The heat wave rolls on, with expected temps in the upper 90’s and heat index in the 100’s. Luckily, this was a morning gig and only two hours long. I was prepared to leave directly from the market and head up to Ron and Susie’s place in Northford, CT for a picking and singing gathering.
It was Art in the Park Day, with local artisans mixing with the vendors today, but I didn’t see many.
They had a pop-up ready for me in the middle of the market so I set up and started at 9:30 am. Things seemed to be slow for the vendors with the heat, but folks stopped by, I engaged with some of the children and played pretty well. After all the playing I’d done over the last 36 hours, it’s no wonder that I was ‘warmed up’, literally. I was also touched that several of the vendors came over and dropped some bucks in my mandolin case. It’s money out of their pocket, and that’s a nice statement.
Amazingly, I sold some CDs today. I don’t recall having a better day with sales in recent memory. One woman/fan told me the CDs she gave to the local day care were causing a stir, the kids loving the music. She came over later and said she had to buy some for herself, to replace the ones she gave to the day care. One Indian family stopped by, with young kids and two sets of grandparents. They had a great time watching the kids playing the instruments, dancing with the scarves. The market was giving out bubble wands today, and one of the grandfathers was making bubbles with obvious delight.
With CD sales and tips, I had a hundred bucks in my mandolin cases. Cash Dollah! Remarkable!
I packed up a drove off the CT at 11:45, temperature at 98 degrees, some podcasts and new folk CDs o listen to up and back. A good gig.