Dave's Journal

Sunday, August 8th, 2021

The 365 Project, and how it became 500.

Hello, friends. This is a fairly exhaustive blog on my project, but it’s my way of documenting for myself the creative decisions and thought processes that I made along the way. I beg your patience.

I initiated this project in the very early days of the pandemic. I vowed to put up a song a day on Facebook for one year, and, as it happened I rolled through 500 daily posts. Not all were new posts, but, for the most part, all were fresh. More on that later.

I was inspired by a Teaching Artist gathering at The Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, one of the many opportunities I have through Young Audiences of NJ to meet up with other TA’s in my field and share philosophies, teaching techniques and basically re-energize ourselves in our craft. Several years ago a photographer did a keynote presentation on his book and project called 365. He outlined his effort to post a piece of art daily on social media, picking out of the blue the subject of skulls. Over the year, he developed a vast international following while gaining a strong skill set, as well.

I figured, since I was going to be locked down for the foreseeable future, now was the time to attempt this process for myself. The mutation of the posts was interesting as I learned new production skills, refined my work habits and expanded my repertoire.

KItchen studio

early session

Initially, I worked in front of my computer in my bedroom, quickly became dissatisfied with the left-handed aspect of the camera, the scenery in my room, but started out with some positive songs from my repertoire to help me and my audience cope with the new situation. I quickly turned to carving out a space in my small kitchen, purchasing a stand for my phone (good ole Amazon), finding a simple desk lamp for lighting and a simple movie-making app to create my videos. It turned out that I really enjoy the creative aspects of designing a video and seeing it posted in the morning.

The production began a process of developing a opening scene Dave Fry Kitchen Sessions (with seasonal flowers), ending credits (with paypal info – hah!), as well as some Google images of old record labels, Godfrey’s photos and other arcania that linked to the subject. I also made deep dives into who wrote the songs, who covered them, and generally found some back stories on the song in order to share them with my audience. I learned a whole lot.

I opened myself up to pulling songs from the ether, often song ideas perculating up from nowhere during the day. I picked out songs I’ve always wanted to do from favorite performers over the years: Flying Burrito Brothers, Utah Phillips, Dylan, Sandy Denny, old hokum songs, The Beatles and more. I would find the lyrics on Google, find a video as well and then sit down and figure out the chords and a key I could sing them in (damn Beatles…). I used my capo constantly. I really developed considerable skills in developing arrangements, interesting guitar parts and working on my singing, still not one of my strengths. I’d put the song in my head to record the next day.

Meet the Beatles

Waldzither

It was now time to record the sucker, with a brief rehearsal in front of the computer. I’d set up my phone in the stand, turn on the lava lamp and desk lamp and try to get a reasonable take on the song. Early on, I sang to the room but found my vocals weren’t as good as I would like. I then set up my small amp to my left, plugged in my guitar and a vocal mike. This turned out to be crucial. I now had a vocal monitor for my voice and could also give my guitar a physical presence in the video. Big difference! I was able to get my instrument collection back into shape and, oh, wardrobe… pick out a hat.

I would set in trying to get a decent version of the song. I would plow through mistake after mistake, occasional street sirens going by, clearing my throat and other stumbling blocks along the was. I got to the point where I would simply stop midstream and begin again, muttering a few epithets along the way. (I’m glad I don’t have a blooper tape,) Eventually, I would make it through a version that I could live with, turn off the phone and head back to the computer for post-production.

epilogue material

Ideally, the best cut would be at the end of the file and I could quickly cut the chaff from the beginning. I would edit the ending, add the ending credits and epilogue, and final script. I found it necessary to log the date and the instrument for posterity. I’d then find a good beginning, snip the dross, add the opening scene, beginning credits (date) and song and songwriter credits, create a photo for You Tube, save and create the movie file. I would then post to You Tube.

I found that simply posting the movie file itself wasn’t enough. I had troubles with Facebook screwing up the file, with a time lag between the audio and video. I also found people were “liking” the video but I had no way if they had actually watched it. I gave up on the immediacy of FB posting for the extra step of linking to You Tube in order to quantify the number of people actually committing to watching the video. This was a good move.

As I was dealing with some sleepless nights, I began a ritual of posting the video at 2, 3 or 4 am, doing my daily exercise, meditate and then read the NY Times on line. I had the sense that I had been productive early on that day and could let the rest of the day unfold, record a new tune and deal with my solitude. This ritual served me well for over a year.

Christmas shenanigans

December proved to be a good time to post my library of Christmas tunes. January gave me the chance to do ‘cold’ songs, Saturday’s became ‘Family Songs’ and a breakup with a good friend became ‘Friendship Week’.

365 Concert at the IceHouse in March

I wanted to do a concert celebrating the 365 Project, and the IceHouse provided me that opportunity. Ara Bartlieb had be producing a series of virtual shows, so we lined up a session for mid March. I enlisted my good friend Craig Thatcher to accompany me. I picked out tunes that helped display the process and Craig covered a few that I had done during the series. It was the first time we had played outside our homes and the electricity was palpable. We came up with a very nice show that was put online and I am particularly proud of.

