Day 42: Interstate Tour 2018
Whole lotta talent at post-concert blues jam, including Sparky and Rhonda Rucker (far right)
Today will be a short blog because I'm in Maximum Boogie mode.
Classes went great today, learned some more great fiddle tunes from the students and instructors in the Old Time Jam class and got a lot more work done in Imua.
So, there was a scheduling snafu; I had three gigs booked this week since last summer and had it on the calendar when Common Ground On The Hill contacted me about teaching and performing this year. My availability would be for week 2, but somehow, I ended up on week 3, which conflicted with my long-set schedule.
Fabulous talent!
With a bit of shuffling, I was able to move my Shiremanstown and Linglestown gigs to the previous week but would still need to leave the festival on Thursday to teach and perform at the Dutchland Dulcimer Gathering in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday. Walt arranged it so that I would just work with my students to teach Friday's class sometime during the week, then I'd have an excused absence on Friday (always wanted one of those), teach in Lancaster that day and Saturday, then return to Westminster for the CGOTH closing festival.
Yeah, it made my head spin when I first considered it, but everything has worked out just fine. My workshop resources are all printed out, it's a 90 minute drive to Lancaster, it won't be dark and I won't be wearing sunglasses.
I taught Friday's class to my students tonight after dinner in Decker Hall - we did an overview of the 7 modes and talked about their many uses. Then, I went back to Imua and continued some top secret work on next week's Evart concert finale before heading over for the after-concert blues jam. I was the first to arrive, but the masses soon emerged from the concert and made their way over to the steps of Baker Hall where things heated up pretty quick. Sparky Rucker opened things with "Little Red Rooster" and then threw it to me and I played "The Flip Side". Very satisfying to hear my tune with all of these wildly talented cats, like Andy Cohen and Professor Louie, throwin' down on it. Somebody's got a recording and I'd love to see it.
I remember the early days of Mohave where we'd be playing at some big jam band festival and then there'd be a finale where all the frontmen would get onstage and jam together, trading solos. I used to hate that because I wasn't very good at it. I'm still not as expressive as I'd like to be, but the practice continues every day.
Susan Tom (in purple shirt) enjoying the jams in her motorhome.
Susan Loomer Tom had extended an invitation to her motorhome jam and I went there next, in a more informal setting, sang and drank with instructors and staff, just having a grand ol' time. It was 2 am by the time I rolled out of there, which meant that I'd need to sleep in just a little bit in order to be fully charged for tomorrow.
Common Ground On The Hill is always inspiring to me and tonight is really what it's all about. Collaboration, celebration, thrilling in the gift of music. This musical language is a trip - and once you can speak it fluently, the conversations you can have are out of this world!