Day 16: Interstate Tour 2018
This is not a slight against Jason Fawks or folk harp. That's just spilled BBQ sauce.
Well, this is embarrassing.
I'm driving to Coshocton this afternoon and my phone starts lighting up. Turns out, I was supposed to be in a workshop at 1 pm.
Wait, what?
Mark Alan Wade
I've never blanked like this with a workshop, WTF? I searched for answers as fast as I was searching for solutions. How to fix this for the students mixing with how the hell did this happen? makes for a fun little social science experiment, especially in my ever-lovin', swiss-cheesed BRAIN. Instructors Joe Collins and Danny Shepherd took on my two workshops, so thanks to those guys, and apologies to my students and to anyone who was concerned about my well-being.
I figure this happened: my last two gigs began on Saturday, officially, and Friday was the welcome day. That, and a misinterpreted comment about our annual pre-festival gathering at a Mexican restaurant in town, led me to shift my schedule somehow so that, for the first time in 11 years, I didn't show up for a workshop. How embarrassing.
Mark Alan Wade performs at The Warehouse in Roscoe Village - Coshocton, Ohio
And it's not like I was fucking off somewhere. This morning, I woke up, did some admin, wrote a blog, fulfilled some shipping orders. All the while, crystal-clear, the agenda was in my head: work till noon, drive to Coshocton, meet with the gang for dinner, prepare for the festival weekend. All my connections didn't quite work here.
I suspect many things, including ADHD, advanced years and a newly ripping production schedule plus the disorienting aspects of touring all swirled into the perfect storm of disconnect. Many people don't realize just how much of a juggling act it is for me to get through a day. On two counts, my ADHD and my speech-impediment, it's a full-time job that is tiring as well as it can be freeing and revealing.
God-Light on stage! (Photo by Carissa Shaffer)
And when I finally got here, there was some good-natured ribbing, but more than a few folks have commiserated more than anything. It's still embarrassing.
I did remember that Mark Alan Wade and I were performing in concert tonight at The Warehouse Restaurant in Roscoe Village and was here in plenty of time to get set-up and do the thing. Mark's great - he's a very orchestral hammered dulcimer player and his arrangements are so tasteful and full of colors. He's also a little sick in the head and I like that (but I didn't say that out loud - ah, shit) so it was a fun evening of music.
For the first time in my life, I used a lavalier mic in a performance. It requires a vocal restraint that once seemed foreign to me, but it worked really well, considering the output was a Roland Cube Street with the second channel being full-on mountain dulcimer. The freedom of movement was delightful. I might look into doing this with my Bose rig, better quality mic, of course. The lavalier I have now is mainly for speaking, but it did alright.
The place was packed on a beautiful Ohio evening, perfect weather for an outdoor concert. One table was actually up on the stage next to me and I came to know them as Rocky Styer, Laura Enoch, Leah Barnette and Carole Fry. Three siblings and a friend who were obviously in the right place because they were a good-timing group, we all had fun with my pub show, which I don't get to break out at dulcimer festivals much. We sang and drank and toasted; I turned the reins of the proceedings over to the crowd. "What do you want to hear?"
Rocky, Laura, Leah and Carole - good-timin' folks!
Which is how I ended up doing some kind of fusion of blues, reggae and old-time based around "Bile Dem Cabbage Down." More and more improv has been creeping into my sets of late and I think it's gonna be a thing from here on out. Way too much fun.
All around, a great day, even with a gigantic brain fart. I'm at Walmart Resort: Coshocton and getting ready for three workshops tomorrow, a make-up for my Disney Ukulele students, production and the evening concert.
I'm sure there's something I'm missing...