Cheap shades

After the passing of one year – 365 – I decided to post earlier videos in order to cut back on my workload, especially since a few gigs started coming back in the late spring and summer. I usually would record at least three or four new ones a week, and I found that the old ones held up over time, and the audience didn’t seem to mind. I’ve kept a log of all the tunes and dates, and, as I was approaching 490 or so, I gave thought to wrapping the series up. I had developed a group of loyal followers, but, with more and more gigs, I decided to end the streak and post occasional new videos just to maintain a presence online.

I decided early on that online shows didn’t work for me. I had trouble with the technology and prefered being able to have a well-produced, clean and short post, under my control and post on a daily basis rather than longer sets in a live situation. Others have done it differently.

What did I learn? Personally, I kept my sanity by staying creatively active inspite of living a solitary life on the Southside of Bethlehem. I could quickly learn a song, arrange it and perform it in 24 hours. My performance skills became adept in front of that little white light on the camera, and was comfortable in projecting my persona onto tape. I became appreciative of the songwriting skills of many artists, especially The Beatles (at such a young age, too.) I was able to pick out the essence of tunes for the brief introductions, find something interesting to say and then deliver the song and a crisp ending.

I found I had tremendous support from a small group of daily listeners as I was able to guage interactions on You Tube and Facebook. I found some satisfaction in that I was part of many people’s morning ritual as we all dealt with these strange times. I was part of a community.

I finished up the series with Hank Snow’s I’m Moving On. It seemed to be an appropriate way to wrap things up. Here’s some feedback from the 500th post:

“Thanks for brightening my mornings – I will miss you!”

“Good morning Brother Dave!! Thanks for sharing your Music my friend!! Yeah Buddy, it’s been a Great run!!”

“Thank YOU for helping us get through the pandemic with your daily ray of musical sunshine!!”

“Thank you, Dave, for lifting our spirits and reinforcing for us the power of music.”

“I enjoyed and learned a lot, and you inspired me to play more. Thank you!”

“Thank you for the morning cheer!”

“You got me through the pandemic.”

“I’ve enjoyed every single one of them.  Thank you so much !!”

“Thank you, Dave, for the best music to start the day with. I’ve learned a lot and have enjoyed them all.”

For me, I come away knowing I am a better artist and person for the experience, and I have a library of songs to show for it. And, I’m not done yet.

Here’s the 365 link: https://www.youtube.com/user/davefrymusic/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0

Dave Fry’s Campfire link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsYWH4p-yiE_ETpzR7nxlmuR7S0Hj3sIZ

 

Wednesday, August 4th, 2021

Camp Happiness on Wednesday

I returned to one of my favorite camps, Camp Happiness, in Milford, CT. I’ve been doing a show here for at least ten years now (even though last year was washed out with Covid) and particularly like the counsellors who “get it.” They jump in and make a great example for the kids.

The kids have special needs, to varying degrees, but the staff encourages the students wonderfully. This year’s turnout was especially small due to the continuing Covid worries, but we managed to have a good time. I got into town early and we decided to move my 10:30 show up to 9:30, which was most welcome. We also decided to do it outdoors on the grass.

I’m actually rusty on some of the material: Cat Came Back, Baby Shark, Bear Hunt. I’ve haven’t done these in front of folks for a year and a half. So it was good to get them out. This show with these kids usually gives me a chance to work on some new things. I asked for a new wrinkle for Bear Hunt so one boy said, “Haunted House” and another chimed in, “with an elevator.” So we did it. It was pretty funny.

I brought out the bag. Rhythm instruments for Names of the Animals, puppets for Down By The Bay and scarves for Jelly in the Dish. I also got the kids to change instruments and scarves with each other after every verse. Mixing it up socially.

I finished up with Splish Splash but added a part for the kids to add one of there favorite dances, similar to what I’ve been doing with All Around the Kitchen. One counsellor came up with what we called the Car Dealership. It was great and I’ll use it again.

It was a good session and I’m so glad the staff invites me back every year. I get energized from the visit. It was a long day 5 am to 2 pm with lots of road time, but the traffic was fairly easy and I listened to a lot of podcasts.

Sunday, August 1st, 2021

Madison Farmers’ Market on Friday

At least I got a couple of days notice for this one. Still, it was touch and go getting there in time. I found out that I had to do a set at Donegan School at 10:30 am to wrap up the residency, which was just when I should be leaving for CT. I was able to switch things with Touchstone Theater to do my set with Names to the Animals at 10 am to start off the showcase (it was great) and then pack up and take off for Madison.

I got to town with a half hour to spare and set up under the big ole tree facing the pathway and started at 3 pm. Per usual, the first hour or so was playing to Madison’s gentry walking by with there artisanal veggies and sea food with nary a glance (or tip). Although my first tip was from a gentleman who through in a $2 bill. I laughed and lost my place in the song.

