| 6/1/08
I first heard Rod Weeks play his Scottish small pipes last year and was
mesmerized by the lyrical, expressive music. Pipe tunes dominate my upcoming
CD (currently in progress), so it seemed a natural addition to include
Rod on the album. Thanks to his great work ethic (and lots of Ben Gay)
Rod put down wonderful renditions of "Sound of Sleat", "The
Glasgow Caithness Centenary Gathering", and my own composition "Bridge
of Cally." Stay tuned for the album's release date!
5/28/08
It was 106 F when we played outside for the Topanga Banjo & Fiddle
Festival held at the old Wild West set on the Paramount Ranch. For our
foot percussion number, I had to search the grounds for a big old sheet
of plywood, then lug it to the opposite side of the ranch in the beating
sun. (It was later reported than nobody could hear the sound of the feet,
anyway!) Our instruments sounded flabby and unresponsive in the heat,
and the PA system was dreadful. But the audience saved the day with their
rapturous approval.
We had just come from a concert in Annaheim the night before, where we
had the opposite experience: the air conditioning was so intense that
we had to tuck our fingers under our arms to try to keep them warm. Small
difficulties aside, though, Steve and Michelle Dulsen
run an exemplary concert series. Living Traditions is one of the most
"pro-artist", professionally-run acoustic music series we've
seen.
Three of our L.A. area performances were attended by representatives
from Royer Labs. In mutual admiration, we instantly became friends and
they gave us a personal tour of the workshop in Burbank where their unique,
ultra-high quality microphones are developed, assembled, and tested one-at-a-time.
Our month-long tour actually began a week earlier in the mountain majesty
of the California Sierras. Between gigs in Pacifica and Bishop we were
able to squeeze in a glorious one-day holiday in Yosemite park. This was
my first visit there. In addition to being stunned by the jaw-dropping
scenery, I was thrilled to see that there was no sign of corporate exploitation
which would otherwise have marred the breathtaking scenery.
Our annual appearance at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle was
met with a roaring audience reaction. Thanks to impeccable blue skies
and balmy weather, the crowds were more massive than I've seen in any
of the 7 years I've participated. The only down side was that the PA sound
was disgracefully bad; it's always so frustrating when one works so long
to hone one's performance skills, only to end up battling the evils of
electronic mayhem instead of concentrating on the music.
The tour finished up with a bang in Olympia, WA. Thanks to the lovely
article in the local Olympian newspaper written by Sharron Wooton, the
show sold out the morning before the show. Our friend
Warren Argo did a superb job at the mixing console.
2/28/08
Bill Preslan, a fan I didn't even know I had, and his wife Janet set a
new record for the furthest someone has travelled for the sole purpose
of attending our show: they drove over 430 miles from Vicksburg, Mississippi
to Chattanooga, TN to hear us play at Barking Legs Theatre. And they said
afterward that it was well-worth it! Now that's devotion! Thanks
a lot, guys...Hats off to you!
In the intermission, a man with a strong european accent asked me about
the meaning of our CD title "Zephyr In The Confetti Factory."
I explained the analogy of musical ideas being like shards of confetti,
with a warm wind from the West blowing in and swirling them up like confetti.
"Ach," he replied. "In Russian, the word
'ze-feer' means 'chocolate-covered marshmallow'; I had thought it might
have referred to a connection between music and a chocolate factory."
2/8/08
I spoke via cell phone with Knoxville newspaper journalist Wayne Bledsoe
while we were en route to Georgia for a four-gig run. I told him how grateful
we are that the News-Sentinel has been so eager to write feature articles
about music events. Very few papers devote even the smallest portion of
page space to inform readers about non-commercial music like traditional
folk and roots. The public is therefore unaware of such cultural events
and attendance remains sparse. This, in turn, discourages performers from
returning to that city. In this way, editors have a strong influence on
the musical environment of their community.
That very night supported my point. We played in a tiny town west of Augusta,
called Thomson. Newspapers in smaller towns often devote generous page
space to concerts like ours, and in this case the McDuffie Mirror ran
features in two separate editions prior to the event. The venue was a
charming, old restored railroad depot with stone walls and high ceilings--perfect
for string music. Thanks to the nice press coverage, listeners filled
the room in the largest attendance seen in the history of that concert
series.
The following night we played in another small town, Martinez, and exactly
the same thing happened.
People are sometimes surprised when I tell them that our largest audiences
are always in the smallest towns.
