Jan 30
Caleb Klauder just emailed me and asked, "What the hell
just happened?" We're all finally home after what really felt like
a really important event. Three young string bands on tour, playing
to mostly sold out audiences of wonderful people
young and old all getting down to the old time sound. We all headed over to
the Red Roof Inn in Chicago after the
Old Town show and played tunes untill 6:30AM. We mostly took over the 12 floor
(only after our band had to switch rooms
3 times)! We met a charming pair of crack heads in the elevator one of whom
tripped over one of Sharon's bags....we were
only a little frightened. Back on the 12th floor we finished the rest of the
snacks Jean sent with us and played some tunes,
sang some old country songs, and had a really difficult time saying goodbye
to our companions of the road. I'm still not
sure what it all means or if I can answer the question of what just happened,
but I do know that it was a ton of fun and perhaps
the beginning, or rather a new beginning of something really cool.
Jan 29
The Old Town School of Folk music described it as "some
jams and some workshops" but what we called it was
a big ol' honkin' party. There were little jams in every nook and cranny
of the large Chicago school. There were 2 simultanious
dances, lots of food and fun. It was almost like an indoor Mt. Airey w/o the
contests.....hey that's not a bad idea! We got to see some
old friends like Jordan, Chirps, Dave Landrith, etc etc. We also met so many
great folks...a few of whom drove from Madison to get
some more old time action. At 2AM the night janitor and a very sleepy concert
promoter chased us out of the building- bows and picks
in hand. Ok it wasn't that dramatic but nonetheless we would've stayed till
the first workshop the next morning.
Jan 28
Madison last night was a blast. The Mammals finally got to rock out at
the High Noon Saloon with no regard to volume control or small children
in the front row. Of course this freedom inspired what we all thought was
their best show of the tour. The dance floor was filled and the energy was
high. Theyrocked us hard!!!! After the show we made the mistake of driving
through Wisconsin to Illinois at 2AM with a broken headlight. After
getting pulled over twice by 2 of Wisconsin's finest (emphasis on the word
fine...he he!) these 22 year old mid-western cops let us off with mere warnings.
We finally reached our friendsJim and Beth's house at almost 3am where instead
of going right to bed Kristin and Sharon talked till the sun came up and the
other 3 of us sat and watched a live show of Alison Krauss and Union Station
on Jim's larger than life HDTV set. Today we're all catching up on emails
and
phone calls.Kristin is doing yoga and we're pretty much taking over Jim's
nice new big house while he's off slaving away making the world better one
Golden
Tee golf game at a time.
Jan 27
We had a great show last night in Minneapolis where half the
city came out to see Abby who many have not seen since highschool.
Of couse we had a blast doing out encore a la "We Are The World"
and basically had a great night. Over 300 people showed
up at the Cedar Cultural Center! When we returned to the house where we were
staying (endless thanks to Jean!!) we were
greeted by 5 beautiful flower arrangements (one for each of us!) and chocolate
covered strawberries.....someone is giving
John Mc Nair a run for his money on the whole flower-power thing...So thanks
to the mysterious Greg and everyone in these
cold parts that made this a great stop on our tour. We can't wait to come
back.
Jan 26
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We played a very cool venue tonight...hard
to say what the building used to be. Someone told us during our set so
you tapers will have to get a copy of that show to find out. Back stage was
basically a groovie old appartment with all the comforts of home
including a very nice home cooked meal. Halfway through our set we heard the
first sounds of that rocking old time music wafting up from back stage
and we knew that could only mean one thing!!! Foghorn had arrived!!!!!!!!
We knew the party just got a little better. Oh yea-uh. Later that night we
all
found ourselves poolside around 2am.....a couple Foghorns were swimming, Ruthie
was in the hot tub and the rest of us were playing tunes. Nothing like the
sound of triple fiddles in a room with not much more than water and glass.
Jan 24
Greetings from the road!!! Right now we're on our way from
Bloomington, IL to Cedar Rapids, IA on our only day
off for this tour. We had a great time at these past few gigs despite the
general lack of heat in this part of the country.
We left out gig at the Ark and tried to make it to Indiana before a storm
hit but got as far as Battle Creek when the snow
decided to join us. Even though Abby has a penchant for driving in the snow
we decided to stay overnight in the cornflake captial
of the world. We had particularly great shows at our home town gigs in Goshen,
IN and Ann Arbor, MI where we got to play
for old friends and family. Thanks to Rayna's mom, Gen for the nice yoga session
before our show at LVD's. Thanks to Sam and
Abby Bartlett/Ladin for letting us all stay and for the beautiful morning
of coffee and conversation.
Jan 19
Howdie folks. We're in Chardon, Ohio watching the fields of the old Kovac
farm fill up with snow. No one dared go outside today...
instead we're all snuggling up to a nice warm fire in a big stone fire place.
We're getting ready to hit the road and meet up with our
friends, The Mammals tomorrow night then later with The Foghorn String band.
It's a quiet beginning to what we hope to be
a rompus tour. Thanks to Paul and Laura (and the kids) for letting us take
over the Villa-Mir farm.