Eventually, some kids with moms, grandmoms and a few dads stopped by and we dug into the bag of instruments and connected. It seemed that there were fewer folks in town this time; perhaps vacations out of town. It was nice to strike up conversations with various folks, including a couple of women who were starting to play uke.

It was a long trip back through Friday evening traffic but I got home about 10 pm. I have Saturday morning off. Decent tips, and, surprisingly, I still enjoy getting out of Bethlehem for this monthly excursion. Perhaps that’s why I do it.

Sunday, August 1st, 2021

TV-39 Summer gig on Tuesday

I did two morning sets in the TV-39 studios on Tuesday, this time without video-taping, simply a live session with kids, moms and grandmoms, for the most part. As usual, I was treated nicely by the staff, sound crew and all. Some of the folks go back to my time recording Play Guitar With Dave Fry back in the ’90’s up at the Mountaintop studio.

I was scheduled to do two thirty minute sets, give or take, but since it wasn’t a live TV show, I had room to go a little longer. I did much of my regular songs including Giants with two brothers on thundertubes that was fun.

I brought out The Bear Hunt for the first time in many months. It’s one that demands a live audience that I haven’t had during the pandemic. It was good to dust it off.

I was honored to be asked to be part of the series and glad that I’ll be part of the Summer Jam series during Musikfest. I’ll be there the last Sunday, August 15th.

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

Final day of Donegan residency

This was the fourth and last visit to Donegan School and I figured we were just going to have some fun, and not concentrate on songwriting. I was glad, though, that I had a few tricks up my sleeve early on.

I started with Watermelon on the Vine and, when I suggested that watermelons once had seeds, the 5th graders didn’t know what I was talking about. We had a good time slurping along, though. A good ice-breaker.

I followed with The Bear Hunt, one that has been on the back-burner for the past year and a half. It worked well, even for the older kids (now that we know each other). We came up with new situations : Haunted Mansion, Spooky Circus and Rain Forest, each with sounds and motions. Good work.

I broke out the rhythm instruments for the first time and we sang our version of We Gave Names to the Animals, a good mix of singing and playing. I was glad that I waited til today to empty the sack out. I then brought out a bag of puppets and we sang Down By the Bay with the puppets doing the singing, using puppet voices and other good learning devices. The teachers enjoyed that work, as well.

We then cued up my video of Names and I got to watch it along with them and see their reaction. That was interesting. They were singing along to it and enjoying seeing my mentions of Donegan School as well as the pop-up pictures of the animals.

I think the sessions were successful and the 3rd grade teacher (who really earns her money with her group of highly active kids) said that my sessions were the best. That was a nice acknowledgement.

Tomorrow I’ll do a wrap-up with the other teaching artists and I’ll sing the Names song again, get my students up to sing the chorus with me, and then head on out to my CT farmers’ market gig in the afternoon.

Good work in my neighborhood.

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

Moravian Village on Wednesday

I picked up an old folks gig on the Northside of Bethlehem, and, upon realizing I knew a few of these folks, this wasn’t an elder gig as much as it was for my contemporaries. How about that?!

I was set up in a lovely courtyard in the middle of this large 4 story facility and it was a spectacular evening with a cool breeze and comfortable temps. This venue has music every Wednesday evenings, often coupled with a theme. Tonight was Scandinavian cousine, so I opened the evening by saying every song tonight was of that origin. Yeah, right. Folks chuckled.

Preshow audience

Right off the bat, a gentleman up front asked for Home on the Range. I knew what I was up against in these situations – some folks expected “The Hits”. That’s not how I roll. I started off with my positive tunes like Here Comes the Sun, We Are Welcomed, Simple Gifts and I Can See Clearly Now, and, though they weren’t the standard tunes, it set the stage for what I wanted to do.

There were quite a few familiar faces from my Bethlehem past and I felt comfortable in presenting my material, chatting about my performing career, my Martin connections, etc. and the show went well. I’m not sure the facilitator understood what I was doing, but there was a really good turn out, and the courtyard was pretty full.

All in all, a good gig in my home town.

Monday, July 26th, 2021

Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market on Sunday

I was all warmed up for this one, having played a couple of gigs the day before, I set up in my usual spot with my small PA and up and running on time at 9:30. There were few folks out this Sunday, but the usual assortment of dog owners brought out the hounds for a little sniff or two. (There is a organic dog treat stand off to my right that gathers a regular crowd…)

I really like the opportunity to stretch my adult chops, pull out some tunes I’ve put up on FB recently (some Beatles stuff) and work on lyrics, tone, etc. just for kicks. Just play to the field.

Eventually a couple of kids, moms and dads stop by and we dig into the bag o’ instruments. The Clatterpillar is a new favorite. One young boy saw me across the field and zoned in on me, as I did him. A big ole grin hit his face. He was young enough to be pre-verbal but delighted in handing out shakers to others. Incredible connection.

