Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show This Friday at LLUMC
Apr/29/2008 08:56 AM | Permalink
A reminder that Connections Band will be in concert
this Friday night at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas.
Here are the details:
Read the whole press release here.
I can also tell you that we have added two great new songs to the set: "Tell Me To My Face," and "Phoenix." I'm thrilled to be playing and singing Phoenix, along with songs like "Same Old Lang Syne," "Old Tennessee," and "Place in the World for a Gambler."
And a reminder that you can hear clips from our previous Fogelberg Tribute show at our MySpace page.
As mentioned, the beneficiary is "Nothing But Nets." LLUMC has made an informal goal of raising $5,000 at this show!
That would be amazing.
But more exciting, personally, is the chance to share these great songs from one of my true heros. To help keep Dan's music alive means the world to me, personally.
Hope to see you there.
Here are the details:
Connections Band Tribute to Dan Fogelberg
Friday,
May 2nd, 7 pm
Asbury Hall, Lovers Lane UMC
9200
Inwood Road
Dallas, Texas 75220
214.691.4721
As many of you will remember, our tribute show to
Fogelberg was the very first show we ever did. And to
many of us, it holds special place in our hearts.
Here's what Lovers Lane is saying about it:
In tribute to Dan Fogelberg’s recent passing, Connections’ 18-piece band will bring Fogelberg’s music to life and do their best to honor the memory of this great performer. You’ll hear many of his best known songs - "Leader of the Band," "Same Old Lane Syne," Run for the Roses," "Longer" - but also lesser known gems from throughout his career.
As always, the show will be FREE, and a love offering will be taken for "Nothing But Nets," the project that provides mosquito nets to African families. More people die each year of the preventable disease of malaria than do from AIDS! Bring your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers … you get the idea. If you can’t make it to the show, you can always make a direct contribution to the cause, and start saving lives today.
Read the whole press release here.
I can also tell you that we have added two great new songs to the set: "Tell Me To My Face," and "Phoenix." I'm thrilled to be playing and singing Phoenix, along with songs like "Same Old Lang Syne," "Old Tennessee," and "Place in the World for a Gambler."
And a reminder that you can hear clips from our previous Fogelberg Tribute show at our MySpace page.
As mentioned, the beneficiary is "Nothing But Nets." LLUMC has made an informal goal of raising $5,000 at this show!
That would be amazing.
But more exciting, personally, is the chance to share these great songs from one of my true heros. To help keep Dan's music alive means the world to me, personally.
Hope to see you there.
|
What Connections Band Did During My Blog Vacation
Apr/25/2008 06:28 PM | Permalink
Another loss of not having the blog these past few
months is not being able to tell you all the
incredible stuff happening with Connections Band.
Because it's been an absolutely
cool
couple of months with four great shows.
We set a goal of playing about a show a month this year. But because of the Easter season, we crammed a bunch of shows into late Feb and early March. It was a fun three weeks. But it just about killed us too. Because, we did something we hadn't really done before: we hit the road. We went to Wichita Falls, Denton, Sachse, and Grand Prairie.
We're considering t-shirts that list all the cities on back, and say "Connections Band World Tour" on the front.
The trip to Wichita Falls was rough. Traveling with a 15-piece band is not for sissies, especially when you're also the road crew. The logistics were quite a challenge, to say the least. And they were the next three shows too...just not quite as far a haul as Wichita Falls.
But, even though it was a long haul out there, the WF show got us some of our best publicity yet. A really nice story ran in the local paper about a week before the show. Rusty and I were also interviewed by KMOC Radio the day of the show.
You can listen to it here:
It's a pretty good overall introduction to the band and what we do.
All four of these shows were the Eagles/Chicago set. And, if I do say so myself, we're really getting tight with that music. It's done us a lot of good to play so many shows together, in terms of the chemistry, and the audiences are really responding. In fact, the Sachse and Grand Prairie audiences just about went wild.
Pretty fun.
We've also got our own web-presence now. It's a myspace page, and you can find it here. (Creating it was another of the things I did during my blog vacation...)
The MySpace page has TONS of new band info. It's got a complete listing of the 35-plus people who have played with Connections Band. It's got 52 awesome pics from the Sachse show. It's got brand new sound clips; "The Reach" and "There's A Place in the World for A Gambler." And it's also got promotional videos for UMCOR and "Nothing But Nets," our two main beneficiaries. Check it out.
While creating the MySpace page, I also created the chart, which shows the funds raised by Connections Band. We are now well over $20,000 raised for the great causes of UMCOR and "Nothing But Nets:
Finally, we've got three great shows coming up during the late Spring/Summer. The best news is this: if you've missed any of our tribute shows, you're gonna have the chance to make it up. Because we're doing all three tribute shows back-to-back.
The following are the details, taken from our new MySpace site:
Upcoming Connections Band Shows
May 2, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show
Lovers Lane UMC, Dallas TX
www.llumc.org/
9200 Inwood Road
Dallas, Texas 75220
214.691.4721
In tribute to Dan Fogelberg's passing earlier this year, Connections will perform our very first show: A Tribute to the Music of Dan Fogelberg. The evening will feature many of Fogelberg's best known songs -- "Leader of the Band," "Same Old Lane Syne," Run for the Roses," "Longer"-- but also lesser known gems from throughout his career. Connections 18-piece band will bring Fogeberg's music to life and do our best to honor the memory of this great performer.
June 13, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band Eagles/Chicago Tribute Show
FUMC Richardson, TX
www.fumcr.com
503 N Central Expy
Richardson, TX 75080
(972) 235-8385
Five of Connection's members have a, ahem, connection to this church. So, we're pleased to be able to bring to our friends and family there. As always, the show will be free, but an offering will be taken for UMCOR. To get a map to the venue, click here.
July 27, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band James Taylor/Carole King Tribute Show
Walnut Hill UMC, Dallas TX
www.whumc.com
10066 Marsh Ln
Dallas, TX 75229
(214) 357-5656
One of Connection's favorite 2007 show was at this church, and we're pleased to be headed back again. This time, we'll bring the music of JT and Carole King. As always, the show will be free, but an offering will be taken for UMCOR.
Mark your calendars now. Hope to see you all at the shows.
In early May, we'll have a Founders meeting, where we'll chart out a Fall schedule, and decide on a new artist for our September show.
Stay tuned for that.
It continues to be a thrill to us all to be able to play such great music, have such incredible audience response, and raise so much for such worthy causes. We give a lot to it, but we get a lot back. And I know I speak for the whole band when I say that it's an honor and blessing to be a part of it.
We set a goal of playing about a show a month this year. But because of the Easter season, we crammed a bunch of shows into late Feb and early March. It was a fun three weeks. But it just about killed us too. Because, we did something we hadn't really done before: we hit the road. We went to Wichita Falls, Denton, Sachse, and Grand Prairie.
We're considering t-shirts that list all the cities on back, and say "Connections Band World Tour" on the front.
