Some music sites might cancel festival plans because of inclement weather, but at Diffuser.fm, we literally embrace the crud out of it. When we piled into our VW Bus (or you know, '97 Accord) and headed to Hunter, N.Y., for this weekend's Mountain Jam 2013 festival, we knew we were in for some rain and mud. But as Neil Young might say, we didn’t let it bring us down. Instead, we let loose, rolled up our pant legs, chatted with some cool peeps and heard some incredible music. We also interviewed the fine folks in Elijah & the Moon, the Avett Brothers, Deer Tick and the Lumineers -- all of whom are princes.

Now that Mountain Jam has come to an end, we're looking back, taking stock and mulling the weekend's myriad lessons. Below are 9 Things We Learned at Mountain Jam 2013. Next year, we'll be a little older and wiser, but that won't stop us from playing in the muck.

Beware of hippies hawking chickens. Seriously. A dread-locked dude in a car asked us if we wanted to buy a live one. "How much?" we asked? "How much you got?" he said. Hey, we'll buy livestock from strangers, but we won't haggle for it.

Joern Pollex, Getty Images
Joern Pollex, Getty Images
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Don't fear the banjo. Several acts made use of the instrument, the symbol of the "neo-folk" movement. These stringed things are the new guitar. Get into it.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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"Jam" doesn't necessarily mean "jam bands." Michael Franti, Gary Clark Jr., Primus and others treated genres like cocktail ingredients, making this year's fest the most intoxicating ever.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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Rain is no deterrent. On Thursday night, the weather was cold and punishing, almost biblically so, and yet folks came out in droves for the oddball rhythms and incantations of Primus. Amen!

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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Scott and Seth Avett are not twins. They could have fooled us during our interview, though. Save for different hair lengths and degrees of vocal twangyness, these affable folkies are identical.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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Not every hotel in the Hunter area offers its guests complimentary conditioner.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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The hula hoop hasn't gone out of style. Neither has drinking beer, and thankfully, this thing'll keep you from getting love handles.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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Regardless of what you might think, drugs aren't the best way to get high at Mountain Jam.

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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We love everyone, man, and everyone loves us. That's right -- we drank the hippie juice, and we don't care who knows it. We're way into the spirit of Mountain Jam. See y'all next year!

Paul Brasil
Paul Brasil
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