A young mom brought her one-year old up in a carrier and plopped her right down in front. This little girl was amazing. She picked up a shaker and a small tamborine and started right in on the music, often using both hands (!!!) and occasionally vocalizing some joy. She was quite the audience to play to, and folks picked up on her fun.

Part of the success of this gig is not necessarily the tips (though appreciated) but how the older folk watch and enjoy the kids getting involved. I end up giving out several Peanut Butter CD’s to the parents, just to get the music in their ears.

It really is a three-ring circus, and I have the best seat. I played well, got paid and headed out for a music jam in Lancaster. Busy weekend.

Monday, July 26th, 2021

Father Folk on Saturday Afternoon

Friendly folk audience

Rustic stage.

After I wrapped up my Food Co-op gig in Bethlehem, I headed out to one of my favorite summer gigs, Father Folk in the hills south of Reading in Berks County. This is an annual, word-of-mouth gathering of a tribe who love acoustic music and runs a small festival of friends for a weekend. There is camping and a small grove with a very nice stage and sound system. I’ve been playing this one for ten years, I guess, and love being part of this event. The audience is very appreciative, close to Philly Folk Festival quality (though much, much smaller), and am challenged to do my best half-hour set. I particularly love the drive out to this part of PA, as well.

Rope Swing!!!

The other players are mostly semi-pro and enjoy playing on a real stage with real sound. Every one steps up, though, and does their good stuff. I think that is what makes this event special. No stars. I was up for the 3:30 slot and got there in plenty of time to settle in, catch a couple of the other acts. I met my good friend Nick Peetros shortly upon my arrival; he had played earlier with Cliff Stackonis. I immediately asked him to sit in. Yeah! Nick is a world-class harmonica player (chromatic, too) with no fear in accompanying people, and we’ve played together many times over the years. This was going to be good.

Don’t Call Me Early, July, Giant, Rosie is a Friend of Mine, and Lessons from Pete.

I was feeling a little hoarse from my earlier gig with the food trucks, so I struggled a little. I also found my left hand cramping up from fatigue and the heat, so I was dealing with shaking it out, all while trying to get the songs right. I was particularly glad to have Nick on board. I was able to have him take some leads and stretch the songs a little. He was great and I know the audience was eating it up. The interplay between us was good theater and I knew Nick knew when not to play, a rare attribute for a harp player.

Interestingly, I muffed the words to Lessons from Pete but managed to pull it off. Again, thanks to Nick, it had its moments. Still, I was struggling with a long day on the road, the previous gig, fatigue and a new situation with someone not familar with my material. All in all, it was a professional set of music in a meaningful arena, and folks liked it. I sold a couple of Troubadour CD’s, too!

 

Monday, July 26th, 2021

Bethlehem Food Co-op Open House on Saturday

My local food c0-0p will be moving into a large, former car dealership on the Northside of town and I was asked to perform for a couple of hours as the aging hippies gathered in the parking lot. There were some food trucks near by, our local ice cream vendor and a DJ at hand and a tented area for folks to sit and eat. I found a nook in the shade, set up my small sound system and set in to playing. I put out my bag o’ instruments and started to troll.

Many familiar faces and some folks were listening from the tent. No problem that no one was nearby. It’s all about the ambience. Eventually, several moms, dads and kids made their way over to the shakers and I had my connections in gear. One lad sat next to me and was working the maracas. He was really getting into it and was coming up with some rather sophisticated moves. I opened up some spaces for him to extemporize and got him to count off the start to a song. He really nailed it, and, later, his dad said that he does have a gift for music. Another young girl took to the scarves and lost herself in dance. Again, her dad expressed some surprise with her ease in movement.

The bugger of the gig was the fact that I was set up next to the food trucks which were running their engines during my set, a constant rumble and an air of gasoline for the whole time. I was glad I had my PA, but it was cranked up more than usual. It took a toll on my voice later that afternoon at Father Folk.

It was a good gig and much appreciated by the organic crowd. When the sun moved overhead, I packed it in a little early and I was grateful to get a head start out to Berks County.

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021

Sayre Children’s Center on Tuesday

It’s been two years since I played this day care center in North Bethlehem and it was good to see some familiar faces, both kids and teachers. We decided to play on the playground in the back, in spite of the hazy, smokey atmosphere outside. Strange days. I was signed up for three sessions: 3rd – 5th graders, toddlers and then K-2nd. As always, an interesting span of ages and abilities to play for.

I was greeted by Norma Ocasio, a teacher I had worked with in the PASELA project 10 years ago. It was great to see her and know that we are still doing what we do.

The older kids were first, and right away, the older boys were less than enthused. I leaned on them early and, eventually got them up for the thunder-tube session, which worked well and brought them into the fold. Tutti Tah, I Like Peanut Butter, I Wanna Be a Dog, We Gave Names (with rhythm instr.) and Jelly in the Dish (with scarves). I did this set with the third group.

