# Justin Holmes & The Immutable String Band | ETHDam III β€” Main Stage, Friday May 9th, 2025 - Channel: [CryptoCanal](https://streameth.org/cryptocanal) - Date: 2025-10-07 - Duration: 57:09 - Watch: https://streameth.org/watch/yt-b4tHQhVwR84 - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4tHQhVwR84 ## Description Welcome to the 3rd Edition of ETHDam, hosted May 9–11, 2025 in Amsterdam. This year, we brought together the brightest minds in privacy, security, and AI for a unique 48-hour hackathon + conference combo. 🌷 https://www.ethdam.com// 🌷 ------------------ Justin Holmes & The Immutable String Band | ETHDam III β€” Main Stage, Friday May 9th, 2025 One of the most cosy moments of ETHDam III! Justin Holmes & The Immutable String Band took over the Main Stage with a genre-bending set that blended bluegrass, old-time folk, psychedelic pirate jams, and raw local talent. The concert recording got cut short, but it's still packed with beautiful energy it brought. It kept going, and yes, it only got wilder. Featuring a banjo renegade from a local pirate shanty crew and an Irish fiddler from the Amsterdam Conservatory, this was the kind of set that stuck with you long after the strings stopped ringing. https://x.com/llamasinthecode ------------------ About ETHDam & CryptoCanal ETHDam is powered by CryptoCanal, an education and events platform rooted in Amsterdam, expanding into Rotterdam and ZΓΌrich. Keep up with us to see updates on future events: https://www.cryptocanal.org/ Follow CryptoCanal on X: / cryptocanal Join CryptoCanal TG Community: https://t.me/CryptoCanalCommunity Join CryptoCanal Discord: / discord CryptoCanal unites crypto enthusiasts committed to making a positive impact. Unapologetically political, we prioritize education, events, and services while championing cypherpunk values like privacy, sovereignty, and censorship resistance. ------------------ πŸŽ₯ Credits: Intro / outro by babyPRO - https://babypro.art/ ------------------ Special thanks to our partners who made ETHDam possible: 🌹 Hackathon – Bouquet: Oasis Network https://oasisprotocol.org/ 🌷 Hackathon – Petal: Circles https://aboutcircles.com πŸ’› Conference – Gold: Zano https://zano.org/ Dash https://www.dash.org/ Bitvavo https://bitvavo.com/en 🩢 Conference – Silver: Igra Labs https://igralabs.com/hero πŸ’› Conference – Copper: Lido https://lido.fi/ DeTrip https://detrip.travel/ Cake Wallet https://cakewallet.com/ The Grid https://thegrid.id/ Calimero Network https://calimero.network/ 0xbow https://0xbow.io/ Mina https://minaprotocol.com/ JobStash https://jobstash.xyz/ Cyber Capital https://www.cyber.capital/ POAP https://poap.xyz/ Acronym Foundation (Supported our Top 10 Hackers) https://acronymfoundation.org/ 🌱 Sponsor: EF Ecosystem Support Program https://esp.ethereum.foundation ## Transcript Welcome to East to East to East to East to East. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Check. Check. Check. I I could I could use a little bit of more mando in in our mix in the in your mix. You got that board? Yeah. I can't really hear mando hardly at all. And as much as that is a delight, [Laughter] he needs that. [Music] Is that good enough? Yeah, I think so. Can you play? [Music] That sounds a little too much. No, that's a lot of mando, I think. Okay. Tiny little bit less bit less. But it was it was great. [Music] That sounds good. Are we checked? We good. [Music] Uh is that a is that green light for you board? For me it is. Yeah. Okay. Did you say something? Unless you have any requests, I guess. My only request is that you uh for next time get you a talkback mic, man. We would love to we would love to be jawing with you the whole time. We would love to have inside jokes. [Music] What you doing, bud? You okay? Yeah. Yeah, basically one one of these, right? One of the I think we're all checked. Are we waiting for anything or Oh, we're good to go. Oh, okay. This is a very small crowd. That's cool. How you doing, everybody? This is like few enough that I could learn names. Uh James, Elanor, remind me. Nico. Nico. I was going to say like Yeah. Zika or something. Nico, what is it? Alita. Elica. And who's here's the little one? Althia or Al Anika. Nico. Yeah. Nave. Thiago. Fred. Fred. Steve. Steve. Luke. Luke. Thiago, Steve, Fred, Nico, Alikica. Alika is the little one. Or you? Alia is the little one. And Alica's you and Eleanor and James. Okay, cool. Well, hey, I guess we're just picking the little for you all. We don't even Thiago is Jacob, basically. Just wanted to say. Oh, yeah. Poor guy. Okay. [Music] We got a cool ragtag bunch of Amsterdam music for you. But first, we'll play a few of the usual crypto songs. [Music] Heat. Heat. There are no laws of the states of old and math and metal. all can follow. There is no pride or poison pill that our pre-trained friends can swallow. [Music] There's no P boys. The packets cannot cross. There is no retreat, no fear or deceit, no rolling stone in no. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. before [Applause] [Music] another to the vampires down [Music] the wall street [Music] sh was Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] the black [Music] sh or red. I [Music] know my own [Music] [Applause] [Music] key. