I headed up for a couple of gigs in CT on Friday. The trip up was smooth, moderate traffic and I got to the Madison Farmers Market in plenty of time. It was a warm, sunny day and I had a good three hour session on the town green. There were some good interaction with kids, families, but little in the way of tips. That’s the way it goes here. My daughter’s husband Cory’s mom and his younger siblings showed up, and they were primed. They wanted to hear the Rosalie, Where are You Going song, so I obliged.

The sun set right about the time I finished, so the change of the season is upon us. I left for a session with my friend Ron Anthony on Friday night. Thanks to the cheese lady who gave me a couple of chunks of cheese to go with the smiles she gave me during the market days. She appreciated what I did for the market with my interactive work.

I returned for my annual assemblies as Dodd ES in Allentown today. Monday gigs are wonderful things. My friend John Christie teaches 4th grade here and he and the faculty and staff make sure I get this ‘good behavior’ assembly in early in the school year.

As usual, both the morning and afternoon sessions had some great moments. I particularly like how the kids jump right in on The Cat Came Back. They remember over the years. I also asked what tunes they wanted and I got back Bear Hunt, Down By the Bay, The Cat Came Back, Peanut Butter, Baby Shark so I made sure I covered them.

I finished the first assembly for the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades with All Around the Kitchen, with the kids coming up (and naming) some cool moves – The Thumb Print, the Wiggle Worm and others and then finished up with three teachers: The Twist, the Samba, and then one of the zanier teachers came up with The Wild Turkey which he took out into the crowd at the end. I live for these moments….

Again, I am blessed to have John Christie sit in with me on this gig. It’s a treat for the kids and the faculty to hear his chops, and he also feeds me the names of the teachers when I need to get them up on stage. I asked the kids to do the Thumb Print to Mr. Christie when they see him in the hall. John said he had kids greeting him all last year, and I hope they do it again this year.

John mentioned that when he got back to his class after the first show, he was doing a section on community. This dovetailed nicely with my emphasis on folk music and community during my set. His kids picked up on it immediately. Nice. Applied music.

I traveled an hour and a half down to and back from a farm in Delaware, just over the border from Chadd’s Ford, PA. The weather was cloudy but no rain in the forecast. The music was sponsored by the Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music, and I was, essentially the only non-old time band there, and that’s okay. I had a late set on the stage following the International Turtle race in front of me. Van Gone won.

I settled in, plied my bag of instruments and tried to draw an audience. With so many events going on across the fields, it’s hard to gather and maintain kids and parents. Several folks did so, and we had a pretty good time. It was work, though. I got a dad and his daughter up to play Thunder Tubes, and dad got into it and it made for some good theater. Kids picked up on scarves, tambourines, maracas, puppets and such and we proceeded to do some community building under the grey skies.

The pumpkin ice cream made the day.

I made good time out of Easton and got to the George Taylor House about 2:15, found my way down to the Fest O’ Fall tent. Still no rain. There I joined a rifle maker, cider maker, needlepoint lady, several weavers spinning and carding wool and a lady making sauerkraut. From garlic to sauerkraut…. what a day!

The lady sitting on my right spinning wool just happened to be the grandmother of one of the kids I was playing with in Easton and mother of the lady who booked me for that gig. The two women swapped phone pix with each other of me playing at each other’s gig. Dave Fry across the valley.

This was not particularly well-attended, but it was nice to add some music for the vendors. I tried to lean more on my mandolin tunes, since there was a certain historic nature to the event. I’m having a good time with my new mandolin, trying to break it in. It’s very playable and has a good mellow sound. It also takes some of the load off my Gibson, now in its 95th year.

I didn’t make a lot of money today, but enough for some groceries and snacks for the week.

My double-header started on the streets of Easton Saturday with a set at the Garlic Festival. I was stationed next to the beer, wondering about folks eating garlic and drinking beer at noon in this fine city. The sound system was semi-pro, but I decided to use it anyway, just to be simple about the gig. I was primed for an hour and quarter of adult, kids, etc, depending on who showed up. I led off with some R&B, just to placate the dude serving beer as a family showed up with a very shy and young boy who really didn’t like looking at me in the eye. Over the course of the next half hour, as other kids stepped up and played, he finally got into it. Sometimes this live music is pretty scary.