2/1/08
One of my favorite of the large Irish groups is Solas. Imagine my delight
when we were called by the events director of the historic Grove Park
Inn and asked if Ashley and I would play an opening set for Solas at the
Celtic Adventure weekend festival.
1/14/08
I knew little about the Charlotte Folk Society. Four years of negotiations
with various loosely-organized volunteers for this one-hour, admission-by-donation
program suggested to me a low-key affair with perhaps 10 or 12 attendees.
What actually transpired blew our minds!
People showed up in droves to the community college auditorium -- and
they kept showing up. When seats ran out, people reverted to
sitting in the hallway. Despite that our playing was only at about 70%
of our best, folks just ate it up with wild praise. What a great first-time
welcome to Charlotte! I guess it just goes to show that no matter how
tiny one thinks a gig may be, one should go in with the mental attitude
as if it were Carnegie Hall.
12/13/04
Our "not-so-Christmas" tour started off with two lecture/demonstrations
at Cal State University San Marcos. Next, a concert at an outrageously
cool place called the Folk Music Centre in lovely old town Claremont.
The shop is as much a dizzyingly cluttered museum of antique ethnic instruments
as it is a music store! For the concert, they moved out all the didgeridoos,
djembes and percussive frogs. The store is owned by Ben Harper's mother,
and she along with all the staff were very sweet and complimentary of
our performance.
After three other smaller performances we spent a day off being tourists
in L.A. Ashley's 'cello teacher invited us to a rehearsal of the L.A.
Philharmonic in the new Disney Concert Hall, with Zubin Mehta guest conducting.
Although I had paid my dues playing in many orchestras during my previous
career, I was never so lucky as to play under this great maestro. It was
therefore a real treat to hear him at work with one of the world's best
orchestras.
Later we visited Olvera street where the Mexican celebration of the day
of the Virgin of Guadalupe was in colorful progress.
12/2/07
It occurred to me the other day, as I was playing tunes with our friends
back home at Jack O'The Wood pub, how charmingly relaxed the tempos are
here in Asheville. When players are of a sufficiently high skill level
to be able to control the tempo, it's lovely to enjoy such beautiful melodies,
three, four, even five or more times around the tune!
11/20/07
Probably about as far away as one can physically get from the strip malls
and corporate plastic that define American cultural today, Crestone, Colorado
sits nearly invisibly at the base of vertigo-inducing granite mountains,
hours from anything else. A tiny collection of low carbon footprint homes
forms the rustic little townsite and serves as a tolerant retreat for
a large number of spiritual and religious belief systems.
Walking up "main" street (there are only about four streets)
on our way to visit a straw bale home under construction, we spied deer
munching nonchallantly in someone's yard.
The concert presenter is a retired music teacher who specially built a
large living room that doubles as a public music venue. The concert was
attended by even more knowledgable, gracious listeners than usual, whose
ovation was particularly resounding for our arrangements of bagpipe tunes.
It never ceases to surprise me how some of the most unsuspecting destinations
turn out to provide the most satisfying musical engagements.
11/11/07
Nine enormous elk stared in the window at me playing my violin. What a
charming welcome to Colorado after last week's somewhat unpleasant touring.
We spent our 2-day break visiting friends in Golden, who put us up in
their voletta/cabin with therapeudic views of piney hillsides and the
Rockies beyond. We heard the clicking of the young male elk testing their
antlers. Our hosts explained the ancient Morris Dance "Abbot's Bromley
Horn Dance" which features eight dancers doning horns and mimacking
the clicking sounds.
10/30/07
With the first three concerts of the NW tour under our belt, we spent
our two days off with bagpiper and great friend Rod Weeks. Together we
poured over piles of fine piping CDs and tune books, and as a special
treat Rod demonstrated his wonderful new set of Scottish small pipes in
A. What a fantastic inspiration! I became instantly enamored with the
creamy, expressive quality of the these pipes and have been thinking ever
since about how we might collaborate with Rod in the very near future.
Two days later, after a wonderful concert presented by the Corvallis Folklore
Society, we spent a fascinating evening with Quebecois fiddler Lisa Ornstein,
learning about the history and stylistic nuance of dance music from Quebéc.
10/20/07
It was a dandy day-brightener to sell out our Hendersonville show after
two disappointingly attended concerts the week before. The crowd gave
us a standing ovation, and even our concert pianist friend Emile Pandolfi
was there. Apologies to all those folks who showed up to the theatre and
were not able to get in; we'll reserve special seats for you next time!
Big thanks to the Asheville Citizen-Times for running such a lovely article
the day before the show [read].
Support from the local newspaper media helps so much in keeping the music
alive and rolling along!
