One of my favorite drives (without the traffic jams) is west of Allentown, past Kutztown and into Berks County. Great rolling PA hills and farms, passing old stone houses, small towns, fields and sky.
I was asked to return to this Sunday series of shows in a fine county park in rural Wyomissing, just outside of Reading. As I found out later, my set was an opener for a larger, and later show elsewhere in this park. I set up under some large shade trees with a nice sloping lawn in front of me. As it turned out, it was the perfect spot for a small gathering of folks and families.
Again, there was only about 25 people on blankets and chairs in front of me: a hippie couple against the tree, a set of grandparent with two indifferent young brothers, and several other variations on the theme of intergenerational relationships. It was hard work to figure out how to play to this small crowd. It turned out well, of course, but took some effort. This is not easy work.
After the show several Dads and Sons came up and asked for pictures with me. That was, upon reflection, pretty cool. One young dad came up with his exuberant son, who seem to be particularly engaged throughout the show and we had ‘thumbs up’ pictures take of us. The dad said that he had grown up listening to my music and was now driving around with his son listening to my CD’s. I remarked that his son seemed really engaged during the show. The music is now passed down through generations, and I find these comments deeply gratifying, as well as quite commonplace these days.