It was great to return to Easton’s City Square/Circle at the invitation of my friend Mike Duck (Not for Coltrane). It was a spectacular day and we set up in a nook among the many vendors at this impressive farmers’ market. I’ve tried valiantly to play here but I have been the victim of a vast ocean of local folks that play here. Thanks to Mike I got to reintroduce myself to the market.

I appreciate the chance to trade songs with Mike. I get to back him up on my mandolin, a rare and wonderful chance to pick on my Gibson. He, in turn, gives me a chance to bring out songs as I see necessary, especially if kids are on the radar. It’s what I do.

All of this happened. Mike has some new songs that are outside of my radar and he’s getting good at presenting them and playing them strong and clean. I got to play Billy Jean on mandolin for the first time.

I broke out the bag and soon had kids and families gathering into the space. One lad, perhaps a preteen came up to play tambourine. He was pretty serious about it. As I found some of Mike’s tunes beyond my mando skills, I picked up maracas and a tambourine, too, and I noticed that this kid was picking up on the beats. (His dad was noticing, too.) Eventually, his older brother came up and joined in. As I found out later, his older brother played in a garage band and it became evident that his little brother could play, too. These small things matter in real time.

Over the two hours, Mike and I traded tunes and the time disappeared, as it should among friends.

Later this afternoon, I have a gig back in the neighborhood at Holy Infancy’s Multicultural Festival.  Good start to the day.

My good friend Mike Duck asked me to share this two hour gig at my local farmers’ market at Lehigh today. I always look forward to swapping two song sets with him and we take advantage of flipping our tunes with each other. I get to work on my noodling skills on mandolin, something I rarely get to do in public (0r otherwise).

It was a cloudy, breezy day with temperatures in the high 50’s, but I was fairly comfortable. I brought my small combination vocal/instrument amp and settled in for our noontime start. Mike is comfortable in presenting both new and old songs, with me trying to figure them out on the fly. I appreciate his confidence, but then again, there were few, if any folks paying attention other than the vendors. (I did get a nice comment from the kiffle lady at the end.)

It was a pleasant two hours playing some music with a friend. And it was a block from home.

Off to Hyannis tomorrow for the International Children’s Music Conference for the weekend.

It was a fairly breezy drive up to Madison Green for my last FM of the season. It was a beautiful day, with a slightly chilly breeze, but families and familiar faces came out to play. I especially appreciate when the kids come back, race over and grab an instrument and engage right away. Several homeschool kids came early and they were bright and curious, and knowing that they were homeschooled, I was able to do some in depth work with them. And, as the Friday afternoon became early Friday evening, families met on the green and socialized while I worked on the kids.

Again, I am befuddled with their lack of understanding (tip-wise) as to what I am providing for their kids. Some don’t tip at all while some give their child a dollar to toss in my mandolin case. I left with around $16 in tips for three hours on the green and eight hours on the road.

I still do this because I want to. I enjoy the interaction with the kids (the adults cruising the market could care less) and I enjoy the opportunity to play my music in public.

I notice that I am exhausted the next day from the travel though.

Amazingly these three hour gigs go quickly, and have their own flow to them. I enjoy setting up as the other vendors are setting up. We get to exchange pleasantries before folks start cruising through and I settle in under my pop-up tent: spread out the bag of instruments, set up my mandolin and guitar, put out my CDs, tune up and start off with some tunes I want to play. The vendors enjoy the beginning, especially with a nice acoustic sound track.

As the families start passing by, I shift my material to the kids’ stuff, engage the children passing by, watch them look at the bag in front of me, and away we go. Today, the $1 tips started early, some from some of the older women veggie shopping who appreciate what I’m doing. Even the younger dude selling fizzy tea next to me gave me a bottle as a tip. It lasted all day, including the trip to CT and back later on.

I’m doing this one once a month for their craft and arts Sunday, so there is a special vibe going on. More and more familiar faces, with folks stopping by to say hello, nods and waves from others as they pass by and kids lighting up when they see me. It’s all good.