One particular mom with two daughters helped lead the way when she got out a tambourine and played along. Her daughters really had a good time and they stayed for most of the set. I gave out foam noses and the time went quickly. It’s not the number of people I play for (I hope not), but the depth of interaction that makes the gig for me.

Off to the George Taylor House for a gig when I get there, garlic-free and sober.

Yet another stellar, under-attended session to kick off the DNO series this fall. It was a good one, with David and Jenny Heitler-Klevans, fellow family music performers known a Two of a Kind. I was looking forward to swapping tales and philosophy with them both.

David and Jenny write some fine message songs that are well crafted and intelligently done. I tend to be more on the experiential part of the spectrum, but it was a great discussion of how both approaches seem to work.

A particularly funny moment happened when Jenny was talking about a residency they did sponsored by drug and alcohol money. She quickly added that it was a foundation for drug and alcohol prevention. It was a pretty good chuckle. I said I would like to find some drug and alcohol money for my gigs.

I particularly enjoy the high level discussion that goes on at these events. Jenny, David and myself rarely get the opportunity to discuss the thought that goes on behind our efforts to play children’s music.

It was mentioned that this was a college level seminar on the art of children’s music. And that is exactly what it is supposed to be.

An interesting day at the market, once I realized I had forgot my pick case (duh) and retrieved it from my apartment. I then broke a string on the first strum. But it got better fast. The husband of one of the market coordinators came by with his one year old son. They had seen me a few weeks ago, and the little kid simply knew what to do. He smiled, grabbed a maraca and laughed. Another young boy came by with his grandparents. They had seen me a couple of years ago in Macungie and I could see the boy was intent on me. We proceeded to go back and forth and he was quick-witted and intelligent. The interaction was pretty sophisticated as we worked on rhythm, rhyming and other such things. The first half hour was pretty rich for us both.

When they left, I had time to concentrate on my playing and found I was pretty rusty from spending time away from my instruments this week. I have to put my hands on the strings daily to maintain, and after a while I was playing pretty strong. It wasn’t busy so I could hammer away on some tunes.

Last time I had asked the coordinator to pass around a bag for donations from the vendors. It worked marvelously as I came away with apples, peaches, popcorn, pears and a slice of some kind of cake. I also got a FB picture with the pastry lady Beth Anna from Warm Sugar. I nailed down a sponsorship, in jest, but it was fun to do.

What seemed to rise out of this situation was an increased awareness and connection between the musician and the vendors. I had implied that it was a tradition to pass the basket among the vendors, and I think it took hold today. I thanked every one on my way out, and a gentleman commented that I had paved the way, not only for myself, but for future musicians at this farmers’ market. That was very cool.

I got about $10 in tips and a whole bunch of food for the week, played with two young kids and their parents/grandparents, practised and created a template for other musicians at this site. The market is now interested in paying me next season, now that they know what live music does for the atmosphere. Not bad for a Saturday morning.

I’m glad I stuck around for the wrap-up after the second session, meeting with arts presenters and trolling for gigs at Appel Farm and a couple other potential bookers. Eric Booth led this one, and as he likes to do, he refers to his etymology roots by defining ‘reflection’ – bend back to ourselves. Reflection is something that I learned from these sessions over the last 15 years and it’s why I write these blogs after all my gigs. he said that we live in a “belligerently anti-reflective society” (you could write a book on that!). He talked about sustaining our balance as artists and feeding our artistic follow throughs. He stressed ‘Cultural Competence’ (culture – the medium in which we grow) with ‘Enthusiasm’ (filled with the divine). And he left us with, “Activate the artistry in others and guide them forward.”

It’s taken several days to distill this day.

Course of action: I will meet with Charter Arts School principal to talk about teaching the teaching arts at the school.

The first afternoon session was lead by some folks from the Lincoln Center Teaching Artist Center and led us in a session to write a personal philosophy statement starting with checking off five or so core values from a large list of about 120 attributes – like adventure, diversity, integrity, responsibility, etc. I circled community, curiosity, empathy, risk-taking playfulness, humor and fun. I narrowed it down to community, risk-taking, playfulness and humor. We were then tasked to write a statement along the lines of: I am…., I believe…., I believe….. I believe…. and then because of my belief, I ….. It was a simple but effective way to start.

Pairing up with Eloise Bruce, a writer, we each took turns describing a TA project we did, what behaviors and actions we took and learned from and then what core values we used in that project. I used my recent songwriting project at the local school. Eloise discussed her work at a small school community battered by Hurricane Sandy.

