I donated my services again for my friends at Flint Hill Farms outside of Hellertown. I told the folks I was bringing my own flies. The day was cloudy but in the 60’s so it was a good day. I set up outside a bank barn and encouraged kids and folks to come up and sit on some hay bales. It was a tough sell, especially when there so few families there.
One family was great. The little girl is the grandchild of some old Steppin’ Out! fans, and the dad grew up listening to my tapes, and seeing me in concert. He was really cool, watching his daughter reacting to songs he knew as a child. Lots of pictures. Good stuff. I had a few good other moments but definitely a slow day on the job.
I headed out to a music party just over the Delaware, a pretty big fete given by an acoustic music supporter in the Riegelsville area. It was a nice collection of friends and musicians in the circle of Andy Killcoyne, so there were lots of familiar faces. As I loaded up my plate with barbecue, Andy came up and said, “You’re on.” I gathered my guitar and plugged into the nice sound stage put together in the garage space (a spacious space…). I had three songs and had to come up with some ‘bar’ material so I picked Dixie Chicken, Rosie is a Friend of Mine and Pay Bo Diddley, and asked Mitch to sit in on bass and Andy on slide. Jenn McCracken came up for vocals.
The first one was pretty good but something seemed forced. As we finished the tune, Andy found out that he still had background music playing through the system. Sheesh. Rosie came out well, as I was shouting out changes to Mitch. I finished with Bo Diddley and had Charlie sitting in on sax and some piano player found his was onto the stage. It was a good jam with nice dynamics. It was a well received set, and I was glad I had a chance to make a statement among the players attending.
I found my plate of cold barbecue, found some friends and pigged out. After a DIY radio show, a farm set and the fat cat party, I was done for the day. No set at Godfreys Open Mike for me.