Day 36: Interstate Tour 2018
I've been doing summer tours in Pennsylvania since 2010 and many of these small venues have opted to have me return each year. The result has been a growing familiarity with regions of the Keystone State to the point where I have regular stops that I make every time I come through.
I departed French Creek State Park and drove about an hour to Lancaster, where I had lunch at El Rodeo and borrowed some wifi in the parking lot, then on to Shiremanstown, where I performed an hour-long concert and enjoyed a post-show ice cream social.
For smaller shows, I leave the Bose L1 in the rig and use a Roland Cube Street amplifier (battery-powered), Xvive U2 wireless instrument system and a Fifine wireless lavalier microphone.
This simply enhances what is close to a normal acoustic setting and also clears the stage of extra clutter while giving me a little more freedom to move, sing and play at the same time.
With Jeanne before the show.
Jeanne Cloessen has been booking me to come here for four years and she teaches dulcimer students locally, always looking for new players. The appropriate nomenclature would be growing new players, because that's what passionate mountain dulcimer players do - they introduce folks to the instrument, teach them how to play and then get them into the group or start a group. Jeanne's one of those tireless workers who puts a lot of energy into the mountain dulcimer and I appreciate her beyond words!
Tomorrow, I'd make my regular stop in Linglestown, about fifteen minutes away. However, being this close to Knoebels in Elysburg demanded a quick visit to the park. Not only for an opportunity to shoot some more footage for Coaster-2-Coaster, but also to ride my favorite rollercoaster of all time.