The second group was the toddlers, and it was a much more difficult group to deal with. We did simpler songs like Old MacDonald, Spider on the Floor, Down By the Bay, but still got out the scarves and instruments for some general playtime. There’s not much in the way of feedback, but that’s not the point for this age. We had fun.

I had three good sessions, but I found my voice was running a little ragged at the end, perhaps due to the atmosphere and three hours of singing out loud. I made sure the teachers got copies of my CDs to use in the classrooms, and the teachers loved the work.

I’m satisfied, and it’s nice to go to the bank right after the gig and deposit a check.

 

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021

Donegan Residency III

I headed up 4th Street to Donegan for my third of four visits, armed with some good ideas to explore with the 5th, 4th, and 3rd graders. We’ve been working on Names to the Animals and I planned on presenting the verses we’ve written already and get three more from today. I plan on recording them in my kitchen studio and then sending the video back to the teachers for Monday. The teachers seem excited about having something to show to the kids, and I need to document our work for the project.

I decided to introduce my CDs to the kids, and talk about the various ways an artist like myself gets his music out. We talked about playing live, getting songs on You Tube and radio. (they had no concept of radio play…) I also talked about the art work that goes into producing a CD: photographers, designers, back-up musicians, etc. and I asked the teachers to find some way to get this music into their ears. No simple thing to do these days.

I started out with Tropical Vacation in order to get them to become my back-up singers. I taught them the chorus, had them invent hand motions to the words. I then got out my red sunglasses for three of the students to come up next to me to sing back-up, and brought out my rain stick for ocean sounds. It was a great way to put them on stage, take leadership roles, sing out loud and think about production. We then switched roles with the other students. I was able to involve the one student with little English skills to sit in on rain stick so that he had an active part in the process. The whole process was quite successful and full of energy.

I followed with Giants, using the Thunder Tubes and spooky noises. Good Clean Fun.

I then presented the Names to the Animals verses from last week and proceeded to write some new ones this week. We came up with:

I saw an animal in the Congo,

Sharp teeth, its butt is pink, that I know.

It’s an omnivore, it eats with its hands, no fork or spoon,

I’ll call this animal a Baboon.

 

I saw an animal high up in the sky,

A three-headed dragon that could fly,

It’s a Greek myth: it’s fire could fry ya.

I’ll call this animal a Hydra.

 

I saw a snake in the tropics down south,

It bites its prey with fangs in its mouth.

It slithers from tree to tree as it wanders

I think I’ll call this animal an Anaconda.

As in the last two weeks, I had great connections, conversations and respect from the 5th and 4th graders, but the last group, the 3rd graders lack focus and the social skills to remain seated for any amount of time. It seems to be a function of the last period of the morning, a summer session and the age group. I have to remind myself to be cool, but I do let them know that I’m disappointed in their behavior.

The time moved nicely and we got some good work and play in today. One more week.

Thursday, July 15th, 2021

Donegan Residency – Day 2

Thursday rolls around and it’s back to Donegan School up the hill from me on Fourth Street. I love being only a mile from the school.

I decided to leave the rhythm bag at home and bring my mandolin. I started off with it, and explained its relationship to the violin and reviewed the physics of string vibrations. I then used it to do Down By the Bay and introduce some simple songwriting. We came up with a few good ones, and I encouraged the kids to draw pictures. We’ll see.

 

Did you ever see a camel styling in his sandals?

Did you ever see a piranha chomping on a pinata?

I launched into the more difficult work with We Gave Names to the Animals from there and both 5th and 4th grades did some good, focused work. The 3rd grade lands at the end of the morning, so that group really has trouble concentrating. Again, I asked for the kids to draw pix of their verse.

5th Grade excelled with this one:

I saw a reptile crawl out of the sea,

Black, brown, yellow, as colorful as can be.

It comes out of the water for a short time, not a lot’ll.

I’ll call this animal an axolotl.

I finished up with Jelly in the Dish with the scarves. It was a good idea to have everyone get up and dance at this point and it brought each session to a great finish. We did some reflections at the end, per usual, and the teachers really liked the rhyming work we did.

I have a week to figure out where to go from here. The time flew by again.

 

 

Wednesday, July 14th, 2021

Dewey Fire Company Carnival on Tuesday

The Gig

I knew this was a strange gig for me – a fire company carnival in July. I do applaud the organizers in booking a family folk show, but compete with rides, food, side shows? I knew what I was up against. And I am well aware of my lack of draw here in the Lehigh Valley. Still very glad to get a gig. In fact it was one of my first post-lockdown bookings. I do play the local farmers’ market and a local church, so I was glad they shopped local.

I brought Kris Kehr along for the gig, knowing I needed some umph on base for a two hour set, and some brotherly support on a set list that would have to be kids and Americana music. I’m really glad I did. Still, I was concerned that I could play a fire company carnival.

The carnival behind the stage.

