thought went into creating the lineup for this inaugural festival.

It really is like a bunch of people from the race at Talladega decided to go to a Phish concert. I love it. Everyone needs to embrace their inner redneck every once in a while.

"It's all about the synergy of the music and the feeling we get from all the acts," Hacker said of the blend of southern rock, country and bluegrass. "There's no other concert like this in the country ... it comes from the heart."

That can be seen especially with Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys show. As I sat down to listen to them pick, I hear the guy in the row next to me explain to his friends, "That's Ralph Stanley. Him and Doc Watson are like Godfathers of bluegrass."

I listen to a mean breakdown onstage, twang versus twang, until the crowd finally overtakes the music with a thunderous standing ovation. I didn't see the crowd react like this to Trace Adkins, even though there were thousands more people watching.

Ralph Stanley drew a younger crowd than I expected, though most of the hippy/rednecks were across the way dancing to Old Crow.

ZZ Top is pretty badass, I have to admit. I'm not a huge fan, but I can appreciate some good Southern rock. And these Texas boys have perfected that art. Singer Billy Gibbons sounds like he's drunk whiskey and smoked cigarettes every day of his life -- a true Southern boy.

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Update: Click here to view an audio slideshow from BamaJam 2008

Off to BamaJam

Only 2 hours and 40 minutes until I hit the road and head to Enterprise for BamaJam, Alabama's newest music festival. Well, it's not just me -- Assistant Metro Editor/Business Editor Mary Jo Shafer is my photographer, and my husband's along for the ride, too.

We've got the truck loaded down with camping gear and firewood and the cooler's packed with ... drinks ...

While BamaJam officially began last night (I missed out on Darryl Worley and Randy Owens), I think the real fun will begin tonight -- I'm gonna see Old Crow Medicine Show, Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and ZZ Top all in a 4-hour time slot.

Tomorrow's headliners are going to be a bunch of fun too -- Skynyrd and Hank Jr. I can already hear the crowd yelling for "Freebird" and flicking their Bics.

I'll be posting more later today from the festival, so stay keep checking back for more (including photos).

If you want to learn more about BamaJam, including the full lineup of acts, click here.

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Update: Click here to view an audio slideshow from BamaJam 2008

RIP Bo Diddley

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

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Listen to some of Bo Diddley's music:

Good bit of bootlegs

theultimatebootlegexperience.blogspot.com

At first glance it appears to be a blog of nothing but live shows available for download.

A good bit of the bootlegs found here are from bands that you rarely find recordings of. Enjoy