I picked up a gig at a family fair at a new charter school west of Allentown. I found some support from a local artisan and family music fan to play at a well-attended arts event. I had a 1 pm show in a nice alcove in the former Penn State campus site in rural PA. What a tremendous facility with, what appears to be, a fairly hip community.
There was a scattered group of kids, parents, teachers to play for (and with) and it was a good set of interactive music. It was nice to play to the kids, but still involve the adults. A tough row to hoe.
I usually bring out my bag of rhythm instruments early, in these fairly ‘street’ situations, in order to engage the kids physically. I noticed that sometimes the kids get fixated on the instruments and can’t engage on other cerebral levels – singing along, dancing, social interactions, etc. It’s the old ‘bar room’ mentality once again, in a weird way. Just a reflection…..
A good way to spend the day, anyway.