The trip to Wichita Falls was rough. Traveling with a 15-piece band is not for sissies, especially when you're also the road crew. The logistics were quite a challenge, to say the least. And they were the next three shows too...just not quite as far a haul as Wichita Falls.
But, even though it was a long haul out there, the WF show got us some of our best publicity yet. A really nice story ran in the local paper about a week before the show. Rusty and I were also interviewed by KMOC Radio the day of the show.
You can listen to it here:
It's a pretty good overall introduction to the band and what we do.
All four of these shows were the Eagles/Chicago set. And, if I do say so myself, we're really getting tight with that music. It's done us a lot of good to play so many shows together, in terms of the chemistry, and the audiences are really responding. In fact, the Sachse and Grand Prairie audiences just about went wild.
Pretty fun.
We've also got our own web-presence now. It's a myspace page, and you can find it here. (Creating it was another of the things I did during my blog vacation...)
The MySpace page has TONS of new band info. It's got a complete listing of the 35-plus people who have played with Connections Band. It's got 52 awesome pics from the Sachse show. It's got brand new sound clips; "The Reach" and "There's A Place in the World for A Gambler." And it's also got promotional videos for UMCOR and "Nothing But Nets," our two main beneficiaries. Check it out.
While creating the MySpace page, I also created the chart, which shows the funds raised by Connections Band. We are now well over $20,000 raised for the great causes of UMCOR and "Nothing But Nets:
Finally, we've got three great shows coming up during the late Spring/Summer. The best news is this: if you've missed any of our tribute shows, you're gonna have the chance to make it up. Because we're doing all three tribute shows back-to-back.
The following are the details, taken from our new MySpace site:
Upcoming Connections Band Shows
May 2, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band Dan Fogelberg Tribute Show
Lovers Lane UMC, Dallas TX
www.llumc.org/
9200 Inwood Road
Dallas, Texas 75220
214.691.4721
In tribute to Dan Fogelberg's passing earlier this year, Connections will perform our very first show: A Tribute to the Music of Dan Fogelberg. The evening will feature many of Fogelberg's best known songs -- "Leader of the Band," "Same Old Lane Syne," Run for the Roses," "Longer"-- but also lesser known gems from throughout his career. Connections 18-piece band will bring Fogeberg's music to life and do our best to honor the memory of this great performer.
June 13, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band Eagles/Chicago Tribute Show
FUMC Richardson, TX
www.fumcr.com
503 N Central Expy
Richardson, TX 75080
(972) 235-8385
Five of Connection's members have a, ahem, connection to this church. So, we're pleased to be able to bring to our friends and family there. As always, the show will be free, but an offering will be taken for UMCOR. To get a map to the venue, click here.
July 27, 2008, 7 pm
Connections Band James Taylor/Carole King Tribute Show
Walnut Hill UMC, Dallas TX
www.whumc.com
10066 Marsh Ln
Dallas, TX 75229
(214) 357-5656
One of Connection's favorite 2007 show was at this church, and we're pleased to be headed back again. This time, we'll bring the music of JT and Carole King. As always, the show will be free, but an offering will be taken for UMCOR.
Mark your calendars now. Hope to see you all at the shows.
In early May, we'll have a Founders meeting, where we'll chart out a Fall schedule, and decide on a new artist for our September show.
Stay tuned for that.
It continues to be a thrill to us all to be able to play such great music, have such incredible audience response, and raise so much for such worthy causes. We give a lot to it, but we get a lot back. And I know I speak for the whole band when I say that it's an honor and blessing to be a part of it.
No Show Saturday
Nov/08/2007 07:01 AM | Permalink
Just a quick reminder....
Although it's been on my schedule for some time, I will not be a part of the "Tredway and Friends" showcase on Saturday. I found out a few weeks back that this is also the same weekend as a campout with my daughter and our Y Princess group...and I'm gonna go camping with her.
So, if you were coming just to see me, don't.
However, there will be a lot of other great songwriters performing that night, and it will be worth you while to go see them anyway.
Although it's been on my schedule for some time, I will not be a part of the "Tredway and Friends" showcase on Saturday. I found out a few weeks back that this is also the same weekend as a campout with my daughter and our Y Princess group...and I'm gonna go camping with her.
So, if you were coming just to see me, don't.
However, there will be a lot of other great songwriters performing that night, and it will be worth you while to go see them anyway.
The Newest Super Cool Website Thingy...
Oct/22/2007 09:04 PM | Permalink
I am so far behind on blogging I'll probably never
catch up.
Wanted to write about the great JT/Carole King show. Wanted to write about playing with Rick Saturday night. Wanted to write about the clergy retreat show. Wanted to write about Memphis (probably still will...). Wanted to write about the FeastFest show. Wanted to write about getting an email from Robert Lamm (kid you not...).
Wanted to write some other things that completely escaped me now.
It's all too much to think about. So, for the moment I'll just write about the coolest new website gadget I've found this month...
It's an iPod mp3 player for my website. And after a lot of work, I've finally got it up and running all over the website. The player below now loads when you visit the main page of my site (www.ericfolkerth.com). But feel free to play around with it here:
I've also set up an individual player for several of my soundclips pages: the "Songs for the Time Being" page, the "Return" page, and even the "Connections Band" page.
Pretty cool, huh?
Yes. I actually do get excited about this stuff.
I'm such a geek.
Wanted to write about the great JT/Carole King show. Wanted to write about playing with Rick Saturday night. Wanted to write about the clergy retreat show. Wanted to write about Memphis (probably still will...). Wanted to write about the FeastFest show. Wanted to write about getting an email from Robert Lamm (kid you not...).
Wanted to write some other things that completely escaped me now.
It's all too much to think about. So, for the moment I'll just write about the coolest new website gadget I've found this month...
It's an iPod mp3 player for my website. And after a lot of work, I've finally got it up and running all over the website. The player below now loads when you visit the main page of my site (www.ericfolkerth.com). But feel free to play around with it here:
I've also set up an individual player for several of my soundclips pages: the "Songs for the Time Being" page, the "Return" page, and even the "Connections Band" page.
Pretty cool, huh?
Yes. I actually do get excited about this stuff.
I'm such a geek.
Back to Dunn Bros
Oct/19/2007 10:09 AM | Permalink
Wanted to let you know about a last minute gig that I
picked up this week. I will be playing at Dunn Bros.
Coffee in Addison:
Dunn Brothers Coffee
8 pm- 10pm
3725 Belt Line Road
972-406-9711 (Map)
As I mentioned, I just picked up this gig at the last minute, and am filling in for somebody who cancelled. So, it may be a light crowd. Maybe some of you still looking for a Saturday night plan will stop by.
I'd love to see you.
Dunn Brothers Coffee
8 pm- 10pm
3725 Belt Line Road
972-406-9711 (Map)
As I mentioned, I just picked up this gig at the last minute, and am filling in for somebody who cancelled. So, it may be a light crowd. Maybe some of you still looking for a Saturday night plan will stop by.
I'd love to see you.