One fellow stopped by who said he has one of my old guitars, a Favilla that was my first good guitar (not a Martin, though). We chatted and he later posted a picture of it on FB. He wants me to sign it. Really? I guess I will. I’m getting used to this. I’ve had the chance to run into a couple of my old instruments in the last couple of years.

Towards the end of my stint, the fizzy tea dude mentioned he liked my version of Voodoo Chile on mandolin. That was nice. He mentioned he’s started playing around on mandolin himself. I talked about how I took it up to force me to think in terms of playing scales and tunes since I’m not a great lead player on guitar. I also suggested that he start bringing it to these farmers’ markets and get some time in while waiting for customers.

It was one of the better farmers’ markets this year. I sold a CD (!!!) and a pulled in a bunch of dollar bills that go into my laundry day cash stash. I have an hour to decompress before my trek to Ron Anthony’s CD bash tonight.

A spectacular August day after strong storms yesterday evening. I play this small community farmers’ market once a month, thanks to some support from a mysterious friend in the West Side  of Bethlehem. I was initially taken by the scene, with the season’s change, now expansive shade and a different slant of the sun. A curious observation for me.

I set up under the same ole tree, connected with the honey lady across from me and the various veggie vendors I know from past markets (there is a nice camaraderie going on with these folks). I had a gig coming up at the Da Vinci Center later today so I did some prep on some new tunes while folks were setting up. I warmed up with Rocket to the Moon, Moonshadow, Cow Jumped Over the Moon and another tune, an efficient way to prepare for my next gig this afternoon. It worked.

I chatted with a fellow from one of the farms, a dude who plays with a local blues band. We struck up a nice friendship over the two hours. I could see he dug the Robert Johnson tune and while I was playing Rocket to the Moon (a single entendre song), I noticed him demonstrating the theme with a small eggplant in his pop-up with his co-worker. I notice these things. He came over during a couple of songs (I Can See Clearly Now, Here Comes the Sun, etc.) and sang along. It was nice to work with adults for a change in this situation, as well as fellow musicians.

Another dad with a very young son stopped by. The little boy was overwhelmed with the situation. As he tried to grasp this ‘liveness’, his dad picked up instruments to help out the connection. I noticed, while I was playing Giant, the dad knew it was in 3/4 time, no small thing. I mentioned that he must be a drummer, and it turned out to be quite accurate. It was a special moment. This kid is in good hands.

There were several small family groups that stopped by, and, as always, the ubiquitous bag helped me engage kids and grandparents and parents in the effort. Some even stopped by on purpose!

The time goes quickly and I get to practice my art under a big ole tree in my home town.

I had my semi-regular gig at the Madison Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoon, and prudently planned for Friday traffic and got there a mere 40 minutes ahead of time, enough to catch a quick meditation to help erase my traffic mentality.

It was one of the better Madison Green gigs I’ve had, with some new families getting to know me and several familiar families, mom’s, grandmom’s, kids, etc. One small girl got into it early, and then passed out shakers to her larger group of family members, including a bunch of men(!) who all started to play off to my right. The young girl and the grandmother then began to dance around the family circle, waving their instruments. A very nice moment. I gave the girl a CD, of course.

As the folks settle onto blankets under this large shade tree on a wide green, the kids come up, go back to the folks, play instruments, get pizza and ice cream from the vendors, let the moms shop (the secret of my FM success). It’s a good, extended time in a peaceful space. It’s a strange and wonderful gig, and I love it.

Then again, I got $17 in one dollar tips. No $5’s. There are things about CT that drive me nuts.

Up to Ron and Susan’s place for some companionship with my noble Innkeeper for the Displaced Folksinger. Food, conversation and bed.

