TRAVEL
The worst thing about living in Vermont is leaving Vermont. It makes it tough to go other places. A couple weeks ago I left and headed down to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania for the Cornstock Folk Festival. After a couple minor adventures (including a two hour detour due to a wallet left at a gas station and a 3 a.m. speeding ticket), I rolled into the campground and found a place to pitch a tent. The next morning I got up and walked around looking for a cup of coffee. I ended up bumping into some folks from PENY Bluegrass, an organization of PA and NY pickers (among whom there appears to be some friendly rivalry). I ended up picking a few old bluegrass favorites with them and I enjoyed their company very much. At 1:00 p.m. I played a set on the main stage, which was a bit intimidating at first I admit. The crowd was nervous too so I let them know I was there for them and that I was really rooting for them to do a good job and that they shouldn't be too nervous. By the end of the hour we were all good friends and only a few folks had left in utter disgust. The rest of the afternoon I took in the sights, picked some tunes, and talked to new and old friends. Saturday night I ended up doing some picking with some very fine Pennsylvania folks, including Dave and his son Dylan. Dave's wife Anne cooked us up a chicken and some macaroni salad and boy was it good. Then we all sat around and talked for a while until it was time to catch Pappy and Friends on the main stage. Pappy is a very fine banjo picker and he really put together an all star crew for that set - fine work buddy! I'm hoping that you'll all get to hear him on the upcoming bluegrass album I'm working on (if you don't already know him from his work with his band Cabinet). After a rainy-but-clearing misty Pennsylvania hills morning set, I packed up and hit the road, winding through those pretty little hills of the 81 corridor, the north-south back road, to my home in the Green Mountains. Thanks PA, Cornstock, and all my new and old friends down there. Let's do it again soon!
Last weekend I was down in Ripton VT at the Ripton Community Coffehouse. Highly recommended to anyone who has not been yet - beautiful place - wonderful people - and great music. I was well-received and hope to visit again soon. Next month Mike + Ruthy are the featured artists and I definitely hope to be there.
RECORDING
Last Friday night I drove into Burlington VT. I made my way down Pine, where the teeming hordes of art-lovers filled the streets, polluting the environment with their love and creativity, all in celebration of that peculiar Burlingtonian bacchanalia known as ArtHop. I parked illegally, grabbed a coffee at Speeder and Earl's, and got lost in the Old Mill at Howard and Pine, looking for Justin Gonyea's recording studio. Finally I sensed a recording engineer's presence - and lo! We made our way into his cluttered but comfortable and spacious studios. I'd been feeling that nagging persistent itch again. The doctors have told me there's nothing that can be done for it. And so I have submitted again to my studio addiction. Justin plugged me in, put me in front of a microphone in a stuffy little closet, and jammed phones on my ears. Then he blasted me with a click track. I am known for my perfect time and pitch, and I shared with Justin that I thought his metronome might be somewhat broken or a little off. After a couple false starts the machine warmed up or something and we got a decent take. Meanwhile outside, the ArtHop was in full swing. Anytime Justin opened his channel I could hear a marching band, syncopated jubilant second line, mere feet from his window, bass drum pounding, snare rolling, windows shaking. I found out later that he was also hearing the DJ from across the street. So only three different tempos - any self-respecting sound engineer should be able to juggle that. After a couple hours we had bagged twelve workable scratch tracks - and probably fried Justin's brain - so we called it a night. So I've got the scratch tracks, and I'll probably add one or two more, maybe drop one or two. In the meantime I'm lining up some folks to play on this album and it's looking pretty exciting. We're going full out bluegrass instrumentation on this one, and I'm really excited about the songs I've crafted for this one. Moving into some rich territories!
The worst thing about living in Vermont is leaving Vermont. It makes it tough to go other places. A couple weeks ago I left and headed down to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania for the Cornstock Folk Festival. After a couple minor adventures (including a two hour detour due to a wallet left at a gas station and a 3 a.m. speeding ticket), I rolled into the campground and found a place to pitch a tent. The next morning I got up and walked around looking for a cup of coffee. I ended up bumping into some folks from PENY Bluegrass, an organization of PA and NY pickers (among whom there appears to be some friendly rivalry). I ended up picking a few old bluegrass favorites with them and I enjoyed their company very much. At 1:00 p.m. I played a set on the main stage, which was a bit intimidating at first I admit. The crowd was nervous too so I let them know I was there for them and that I was really rooting for them to do a good job and that they shouldn't be too nervous. By the end of the hour we were all good friends and only a few folks had left in utter disgust. The rest of the afternoon I took in the sights, picked some tunes, and talked to new and old friends. Saturday night I ended up doing some picking with some very fine Pennsylvania folks, including Dave and his son Dylan. Dave's wife Anne cooked us up a chicken and some macaroni salad and boy was it good. Then we all sat around and talked for a while until it was time to catch Pappy and Friends on the main stage. Pappy is a very fine banjo picker and he really put together an all star crew for that set - fine work buddy! I'm hoping that you'll all get to hear him on the upcoming bluegrass album I'm working on (if you don't already know him from his work with his band Cabinet). After a rainy-but-clearing misty Pennsylvania hills morning set, I packed up and hit the road, winding through those pretty little hills of the 81 corridor, the north-south back road, to my home in the Green Mountains. Thanks PA, Cornstock, and all my new and old friends down there. Let's do it again soon!
Last weekend I was down in Ripton VT at the Ripton Community Coffehouse. Highly recommended to anyone who has not been yet - beautiful place - wonderful people - and great music. I was well-received and hope to visit again soon. Next month Mike + Ruthy are the featured artists and I definitely hope to be there.
RECORDING
Last Friday night I drove into Burlington VT. I made my way down Pine, where the teeming hordes of art-lovers filled the streets, polluting the environment with their love and creativity, all in celebration of that peculiar Burlingtonian bacchanalia known as ArtHop. I parked illegally, grabbed a coffee at Speeder and Earl's, and got lost in the Old Mill at Howard and Pine, looking for Justin Gonyea's recording studio. Finally I sensed a recording engineer's presence - and lo! We made our way into his cluttered but comfortable and spacious studios. I'd been feeling that nagging persistent itch again. The doctors have told me there's nothing that can be done for it. And so I have submitted again to my studio addiction. Justin plugged me in, put me in front of a microphone in a stuffy little closet, and jammed phones on my ears. Then he blasted me with a click track. I am known for my perfect time and pitch, and I shared with Justin that I thought his metronome might be somewhat broken or a little off. After a couple false starts the machine warmed up or something and we got a decent take. Meanwhile outside, the ArtHop was in full swing. Anytime Justin opened his channel I could hear a marching band, syncopated jubilant second line, mere feet from his window, bass drum pounding, snare rolling, windows shaking. I found out later that he was also hearing the DJ from across the street. So only three different tempos - any self-respecting sound engineer should be able to juggle that. After a couple hours we had bagged twelve workable scratch tracks - and probably fried Justin's brain - so we called it a night. So I've got the scratch tracks, and I'll probably add one or two more, maybe drop one or two. In the meantime I'm lining up some folks to play on this album and it's looking pretty exciting. We're going full out bluegrass instrumentation on this one, and I'm really excited about the songs I've crafted for this one. Moving into some rich territories!