Carole King/James Taylor Show Reminder
Sep/20/2007 10:31 PM | Permalink
Hey Everybody:
We had a serious blast at the Northaven Coffeehouse last Friday night. A nice crowd saw a great show with me, my friends Rick O'Connor and Jack Kennedy, and Richard Newton sitting in.
And on the heels of that.... a quick reminder about the show Saturday night:
Connections Band
Tribute to the Music of Carole King and James Taylor
Saturday, September 22nd 7 pm
Spring Valley UMC
Click here for the official pdf flyer (with a handy map)
Here we are at the Chicago/Eagles Tribute last year:
And here are some sound clips of us from various shows.
We had a good rehearsal tonight, and we've got one more tomorrow night too. The show is really coming together. For the Carole King stuff, we feature three really great women vocalists: Ann Willet, Jennifer Rawlinson, and Lisa Rucker. (Lisa also plays killer sax throughout...)
I'm getting to play and sing some of my all-time favorite JT songs, like "Something in the Way She Moves," and "Country Road." And we close the show with me singing and playing on "You've Got a Friend," "Fire and Rain," and "Shower the People."
Come on and sing along...you know you like this music...admit it. It's way back there in your music DNA, and you know it. Nobody's too cool to be reminded how great these songwriters and songs are.
They're be great desserts, and the show is free. But we will take a love offering for UMCOR. Rusty King, our band leader, figured out today that if we net an offering of $2,000, that will put us over the $10,000 mark raised for the second year in a row.
"How sweet it is" to be able to sing these great songs, and raise money for this great cause.
Hope to see you there....
We had a serious blast at the Northaven Coffeehouse last Friday night. A nice crowd saw a great show with me, my friends Rick O'Connor and Jack Kennedy, and Richard Newton sitting in.
And on the heels of that.... a quick reminder about the show Saturday night:
Connections Band
Tribute to the Music of Carole King and James Taylor
Saturday, September 22nd 7 pm
Spring Valley UMC
Click here for the official pdf flyer (with a handy map)
Here we are at the Chicago/Eagles Tribute last year:
And here are some sound clips of us from various shows.
We had a good rehearsal tonight, and we've got one more tomorrow night too. The show is really coming together. For the Carole King stuff, we feature three really great women vocalists: Ann Willet, Jennifer Rawlinson, and Lisa Rucker. (Lisa also plays killer sax throughout...)
I'm getting to play and sing some of my all-time favorite JT songs, like "Something in the Way She Moves," and "Country Road." And we close the show with me singing and playing on "You've Got a Friend," "Fire and Rain," and "Shower the People."
Come on and sing along...you know you like this music...admit it. It's way back there in your music DNA, and you know it. Nobody's too cool to be reminded how great these songwriters and songs are.
They're be great desserts, and the show is free. But we will take a love offering for UMCOR. Rusty King, our band leader, figured out today that if we net an offering of $2,000, that will put us over the $10,000 mark raised for the second year in a row.
"How sweet it is" to be able to sing these great songs, and raise money for this great cause.
Hope to see you there....
September Music News (07)
Sep/07/2007 11:20 PM | Permalink
Several fun things going on musically this month...
First, the peace really in Fort Worth last week was fun. A smaller crowd than expected, but many of my peacemaker friends were there...Charles Stovall, Hadi Jawad, Diane Baker and Beatriz Saldivar (who became a good friend at Camp Casey and actually lives in Fort Worth. We had her and others come to Northaven to tell their stories of relatives killed in Iraq...)
I got to do several songs, including "Prairie Chapel Road," which was especially cool since Cindy Sheehan was there and said she appreciated hearing the song again. She may have been just being polite. However, Ann Wright was also there, and I really did get the sense that she remembered me from the Camp Casey days. So, that was cool. All in all, an honor to be asked.
There are two other shows to tell you about, however:
FeastFest Coffeehouse at Northaven: September 14 7 pm
This should be a fun show on the home turf. It will feature myself, Rick O'Connor, and Jack Kennedy all doing sets, and possibly sitting in with each other too. There will be coffees and desserts and a casual coffeehouse atmosphere. I'll be doing my own stuff, and it will be the first real show to showcase the Santa Cruz.
Connections Band Tribute to James Taylor and Carole King: September 22 7 pm
Spring Valley UMC
Connections is back, with our next tribute show. We'll be doing a first set of Carole King songs, and featuring our women singers. Then, after the break, we'll break out the Greatest Hits of JT. I'm playing a singing a lot of these, which is cool, since I've been playing and singing them for years anyway. Again, I can tell you now, the new guitar is so very incredible sounding on these classics. It will be a great night. Here is the official concert poster.
Both of these events are free, but both will feature a "love offering." At the Northaven show, the goal will be go cover expenses. At the SVUMC show, we hope to add to the amazing amount that Connections Band has raised for UMCOR.
Plan to come to both, since both shows will be quite different, really.
New Demo song on Myspace
I've written a new song, and the demo's up on my Myspace. Click here and then click on "No Greater Wound." I'd love to hear what you think.
All for now....see you later this month at these shows.
First, the peace really in Fort Worth last week was fun. A smaller crowd than expected, but many of my peacemaker friends were there...Charles Stovall, Hadi Jawad, Diane Baker and Beatriz Saldivar (who became a good friend at Camp Casey and actually lives in Fort Worth. We had her and others come to Northaven to tell their stories of relatives killed in Iraq...)
I got to do several songs, including "Prairie Chapel Road," which was especially cool since Cindy Sheehan was there and said she appreciated hearing the song again. She may have been just being polite. However, Ann Wright was also there, and I really did get the sense that she remembered me from the Camp Casey days. So, that was cool. All in all, an honor to be asked.
There are two other shows to tell you about, however:
FeastFest Coffeehouse at Northaven: September 14 7 pm
This should be a fun show on the home turf. It will feature myself, Rick O'Connor, and Jack Kennedy all doing sets, and possibly sitting in with each other too. There will be coffees and desserts and a casual coffeehouse atmosphere. I'll be doing my own stuff, and it will be the first real show to showcase the Santa Cruz.
Connections Band Tribute to James Taylor and Carole King: September 22 7 pm
Spring Valley UMC
Connections is back, with our next tribute show. We'll be doing a first set of Carole King songs, and featuring our women singers. Then, after the break, we'll break out the Greatest Hits of JT. I'm playing a singing a lot of these, which is cool, since I've been playing and singing them for years anyway. Again, I can tell you now, the new guitar is so very incredible sounding on these classics. It will be a great night. Here is the official concert poster.
Both of these events are free, but both will feature a "love offering." At the Northaven show, the goal will be go cover expenses. At the SVUMC show, we hope to add to the amazing amount that Connections Band has raised for UMCOR.
Plan to come to both, since both shows will be quite different, really.
New Demo song on Myspace
I've written a new song, and the demo's up on my Myspace. Click here and then click on "No Greater Wound." I'd love to hear what you think.
All for now....see you later this month at these shows.
This Could be the Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Aug/19/2007 11:30 PM | Permalink
A few hours ago, I returned from the first
ever
Mt. Sequoyah Songwriter's Retreat in
Fayetteville.
