I put together an ambitious evening of music, photos and videos celebrating the arc of my life as a folk musician. It came about when my friend Doug Roysdon gave me a Saturday slot as part of his Ice House Tonight series, and when it came up on my radar last month, I put together an idea for this particular show. I invited friends from my past bands and assembled a powerpoint presentation with the vast amount of images and photos I have amassed over the years. It seemed to have a historical narrative and could prove to be entertaining. It was, but it was an exhausting project worth doing since I now can do it again down the line.

I started with a list of my various bands, picked out a song from that time period, assembled the players available (there were several who couldn’t do it on such a tight time frame) and linked the songs with the visual projections. It turned out to be a good format.

Each slide gave me an opportunity to tell an interesting anecdote, add some good storytelling and humor to the show and then play a live song with a friend or two. I was able to play some videos of some gigs at the Philly Folk Festival and on PBS-TV to give some added diversity to the show. I was also able to build to the material I’m doing for my new CD Troubadour with a nice cast of live musicians.

The fly in the ointment that caused some stress was an intermittent drop out of the speakers that developed 15 minutes before the show. My sound system has become somewhat road-weary and it rose it’s ugly head just in time for this gig. The sound would cut in and out, depending on vibrations from the stage, and was often set off by tapping my foot. Do you know how hard it is for a musician not to tap his foot? But I also found pounding my foot would bring it back on. It was a constant battle.

I was lucky that there was a small and very forgiving audience in the house. Yes, it turned out that I was thankful for a small audience.

I did not do a good job of promoting the gig, especially in such a tight time frame of one month. But it turned out to be a successful way to put the show together for future events. I appreciated the support I got from my fellow musicians Chris Simmons, John Christie, Hub Willson, Jesse Grim, Michael Beaky and Harley Newman (sword swallower). They were all wonderful.

This was a seat-of-the-pants operation for me. I was in charge of sound, promo, production, etc. and was a little above my pay scale. But, as a friend said, no one left early and there was no snoring in the audience. I was told, “Your presentation was excellent because you are a good speaker, excellent performer, and it’s apparent where your heart really is because of your accomplishments. I was fascinated by all of the performances you chronicled.” Mission accomplished.

I love the opportunity to play a coffeehouse outside of the Lehigh Valley, especially in the nearby Oley Valley. The drive through Berks County to Oley takes me back through decades of my life and brings me into a beautiful old PA town of brick and stone houses, part of my DNA at this point. The Half Moon Cafe is in a larger arts building dedicated to pottery, thus Clay on Main. These folks have put together a series of folk concerts, open mikes, etc. in their own community and I welcome the chance to perform for them.

It was a small audience of about 16 people, and though I wish for them that more folks come out to see me, I wish more people would come out to support the venue.

I was quite comfortable in doing two sets of my ‘good stuff’, and relish the chance to bang on the guitar and mandolin. I played relatively well (as usual, a few lyric mumbles…) and thoroughly enjoyed exercising my material through a sound system. I brought out my recently neglected D1 Martin and I believe it responded nicely.

My friend Bonnie Wren chipped in some harmonies on Louise and Jack Murray came over the mountain to support me, as well. Several nice interactions with the few who came out and that makes it all worth it. A beautiful full moon escorted me home.

I was the sacrificial opening act at Godfrey’s for a SouthSide-wide music event sponsored by Lehigh Valley Underground. There were only a few folks in the house, including some of the band that was to follow. At least I was playing for a few fellow musicians. I did my good stuff, regardless, of course and I was eager to play my new 000-15M Martin and I was not disappointed. It rocked. The lead guitarist of the next band came up afterward to ask about it.

Don’t Call Me Early, Barrelhouse, These Days, Voodoo Chile on mandolin, Rosie, Branching Out, Lessons from Pete, It’ll Be Me, Nadine. As I was finishing up, a couple of women fans came in and I was asked for one more. I remembered that one of the ladies loved Tutti Tah, and opted for Baby Shark, along the same lines. It went over well.

Again, people do not come out to see me play. It remains a major frustration for me but I insist on playing strong sets, if not for a crowd, at least for me.

I had a bizarre request from some folks to appear in a locally produced movie, and the shooting was scheduled for Tuesday night after my radio show on DIY. Taylor Purdee is a recent graduate of the LV Charter Arts School and is writing and producing an original film. It’s about a recent college graduate whose plans to go on a music tour fall apart, leaving him trapped at home. He soon meets other similarly educated, similarly unemployed young people and turns disappointment into hope by forming a new band. Yup. Been there, done that.

