Kerrville Ramblings - Day 16

 

With a clear head, full heart, and just a pretty damn good mood, day 16 began with a rousing 1pm staff concert at the threadgill theatre.. This annual "exercise in anarchy" (per Rod Kennedy), drew the biggest crowd to threadgill of any of the shows i had seen there... All covered space was filled, and the crowd was in the 400+ range. This is where i first saw/heard Kevin So, 3(?) years ago..

Today was also the 4th anniversary (June 6th) of the death of Amy Xu.. Kevin had that on his mind when i asked him to play it at Coho late yesterday afternoon... That is also exactly 3 years since he first played the song at kerrville at the ballad tree..

One of the performers at the staff concert, (they are voted in by other staffers) said "I'd like to say my cd's are sold out, but they're actually "gave out"... So if you want one, leave me your address, i'll send it to you, and you can send me back what you think it's worth... Only in kerrville....

Well, after the staff concert, John McVey hosted one of the "more" organized ballad tree sessions... the usual group of suspects were in place along with an interesting duo from chicago. don't have their name handy, but they seem to specialize in very humorous "anger folk"....

Camp Coho was celebrating "Jack in the Box" day, as jack hardy's 10CD boxed set was released... Jack's two favorite sayings of the day were:

1. If you buy 2, you get a free order of fries..

and

2. Tonight, no falling in lust for me... I'm going to fall in love... Is it too much to ask to find someone who'll remember your name in the morning ?? I told him it wasn't too much to ask, but probably too much to expect..

Jack has had a grand old time here, holding court most nights at camp coho. He's been in full flavor...

Mainstage opened tonight with John McVey, a previous new folk winner (96) who was jumped to mainstage the following year.

OH!!! OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ALERT!!!

Rod kennedy said on stage friday:

Jaquie manning who performs as small potatoes will be opening the festival next year!!! so it's official... spuds on parade, Thursday may 20th, 1999.. 6pm slot... make your reservations early boys and girls...

John was followed by amilia spicer a VERY interesting songstress... Unusual rythms and cadence.. You can share the experience at the July 4th get together, as she is coming home with me... (as my grandfather used to say "Don't you vish"). Amilia was followed by: A MARIE NOFSIGER SIGHTING!!!. Marie arrived friday, and had been spending all her time with the sound guyz.. She says hello to all, but never showed up at camp coho... (boo hiss...).. Oh well, there's always tonight.. Tom ball and kenny sultan followed with some great blues, the chennille sisters were next, with a "cute" 40's swing style (i was hoping for another burns sisters thing, but alas, not to be).. Beppe gambetta provided another 50 minutes of waling around time, which on top of the chenille sisters slot, gave me plenty of time to visit with friends.. As the festival begins to draw to a close, you see more and more people reinforcing, on an individual basis, the wonderful times, performances and affects that we have all had on each other..

Next up susan werner... Ok, i can't talk right now, i've got to get up close and pay attention on this one... I've heard so much about susan werner from everyone at home, and i love the one song i knew she did, st marys of regret, but i didn't know she did two of my other favorite songs: "born too late" and "i guess that i don't miss you much at all". Susan is a FABULOUS performer, but, personally, i would prefer she ditch that part of her style where she tries to generate the most sound from her voice and guitar, and stick to the more reflective stuff she's a killer at... Still, by the end of the set, i wasn't disappointed at all..

I listened to Ray Wylie Hubbard while getting a massage to help ease the ribcage pulled muscle pain i get in the morning. Nice, but nothing special (my opinion only, and you know how wierd my tastes are)..

The night finished up with Bobby Bridger and Heal in the wisdom... It seemed extra special tonight, probably because of the person i was holding next to me, swaying back and forth..

Campfire report: Nashville dark, singKerrnicity list, but slow, free-ranging camps abound, Chris CHandler, another duo from CA, and kevin so did a rousing set in front of the Kerrntry store along with accompaniment from an accordion, flute, trumpet electric bass, spoons, and some other instruments i was not seeing clearly enough at the time to identify...

My mouth felt good enough tonight (i bit my lip a little over a week ago), so that with chapstick, i was able to whistle through the campgrounds, as well as in the mainstage/vendors area..

Coho was going all night, didn't get to cuisine, but did make it ALL THE F**KING WAY UP TO CROW'S NEST.. (which, in my condition was a major accomplishment) ok, left foot first, then right, now left again...

There were so many people at Coho at 4am, that i had to cut the bread up into 1/8 slice pieces in order to make it go around...

Checking out of the hotel about noonish, so this will be my last report from kerrville... The final day's report will be sent either from dallas (on my way home), or from Ftl, after i recover... I'll be at the ranch all day today, until 3:30 am, when i drive directly to the airport to catch my 6am flight tomorrow morning...

Brian (Breadman) Wolfsohn http://www.cus.com
CUS Business Systems Ft.Lauderdale,FL
Software for Auctioneers (954) 565-5600 Email:blw@cus.com