You may remember, I wrote about this event
here.
And I've written extensively about Sequoyah
several times.
It was a great event and, as I said before, it was an honor to be a part of the planning. My love for songwriting and my love for that special place really came together in an incredible way that I can hardly believe. I'm still pinching myself.
For years, in fact, ever since I started going to Kerrville, I've imagined that Sequoyah would be a cool place for song circles. I have this vision of song circles, and songwriters, just taking over the place for weekend. Part of it comes --and I think I've blogged this before-- from the fact that Kerrville became the kind of community for me that Sequoyah had once been when I was helping lead the yearly Singles even there. There's something about the "energy" of the two places that feels similar to me...or at least seems like it could be if enough people catch the vision and have the eyes to see.
As I've mentioned ad nauseum, my song "Sequoyah" was inspired by the time I thought would probably be my last visit there ever (I've been three times since...). I know I've told the story of how I wrote the lyrics, and sang them to Larry Norman, sitting on the steps of Young Lodge, looking out over the valley below. Today, Larry reminded me that the song now really belongs to all of us who love Sequoyah. He's absolutely right of course.
Anyway, I digress...
We had a great, great weekend. It was a small, but dedicated, bunch. We had really fine workshops from Effron White, Emily Kaitz, Trout Fishing in America, and my old soul friend, Charles Gaby. One of the great side benefits to me was to be able to spend some time with Charles. (We live 30 miles apart, you'd think we could manage it more often and wouldn't have to go 300 miles...) and to meet and get to know Effron, Emily, Keith and Ezra.
They all couldn't have been more gracious with their time and their attention to the budding songwriters who came to be a part of the weekend.
We had a really fine song circle each, which I tried to model after all the great circles at Camp Nashbill. In fact, since I was in charge of the part of weekend, I really just took everything I've been able to learn from Bill over the years. (Everything good I did came from him...)
This was the first time for Effron to lead a workshop, and he confessed to being nervous. But he did great. Charles then took things in an interesting direction, talking about "Songwriting as Spiritual Practice." Charles' deep soul approach to spirituality, and his own connection as a songwriter and performer himself, really added a lot. (He's my soul brother...)
And Emily? How had I never met Emily before? I'd known of her for years, and I know we have a zillion mutual friends around here. Well, how gracious she was with her time, spending not only her workshop time with the group, but also the entire rest of the event too.
And Trout Fishing in America was the perfect exclamation point on the weekend. Their show was great. (It rained earlier in the day, which probably kept some folks away...) And their workshop was a great experiential treat in how to write a song. They said they use it all the time with elementary school kids, but that this was their first time to test it on adults....seemed to work.
The Sequoyah staff seems committed to try this again, and to expand it next year. Jim Twiggs, myself, and hopefully most of the other presenters from this year, will give a lot of feedback on how to expand and make it better next year. Hopefully, you'll see me write more about this soon. I think they were really pleased to see all the songwriters and performers, and it gave them a sense of what's possible.
And, it was great for the local Fayetteville musicians to see this little jewel in their own backyard...literally....I got the sense Effron and Emily live within maybe a mile...and Ezra and Keith not too much farther than that.
All those connections have got to be good. And I'm gonna believe lot's of cool psychic energy and ideas will flow out from this first experience. And the line that comes to me is from Casablanca:
"This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
....for the mountain and songwriters...for the local community and the mountain...and for guys like me whole just feel honored to help bridge the gap between the two.
At last year's little gathering of some of the task force friends reminded me to "trust reunion's not in vain."
Well, I'm going to trust that a whole new connection is possible. Once upon a time, I drove back down Interstate 540, singing the newly written lyrics to about reunion not being in vain. Today, taking the same journey, I listened to some CDs from Effron White, and imagined what might be in the future.
Stay tuned. When we know more about next year's event, I'll mention it.
(We've already got some ideas...)
For now, I'm just basking in the afterglow, and marveling at all the cool possibilities and connections for the future.
It was a great event and, as I said before, it was an honor to be a part of the planning. My love for songwriting and my love for that special place really came together in an incredible way that I can hardly believe. I'm still pinching myself.
For years, in fact, ever since I started going to Kerrville, I've imagined that Sequoyah would be a cool place for song circles. I have this vision of song circles, and songwriters, just taking over the place for weekend. Part of it comes --and I think I've blogged this before-- from the fact that Kerrville became the kind of community for me that Sequoyah had once been when I was helping lead the yearly Singles even there. There's something about the "energy" of the two places that feels similar to me...or at least seems like it could be if enough people catch the vision and have the eyes to see.
As I've mentioned ad nauseum, my song "Sequoyah" was inspired by the time I thought would probably be my last visit there ever (I've been three times since...). I know I've told the story of how I wrote the lyrics, and sang them to Larry Norman, sitting on the steps of Young Lodge, looking out over the valley below. Today, Larry reminded me that the song now really belongs to all of us who love Sequoyah. He's absolutely right of course.
Anyway, I digress...
We had a great, great weekend. It was a small, but dedicated, bunch. We had really fine workshops from Effron White, Emily Kaitz, Trout Fishing in America, and my old soul friend, Charles Gaby. One of the great side benefits to me was to be able to spend some time with Charles. (We live 30 miles apart, you'd think we could manage it more often and wouldn't have to go 300 miles...) and to meet and get to know Effron, Emily, Keith and Ezra.
They all couldn't have been more gracious with their time and their attention to the budding songwriters who came to be a part of the weekend.
We had a really fine song circle each, which I tried to model after all the great circles at Camp Nashbill. In fact, since I was in charge of the part of weekend, I really just took everything I've been able to learn from Bill over the years. (Everything good I did came from him...)
This was the first time for Effron to lead a workshop, and he confessed to being nervous. But he did great. Charles then took things in an interesting direction, talking about "Songwriting as Spiritual Practice." Charles' deep soul approach to spirituality, and his own connection as a songwriter and performer himself, really added a lot. (He's my soul brother...)
And Emily? How had I never met Emily before? I'd known of her for years, and I know we have a zillion mutual friends around here. Well, how gracious she was with her time, spending not only her workshop time with the group, but also the entire rest of the event too.
And Trout Fishing in America was the perfect exclamation point on the weekend. Their show was great. (It rained earlier in the day, which probably kept some folks away...) And their workshop was a great experiential treat in how to write a song. They said they use it all the time with elementary school kids, but that this was their first time to test it on adults....seemed to work.
The Sequoyah staff seems committed to try this again, and to expand it next year. Jim Twiggs, myself, and hopefully most of the other presenters from this year, will give a lot of feedback on how to expand and make it better next year. Hopefully, you'll see me write more about this soon. I think they were really pleased to see all the songwriters and performers, and it gave them a sense of what's possible.
And, it was great for the local Fayetteville musicians to see this little jewel in their own backyard...literally....I got the sense Effron and Emily live within maybe a mile...and Ezra and Keith not too much farther than that.