We were booked for 6:30 – 8:30, earlier than some carnival shows, but I suggested the time slot for families on a Tuesday night in July. I got there, met Kris and then we figured we go over to the band shell and set up. I used my RockRoots sound system and it did fill up the stage, and, along with Kris’s bass amp, we provided a pretty good sound. I was curious why my contact Angela hadn’t shown up.

The vast and empty lawn, pre-show.

There was a miniscule audience, but enough to engage with (on a personal level), and the bag of instruments was splayed out on the lawn in front ot the stage. Again, the bag works its wonders and kids, moms, dads took some time out to play with their kids. I’m sure it also entertained Kris and me and made the night shorter.

It was a very mixed bag of songs and I’m glad I put together a long list of songs to do: R&R, bluegrass, country, family tunes. We used them all up. I can’t say enough what a good friend Kris is to back me up on these songs. He said that he even could dial up my newer stuff from my 365 Series on YouTube and bone up on my keys/arrangements. Cool. A friend indeed.

I really should have changed strings. I was battling the whole time with tuning and a thuddy sound on the Martin. The summer weather seems to kill strings. No wonder there. But, I didn’t break any, so that’s a positive.

Pavilion Stage

We made it through the two hours and we did a good job, No check or contact person. This happens.

Post Gig 

I got back home around 9 pm and checked my email and there was note, “Just wanted to check and see if you are on your way for the music for carnival tonight, we’re here at the pavilion.”  Ack! We had actually arrived on site around 5:55. I quickly emailed Angela that we showed up and played. And, of course, my mind went into “What if?”  Was the band shell and the pavilion two different places? Was I to play in the carnival grounds? Would I get paid? It kept me up pretty late.

When I got up at 2 am to post my daily YT song, there was a note from Angela: “Hi Dave – oh it was perfect, you were in the correct spot 🙂 I saw you setting up from afar and started to head over and then got pulled into helping with the food and beer tent and didn’t get to make it over to catch you before you started playing. The performance was terrific!” Big sigh of relief! This is never easy these days. Check in the mail.

 

Monday, July 12th, 2021

Moravian Historical Society concert on Sunday

I was honored to be asked to perform on the lawn of the historic 1740-1743 Whitefield House for a free community concert. The good folks at Martin Guitar were sponsors and it was put together by Susan Boak. I asked my friend Kris Kehr to join me, and that was a special treat. Our first gig together since the pandemic smacked us upside the head over a year ago.

Before the gig.

There had been a forecast of thunder showers for several days ahead, but things were good for the 4 pm show. It was sunny and quite humid. Kris and I set up in front of the small porch at the House with their small sound system. I had prepared a long set list for the event with my family songs and my bag of instruments opened up in front of us. As it turns out, there were no families and only a handful of adults on the lawn in front of us. It seems a combination of the Euro 2020 soccer match and my historic lack of crowd pull made the small audience inevitable.

None the less, Kris and I put together a good hour’s worth of entertainment as we cruised through July, Vegetable Song, Lessons from Pete, Rosie, Giant, Giants, etc. and I enjoyed chatting with the folks on hand. I sprung a couple of new tunes on Kris as well as abandoning the set list early on.

As I wrapped up the set with Simple Gifts, the local firehouse siren went off with a deafening wail; perfect closure for a Sunday in the park concert. Oh, well.

Still, Susan and the staff of the Museum were quite gracious, Kris and I got to catch up on things, we played well and delivered a quality folk concert for the folks who showed up. It was nice that my friend Dick Boak was part of the audience. I sold a CD, too.

 

Friday, July 9th, 2021

Donegan Residency – day 1

I headed up 4th Street to Donegan School for the first of four Thursday sessions with the kids in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. It was pretty hot so I appreciated the AC in the school. I was greated warmly at the front desk and given a mask since that’s the protocol for interaction with students. I found that it was hard to understand some of the kids – a new wrinkle for me.

I had my guitar and my bag of rhythm instruments with me and I was glad I didn’t dump the bag out with all the instruments. I simply brought out the rain stick and then just maracas. It was good to use the bag judiciously. I makes for more surprises iover the next few weeks.

I had three sessions today, starting with the 5th grade. There were about 10 kids in each room. The 5th graders were a good mix of intelligent kids, some curious and a few somewhat embarrassed to interact with this old white guy. But, I never let that slow me down. I worked out a set that I used for the two other sessions. It was fun to have adult conversations with the kids (and teachers), and brought that up with some of the teachers – how important it is not to talk down to the students.

Introduction of the Guitar, I Like Peanut Butter, Tutti Tah, I Wanna Be a Dog, introduction to the Rain Stick, introduction to maracas and rhythm patterns, We Gave Names to the Animals and PB&J (if I had time to kill).

Fifth grade was a little retiscent, fourth graders were all in, and third had scattered attention spans. Still, we got some heavy lifting done, I assigned the kids to check out an animal to write about for next time (We Gave Names) and also said that students will lead Tutti Tah next week (leadership). We also did some mental exercises with TT by reverse-engineering the order of the moves. The kids were fully engaged.

