I was honored to be part of this celebration, but it turned out to be much less a celebration than the Boro folks expected. My noon set was moved to 3 pm in the pavilion, and as I showed up to load on the stage, the gent who booked me said that, due to a stormy weather-cast, the two bands following me were cancelled. That left me, with my family show on this large stage. There was a strong chance of rain towards the end of my sets, so things were iffy to begin with.
Since the town pool was next to the stage, we decided to move my sets into the grassy part of the pool area. We set up a pop-up tent, ran some juice to my PA and I settled in for two hours of mixing it up with folks. At first, we gathered a nice bunch of curious kids, some families there for the concert and occasional grandparents. Good stuff.
But, like a carnival, attention spans are pretty short at a pool. After a while, kids drifted off, as expected, but there were always families and kids parked on blankets, kids playing stuff out of the bag, and always, always, good connections being made. Two hours of this taxed my repertoire and my energy. I was tapped at the end.
It didn’t rain at all. I feel sorry for the Catty folks who put so much effort into the event. Times are hard in the small towns, especially for the folks who care so much about their neighborhoods and their neighbors, trying to bring some art to the people.
What was supposed to be a stage show for the community boiled down to these few people on the grass at a pool. The Town paid me well – my fee was aimed at a large crowd with my PA, so I felt a little ambiguous about the check (for a little while) and the small audience.
But I did what I do best, connected with those around me, folks who took a chance on taking in my music and art on a hot June Saturday.