9/16/07
4,200 feet above sea level at the foot of the jagged Sierra Mountains
sits the stage of the Millpond Festival near Bishop, CA. Although 5,000
attendees does not classify it as one of the largest acoustic music festivals
in the world, the stellar line-up of superior performers easily gives
it bragging rights as the most tastefully, intelligently put togther festival
anywhere. Big cudos to the organizers at Inyo Council for the Arts. This
turned out to be our favorite segment of a month-long California tour.
During the four days we became close friends with the
brilliant performer Joe Craven. Joe is an astonishing multi-instrumentalist
who is as affirming and earnestly supportive of his musical collegues
as he is a barrel of fun for his audiences. We musicians can all look
towards him as a role model. www.joecraven.com
This was the first time we had been able to hear the scandanavian super
group Vasen, and what a treat it was! John Reischman's band showed us
some of the best straight ahead instrumental bluegrass I've heard. Tom
Ball & Kenny Sultan drove home deep grooves and made us laugh outloud
with comical lyrics. And John Jorgenson spun pure magic with his progressive
Django style of guitar pyrotechnics. John is also an incredibly sweet
guy. www.johnjorgenson.com
9/12/07
Half-way point of our month-long California tour. This run of concerts
has taken us through some extraordianarily scenic areas: Yosemite, Mount
Shasta, gold rush country east of Sacramento, and the Sierra Nevada.
After playing to a modest-sized audience at the Sutter Creek Theatre just
east of Sacramento, we spent a couple of days with our friend Maria Camillo
exploring the preserved historic town of Columbia and the surrounding
mountain landscape.
It was 106 degrees at the 8:00 pm start of our Davis concert, but that
didn't stop a hoard of people showing up! Bill Wagman is a well-known
radio personality and folk music supporter, and hosted a fantastic house
concert for us, with people smashed into his living room like sardines.
Thanks Bill!
If you've ever seen the movie Pleasantville you know what Newman, CA is
like. The centerpiece to this diminutive town in middle of central California's
desert farmland is a 1950's art deco-style West Side Theatre, georgeously
restored by volunteer perspiration of a few local citizens.
We were eager to take in some of the grandeur of the Sierras before our
obligations began at the Millpond Festival, so we spent a day hiking the
briskly inclined Mt. Whitney trail. These fiercely fractured white granite
peaks seemed other-worldly to me, as if we were galactic explorers on
some strange, distant planet.
8/12/07
A two-week hiatus before our next tour will barely suffice to reach out
to all our new friends we just made during Fiddle Week. Being a more sparsely
attended camp gave the staff an oppoortunity to interact more with the
students. And every time staff sat down together for a meal or a water
break, involved discussions would ensue about some hot musical topic.
It was like a musical think-tank.
Ashley and I were espcecially entranced by the Quebecois music and foot
percussion of Eric Favreau and plan to spend some time with him in Quebec
in the near future.
We had our first musical introduction with guitar magician Al Pettaway
at the mid-week concert and were delighted to discover how much he and
Amy have in common with the two of us.
Matt Glaser was hilarious and inventive, Abby Newton charmed our socks
off, and Daniel Carwile played "oh so sweetly" as always. My
students in the Cape Breton class accomplished the impressive feat of
learning 12 tunes in five afternoons (including two Jerry Holland tunes),
and I was very impressed with the playing of 15-year old Bronwyn whom
I could best describe as a musical sponge.
8/1/07
It was a night at the Swannanoa Gathering, but it could just as well have
been a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Evening dew was beginning to settle across the rolling lawns and gardens,
and the trees were sihouetted in a damp haze of nightfall. Hundreds of
fireflies ascended soundlessly in graceful streaks of brilliant green
like upside-down shooting stars. Walking along the pathways in near darkness
revealed secret hideaways behind the many stone walls and grottos where
Irish musicians clustered for a tune.
The Ceilidh was well under way when we walked into the old wooden dance
hall. Gerry O'Connor, Liz Knowles and friends were providing a boisterous
collection of tunes to the merriment of a packed room of dancers. While
waiting our turn to take the bandstand, a lovely little old Irishman named
Michael Conneely asked to try my violin, as he was quite smitten with
it. I left him happily prancing through tune-after-tune on the back porch
while Ash and I sought out our bandmates for the dance: Robin Bullock,
a superb guitarist, and Sean Keanan, first-rate Irish flutist with a hysterically
cute, leprochon-like accent.
Our set started with a bang and the dancers resonded with wild rapture
and praise. While we played, assorted other staff milled around the band
stand quipping remarks to us in fun and jest.
