Last Sunday we took in the Takoma Park Street Festival, sponsored by Main Street Takoma. * It was a glorious fall day, perfect weather to sample food, check out crafts and other offerings, and listen to some good music.

We spent most of our visit listening to the terrific acoustic music of Fausto and Dan at the Gazebo Stage. I believe Fausto’s full name is Fausto Boaza, but the introductions were a little on the informal side. In any event, Fausto is an excellent acoustic blues guitarist playing on a classic Gibson guitar in the familiar alternating bass fingerpicked style of so many of the great blues players. He also threw in some A-style mandolin on the side. Dan Hovey, currently the guitarist with The Nighthawks, was the other part of the duo, playing rhythm and lead on a beautiful Huss & Dalton guitar and some nice slide on a Weissenborn lap guitar.

The duo began the set with a spirited version of Blind Blake’s That’ll Never Happen No More. Here’s the Hot Tuna version with Jorma Kaukonen (guitarist/vocals) and Jack Casady (bassist).

Next up was the duo’s treatment of an old Delmore Brothers tune, Blue Railroad Train. It has been covered by lots of musicians, but to my ears Fausto and Dan drew a lot from the classic Doc Watson version.

I couldn’t find any video of Fausto and Dan playing together, but Dan Hovey has some nice acoustic tunes up, including the Blues for Epi, played on his Weissenborn.

And since we were in the hometown of the great acoustic guitarist John Fahey, let’s end with this version of Dan Hovey playing the Fahey classic The Red Pony. “I’m playing a 1945 Gibson J45,” Hovey notes. “Only a Gibson is Good Enough!”

Nothing beats some good acoustic music on a beautiful fall day.

Enjoy.

More to come . . .

DJB

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* Takoma Park, MD is one of 33 designated Maryland Main Streets as designated by the State of Maryland in 2004. The Main Street Program is a preservation-based, downtown revitalization approach supported by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and run by Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust. Full disclosure: I am a trustee emeritus of Main Street America and a former employee of NTHP.

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Photo of Takoma Park Street Festival (credit: C. Sam Kittner via Main Street Takoma)