Eloise came up with a wonderful statement: “I am an activist artist who teachers. I believe that love is at the core of everything and that it is important to include the practice of reflection in our lives as human beings. I also believe it is critical that I listen to others for a deep understanding and to honor their personal truths. Reflection, love and listening open pathways to creation. I endeavor to be a catalyst for transformation and my alchemy is art, more specifically language.” You could tell she was a writer, and when I volunteered her to read hers aloud, there was palpable reaction from the other TA’s.

Mine is still a work in progress (as they all are): “I am an artist and teacher. I believe in the power of musical play to create community by taking creative risks together. Because of my beliefs, I am able to exercise my true creative self as an artist while creating community at large.” It’s no wonder that we bond together at these conferences by sharing such thoughts.

As we broke for lunch, it was a good time to say hello to fellow TA’s and reconnect, however so briefly. For most of us, we have gathered together at this seminar, shared workshops, chatted about our latest projects, grumbled about lack of work, etc. But the mere fact we recognize each other, we also strengthen our bond in our trade. Poets, writers, musicians, dancers, photographers and more. I had the chance to meet, talk with and encourage several new faces just arriving on the TA scene. That perhaps was the most satisfying aspect of the day for me.

It was also a time for a group photo of my fellow Young Audiences artists and staff. These people have been a tremendous influence in my life, my career and my family. I’ve been with YANJ for 25 years, with RockRoots, a few solo gigs and with the many, many arts ed and early childhood seminars that I’ve been able to attend. They have literally shaped my artistic life.

I randomly sat down for lunch with two women from Sustainable New Jersey, another advocacy group that recognizes the part of the arts in our community. They do a lot of work in the eco-field, of course, but they said these conferences are much more fun. I told them of the work of my friend Doug Roysdon and Lehigh University here in the Lehigh Valley with his efforts to quantify the effects of the small arts organizations to promote cultural sustainability in our own community.

Connections.

This is an annual gathering of teaching artists in New Jersey and I particularly enjoy reconnecting with fellow artists, administrators, meet some new folks and get reenergized in my field.

The morning session dealt with the state of arts education and the Arts in general.

The introductory presentation was with the organization Arts in Education, an advocasy group (http://artsednj.org/) and their new web site. Quite a bit of work and I plan on posting my video from my Holy Infancy residency on it. It’s a very nice gathering point for resources in the field of art ed.

The main man, Eric Booth, was the keynote speaker who I’ve had several opportunities to hear and he didn’t disappoint. He is one of the founders of the TA movement and remains very inspiring. He pinpointed that the term “art” often has less than positive connotations to the culture at large, and has come around to saying “make stuff you care about”. There has been a shift in the older adage, “Art for arts sake”. No longer are the arts simply something to enjoy in a museum or concert hall. There is now growing recognition that that there are quantifiable cultural values connected with them. Values that matter.

The arts can work in different frameworks to affect culture, frameworks like social justice, cultural empathy, personal intensionality and mindfulness and even reducing poverty. One of the newer applications is in creative aging, and they are finding out it saves money, yields health benefits, promotes well being and other concerns as baby boomers age in our society. And if it saves money, it gets taken seriously, and not just art for art’s sake.

Eric went on to spotlight our role as teaching artists in this process. And we have a uniquely qualified and important part in the very beginnings, in the schools.

He said that the teaching artist in the class is 80% who you are and only 20% what you teach – it matters more that there is an artist in the room. And it’s the artist’s engagement that is the gateway to positive results in having arts in the community/classroom.

Our job is to activate other people’s artistry and then guide the flow. Often, the artist isn’t quite sure that he is making a difference, but the clarity in the act of knowing something new is something that unfolds over time. It’s the awakening that makes the difference.

He said something that resonates for all of us. Our mantra is, “I’m gonna change the world – if it doesn’t kill me.” The primary impetus is to create, and the secondary thrust is how to make it work in our lives. So these questions remain for TA’s. “How do I get better as a teacher, how can I sustain myself and how can I network with others in the field.”

Eric said that “the silos are coming down”, that the separation between teachers and teaching artists is evaporating and the mutual respect is growing. We must disrupt the old framework that art is for art’s sake, and recognize that it has an important and powerful place in the education system and in the culture at large.

