This weekend I had three gigs, one in Lebanon, New Hampshire, one in Bretton Woods, also NH and the other in Fairlee, Vermont. The one in Fairlee is at Ohana Family Camp, a wonderful organization. I have been going there weekly and this weekend was my penultimate performance for the summer. I have had a great time there and my telling has been deep, telling stories I do not always get to normally tell for one reason or another. Another weekly appearance I have been making is at Mount Washington Resort. Here we have had some young kids, some older kids and one week, a couple of weeks ago, just adults, as their children rolled down the embankment for an hour! That night I saw a bear on the drive there, a fox who has visited three weeks in a row and that week got VERY close, and a coyote on the way back home. The tales I told there were also deeper (for older ears) than I normally tell and it was so satisfying to do so. There is something so magical about going deep into a story, and pulling the history attached to the story to the front and center so that the message is so much stronger. I really felt that I was deep in another world, time and place, like the characters in Verne's "Land That Time Forgot".
But it is the 'gig' I did on Saturday I really want to talk about. It happened at the Coop at Centura Place, Lebanon and was part of the Producers' Faire there. I had thought to show up early and set up, to be relaxed for the 10 am start, but when I got there I realized that I was due to start at noon! Better late than never, better early than late, but by three hours?
As I wandered around watching folks set up their stuff, I got to chat with the band who were also playing there. They were a band who play acoustic style, music that was both covers and original. I talked about bringing my bodhran over and sitting in for a while. When they said yes, they explained that they had no drummer, although the guitarist sometimes does that role. I volunteered for that too, but they were a little more hesitant about me playing the drum and cymbal they had! Any musician knows what I am talking about! I let them set up to explore the rest of the vendors. I got to check out the "Producers" showing their wares, which is something I do not normally have had time to do in the past as I have been performing, and I sampled some things I would never have thought to buy in the past, bought some and brought them home later that day. As I was walking back the band asked me to sit in with them, which I did. I had a great time! The band members whose names I sadly and shamefully forget, were great folks. The music they played included Dylan, Beatles, Young, some of which I had heard, some I knew, a great deal I had no idea what I was doing, but I made it through. It is a rare occasion that I get to play with other musicians, and certainly to such a wide range of music - their original stuff was very different, but played really well with their cover versions. It turned out the four gents all lived locally - Piermont, Lebanon, Lyme or Hanover, NH, and Bradford, VT. And they took my number! So I suppose I wasn't that bad! I take a humble bow and say "thank you" to the guys who were a sandwich short of a "Picnic"!
