Godfrey’s was asked to provide acoustic entertainment for 7 hour as part of a nice VegFest so I volunteered to do sound and add a half-hour set at noon. I was glad to start out with Barnyard Dance (the Vegetable Song) so I was off and running. I followed with Fishin’ Blues, a nice bouncy fingerpicker. As I was playing a woman came running up to Lou, who was manning the soundboard for me, laid a pamphlet on him and stormed off. As I finished I made a comment about the the fish folk, and then she stormed up and demanded the mike. She offered a very terse rebuke of me singing that song, mentioning that fish have feelings, too. As she walked off, The audience and myself took a long breath, rolled our collective eyes and let the moment sink in.

 

I proceeded to do Jelly in the Dish, with its infamous scrapple verse. Several groans from the audience so I had to mention that it was tofu scrapple. Sheesh.

 

I had a good friend ask for the Cat Came Back for the last song, so I acquiesced. I’ve been doing a verse written by students recently that took another interesting turn.

 

They locked the cat in a cage which he really didn’t like

So he broke on out and escaped on a bike.

He started to pedal home and though he’d get a snack,

So he stopped at MacDonalds and got a…..

 

the natural reaction is ‘a Big Mac’ and one the audience always volunteers. I’ve been saying, “No, a Fish Filet.” But, considering the recent dust up about fish, I paused. And a lady in the audience beat me to it by saying, ‘Veggie Burger’. We all enjoyed that moment. Some of the best moments come when you allow time and circumstances to lead the performance.

 

Later tonight, at a party in Eygpt, one lady informed me that the fish woman was her sister-on-law from Maryland. So, some of the apples don’t fall far from the tree.