A great session and Eric followed up at the end of the day.

I headed out to Bucks County (!!!) for my second benefit set. This was at Washington Crossing State Park in the rather extensive museum building. The benefit was for AiR, Artists in Residence, a group that has booked me and other teaching artists in Trenton and schools that are challenged in presenting arts. I felt it would be a good thing to help them out and play for a new audience.

It was an art auction, wine and cheese affair aimed at the upper crust of this Bucks County society. Lots of black dresses, pink button-down shirts and the like. They had a piano player on first, I was to follow and then a trio doing acoustic pop hits. I did hit it off with the guitar player, husband of one of the board members and purveyor of the sound system. He understood where I was coming from.

As the hors d’oeuvres and wine circulated, I checked out the art works, many of which started with bids of $500 and more. Get back…. There was money in the house.

The piano player finished up and I set up. I said a few words about my work in Trenton this summer and started out playing. It was no surprise that the wine flowed, as did the conversations and I immediately became background music (dare I say ‘white noise’?) for the affair. Yes, I was told to turn it down. I finished up with Dixie Chicken and my new friends in the trio came up and we played for ourselves. I packed up, snagged some chocolates for the road and drove home through the roads in Bucks County. It’s been years since I’ve played one of these gigs, and I’m glad that most of my gigs have people’s attention.

Bucks County.

I was glad to be invited by Craig Thatcher to be part of an afternoon’s schedule of live music for a big benefit at Steel Stacks for a children’s cancer organization on Saturday. I invited my friend Kris Kehr to sit in with me, hoping to fatten out my sound among other bands on the docket. Thankfully, Kris continues to support me, regardless of the lack of pay.

It was in one of several tents on the grounds, the others being wine and food tastings, a Penn State football game and other high end entertainments. The soundstage was great and a delight to play on – part of the reason I lend my services to these events. We were in the same area as the silent auction, with folks browsing the items, eating food and hanging out. We were not the main deal, by any means.

We were preceded by Don Cunningham (former Bethlehem mayor and Springsteen wannabe) and his Associates. God, were they loud! I looked forward to providing an alternative to proceedings.

Kris showed up in the nick o’ time and we played a set of my adult material. It was a joy to be able to showcase this part of my repertoire, especially with folks like Craig’s band in the audience. Yes, I can do this stuff. I remembered my notes from Musikfest to do the good stuff up front so we rolled through Don’t Call Me Early, Barrelhouse and Rosie early on. Kris contributed with solid bass support as well as some nice leads when called upon. There was good communication on stage, creative improvisations and a general fat sound and interesting song selection. It was fun for the both of us.

The first song was met by a deafening silence in the tent. I then made the comment that we were used to a modicum of applause after a song, and that it was especially important when we were donating our services. That shamed the crowd into responding. I was my usual sardonic self through the set, commenting on playing for free, etc. One of the promoters came up afterward and said that we could have a steak dinner later on. That felt quite nice. I also thanked Craig for inviting us, and that was the main reason we were there. It was, and I was glad to help out my friend.

We played standing up and that felt good, too. I was soaked with sweat and somewhat fatigued from the effort, but it was righteous, indeed.

Off to another benefit in the evening in Bucks County.

There weren’t many folks for the concert when I arrived, nick o’ time, for my 6:30 show at the Whitehall Library. Two matrons were there, sitting in the back (I played to them unmercifully through the evening, some old friends with their daughter and her two daughters, a mom and her one son, a mom with three boys in tow, and a bunch of librarians. My kinda audience.

I stuck with the old stuff, knowing that the older folks like to watch the kids dance, laugh, react to the music. It is pretty good theater, and I’m glad I can engage across a broad spectrum of ages. If I get laughs and giggles and other reactions from a particular child, I take time to pause so that we all can enjoy the moment. Nothing is more precious than a kid’s laughter. And I think these moments can make the evening memorable for everyone.

Again, not a whole lot of people and I wish I could draw more folks out to support the venues that pay me well. I understand what I’m up against. The best I can do is play honestly with the folks that cared enough to show up, and that’s okay in my book.

I was lucky to pick up a local gig on Saturday at a local park in the Hispanic section of Bethlehem. A local community action group sponsors these neighborhood events with kids events, free food from local vendors and Doug Roysdon from Mock Turtle Marionettes and myself alternate short set of interactive music and puppets. It was brutally hot, so we were set up under a small pop-up tent. The block was jumping, though, with dance, basketball, arts activities like face painting, mask making, etc.

