Merle, Robert Earl and more: Red Ants Pants Music Festival 2013 was a Blast!

The 3rd Annual Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs the last weekend of July was a resounding success, resulting in record ticket sales (around 10,500), and happy campers across the board.

Mother Nature also contributed to making this year’s festival outstanding. No bands were rained out, no camps were blown about seriously by the wind, and Friday was reportedly really the only day that the temperature got really hot, which didn’t really stop anybody from enjoying acts like The Wailin’ Jennys, Donna the Buffalo, and Corb Lund that first full day of the festival. The street dance with The Bus Driver Tour and the Teka Brock Band in White Sulphur Springs proper the night before the festival was also a hit, according to those early-bird festival arrivers, of which there were many.

“Donna the Buffalo ruined the rest of the festival for me, they were so good,” one festival attendee quipped. That didn’t stop him from enjoying the rest of the weekend, however.

This year we had to choose one day of fun at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, and we arrived just after noon on Saturday at the big venue on the Jackson Ranch just north of town. We skipped camping at the festival this year as well, which is definitely part of the fun, instead opting for a hotel room which we were able to score through luck and good timing. As we made our way onto the festival grounds, the favorite band on the side stage at this year’s festival was just wrapping up their set: with that nod as favorites on the side stage, The Hasslers will play the main stage at the Red Ants Pants Music Festival next year.

Martha Scanlan was the first performer we caught on the main stage on Saturday. This singer-songwriter, with her tales of Montana and the West, was a perfect fit for the festival, captivating the audience with her stories set to music. After Scanlan’s performance, we strolled amongst the vendors and sampled Montana goodies ranging from local beef sliders to chicken-on-a-stick and Made-in-Montana ice cream. We wandered back toward the main stage just in time to catch Amy Helm’s performance. The daughter of legendary drummer Levon Helm (The Band) and singer-songwriter Libby Titus Fagen, Amy Helm is a wonderful singer songwriter in her own right. Wielding her mandolin as though an extension of herself, and with another legend in the music world, Bill Payne of Little Feat, accompanying her on the keyboards, Helm handily kept the Red Ants Pants crowd on their feet.

Another crowd-pleaser took the main stage next. Todd Snider was the man with the encores on Saturday afternoon, coming back onstage to the delight of the audience multiple times, and seemingly having a delightful time of it himself. The Drew Landry Band took the main stage after Snider, weaving true tales in the blues tunes they performed onstage.

“He’s [Landry] lived a hard life, and it comes out in his music,” said the entertainer’s godfather, who happened to be standing next to me during the show. He said he has watched Landry grow from a two-year-old into a fine singer-songwriter and performer, and the Red Ants Pants crowd certainly showed their appreciation for the music of Texas and Louisiana that Landry and his band brought to Montana.

Robert Earl Keen brought an amazing performance to the main stage as the sun set on Saturday night. Keen rolled through a collection of old favorites, resulting in maximum crowd participation for certain. Todd Snider even joined Robert Earl onstage for a rendition of Snider’s “Train Song,” which the crowd loved. As Keen wound down his performance and people began heading back to camp, jam sessions began springing up here and there, and the evening’s entertainment continued for many until the wee hours of the morning.

Our wee hours were spent in the comfort of the All Seasons Inn, where we woke to a light rain falling outside and the smell of coffee drifting down the hallway. Several bands also made the All Seasons Inn their home that weekend, and before we hit the road, we enjoyed another cup of coffee and a chat with Merle Haggard’s band, which made missing the Hag onstage later that Sunday just a little easier. As we hit the road and left White Sulphur Springs behind, we took comfort in the knowledge that Sarah Calhoun and crew would be bringing us another fine Red Ants Pants Music Festival the following July.

Pat Hill is a local writer and music lover from Bozeman MT. All photos Pat Hill.