The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival packed more than half a million people into Golden Gate Park over the weekend, but you had to get there early to see its banjo-playing architect: Warren Hellman.
Yes, that Warren Hellman. The head of private equity giant Hellman & Friedman, whose past career stops included Lehman Brothers.
Seems that Hellman’s love for finance is rivaled by his love for bluegrass, although the free festival also included a bunch of acts that couldn’t qualify under the even broad umbrella of folk (MC Hammer, Fountains of Wayne, etc.).
Hellman kicked this year’s festival off with a small set by his band, The Wronglers. No video has yet emerged, but here’s a clip from last year’s performance (Hellman is the one sitting and singing):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h62ayM3RYKA]