I launched into some music and invited kids to stop over and play the shakers from my bag. There were actually some older kids who joined in along with some younger kids. It was hard work to engage and entertain these kids for a half hour, especially with so much going on around us. But, a lot of it is one on one, three on one work and is intense work.

It was great to look out over the park and see the neighborhood enjoying each other and the community situation for a Saturday afternoon. I was glad to be part of it, even in one small nook under a pop-up tent.

I made the long trek up and back to CT, and, amazingly, I get a lot out of the three hours I play on the green. It was a sunny day, bordering on too hot, but I had the big ole tree for shade. Usually I get little notice from the elite that cruise by, purchasing their sea food, flowers, artisan kale and goat cheese. Today, though, several moms and small children made a point to stop by and take time to play with me. Towards the end, there was a group of preschool kids and parents on blankets near by, and the kids gravitated over to where I was playing.

Today, I particularly took note of the real young toddlers and their eyes. As their parents and grandparents walked by, the little kids simply stared at me, completely fascinated with this live music experience. The adults were oblivious to me, but the little kids understand. I, in turn play right to them, look them in the eye and make connection. Pretty powerful stuff.

A few dollar tips, a hundred dollar bill in pay, seven hours on the road and three hours of solid practice. I was bushed when I got back, but a righteous weariness.

I have grown fond on this gig, despite the low pay scale. It gives me the opportunity to play for a fairly diverse audience of old folks, families and social strata. I asked one couple what they come to the fair to see. The man said the demolition derby and the wife said the food. I asked some others and food came up a couple more times. Then one man in front said, “Dave Fry.” I got out my wallet and gave him a dollar.

Another senior was futzing with his cell phone and when I finished the song, I asked him to put his cell phone away (playing on the current mania) since this was live music. He then said that he was recording me. I then said that he should REALLY put the phone away. These are some of the spontaneous things that come up that make the gig fun for me and funny for the audience.

Kids danced on stage for the last two songs and it made for great visual theater.

I sold a CD (!!!) and made some tips and left feeling good about what I do.

Ken puts on a great jam/feast/fest every Labor Day weekend, and I made it to my second one today. I’ve started things out the last two years – I can’t stand an empty stage – so I get to do a set as folks pull in. Unfortunately, I don’t always get to play for some players that get there late but today was quite wonderful

Steve Kimock, formerly from the Valley, was in town visiting family so I asked him to play along. Steve is pretty much internationally known for his near orbit with Jerry Garcia and friends on the jam circuit so I was confident that I could throw things at him and he would pick up on everything. Which he did. Steve listens first (and second) and then finds ways to fit in. He did some fascinating stuff on Legends, Rosie, Barrelhouse and other fairly tough songs. It was pretty cool to play with him, play strong chords and rhythms and let him soar a little on lead.

It would be even cooler to play for a listening audience, but it was a picnic and social gathering. But what made it special was the fact that we both were listening to each other and communicating like two professionals. Steve also made me raise my game and I played really strong. That’s the way it works.

I was quite honored to be asked to do a couple of family shows at this fairly prestigious folk festival. Like the Philly Folk Fest, the invitation is worth as much as the gig.

Even as I walked to the site of the children’s stage,I ran into folks I knew, especially friends from the Lehigh Valley. I was welcomed to this new arena right away.

I set up in a sawdust floor pavilion for the kids area. Bleachers were positioned a little too far away, but it was a reasonable venue, with sound. I was scheduled for two shows at 1 and 3 pm with a good storyteller in between. Normally, there would be more kids but the early school schedules before Labor Day prohibited a bigger audience. So it goes. I work with what I got.

The first set was good with some intelligent kids interacting with me, some toddlers doing some free-form dancing, and moms, grandmoms, dads and kids getting loose. A good session. I went with the good stuff up front.

The second session was fun. A couple of musicians I know stopped by to see me do my work. Again, good interaction with kids and their families, including some tweener girls who I picked on early and eventually committed to getting up and dancing. All in all, it was two good sets of engagement. The festival folks were quite pleased with what I did and I hope to return next year.

It was a pleasure to be involved with a high class and comfortable festival like this. I wish I could do this all the time.

I bought a new mandolin with my pay.