We did reflections at the end of each session and I also asked the teachers what they learned. In the fourth grade class, there were a couple of social workers whom I leaned on to take part in the session: Community, you know. Towards the end of one of the sessions, I told one woman to put her cell phone down, to her surprise. It was a curious situation but, hopefully, a learning experience for her. I’m so bad. (I did explain myself afterwards and she said no problem.) The teachers were totally engaged and appreciative.

The three hours went quickly and I felt that I had laid down some solid ground work for next week’s sessions. And I’m confident that I have plenty of room to expand on what I’ve done so far. I will get paid well for this residency, which is somewhat unsettling considering the lack of work over the last 18 months. I won’t know what to do with the money – oh, yeah. Car insurance. So it goes.

Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

RockRoots in Carlsadt, NJ

An appropriate drawing of how it felt on our first gig back in 18 months.

This was our first RockRoots in a year and a half. We were booked for a library camp program held in the gym of the local school for about 120 kids (k-6) and about 25 teen counselors and two librarians. It was a brutally hot day in July and we were thankful for the AC, for sure.

As usual, it was the usual 1.5 hour commute from PA and, of course, Nick and Wayne had faulty GPS help, but, again, of course, we started on time at 10 am. I was glad I checked out the PA (also sitting in moth balls for 18 months) and things were working. Now, all I had to worry about was remembering the show and adding a few wrinkles I had worked up.

I decided to sit down for this one. My asthma is high and stamina low and that was a good idea. The format and most of the script flowed well, to my surprise, and the show moved well, thanks to the lads being professionals.

I added a couple non-history songs for this one, breaking up the show somewhat, but I think the situation was appropriate and helped out the attention spans of the kids. I put in We Gave Names to the Animals that was fun and provided some give and take with the kids (and librarians love the rhyme-play). Later on, I threw in Giants just for fun. And, at the end, we did All Around the Kitchen that was a riot.

Through out the show, I tried to engage the counselors, who, without fail, don’t what to get involved. But, thanks to a few who understand their role in interacting with the kids, they came around at the end.

All Around the Kitchen gives the kids a chance to show off their dance moves and then I brought up 5 councellors to show us their moves. I had also asked the counselors sitting on the side to come down and dance with their kids. All in all, it was a great unifying event to finish off the show. It worked.

The band did well in spite of a few key difficulties and appreciated the new material. It was a long drive back and it made for a long day. I find myself pretty exhausted from the gig, but I’m glad we got the band together again and re-inflated the show.

Monday, July 5th, 2021

Greenwich Village Folk Festival on 4th of July

It was an honor to be asked to be part of this monthly Zoom concert. I have a few connections with the songwriters in the NY scene, namely Rod MacDonald and Christine Lavin, but I also thought that they were running out of songwriters to feature. I still feel like an outlier with this songwriter niche, in spite of my rather extensive relationship with it as a radio and folk club promoter. But, I’ll take it.

I was particularly please to see that Reggie Harris and John McCutcheon were going to be part of it, and I had some familiarity with a few others on the bill. Christine Lavin introduced me and Ron Orlesko chatted with me at the end. I was glad that they mentioned my 365 pandemic project, my kids’ work and my radio shows. Ron and Christine were welcome connections in introducing me to this group.

I was slated third, and I was fine with that. I could do my set early and then take in the rest of the evening. I did have several sound checks with Brian, the techie, and we went back and forth with what used to be fairly straight forward. We monkeyed around with the camera sound, my amp sound, positioning of the guitar, etc. and, somehow, it seemed to be not up to snuff. Perhaps I should have used the Focusrite box set up that I had given up on months ago. Zoom is never a sure thing.

I did Don’t Call Me Early, Giants and Lessons from Pete, and pretty much nailed them (if the sound was good…). It seemed that the folks in the Zoom Room enjoyed the set, and I surprised some of the folks unfamiliar with me. I got some nice compliments from John (“Solid set, as usual”) and Reggie (“You belong here”) as well as from Ron and a few others. The smiles from the Zoom grid was quite welcome.

Reggie, Roy Zimmerman, Zoe Mulford and, of course, John McCutcheon did outstanding sets with powerful original songs, often connecting directly with the 4th of July. I was in some powerful company. John is particularly brilliant.

Still, I was the only one doing some non-original music, though I think I held down an important part of the evening – a strong performance on a folk stage. I guess that’s where I felt I added to the evening. I’ll take it.

 

Wednesday, June 30th, 2021

Moravian Hall Square in Nazareth on Tuesday

As the gigs start flowing again, I’m getting some elder centers to go along with the farmers’ markets and I enjoy the challenge of trying to connect with the older folks (not that much older, I might add). For the most part, the audience tends to be mostly female, but also seem to be the more outgoing members of the organization; folks who still want to maintain an active lifestyle. As it turns out, they seem to be open to my set of music.