All those connections have got to be good. And I'm gonna believe lot's of cool psychic energy and ideas will flow out from this first experience. And the line that comes to me is from Casablanca:
"This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship"
....for the mountain and songwriters...for the local community and the mountain...and for guys like me whole just feel honored to help bridge the gap between the two.
At last year's little gathering of some of the task force friends reminded me to "trust reunion's not in vain."
Well, I'm going to trust that a whole new connection is possible. Once upon a time, I drove back down Interstate 540, singing the newly written lyrics to about reunion not being in vain. Today, taking the same journey, I listened to some CDs from Effron White, and imagined what might be in the future.
Stay tuned. When we know more about next year's event, I'll mention it.
(We've already got some ideas...)
For now, I'm just basking in the afterglow, and marveling at all the cool possibilities and connections for the future.
Connections Clips and Pics
Aug/03/2007 11:14 PM | Permalink
None of stuff below is actually new...
In fact, it comes from Connections Band shows from the past year or two. I've finally got around to putting up some soundclips from the shows. There are three from Chicago, two from the Eagles, and one from Fogelberg. All of them end up here because they're songs that feature me singing lead/and/or playing guitar. (I hope to have some additional Fogelberg cuts up eventually....)
Just click on the links below to listen. (There's an identical page in the "Sounds" section of the main website here.)
You can also find some pics of the Eagles/Chicago Show at Spring Valley here.
Chicago: Make Me Smile
Download
Chicago: Saturday in the Park
Download
Chicago: Colour My World
Download
Eagles: Best of My Love
Download
Eagles: Desperado
Download
Dan Fogelberg: The Last Nail
Download
Very soon, we should begin rehearsals for the much anticipated James Taylor Carol King show in September...stay tuned...and enjoy!
In fact, it comes from Connections Band shows from the past year or two. I've finally got around to putting up some soundclips from the shows. There are three from Chicago, two from the Eagles, and one from Fogelberg. All of them end up here because they're songs that feature me singing lead/and/or playing guitar. (I hope to have some additional Fogelberg cuts up eventually....)
Just click on the links below to listen. (There's an identical page in the "Sounds" section of the main website here.)
You can also find some pics of the Eagles/Chicago Show at Spring Valley here.
Chicago: Make Me Smile
Download
Chicago: Saturday in the Park
Download
Chicago: Colour My World
Download
Eagles: Best of My Love
Download
Eagles: Desperado
Download
Dan Fogelberg: The Last Nail
Download
Very soon, we should begin rehearsals for the much anticipated James Taylor Carol King show in September...stay tuned...and enjoy!
Data Errata
Jul/25/2007 08:02 AM | Permalink
I am proud to say that I made a mistake in
this entry
from a week ago.
Well, technically, it wasn't really a mistake. It was just information I didn't know yet. What I didn't know when I wrote you was that there was an anonymous donor at the Walnut Hill show. He/she (they're anonymous...) chose to double the total amount we raised that night for the Nothing But Nets campaign.
That means that we actually raised $3,668.00!!!
Wow!
That's the second Connections show to raise $4K because of the generosity of anonymous donors.
And, that means that, to date, Connections has raised more than $14,000.00 for various charitable causes.
I proud to be able to tell you this, and proud that I was "wrong" before.
Thanks again to all those who come to our shows. On behalf of the whole band, it's an honor to play for you.
Well, technically, it wasn't really a mistake. It was just information I didn't know yet. What I didn't know when I wrote you was that there was an anonymous donor at the Walnut Hill show. He/she (they're anonymous...) chose to double the total amount we raised that night for the Nothing But Nets campaign.
That means that we actually raised $3,668.00!!!
Wow!
That's the second Connections show to raise $4K because of the generosity of anonymous donors.
And, that means that, to date, Connections has raised more than $14,000.00 for various charitable causes.
I proud to be able to tell you this, and proud that I was "wrong" before.
Thanks again to all those who come to our shows. On behalf of the whole band, it's an honor to play for you.
Digital Download Data
Jul/20/2007 07:48 AM | Permalink
The other day I compiled some data on online digital
downloads of my first CD. (I did this last year
too...just updating...) This is data from companies
that are actually selling my music online right now.
I thought you might be interested to see which songs
were most popular.
I was actually a bit surprised how it came out. I would have never guessed the top two were actually the top two. And "Mom Went Bungie Jumping" appears to be the leader by a mile. Take a look for yourself:
Mom Went Bungie Jumping: 169
Voices: 83
I Will Sing: 57
Sequoyah: 43
The Birches of Moscow: 39
My Brontosaurus Threw a Potluck: 35
Deep Blue Grey: 30
The Peace: 27
The Road Goes On: 26
Your Warm: 25
Sun is Gonna Show: 24
Song from the Spring: 19
These Rooms: 13
(numbers indicate the total times a song has been downloaded/streamed)
If you want to hear a clip, click here to go to playlist at iTunes with these songs in this same rank of popularity.
Of course, these numbers don't reflect "free" downloads or streams from other websites, such as this one, or from places like MySpace. The truth is, my most popular download of all-time is "Prairie Chapel Road," which has now been given away more than 3,000 times. And "The Natural Thing" has more than 1,000 streams on MySpace.
But I was curious to see what folks were buying, and so there you have it. Interesting...fascinating really...to see where folks are putting their money.
BTW, you might assume all this downloading has brought in serious cash for me, yes? You'd be wrong. Total amount I've been paid for all these digital downloads?
About $55 bucks.
I've said this before, but it bears repeating here....where you choose to buy your online music makes a huge difference to actual artists. And the major company that --far and away-- leads the other digital media companies, in terms of being "artist friendly?"
iTunes.
Yep. That's right.
Sure, I'm predisposed to like them. And yes, I'm totally biased in my view of their company. But facts is facts. iTunes is the most "artist friendly" major digital distributor. It's not even close. They pay artists more than ten times per song than some of the other major retailers.
In fact, of the sales listed above, Apple's iTunes accounts for a mere one-quarter of all the downloads, but a whopping three-quarters of the money paid out!
Which allows me to remind you, as the flight attendants say, "We know you have a choice when you buy online, so thank you for choosing iTunes."
Sign up to get each new blog entry sent to you via email.
The posts come with all pics, links, and other formatting included.
Click here to find out how to sign up.
I was actually a bit surprised how it came out. I would have never guessed the top two were actually the top two. And "Mom Went Bungie Jumping" appears to be the leader by a mile. Take a look for yourself:
Mom Went Bungie Jumping: 169
Voices: 83
I Will Sing: 57
Sequoyah: 43
The Birches of Moscow: 39
My Brontosaurus Threw a Potluck: 35
Deep Blue Grey: 30
The Peace: 27
The Road Goes On: 26
Your Warm: 25
Sun is Gonna Show: 24
Song from the Spring: 19
These Rooms: 13
(numbers indicate the total times a song has been downloaded/streamed)
If you want to hear a clip, click here to go to playlist at iTunes with these songs in this same rank of popularity.
