Singer/Songwriter Ramblin Jack Elliot started out as a protegée, and then a contemporary of American folk music pioneer Woody Guthrie. Elliot has managed to outlive Guthrie by three decades, and spent much of his performance at the 2006 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival promoting his latest album, I Stand Alone.
His set was riddled with references to the Iraq War and other current socio-political issues. Although politics aren't typically discussed so adamantly at a run-of-the-mill bluegrass festival, the presence of Elliot and others like Iris Dement and Steve Earle underscored the fact that this is, indeed, hardly a strictly bluegrass festival.