This has been a busy week with my fourth gig in three days, this time at my local farmers’ market a block away from home. Things were a little laid back today but that means I get to work on some of my tunes and crank them up with a sound system. I started off strong and got some good work in, and then a couple of moms with kids showed up and I went into my kids’ mode, with the magic bag of instruments laid out. It turned out to be a healthy session, though, as I was picking up some tomatoes from one of the vendor’s, he remarked that he liked the adult stuff better. Me, too!

Tomorrow, up to CT to Camp Happiness and an evening pickin’ party with my old friends Friday night.

I seem to insist on returning to the Madison Green Farmers’ Market in my old hometown in the aughts. It remains a bitter-sweet tour, driving all the old routes that I drove from CT to PA and back when I was married, supporting my family up there. I do appreciate the time spent in the car, listening to my mix tapes, leftist podcasts and enjoying some time to think.

A friend suggested the night before that traveling on a Fourth of July Weekend Friday was, perhaps not the best idea. Taking his suggestion, I left at 9:30 am for the 3:00 pm gig. Good move, and, for the first time in my memory, I didn’t get there “nick o’ time”. Low stress counts for a lot.

There was a new market manager who suggested I turn my back to the market traffic and point out to the open green where folks had been gathering on blankets over the last few months. I really balked at that, especially since I try to aim at the passing grazers for tips, with kids reacting to the music right in front of me. This is a notoriously upscale community, and it’s hard enough to get tips from them.

After one song, one family set up on the lawn so I turned myself around. Screw it. I’ll play for folks who are going to listen. Two young boys took it up right away, and for the next hour and a half, we had a great time. Gradually, other families stopped by and the three hours went quickly. Almost all the tips were one buck. That bothers me, frankly.

Anyway, I enjoy getting out of PA, play for three hours on a lovely summer afternoon on a New England town green.

Twelve hours on the road. Got back to Fourth Street at 9:30 pm. Closure.

I finally got to play at my neighborhood farmers’ market on Thursday. It was good to be back among the vendors, Lehigh folks, etc. so set up early and walked up from 4th Street with my mando and guitar to the gig at noon. I rolled into my strong stuff right away and it felt good to be back. I tried out “I Can See Clearly Now” early on when one of my good friends Hope strolled down the stairs. She’s got a superlative voice and I shouted out that I could use her harmonies on this one. Later on, she emailed me that she was taken by surprise by the song, not knowing it was me, appreciating  my ‘beautiful’ voice and good guitar work.  “I did not know whose sweet voice was singing “Bright Sunshiny Day” as I came down the hill from my office. Sweet guitar, too. The timing sounded a little like Dave Fry, but as a singer, Dave Fry owns words like “powerful,” and “stylin’,” and “charismatic,” and “gritty.” I have never heard your voice sound so — well, pretty is the best word for it — as it was on that song. That was absolutely lovely. Bravo, dear friend. May your music never stop being surprising and fresh!” Kind words from a friend. It made my day.

It got weird though after that. I notice a film crew on the scene, asking permission from the market manager. They cruised in on me, the surrounding area, my bare feet and my guitar work. This is cool. The man and woman in charge then asked me if I could be interviewed, specifically about the SouthSide Bethlehem’s history with the decline of the Steel Mill in town. Why not, since I have survived it.

I learned then that it was a Russian TV crew. That’s weird. So, they miked me up and we chatted on camera about the shift of the steel industry into the arts industry, why I play in bare feet, the demise of the steel company (greed on the part of the unions and the management), the great diversity of ethnic neighborhoods on the SouthSide, the fight for arts in the Valley and other subjects. I was pretty frank.

They asked for a song, so I unwrapped “Ten Men” from David Mallett, a tune we’re working on for the new CD,  and a most politically charged tune. (I still screwed it up in my mind). It was long so they’ll never use it all. But here I was playing socialist music for Russian television. Not what I had planned for the afternoon.

The rest of the gig passed gently, with some mom’s and their kids stopping by, some foreign folks on campus for a seminar on lunch break (one African lady joining in on tamborine). and some superb summer weather. All in all, a surprisingly wonderful gig.