By about midnight the dancing wound down and the hall was pretty much
cleared out, save for a few of us who milled around drinking the local
beer and sharing some very memorable conversation. I noticed the sound
of a well-played accordian in the corner. I looked over and saw the very
same Michael Conneely--who had earlier amused himself with my violin--now
playing a borrowed button box. Quick as a wink, Eamon sat down at the
piano. Gerry joined in. Pretty soon Donough appeared, then Kathleen and
Liz, and before you know it the whole lineup of top-flight Irish staff
was in full tilt.
What ensued was the most sublime tune session of Celtic Week. Several
students and staff gathered around to revel in the richness of the music
and the warmth of community. Among them was a classical violist named
Simon whom we had met in Seattle and turns out to be a big fan of fiddle.
The music was still blazing away at 2:30 am when we left, and the magic
of those sounds and sensations lingered long afterward.
7/21/07
We just finished one of the busiest California tours we've ever done.
Nearly every gig brought some sort of surprise, whether for its weirdness
factor or its unexpected success. Especially memorable were concerts in
Santa Cruz, Pointe Reyes, and Ojai. One attendee in Ojai even presented
us with a gift of big mouth bass which he had just caught before the show!
The Mandolin Symposium at UCSC was a big suprise. Neither Ashley nor I
had imagined such a welcoming environment, both as the teachers of a previously
under-represented art form and performers of a musical style that was
in fresh contrast to the other types of music heard at the concerts. On
the last day we were eating lunch with Mike Marshall and the other staff,
blissfully sipping on red wine and sampling the pepper-roasted salmon,
when we looked up and realized we were being carefully scrutinized by
a deer peering in through the window with his nose up against the glass.
It brought the room to a silence!
7/2/07
It took 6 years to build up enough clout to be able to book into the glamorous
Little Fox theatre which graces the palm-lined, restored Edwardian Main
street in Redwood City, CA. This small theatre is a perfect environment
for acoustic music and well worth all the effort spent in securing the
engagement...Or so I thought..!
The show was to be split with the wonderful Haas sisters
and the Clarridge Fiddlers. With great anticipation, Ashley and I kicked
things off with a set of fast Irish reels.
"Crack! Pop! Zing!" Something dire was happening
with the sound system. Every time she struck a strong mandolin chord the
PA would zap out. Turns out the sound operator had-- without her knowing
or approving--changed the -20dB button on Ashley's gear just before we
took the stage. We couldn't stop and trouble shoot the problem until the
intermission.
That was the beginning.
In an elegant theatre such as this one would not normally
expect bar-like behaviors from the audience, but a fist fight broke out
next to the stage during the Clarridge's set. A guy told the person next
to him to be quiet and she told him to go to hell, then he threw his red
wine on her white blouse and they stood up and flailed at each other.
The music continued.
Later during our second set, a drunken heckler in the front
row got louder and increasingly out of control. Throughout our quietest,
most tender selection, the lady shouted commands towards the stage, with
every utterance followed by a chorus of people "shushing" her.
By the end of the piece we couldn't hear ourselves over the pandemonium
and weren't able to finish playing the final gentle little coda. What
I can't abide is that the lady wasn't removed from the premesis. A few
people even walked out because they were so irritated.
Well, at least it made for a story! :-)
6/24/07
Ashley and I returned to Weiser, ID where we first met two years ago.
There we performed a short showcase prior to the final round of the world's
largest fiddle contest got under way. We were thrilled to listen to two
spectacular musicians, Alex Hargrave and Tristan Clarridge, both of whom
(along with Casey Driessen) clearly represent a new era of refined fiddle
virtuosity.
I was a bit sad to observe how wildly the audience reacted
to an occasional perfomer who chose to emphasize clownery and violin gimmicks
at the expense of meaningful music-making. But I guess it just means there's
a place for everything and everybody in the world!
5/30/07
We're still trying to thaw out from our Sunday duo set at the Northwest
Folklife Festival.
I don't know of any festival that is as remarkable as NWFL. An incredible
250,000 people attend every year, plus 6,000 performers. Admission is
by voluntary donation. It's a triumph for the city of Seattle.
For most of the weekend it was gorgeously warm. Kids splashed merrily
in the great center fountain and crowds of fun-lovers were about as thick
as I've ever seen them. On Friday night 600 sweaty dancers swirled about
the dance pavillion floor, transforming our musical grooves (made all
the groovier with the help of guitarist Jeff Kerssen-Griep) into kaleidoscopic
patterns as viewed from the stage platform. Continuing with a sun-drenched
theme, we played Greek music in 11/8 time with Stanley Greenthal the next
day for a packed indoor audience.