Of course, these numbers don't reflect "free" downloads or streams from other websites, such as this one, or from places like MySpace. The truth is, my most popular download of all-time is "Prairie Chapel Road," which has now been given away more than 3,000 times. And "The Natural Thing" has more than 1,000 streams on MySpace.
But I was curious to see what folks were buying, and so there you have it. Interesting...fascinating really...to see where folks are putting their money.
BTW, you might assume all this downloading has brought in serious cash for me, yes? You'd be wrong. Total amount I've been paid for all these digital downloads?
About $55 bucks.
I've said this before, but it bears repeating here....where you choose to buy your online music makes a huge difference to actual artists. And the major company that --far and away-- leads the other digital media companies, in terms of being "artist friendly?"
iTunes.
Yep. That's right.
Sure, I'm predisposed to like them. And yes, I'm totally biased in my view of their company. But facts is facts. iTunes is the most "artist friendly" major digital distributor. It's not even close. They pay artists more than ten times per song than some of the other major retailers.
In fact, of the sales listed above, Apple's iTunes accounts for a mere one-quarter of all the downloads, but a whopping three-quarters of the money paid out!
Which allows me to remind you, as the flight attendants say, "We know you have a choice when you buy online, so thank you for choosing iTunes."
Sign up to get each new blog entry sent to you via email.
The posts come with all pics, links, and other formatting included.
Click here to find out how to sign up.
"Connecting" to Nothing But Nets (thanks, Walnut
Hill!)
Jul/18/2007 05:44 PM | Permalink
Connections
played another show this past Sunday night. We were
at Walnut Hill UMC, as a part of their summer Sunday
night series. About 150 folks showed up and it turned
out to be yet another great show.
The band's played enough together now that we had a certain...uh...connection with each other that night. It was a fun night.
Best of all, we raised a heck of a lot for another good cause. The good folks at Walnut Hill suggested a new beneficiary for this show, and we agreed. It's called the "Nothing But Nets" campaign. When all the cash is counted, we'll probably exceed $2,000 raised for this great cause
Nothing But Net is a campaign to eradicate malaria in African countries. The idea is that that a simple mosquito net with a mild insecticide can actually help prevent the spread of this killer disease.
The movement was inspired by a short essay that ran in Sports Illustrated some time back. Folks associated with the NBA heard about it, and thus the name. As I understand it, many NBA stars have adopted this as a non-profit that they support. It's grown to where it's officially a United Nations program, and the United Methodist Church is now a sponsor.
Studies show that someone in infected with malaria every 30 seconds. These nets can last a family up to four years, as I understand it, and they reduce the likelihood of transmission 90 percent!
The NBN website reminds us all that the conflict in Darfur continues unabated. There are many refugees from the conflict how living in Chad, and the "rainy season" is coming soon. Estimates are that 25 percent more refugees could die this year from malaria than last.
One net can be furnished to a family for a simple $10 contribution.
So, it looks like we may have helped save more than 200 people's lives on Sunday night.
That puts it in some pretty sharp relief, no?
So, many thanks to the good folks at Walnut Hill. You all were very kind in your compliments of the band afterwards. We did a mix of Chicago, Eagles, and Fogelberg,. All in all, a good time was had by all.
Oh yeah...you know, you could send a net too. Just click here to do it right now.
The band's played enough together now that we had a certain...uh...connection with each other that night. It was a fun night.
Best of all, we raised a heck of a lot for another good cause. The good folks at Walnut Hill suggested a new beneficiary for this show, and we agreed. It's called the "Nothing But Nets" campaign. When all the cash is counted, we'll probably exceed $2,000 raised for this great cause
Nothing But Net is a campaign to eradicate malaria in African countries. The idea is that that a simple mosquito net with a mild insecticide can actually help prevent the spread of this killer disease.
The movement was inspired by a short essay that ran in Sports Illustrated some time back. Folks associated with the NBA heard about it, and thus the name. As I understand it, many NBA stars have adopted this as a non-profit that they support. It's grown to where it's officially a United Nations program, and the United Methodist Church is now a sponsor.
Studies show that someone in infected with malaria every 30 seconds. These nets can last a family up to four years, as I understand it, and they reduce the likelihood of transmission 90 percent!
The NBN website reminds us all that the conflict in Darfur continues unabated. There are many refugees from the conflict how living in Chad, and the "rainy season" is coming soon. Estimates are that 25 percent more refugees could die this year from malaria than last.
One net can be furnished to a family for a simple $10 contribution.
So, it looks like we may have helped save more than 200 people's lives on Sunday night.
That puts it in some pretty sharp relief, no?
So, many thanks to the good folks at Walnut Hill. You all were very kind in your compliments of the band afterwards. We did a mix of Chicago, Eagles, and Fogelberg,. All in all, a good time was had by all.
Oh yeah...you know, you could send a net too. Just click here to do it right now.
Sequoyah Unplugged: A Songwriter Retreat, August
17-19
Jul/10/2007 11:26 PM | Permalink
This announcement is mainly for my songwriting/
performing friends on this list. Feel free to pass
this along to anyone who might be interested....
I'm honored to be a part of what we hope will become an annual event at the Mount Sequoyah Retreat Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event is called "Sequoyah Unplugged: A Singer-Songwriter Retreat." It's scheduled for August 17-18.
Trout Fishing in America will be the feature performers, and also teach a workshop, as will Efron White and Emily Kaitz. My old friend, Charles Gaby, will also be a workshop leader.
The entire weekend is intended to be a time of retreat and renewal for songwriters and performers, and to explore the idea of songwriting as spiritual practice. Although it's being held at a United Methodist center, and several Methodist will have leadership, it will not be sectarian in nature, and the hope is that any songwriter interested in the cross-section of spirit and writing will want to attend.
You may recall me blogging about this place before. Sequoyah is a beautiful and relaxing retreat center, just on the edge of the city, atop the "mountain" of the same name.
I will be leading/organizing a nightly "song circle" time for anyone who wants to share their gift, and I'll serve as a host for the weekend.
If you want more info, you can download a brochure from this link.
I hope some of you might consider going.
I'm honored to be a part of what we hope will become an annual event at the Mount Sequoyah Retreat Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The event is called "Sequoyah Unplugged: A Singer-Songwriter Retreat." It's scheduled for August 17-18.
Trout Fishing in America will be the feature performers, and also teach a workshop, as will Efron White and Emily Kaitz. My old friend, Charles Gaby, will also be a workshop leader.
The entire weekend is intended to be a time of retreat and renewal for songwriters and performers, and to explore the idea of songwriting as spiritual practice. Although it's being held at a United Methodist center, and several Methodist will have leadership, it will not be sectarian in nature, and the hope is that any songwriter interested in the cross-section of spirit and writing will want to attend.
You may recall me blogging about this place before. Sequoyah is a beautiful and relaxing retreat center, just on the edge of the city, atop the "mountain" of the same name.
I will be leading/organizing a nightly "song circle" time for anyone who wants to share their gift, and I'll serve as a host for the weekend.
If you want more info, you can download a brochure from this link.
I hope some of you might consider going.
