In 2017 at the ODPC Funfest, one of the 3-Day mountain dulcimer intensive students, Stephen Carney, proposed a day of workshops and a concert in Germantown, Ohio. As the former pastor of Germantown First Church of God, Stephen had the perfect space, some experience with my teaching and performing, and a brand-new group, the Germantown Dulcimer Society, filled with eager learners. People ask me all the time how I book so many shows each year and, well, this is how it happens.

The morning started with authentic square donuts and coffee from the church's well-stocked coffee bar, introductions and then the workshops began.

I taught the blues, a basic boot camp and minor tunes of the Appalachians. The GDS sprung for a Subway-catered lunch and just about everyone took all three workshops. For dinner, we made a little trip down to Miamisburg for Bullwinkle's and then bounded back for the 7 pm concert.

A really fun group - we had a great time!

It was my first time hanging out with this bunch and it was fun as all get-out; the energy was up, the welcome was warm and we really had a great time. By the time I'd stepped onto the stage, I was pretty well blissed out on the day, played almost two hours (my shows after a full day of workshops aren't usually that long) and was already in talks about coming back again next year. I love it when a plan comes together!

Stephen Carney talks to the audience after the show.

With Imua parked by the side of the church, it was a short journey home as goodbyes were said and I climbed back inside to wrap editing of The Evart Sessions videos for Patreon. Midnight seemed to creep up faster than usual and I worked beyond that, noticing a distant thumping in the parking lot. The thumping, courtesy of a bombastic rap track, came closer and I'm thinking "really? gangstas in Germantown, Ohio?" alongside "I thought I left this shit back home" and, seeing as how it's a church parking lot, I imagine the offending boom-car driver would finish whatever they intended to achieve here and then boom on someplace else.

The booming rolled forward, closer and closer, until the vibrations from the car speakers were sending shock waves through Imua's coach.

Oh, hell no.

I put on one of those Energizer head-lights, stepped outside, turned to face the blonde, wanna-be gangsta, squared my shoulders and waited for him to turn around.

He was standing by the passenger side, sort of gazing up at the stars, when the light caught his eye. He turned, flinched a bit and then, awkwardly stammered, "what's up?"

"Tryin' to sleep," I said, flatly.

"Oh, sorry," he said, quickly moving around to the driver's side, muttering "let me just get this." He opened the driver's side door and I was actually expecting him to just turn down the music from the way he spoke, but he hopped into the driver's seat instead, fired it up and got the hell out of there.

Mission accomplished.

After another hour's worth of work, I finally wrapped all 9 sessions, 18 hours of video, all edited and ready for upload. When that was going to happen would be another matter entirely. The church WiFi was sufficient enough for connection, but horribly throttled for data transfer, probably to keep the church kids from downloading movies. I'd need to find some solid bandwidth tomorrow and, in the tourist town of Pigeon Forge, I believe that wouldn't be hard to find.

Day 65

Day 64: Interstate Tour 2018