But wouldn't you know it! Sunday--the day of our outdoor duo set--suddenly
brought bleak, dark skies and shivery rain which turned our fingers to
blocks of ice when we played. That didn't keep the resilient audience
away, though. I was astonished how people crowed around the Celtic stage,
huddled and toughing it out as only Seattle-ites would.
My only desire, besides getting warm again, was that we should play well
for the many fiddlers, friends, and fans I recognised as I scanned the
crowd. "C'mon, baby, move them stiff fingers!" Creeeak.
I guess it turned out okay in the end. It did make me laugh, though, to
see Arvid Lundin, the fiddler who will be performing an opening set for
our concert next week in Spokane, sitting on the wet cement in front of
the stage with his fingers in his ears as we played. Afterward I asked
him if the music was all that bad, and he said, no, he was just sitting
smack dab in front of the mainspeakers!
4/29/07
It was a great tribute of magnanimity on Kevin Burke's part that he should
include us on three of his concerts in the southeast. For over twenty
years Kevin Burke has been a living
legend in Irish music, and to be invited to perfom our "new Celtic"-style
music on the same program was a real privelege. Kevin is now touring with
a new guitar player named Cal
Scott. Right from the start, all four of us connected in a relaxed,
fun atmosphere full of musical inspiration and humor. The best show was
in Nashville at the Station Inn.
The venue is a mainstay for big names in acoustic music (although at first
glance you'd never know from the rough, bar-like appearance). A number
of fiddle dignitaries showed up, including Fred Carpenter, Tim O'Brien,
reps from Compass Records, and even fans from Chattanoooga who had heard
us at Barking Legs made the long drive up! The best part was hanging out
with Kevin and Cal for some late-night tunes. The stories were a riot,
and I learned a lot by watching Kevin's bowing style up close.
3/30/07
The outstanding souvenir to take home from our 12-concert West Coast tour
was the rapturous response we received in Camarillo, CA. We delivered
one of our best performances ever to Ashley's home town crowd, and the
atmosphere was filled with hugs, buzzing conversation, and astonishing
numbers of CDs being sold. The setting was an unlikely venue: a rustic
showroom of an interior design firm. We played in a stone archway and
were surrounded by funky antique furniture from exotic lands. The proprietor
constructed a beautiful little stage just for us out of 200-year old wood
taken from a castle in England! Quite a switch from the previous night...
3/24/07
This was a comedy. For starters, the stage was a rickety metal platform--as
scary as it was clattery. Our instrument stands trembled every time one
of us would change weight from one foot to the other. Ashley had to duck
when she played her fiddle to keep from cramming her bow up under the
overhanging industrial heating unit. Meanwhile, my bow kept jabbing a
banner that hung over my head. On top of that, the sound operator was
partially deaf!
2/27/07
We were invited to share the Bijou stage with the legendary Irish band
Altan. What an adorable assemblage of fine performers they are! Surely
there is no sweeter bunch of fine musicians anywhere.
2/22/07
We attended an immense conference called Folk Alliance in Memphis, TN.
It turned out to be a very valueable 5 days to connect with musicians
and concert presenters from all over the world. Artists showcase their
music in a most unusual manner: hundreds of hotel rooms are transformed
into temporary concert spaces, with listeners crowding around and even
reclining on the beds!
1/27/07
We observed a heartening sense of devoted musical community this weekend
in Knoxville, TN. Matt Morelock hosted us on WDVX-fm radio's "Blue
Plate." Then all three editors of the main Knoxville newspapers gave
us full feature articles the day before our concert at the Palace Theatre.
Thanks to their enthusiasm, the concert was sold out with standing room
only, and (regretfully) scores of people had to be turned away. We had
time, also, to go out and see some local talent at the Laurel Theatre.
It was great to see how other musicians go out to hear their comrades
perform, something that doesn't happen much in other cities.
1/15/06
The two extremely smart guys with cunning ears who run
Ava
Recording Facility in Salisbury, NC just finished
the final mix of the tracks we recorded months ago in a cabin in the mountains
of Virginia. We'll definitely be working with these dudes again! Thanks
to Domenic and Jared for really caring about our project; you did a fantastic
job! The CD will be available for sale in a couple of weeks.
