Looks like I’ll beat the snow by a day….
I returned to the Upper Bucks area, not far from home to a school I’ve played several times over 30 years, though not recently. Several teachers remembered me, and the principal, Don Muenker, knew me from 25 years ago, when I played his school north of Allentown – St. Peters ES. As I checked in at the office, he came out, and I said, “I know you!”. We have both have aged, he more gracefully than I. It explained why I was rebooked. His kids, now in their late 20’s grew up on my tapes. And he introduced me to the two audiences with that story. Tapes? What are those?
I often have the choice to be on stage or down on the floor with the kids, and more and more, I choose the floor. It may be somewhat less theatrical, but that’s part of the philosophy of the folk music gig. I opened one of the shows saying I would not be doing gangnam, Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. That worked well.
Both sets were an amalgam of grades, so I plowed in doing the good stuff. I was a little more transparent with the fact that I would be demonstrating the folk elements of songs, stories and dance, and that felt comfortable. Two good shows, with several of the older (5th grade) kids commenting positively as they filed out.
I got to say,”Here’s a song from my next album.” That’s cool.