I’m not one to play “the hits” for this age group, and there are those who do it well, but I try to engage them with my stories, my interactions with children, my adult songs and a few sing-alongs that I know. That was the case today.

I was able to mix in Skip To My Lou, Simple Gifts, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Hello Marylou with my standard mix of Giant, July, Vegetable Song and others from my regular folk repertoire.

I mentioned Martin Guitars and my contact said that a gentleman Jack was in the audience who worked there and he had suggested that Moravian Hall bring me in. So, I dusted off Me and Martin Growing Old, one I haven’t done in a long while and managed to pull it off. I’m glad I did it.

The time went smoothly. I was glad I had my small PA with me, and the songs and chat flowed. I ended up with , another one I haven’t played in a while. I also mentioned Ellie Dinsmore who was a resident here over the last 10 years. Folks commented how much they missed her since her fairly recent passing. A nice connection.

As I was packing up, Jack wheeled up to me and we started to chat. I thanked him for the gig, and asked him what he did at Martin. I was somewhat taken aback when he said, “CEO.” I then remembered him more clearly. He had become a recent resident here having been hit by a car as a pedestrian and having his whole life changed in an instant. Oh, my.

He went on about how I was respected by many folks up at Martin, how my name often came up in conversation, how I was “famous”. This was all quite unexpected and somewhat gratifying, not that I have any delusions of grandeur. We talked about how I was lucky to be able to do what I love and how important Martin Guitar is important in my history. Amen.

Saturday, June 26th, 2021

Back to CT and the Madison Green Farmers’ Market on Friday

It’s been a long time coming. I returned to one of my regular farmers’ markets and one that requires a somewhat foolish loyalty on my schedule. I used to live in this coastal town in Madison so it is an effort to remember my days raising a family in New England during the 2000’s, leaving the stability of my life in the Lehigh Valley and re-settling in a new environment. It’s not without some bittersweet memories, though.

It seems that no matter what time I leave for CT, I manage to pick up enough traffic on the way to always make it possible to arrive with ten minutes to spare. Yup, it happened today. Friday’s on I-95.

I like to set up in the flow of the market as shoppers walk by: picking up flowers, fish and fresh greens. Usually, the clientele walks right by and I get very little in tips – amazing considering the wealth of this demographic. Today was a bit friendlier though, as seems to be the case with the re-opening of our society.

As kids and families walked past, I engaged them with my bag of instruments and it works marvelously. I’ve changed my model a little in that I’ll give the folks one of my kids’ CDs gratis, mostly because I have a ton of them that will never sell, and also because I want to add the legacy of their family experience. Often, the folks are moved to throw some cash into the mando case, too.

As the afternoon moves on, I turn my chair around to face the beautiful open green and play to the families that have now begun to gather on blankets in the open, bringing out snacks, eating pizza from the market’s vendor. The folks often meet up with other young families, bring out grandparents and socialize. It’s an interesting two-part gig for me.

The kids gather in front of me, dive into the instruments, puppets and scarves and they give me a chance to work with the kids on an individual basis. I also get to see some of the kids grow over the several seasons that I’ve performed there. I still marvel that the parents send the kids up with a dollar for mando-case, and my snide inner self says silently, “Ah, yes. Teaching them the value of underpaying the artists in your community.” Even so, I felt glad that I pulled in more $5’s s this year and a general increase in tips.

I feel the appreciation of the vendors, as well. One kind woman from the vegetable stand threw in a tip and a thanks, and the cheese lady across the way gave me a chunk o’ cheese at the end of the day.

The day was made complete by a social visit to my friends Ron and Susan up in Northford for a little picking party later that evening. I haven’t seen these good friends in a long time, and my soul soaked up the love we share. I decided to head home afterwards, thinking the traffic would be smooth sailing, but not so. Lots of time for podcasts. Still, even though I’m whipped today, it was worth the trip.

 

Friday, June 18th, 2021

Bethlehem Farmers’ Market on Thursday

This opportunity cropped up with only a few days notice, a return to my neighborhood farmers’ market a block from my place up on the Lehigh lower campus. I was glad to get the call from Deb. This farmers’ market is sponsored by Lehigh so there’s a nice check involved and I know some of the vendors from other sites.

It’s pretty sparse this year, with few students on campus and fewer vendors than before. The site is different and I was glad that Deb moved the musician’s tent down into the middle of the square, among the vendors and with nearby electricity. I set up my small system around 11 am and set out into a two hour set.

I appreciate the chance to exercise my rather expanded repertoire, so I was able to pull out some of the tunes I’ve done during my Kitchen Sessions, put them in play in public for the first time. It felt good.

As usual, the vendors and the market manager were really appreciative of the music, especially since there’s not a lot of traffic this year. It was interesting to see some of the students turn their ears to the music as they drifted by. They figured something’s going on here, still not quite sure what….