1/1/06
I'll forever remember the day I found a violin that suits me. Thank-you
master luthier Kurt Widenhouse! The new violin made especially for me
has turned out to be the best contemporary instrument I have found to
date, thus concluding a several-year long search. Details on my Gear page.
11/18/06
I had an embarrassing moment during our concert in Santa Monica at McCabe's.
Right before the last note of our frenetic arrangement of Monimusk my
bow flew out of my hand and sailed several feet across the stage--accompanied
by a gasp from the audience. The resolution of the song dangled in suspense
until I chuckled at the puzzled crowd, reached down to pick up my bow,
and regathered poise enough for the final "Ta-Daaaaaa".
11/1/06
We had just returned from Scotland where I thought I would never gaze
at anything more beautiful than the purple flocking of the Highland heather
in bloom. Landing in Massachussettes, we journeyed for two days along
the Taconic Parkway of upstate New York, across Pennsylvania, and eventually
landing in our new home of Asheville, NC, all the while drinking in the
most dramatic crimson reds and radiant golds of any Autumn colors I had
ever seen.
Days later we found ourselves high in the Sierra mountains preparing for
a concert in Bishop, CA, and again another extraordinary natural wonder:
ruthlessly sharp peaks sprinkled with fluttering yellow Aspens.
10/1/06
Our Scotland tour got off and running with a cram-packed concert for the
Edinburgh Fringe in what must be the tiniest concert venue in the western
world, aptly named "The Wee Folk Club." I made a lot of ornery
Edinburghian drivers even more irritable than usual during my "break-in"
period getting accustomed to driving on the left side -- and trying to
untangle the intractable maze of city streets that change names every
block!
We then went North to Perthshire for a ceilidh gig with a great new friend
Angus Wares, after which we puttered around the majestic ruins at St.
Andrews. Seeing the purple heather gorgeously in bloom all through the
countryside fulfilled a life-long dream of mine.
Next stop was Applecross in the West Highlands where we were given the
royal treatment at the quaint Applecross Inn. We premiered two new (and
quite complicated) arrangements, which went great. Heart-stopping seascape
views and brilliant blue skies continued as we drove North for a few days
of sight-seeing. Along the ultra-narrow, single-track road we were halted
by a large heard of sheep being driven across the road by two men and
six border collies; a charming interruption.
Ceòl Beò (Living Music) and the Scamell family
hosted our next gigs in Inverness. We were privileged to have local fiddle
hero Karen Steven perform a lovely opening set before our concert. After
the concert Keith drove us outside the city to Black Isle where Bruce
McGregor (of Blazing Fiddles fame) was just finishing up his gig. Bruce
introduced me to the only beer in Scotland I like, made right there on
the Isle.
Lochgoilhead in Argyll...what an experience! Mark and Linda Morpurgo organize
a very vibrant and successful concert series and fiddle school (see my
Links page) and really pulled out all the stops on this, my third visit.
Ashley was welcomed there like family. Derek Prescott, a fine local photographer,
gave us some of his lovely images. And the audience cheered like it was
a rock concert.
Our final event at Glasgow's Partick Folk Club drew one of their largest
audiences. We were charmed by several people who contributed their singing
and picking in a pre-show set. The tremendous ovation we received there
brought the tour to a close with a feeling of unfeigned acceptance and
success.
9/1/06
We drove through five States to play in a gorgeous mountain town called
Lewisburg, West Virginia. A really weird gig, our stage was between the
Chicken Shak and the John Deer tractors. During the plentiful down-time
between sets, Ashley and I found refuge in the Swine Arena where we practiced
a new arrangement of an old New England chestnut, "Money Musk."
8/10/06
We had scarcely three days to recuperate from our West Coast travels before
we headed out again, this time to steamy Atlanta. A fan said to me before
the first concert, "Welcome to Georgia; there are only two things
wrong with Georgia: July and August."
During those gigs I struggled with a new violin I was trying out. Hence,
from my point-of-view, the music-making at these concerts was not memorable
(although the fans seemed just as approving as ever). What was special
about that trip was that we got to spend time with our wonderful contra
dance friends Kimbi and Karl Hagen, and concert pianist Emile Pandolfi
in Greenville, SC.
7/24/06
What a huge month! It started in Asheville, NC where we reunited with
my friend Roger Gold and played an unusual contra dance in a big, refurbished
old chicken coop out in the woods next to River Falls. The next weekend
Ashley and I performed nine sets in 3 days for the Grandfather Mountain
Highland Games. Who would have thought we'd freeze our buns off in North
Carolina in July?! Listeners actually wrapped themselves up in blankets!