Kerrville 2007
May/28/2007 09:43 PM | Permalink
Earlier this weekend,
I wrote about how I'm going to miss
Kerrville this year,
for the first time in many years. I also wrote
about how, in other years, I've written an
extensive blog about the Kerrville experience.
Well, it hit me that while I can't write my own blog this year, I can share with you the thoughts of others, via emails folks send to the famous "Kerrchat" email list. Brian the Breadman often does this on his great site, "It Can Be This Way Always." And I'm certainly not trying to take anything away from that. But I'm here, I'm feeling disconnected, and feeling the need to do something. And, what I do best is to turn each entry into a linkapolooza...a plethora of links, straight to these artists, in case you need to discover some great new music.
So, the following are other folk's Kerr-impressions. Check back often these next two weeks for updates. Here's the link that will take you to the full page of entries. And when you visit again, be sure and refresh your browser so that you'll see anything that's been updated.
Day Two
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
We're here.. We're pumping/shovelling out from the deluge..
We got here Tuesday. I drove alone from Florida, since ellen was
performing in the wildflower songwriting competition (and winning!!). I
got here tuesday morning, and Ellen drove down from dallas with Michael
Terry and got here tuesday afternoon..
It's been pretty wet here in the weeks leading up to the festival, and the
ground is pretty saturated.. Thursday night was a LOT of rain... I got up
around 3AM to check the porch canopy (10x10), and all was in order.. no
water accumulating on the top, or in any of the tarps..
But, come friday morning, (still raining, it rained all night and most of
the morning) the canopy had collapsed, ripped asunder, bent and broke... it
gave it's life keeping half our stuff dry..
So, scratch another canopy.. I'd been checking out what was available in
town, and i couldn't find any of those heavy duty 10x20 canopies that have
become so popular.. Walmart, lowes and home depot checks came up
dry.. Michael Terry suggested i try the tractor supply place next to big
lots, and they had a $99 dollar 10x20 canopy.. Not as heavy duty as many of
the others, and more assembly required, but, it fit the bill!!!. (and gave
the "frugal" side of me fullfillment) Thanks to the help of some camp
tranquilo and coho regulars, along with some of our newer neighbors, We now
have a beautiful 10x20 porch in front of our tent..
It finally stopped raining heavily sometime around noon Friday. Mud
everywhere, and for the first time in my experience, Sudden Creek had not
only risen, but STAYED THAT WAY!!. It's now 1PM on Saturday afternoon, and
sudden creek is still running.. Camp Nashville put a picnic table across
the creek, and that, along with a very muddy main road were the only two
ways into the lower meadow. The main road was blocked off for much of the
day, and it was too unstable for cars. Lots of shovels in view as people
are digging redirection and containment walls...
A couple of times last night there were light drizzles. Turtle Creek was
passable when we went over it, but that was hours after the big storm
ended.. I imagine it was unpassable for part of the night and early morning.
We temporarily detained someone yesterday afternoon who was fishin' in
Sudden Creek, by Camp Nashville, without a license..
I just started baking this afternoon.. it's been too wet until now..
Camps Nashbill, Sinkerrnicity, Coho, Lethargy, Fork in the Road and
Tranquilo are all in full form near us. (i'm sure there are many others
that are all here, i just haven't had a chance to get around at all)
Friday's mainstage was moved to Threadgill due to the weather. Threadgill
looks amazing.. They've terraced the balcony with space for your own
chairs.. I haven't been to a performance there yet, but i'm looking forward
to it..
Now, where can i find a good masseuse for the creaky ol bones..
All in all, it's wonderful to be back at the ranch..
Day Three
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
It's gettin' on 2:30 Sunday morning.. Coho songcircle has gone to sleep.. I
can hear threadgill still going strong in the distance.. It may not be
Threadgill.. But it's over past the tree line separating the lower meadow
from the meadow..
Camp Nashbill has closed for the night.. It's a tired night as many people
who were planning on coming in on fridayt, delayed their arrival until
today cuz of the weather..
Liz Rrouse was spotted breaking bread with an identically t-shirt clad Vic
Heyman while Reba sat next to them in a slightly non-matching top.. (Wass
wid dat ??)
Mainstage was finally in full energy tonight.. Cosy Sheridan and TR Ritchie
opened the evening.. Peter Yarrow had an emotional set encored by Puff
along with a birthday cake for peter.. Anne Feeney joined him on stage for a
well-deserved mainstage appearance.. Have you been to jail for justice was
followed by peter's The Great Mandela.. great topical music.. there's
should always be more room for protest music at Kerrville, it just doesn't
seem to work out that way..
Denice Franke followed by Johnsmith with a rousing set finished off by Jimmy
Lafave..
It's still occasionally sprinkling, and with the ground saturated, it's got
nowhere to go but downhill.. Sudden Creek is still running, almost 48 hours
since it rose..
The cut-through next to Camp Jews Don't camp between Nashville and the lower
meadow is deep mud, and most people are detouring around it.. no accidents
yet.. fingers crossed..
Big Earl's ran out of ribs tonight.. and all ice cream flavors were gone
except for vanilla..
There's a great energy circle playing over in the meadow.. don't know where,
but there's a lot of sing-along life..
The tree frogs are in bloom, the breeze is gentle, and my condolences to
those of you who aren't experiencing this right now.. There nowhere i'd
rather be..
Anyone on the ranch is encouraged to add their travels to the list... there
are kerr-people out there waiting for a sniff... don't be selfish,. share
the wealth..
It's 7:30PM Sunday evening.. I don't know if mainstage will happen later on
tonight, but it's certainly not going to be for awhile if it happens at all..
It's been pouring cattle & sheep (that's texas for cats and dogs) for about
90 minutes & there's a river of water going past the RV...
I'm sure Sudden Creek is still running, as it was running earlier this
afternoon before this deluge..
Eric Schwartz showed up unexpectedly on the ranch for a couple of days and
was last seen holed up in Neale Eckstein's RV ...
Ellen and Allison Downey are down at Camp Jews Don't Camp holed up in the
tent w/. a couple of guitars makin' music..
and the rain is starting to let up.. oops.. maybe not.. the thunder is
still there..
And there will hopefully be 4 more loaves of bread coming out of the ovens
in 1:30..
Anybody want a piece ??
Staying dry on a very wet ranch..
bye for now..
After the Storm
here's a picture of our campsite AFTER thursday night's rain...
Thanks to Thomas & Jane in RV spot 45.. (please stop by and say hello.. I
like to attach faces to email addresses..
From Sibyl Lopez:
Hi all,
I'm trying to keep a daily blog at myspace.
I also uploaded about 60 photos here.
Sibyl
Day Five/Early Day Six:
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
Here comes the sun...
We got some of the wet rugs out into the sun to dry them off..
Sudden creek is still running (over 100 hours consecutively now)
Monday nights mainstage was tremendous.. The highlights of the evening were
John Gorka and Susan Werner the last two performances of the evening..