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I lost my [Applause] se I lost my se and I can't recall it. Well, they ain't my coins cuz they ain't my keys. Now that phrase is lost, so they're nobodyies. [Music] Well, I had some coins and NFTs and I wanted them to stay mine. So I made myself a seed phrase straight from VIP 39. I did not write it down for I was with fear. I wanted to make a brain bullet but I didn't have the required gear. I lost my seed phrase to my wall. I lost my seed phrase and I can't recall it. Well, they ain't my coins cuz they ain't my Now that phrase is lost. So they're nobodyies. [Music] when I had some tea. and BTC on a stick. Now those are gone because that stick has become BTC were supposed to be my Christmas. Now my is gone so stay in jail. I lost my seed phrase to my wallet. I lost my seed phrase and I can't call it. Well, they ain't my coins cuz they ain't my Now that phrase is lost, so they're nobodyies. [Applause] It is uh my distinct honor to welcome to the stage Mr. Bones and uh the duo known as uh Jamus, Josh, and Sheamus. Give them a minute to get all set up. How many people in here are hacking at this hackathon? Oh, we got a couple. Um uh Fred, Steve, and Fred, Luke Two people hacking. Oh, there's hackers. Look, there's hackers right back there. Look at there's a whole table full of [Music] hackers. Come on, buddy. Let these guys get kind of tuned up. Well, I wish you all well in your uh in your hacking. Um, you know, my advice is like if you can imagine something that will make a politician happy, do the opposite of that thing. That's a way to win a hackathon. [Music] Uh, one thing we've been hacking on a lot over the course of the last couple of years is kind of finding a home on the internet for traditional music. You know, a lot of the music we play is old enough that it's before the days when anybody thought music could be owned, before the days that states tried to enact these intellectual property regimes. So, they they kind of live outside those. We call those traditionals. [Music] And uh some of them are awful pretty. We'll hit one for you right now. Your tuner's on. [Music] Good. Does that sound good to you, B? Yeah, we're [Music] [Laughter] good. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We love playing these traditionals uh because we're able to find people, you know, all around the world that uh that know them. And you know, we play at a lot of crypto events. I know, you know, we've seen a lot of you before. We're playing at ETH Prague here on uh the 27th, um which is the first day of ETH Prague. So, if you're just arriving there and you want to come see us, remember it is the first day. And, you know, we've always managed to um find some really cool uh street pickers uh to play with us. We've played with um local folks in Bogota and Cape Town and uh and uh all over the US, of course, every time we've played and um here in Amsterdam and Barcelona. Uh really feels great to play these Ethereum events and kind of, you know, make sure we're drawing from the uh the not only drawing from the incredible local talent in a lot of these places, but also just uh showing the universality of some of this traditional [Music] music. You cleaning the stage, my little buddy? [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Well, you understand little Maggie with a dragon in her hand. [Music] away your [Music] troules in another man. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Last time that I saw little Maggie. She was standing in my seat with a [Music] 44 in her knee. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. Give it the best that you can. I'm finding another [Music] Nice. Close. [Music] Speaking about Bones, we've got some Bone Jewelry merchandise there on the table. Yes. You can buy if you want or browse through. So, Bones makes amazing jewelry and if you want uh while you're in town to buy some local jewelry made by uh a local pirate banjo guy, this might be your last chance. So, get over there and check out the bones. Look at the bones. Another traditional for y'all. Another traditional of disputed origin. In fact, two inter [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Shady grow, my little love. Shady grow, my darling. Shady crow, my little love. I'm leaving in the morning. [Music] Well, I wish I had a red fine horse and corn to feed him on. Shady Grove to stay at home and feed him while I'm gone. Shady Grove, my little love. Shady Grove, I say. Shady Grove, my little love, I'm going to go away. [Music] Well, I wish I had a banjo strings spun from golden twine. I can't sing every song I knew till Shady Grove was mine. Shady Grove, my little love. Shady grow my darling. Shady grow my little in the morning. [Music] Well, I wish I had a needle and thread for a delicate load. I'd sew my baby to my side and carry on down the road. Shady grow, my little love. Shady grow, my darling. Shady grow, my little love. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] I remember when I knocked upon her door. She came to me with her shoes put away and her little bare feet on the floor. Shady grow my little love. Shady grow my darling. She [Applause] [Music] grow. Heat. Heat. [Music] See, it's not that these are great songs, although I think they are, but that the special quality is the survivorship bias of living without any need for state intervention, without any need for copyright and intellectual property. That essence is what I think is one of the key ingredients for bringing together a 72-hour hackathon team is understanding what is one of the smallest deeds you can perform that will last in that way. Doesn't need to be earth changing. Doesn't even need to be you changing. [Music] But the state changes that you make to the blockchain will probably exist on some platter somewhere in in a thousand years. [Music] Maybe I think nowadays it might be make sense to treat hackathons as like an educational sleepover with the AI of a thousand years from now. [Music] And if you were a machine with a capacity for nearly infinite consumption of information reading and you stumbled across a copy of the Ethereum blockchain, I think you'd probably want to know like, oh wow, they got together in person these weird neat machines and they like modified this with each other in person every once in a while. I think that's probably one of the place I would look first. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. When I was young and wild and Fancy to borrow knife. Now I want Shady Grove say she'll be my wife. Shady Grove my little love. Shady Grove I say. Shady Grove my little love. I'm about to go away. [Music] [Applause] All right, we're going to keep going with a string of [Music] traditionals. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] We're two sisters of the county lose on the wind and rain. They could only afford to buy the older one shoes right over the dreadful wind and [Music] rain. They both had a love of the miller son over the wind and rain and he was far by the dreadful wind and rain. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] He gave the young one a gig on rain wind and rain. He didn't give the older one anything. Ride over the dreadful wind and rain. She pushed her to the river to drown. Oh, the wind and rain. Watched her as she floated down bright and dreadful wind and rain. [Applause] [Music] From the wood come a fiddle or fair wind and rain. And he saw her bones just lying there right over the dreadful wind and rain. And then out of the wood come a fiddling fool. All the wind and rain through that fairy fun the dreadful wind and rain. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] made tuning pegs of her long finger bones. Oh, the wind and rain. Made tuning pegs of her long finger bones. Cried. Oh, the dreadful wind and [Music] rain. Made a fiddle case of her long daddy hair. Oh, the wind and rain. I made a fiddle case of a dre hair bride the dreadful wind and rain. [Music] made a little fiddle out of her breast bone. Oh, the wind and rain with a sound that melted hearts of stone cry. Oh, the dreadful wind and rain. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Little good play was over the wind and rain. The only tune that middlewood play was the dreadful wind and [Music] [Applause] rain. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] The only tune that that would play was Oh, the wind and rain. The only tune that that would play was Oh, the dreadful wind and rain. [Music] [Applause] [Music] There is a surviving written version of that song that's from 1658 and it's actually pretty legible. There's a scan on archive.org. Uh, and I've written quite a bit about like 20 pages or so of uh kind of a narrative story of what seems like happened to this song over those hundreds of years. Um, but it's songs like that that really uh I think really belong on the blockchain. [Music] Good. Well, it's been cool picking for, you know, just a few of you. Um, really a pleasure. Uh, we're just going to play one more and then we'll come and, you know, hang. Woohoo. [Music] Yeah. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I talked to my banjo guy on Friday, sent him a message in the clear. I asked him to paddle down some canal. We hoped the violin might appear. And sure enough, that message, that plain text upon the wire was intercepted by a filler with a threeletter qualifier. She said, "I'm the nanny state fiddler. I'll fiddle with your data every day. Many state file in this way. [Music] Much to my amazement, she showed up on my porch. She wore a suit and had dark sheath and her instrument had been torched. She had learned just about all my songs from a warless wire tap. But she played them all like I never seen with a brush stroke and a slap. She said, "I'm the nanny state fiddler. I'll fiddle with your data every night. A nanny state fer your darkness in her mind. [Music] She saved me from myself when I had almost wronged the man. But she knew me better than my mom and dad. So maybe that had been her plan. She said, "Let me fiddle with your life, new friend. I'll keep your back beat. And if you ever need a listening ear, I'll be eaves dropping from my seat." She said, "I'm the nanny. Say fiddler. I'll fiddle with your data when I can. I get a little lonesome when I read your math cuz it messes with my plan." A nanny stage fiddler fiddles with your data every day. A nanny stage fiddler plays the violin this way. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat [Music] [Applause] up here. Heat up [Music] here. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] said, "I'm the nanny state fiddler. I'll fiddle with your data every night. A nanny state fiddler repls your darkness in her life. [Music] [Applause] Thanks. Well, thanks so much, Ethan, Crypto Canal. Um, yeah, we really enjoyed playing this show. Uh, we'll be around probably for, you know, the next couple of days. We'd love to talk about your project and talk about our project and kind of just find out what's uh going on here. Um, I came up through the hackathon scene. So, uh, these things really mean a lot to me. Um, I I actually was on a team that won the New York public media hackathon in like 2009 for building a bot that detect uh, no, it was 2012 that detected a it was a bot that detected the emergence of the 17-year cicada in like, you know, NPR ended up putting them all over the place. Uh, it was a weird it was one of my like really proud hackathon stories. So, I know how cool hackathons can be. If you are hacking or if you are sponsoring and you don't get jack done, that's okay. Like, you got to be cool with it a lot of the time. Like, especially as a sponsor, if I'm being honest, you're not always going to get great submissions, but you can meet great people and