Three days later, en route to the Charlotte airport, we swung into nearby
Belmont to meet the violin maker Kurt
Widenhouse. I was thrilled to find out that his violins
are world class. We hit it off personally, too; he's a wonderful guy!
I hope to be able to acquire one of his beautiful instruments someday.
Ashley's family met us at the Burbank airport and we started what was
to become a string of sold out West Coast concerts. Of particular note
was the concert in Morro Bay, CA put on by SLOFolks, where we played in
an atmospheric, "mini-Buddhist temple"-kind of hall. Then, after
a rather weird cafe gig in Ventura, we went camping with Ashley's mom
for a couple of days at the beach before heading north.
The concert in Seattle was held at the Bloedel Reserve, a plush, natural
setting of tall cedars and Douglas Firs and glorious views of the Puget
Sound. I've never had to wear mosquito repellant while performing before!
Our friend Dave Stuart shot some video footage which I'll put up on this
website soon.
Next we drove to Eugene, OR to meet the famous violin maker David
Gusset. I tried out one of his violins for several
gigs and thought it was a masterful piece of art. (In the long run, I
decided it was too rich and dark sounding for my needs, and, with mixed
emotion, decided to pass on it.)
As a fitting climax to the month we returned to Seattle to work with my
favorite recording engineer Brian Valentino. Brian is the coolest record
maker I've met and we successfully mixed down half of the new CD. Kudos
to Brian "The Czar".
6/17/06
Steve Dulsen runs a superb concert series in southern California called
"Living Traditions." Their beautiful auditorium is in Anaheim,
just down the street from Disneyland. Steve heard me perform a year-and-a-half
ago and booked me onto his series long before I ever met Ashley. We had
the very good fortune of having Tom Corbett perform a cool opening set
for us. Thanks to Tom, Steve, and all the volunteers; we had a wonderful
time!
5/27/06
For the fourth year in a row, Northwest Folklife festival was stellar.
Going into it I had the feeling that a mounting curiosity had developed
among my friends and fans about this new duo with Ashley. My great musical
comrade Hans York has become practically a legend in his own time in Seattle!
"Who is this mystery girl with whom Jamie is now playing?"
The first night of the festival we went to listen to Hans’s solo
singer/songwriter set and it was a cool reunion with all of his beloved
friends in attendance: caller Susan Petrick, Hans' wife Abby, dance organizer
Tom Wimmer, and tons of mutual California contra and folk friends. Hans
utterly amazed us with how his style has developed during his solo touring;
he is performing at a vastly higher standard than anyone we’ve heard
in that genre. There is little doubt he is destined for greatness outside
the world of Celtic picking!
On Saturday we wandered the grounds and I oriented Ash to the 20 or 25
performance stages and the amazing folk reunion spirit of the famous festival.
She was suitably impressed. And imagine, admission to the festival is
still free! Incredible. I hope other fesitvals will look to NWFL as a
model.
Our performance was on Sunday afternoon. I wondered how the cold, drizzly
weather might affect attendance at our outdoor stage. But as I looked
across at the crowd, everyone was there. Even Hans was in the front row!
Tons of concert organizers and dance callers dotted the crowd, and a mob
of others was standing around the perimeter. It was an awesome sight.
To my delight, our duo was received wildly. We played an array of Irish,
Scottish, Bluegrass, and original tunes, and even played two encores!
A long line of eager faces quickly gathered afterward to hug and talk
with us. We got an invitation to tour China. The sound tech Terry liked
us so well he even followed us to our next gig and volunteered his PA
services!
Crazy as it may seem, during the whole four days we didn’t even
dance once. We spent much of our free time just hanging out in the beautiful,
enormous dance pavilion watching the frenzied, happy dancers swooping
and whooping to the continuous string of bands and callers filing in one-after-another.
5/7/06
The most popular band in the history of contra dance is without a doubt
Wild Asparagus. Bassist Stuart Kenney no longer plays with the
group, so I was eager to try to conscript him to play with Ashley and
me for the Atlanta dance weekend known as "What The Hey." And
to my delight, not only did he accept the gig, we three found a chemistry
and groovabilty that was one of the best I've experienced. We were all
able to listen to each other intently and lock into a really deep groove.
The guy is just an all around stunning musician and very sweet person.
1/27/05
As a farewell to Ashley’s hometown friends, family, and fans, we
played to an absolutely cram-packed audience at a local Camarillo church.
We conscripted three exceptional Irish step dancers for the show. The
event was as if Ashley’s whole life was laid out before her: students,
school mates, even her dentist and first grade teacher...they were all
there!