I finished up my radio show at 9 pm and headed towards Easton, and, as I drove the back roads, it started to rain unexpectedly. I wondered if the campfire scene would go one. I arrived in the rain and, after a short spell, (and after I got makeup on), we headed down to the site. There were lots of extras on hand, including some youngsters (one of whom knew me from Calypso School), and some other familiar folky faces. They ran at least ten takes of  a general campfire scene that didn’t involve me, so I parked myself in the damp to watch. Lots of support to make this happen.

I was cast as the elder of a local folk music scene. (hmmph…) I had two scenes to deal with. The first was a campfire scene with a bunch of folks sitting ’round, starting with my duet with a woman singing Satisfied Mind and morphing into Taylor leading This Train is Bound for Glory. We ran it many times while I was still trying to figure out what Taylor wanted. Seat of Pants Production. It eventually congealed, with several good moments that I hope they will use. I was good at working the crowd to sing along and react. It will be authentic, I think. We finally got what they wanted about 1 pm, past my bedtime.

The toughest scene was a one-on-one with Taylor. He had asked me to learn The Death of Queen Jane, a traditional tune that was featured in the Coen brothers’  folk music movie Inside Llewyn Davis. That’s where Taylor probably found it. I looked it up on YouTube, and worked it out on the mandolin as an instrumental. I spent a lot of time working on it and came up with a loose variation. The scene involved me playing an obscure tune and Taylor’s character figuring it out, thus giving him some folk bonafides. We did many takes, all the while I was trying to remember the tune on the mandolin, my relationship with Taylor’s character and my acting skills. We finished up around 2:30 am. We’ll see.

Luckily, it was great weather for a September evening, warm with lots of crickets in the background. We were among lots of local folks, a few professional movie techs, and whole lot of energy to make this project happen for Taylor and his community. I was proud to have been asked to participate and glad to watch it all happen in my backyard.

I made several comments about snipes in the nearby fields which several folks got, but many did not. That was cool. I went on a snipe hunt in Boy Scouts. Yes, I did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt

I made it home by 3 am.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2017/08/find_out_how_to_get_on_screen.html

My friend John Christie asked me to do a duo with him for a gated benefit event for children’s cancer down at the Steel Stacks area. Several large tents were set up with wine tasting and upscale food demonstrations. It was essentially a gathering of well-heeled patrons eating and drinking on a nice Saturday afternoon. I played this event last year, invited by Craig Thatcher, and was pleased to take part. They had pared back some of the loud bands from last year so I knew that our music was to be background for everything else, and especially today, playing for the last hour.

One of the nice perks, besides playing with John, is the full sound system provided by Phil Forchelli, a class community supporter and great sound man. We got to play with a full PA, and he made us quite comfortable. We started up the last hour after the auction, and folks started leaving (understandable with the food and wine they all imbibed…). There were a few folks who stayed and appreciated our music. John, of course, went with the flow, responding to the tunes I put up for grabs. We got some good music in, as I knew we would, as volunteers started to fold up chairs on the tables. I did mention to some of the flotsam remaining not to give us a standing ovation for anything or they would lose their seats.

The organizers apologized for the disappearance of the crowd but that was no big deal for us. We knew what we were in for, and, besides, it was a benefit that seemed to do quite well because of the format of fine food, good wine and folks with lots of money. There ya go. And we got to crank it up with a big, professional sound system.

I had my yearly chance to jam with Steve Kimock at Ken  Labor Day Weekend party. Steve stops in to sit in with the local LV bar band guys, and I usually try to do an acoustic set early in the proceedings. Steve asked if he could sit in with me, and I agreed right from the start. We did it last year and it was fabulous.

Steve has always been a ‘boy genius’ on guitar, and, having left the Lehigh Valley years ago, moved out to San Francisco and fell in with the Grateful Dead crowd and joined that jam band scene. He now tours internationally with his mostly instrumental music in front of thousands of people, folks hanging on every note. But we have shared our mutual respect for decades and it was great to sit down and play to each other and the folks gathered for the picnic.

Steve is a great guitarist because he listens first and then finds how to add to the song, and we both have a great sense of dynamics. He also recognizes that I can set up the song, the chords and sing the tune and he doesn’t have to worry about fronting the music. I have great confidence that he will pick up the changes, even on tunes he’s never played before. We did this today. Our antennae were up for this set this afternoon and we did played some fine music. Steve enjoys the challenge of my diverse material, from country to blues to folk to original songs, stuff that is new to his ears, I’m sure. I get to enjoy his response to my music. Simpatico. Many wonderful moments between us. And, like myself, he would rather play than socialize. It’s how we communicate best. We nailed Lessons from Pete, Barrelhouse, Louise, among others today.

Several folks complimented our exchanges, the material and obvious respect for each other. All I could say was, “That was a whole lot of fun.” Steve loved the tunes and the challenges and the interaction. This was a good as it gets at this level.