Susan was as good as I've ever heard her, even though she was doing almost
all new (to me) material. It's the first time i've seen John Gorka here,
but he was as good as the times I've caught him elsewhere..
Well, it hit me that while I can't write my own blog this year, I can share with you the thoughts of others, via emails folks send to the famous "Kerrchat" email list. Brian the Breadman often does this on his great site, "It Can Be This Way Always." And I'm certainly not trying to take anything away from that. But I'm here, I'm feeling disconnected, and feeling the need to do something. And, what I do best is to turn each entry into a linkapolooza...a plethora of links, straight to these artists, in case you need to discover some great new music.
So, the following are other folk's Kerr-impressions. Check back often these next two weeks for updates. Here's the link that will take you to the full page of entries. And when you visit again, be sure and refresh your browser so that you'll see anything that's been updated.
Day Two
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
We're here.. We're pumping/shovelling out from the deluge..
We got here Tuesday. I drove alone from Florida, since ellen was
performing in the wildflower songwriting competition (and winning!!). I
got here tuesday morning, and Ellen drove down from dallas with Michael
Terry and got here tuesday afternoon..
It's been pretty wet here in the weeks leading up to the festival, and the
ground is pretty saturated.. Thursday night was a LOT of rain... I got up
around 3AM to check the porch canopy (10x10), and all was in order.. no
water accumulating on the top, or in any of the tarps..
But, come friday morning, (still raining, it rained all night and most of
the morning) the canopy had collapsed, ripped asunder, bent and broke... it
gave it's life keeping half our stuff dry..
So, scratch another canopy.. I'd been checking out what was available in
town, and i couldn't find any of those heavy duty 10x20 canopies that have
become so popular.. Walmart, lowes and home depot checks came up
dry.. Michael Terry suggested i try the tractor supply place next to big
lots, and they had a $99 dollar 10x20 canopy.. Not as heavy duty as many of
the others, and more assembly required, but, it fit the bill!!!. (and gave
the "frugal" side of me fullfillment) Thanks to the help of some camp
tranquilo and coho regulars, along with some of our newer neighbors, We now
have a beautiful 10x20 porch in front of our tent..
It finally stopped raining heavily sometime around noon Friday. Mud
everywhere, and for the first time in my experience, Sudden Creek had not
only risen, but STAYED THAT WAY!!. It's now 1PM on Saturday afternoon, and
sudden creek is still running.. Camp Nashville put a picnic table across
the creek, and that, along with a very muddy main road were the only two
ways into the lower meadow. The main road was blocked off for much of the
day, and it was too unstable for cars. Lots of shovels in view as people
are digging redirection and containment walls...
A couple of times last night there were light drizzles. Turtle Creek was
passable when we went over it, but that was hours after the big storm
ended.. I imagine it was unpassable for part of the night and early morning.
We temporarily detained someone yesterday afternoon who was fishin' in
Sudden Creek, by Camp Nashville, without a license..
I just started baking this afternoon.. it's been too wet until now..
Camps Nashbill, Sinkerrnicity, Coho, Lethargy, Fork in the Road and
Tranquilo are all in full form near us. (i'm sure there are many others
that are all here, i just haven't had a chance to get around at all)
Friday's mainstage was moved to Threadgill due to the weather. Threadgill
looks amazing.. They've terraced the balcony with space for your own
chairs.. I haven't been to a performance there yet, but i'm looking forward
to it..
Now, where can i find a good masseuse for the creaky ol bones..
All in all, it's wonderful to be back at the ranch..
Day Three
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
It's gettin' on 2:30 Sunday morning.. Coho songcircle has gone to sleep.. I
can hear threadgill still going strong in the distance.. It may not be
Threadgill.. But it's over past the tree line separating the lower meadow
from the meadow..
Camp Nashbill has closed for the night.. It's a tired night as many people
who were planning on coming in on fridayt, delayed their arrival until
today cuz of the weather..
Liz Rrouse was spotted breaking bread with an identically t-shirt clad Vic
Heyman while Reba sat next to them in a slightly non-matching top.. (Wass
wid dat ??)
Mainstage was finally in full energy tonight.. Cosy Sheridan and TR Ritchie
opened the evening.. Peter Yarrow had an emotional set encored by Puff
along with a birthday cake for peter.. Anne Feeney joined him on stage for a
well-deserved mainstage appearance.. Have you been to jail for justice was
followed by peter's The Great Mandela.. great topical music.. there's
should always be more room for protest music at Kerrville, it just doesn't
seem to work out that way..
Denice Franke followed by Johnsmith with a rousing set finished off by Jimmy
Lafave..
It's still occasionally sprinkling, and with the ground saturated, it's got
nowhere to go but downhill.. Sudden Creek is still running, almost 48 hours
since it rose..
The cut-through next to Camp Jews Don't camp between Nashville and the lower
meadow is deep mud, and most people are detouring around it.. no accidents
yet.. fingers crossed..
Big Earl's ran out of ribs tonight.. and all ice cream flavors were gone
except for vanilla..
There's a great energy circle playing over in the meadow.. don't know where,
but there's a lot of sing-along life..
The tree frogs are in bloom, the breeze is gentle, and my condolences to
those of you who aren't experiencing this right now.. There nowhere i'd
rather be..
Anyone on the ranch is encouraged to add their travels to the list... there
are kerr-people out there waiting for a sniff... don't be selfish,. share
the wealth..
It's 7:30PM Sunday evening.. I don't know if mainstage will happen later on
tonight, but it's certainly not going to be for awhile if it happens at all..
It's been pouring cattle & sheep (that's texas for cats and dogs) for about
90 minutes & there's a river of water going past the RV...
I'm sure Sudden Creek is still running, as it was running earlier this
afternoon before this deluge..
Eric Schwartz showed up unexpectedly on the ranch for a couple of days and
was last seen holed up in Neale Eckstein's RV ...
Ellen and Allison Downey are down at Camp Jews Don't Camp holed up in the
tent w/. a couple of guitars makin' music..
and the rain is starting to let up.. oops.. maybe not.. the thunder is
still there..
And there will hopefully be 4 more loaves of bread coming out of the ovens
in 1:30..
Anybody want a piece ??
Staying dry on a very wet ranch..
bye for now..
After the Storm
here's a picture of our campsite AFTER thursday night's rain...
Thanks to Thomas & Jane in RV spot 45.. (please stop by and say hello.. I
like to attach faces to email addresses..
From Sibyl Lopez:
Hi all,
I'm trying to keep a daily blog at myspace.
I also uploaded about 60 photos here.
Sibyl
Day Five/Early Day Six:
Brian "the Breadman" Wolfsohn:
Here comes the sun...
We got some of the wet rugs out into the sun to dry them off..
Sudden creek is still running (over 100 hours consecutively now)
Monday nights mainstage was tremendous.. The highlights of the evening were
John Gorka and Susan Werner the last two performances of the evening..
Susan was as good as I've ever heard her, even though she was doing almost
all new (to me) material. It's the first time i've seen John Gorka here,
but he was as good as the times I've caught him elsewhere..