The next day we removed the back seats of my Honda Accord. Using every
bit of engineering and spacial orientation skill we could muster, we found
a way to stuff all of our instruments, gear and provisions into that poor
old jalopy. We hit I-40 on a 5-day trek to Virginia.
For three weeks we had the gracious use of a charming cabin in the Appalachian
mountains in which to record our new CD. We borrowed microphones from
a generous studio owner named Nate Pritchard of Lenoir, NC, and recorded
our music directly into my laptop computer using Pro Tools MBox as an
interface. In between long bursts of intense effort, we’d sled in
the powdery snow or sit around by the fire and enjoy the rural isolation.
I’m very excited about the result we achieved with this “homespun”
recording technique.
10/22/05
Neil Gow is such a beloved figure in Scotland, I'm surprised they don't
put his face on their money! Dunkeld, Gow's birthplace, was gogeous during
the Autumn color change. Pete Clark, a superb local fiddler, took me walking
in the historic woods alongside the river Tay. He later invited me to
participate with him, Iian Fraser, and their hysterically fun ceilidh
band for a wedding gig in a gorgeous castle. It was a regal affair with
all the men and boys in kilts, women in their lovliest gowns, and a well-stocked
bar.
That was my last day in Scotland. I stood at the Bridge of Cally gazing
out over the pastiche of Fall colors painted across the valley and thought
about the transcendental Isle of Skye, of the piquant venison meal shared
with Kelvin Nevison at Loch Awe, of the wild audience in Strachur, of
the faces of all the little kids who had asked me for autographs, and
of so many other priceless moments during the past four weeks. But most
of all, I thought about how much I missed Ashley. That was the inspiration
for my new, 5-part pipe-style tune entitled, "A Kiss on the Bridge
of Cally."
10/3/05
If you want to win friends and influence people, just write them a tune
with a title like, "Jamie Laval's Welcome To Inverness." Keith
Scammell put together a royal welcome for Hans and me in this gorgeous,
miniature grand city which, with its pristine river walks, stone homes,
and cobblestone streets, is amazingly unscathed by tourism.
Within the first 10 minutes of arriving at the Scammell's cute little
200 year-old home, a tune session broke out with Hans and me and the constituents
of a really neat local band called Heeliegoleerie. Those dudes
are nuts! Later that night we attended a young people's concert of traditional
music which delighted us with the realization that folk music is alive
and kicking in the hands of the next generation of up-and-coming musicians.
Our school presentation the next day at the Royal Inverness Academy also
impressed us. The courteousness and relaxed order of the kids was in evidence
from the first moment when they filed into the room in a single line behind
their teacher, serpentining like ducklings following their mother and
seating themselves as one upon the gym floor.
Our concert was held in a wonderful miniature cathedral called "St.
Michaels All Angels Episcopal" which boasted the most beautiful acoustics.
Keith's daughter Eilidh and her band performed the specially written tunes
for us as an opening set. We were charmed.
8/29/05
The night the Katrina hurricane hit I was in Birmingham, Alabama. I had
played an intimate little solo concert the evening before at Bare Hands
Gallery owned by a bubbly, yes-saying, arts-facilitating woman named Wendy
Jarvis. Uncertain about the forboding weather, I opted not to fly home
and instead spent a couple of extra days with Joyce and Jim Cauthen who
are bona fide music historians and members of an Old-Timey band called
The Red Mountain White Trash. Joyce has written a fascinating
book about old Alabama fiddlers of yesteryear.
When the power inevitably went out, we all sat out on the screened porch
by flickering candle light and drank moonshine from a pint jar. As the
wind blasted through the trees bending them over like catapults, my hosts
taught me several quirky old Alabama fiddle tunes. At times the gale was
so ferocious that we couldn't even hear ourselves play. That's the kind
of memory money can't buy!
6/24/05
On Tashina's recommendation, I accepted an invitation to perform a short
solo set in Weiser, ID -- home of the largest fiddle competition in the
world. Later that evening I hung around the Clarridge's camp to listen
to the cool jammin'. That's when I noticed this sweet, quietly observant
young woman sitting at the perimeter of the group. I summoned the nerve
to introduce myself and we began blabbling away non-stop. We wandered
around the grounds together all night and never stopped talking.
I remember most fondly nestling together on a grassy little embankment
and gazing up at the stars as we compared our (mutual) views on non-religion,
contest fiddling, and musical inspiration. I loved that she laughed effortlessly
at my silly little quips.
Not a day has gone by since then that I haven't thought of her. |
