My good friends at the Saucon Valley Community Center in Hellertown did an event at Reservoir Park near Hellertown this morning and afternoon. I was asked to play two sets with a magician in between. It turned out to be great weather, though a slim turnout for this event.
I set up in an open area and launched with some general tunes and I caught that one dad, mom and a very shy son had gathered nearby. The dad came up and played tambourine on a tune, but his son didn’t budge. I invited them to sit down nearby. There was nobody else to work with so I kept on with dad’s encouragement and his son’s reticence. Eventually, it became a rich experience.
As I found out, as we chatted between songs, Jesse (Dad) had emailed me earlier in the week and had made the trip down from Scranton to catch this set. He had seen me as a kid at an assembly in NJ 30 years ago, and had picked up my CDs and was playing them in the car with his son, Bennett and his wife. A true fan-boy.
We had a great time as I was able to draw Bennett into the music with Clattapillars, and other instruments, simple chatting, conversation with his parents, etc. so that, by the end of my first set, we were buds. He came up afterwards and asked for autographs for my CDs, including a cassette cover I autographed to his dad 30 years ago. This is pretty deep stuff. 
I took a break for the magicians (they always command an audience) and followed with set of music for no one in particular. I wrapped up, apologize for the small turnout, ate a turkey hotdog and headed home. Life in the slow lane. Still, the work with Jesse and Bennett made it all worth it.