Kerrville Ramblings - Day 11

 

Firstly, a great big thank you to all of you who have written me off list commenting on the kerrville ramblings... I really appreciate the support and the extra energy your support gives to me..

secondly, fyi, today was kerr-easter, the 11th day of the month of kerr..

today, great great music, up and down personally..

the day started off with the new folk concert at noon (SHIT!! Now i gotta be there by noon ??? fer cryin out loud, i got to sleep at 5:20!..) ok... bitchin ain't gonna change the schedule. set the alarm for 10:45..

DAMN!! it went off already... that's loud... i don't think i'll use that alarm again...

OK, grab the email... knock off a few replies... jump into the shower... get dressed.. hurry up, it's almost 11:30, and you have to stop at the supermarket.. AND you have to pick up the laundry...

can't race... the cops are unmerciful, and the speed limit changes are like playing lotto... SHIT!! i forgot my hat... can't go back, it'll only be 100+ today... ooof... get the laundry.. run into albertsons.. it's daytime, get a big tub of watermelon, my daily banana, a smaller tub of cantaloupe (pre-cut tubs).. race to the checkout.. "I need 2 bags of ice also please".. Sorry, the ice shipment won't be in for another 45 minutes... Ugh, another stop... Ok hit the mini market for ice... oh, get water too so you can make ice tea.. it's after 12 when i get to the ranch.. Hopefully spuds won't be first up.. I paid and add'l $7 a day to get my car into the campgrounds (it's closer than parking in the lot).. today, i make a left instead of a right, and go up the hill towards the mainstage... luckily, i find a spot right by the thee-A-ter (that's how they pronounce it in texas).. Cindy greene is starting her performance.. gotta find a shady spot... DAMN!! forgot my chair in the car... drop my knapsack, watermelon and other stuff in one of the few remaining shady spots.. it's already over 100 and the sun is burning... Go back to the car and get the chair.. stick it in the shade, and sit down... lets try the bandana on the head (i'm also wearing a tank top, no sunscreen).. A tap on the shoulder.. Is it a bird ??? NOOOO Is it a plane ??? Noooo.. IT's rachael bissex on ranch... She and marianne fleming got in late yesterday... A big rewarding hug, some quick chatter, and back to new folk with a promise to catch up in a little while..

Ok, everyone around me is dying... time to break out the watermelon.. the first person refuses, but after everyone else jumps in, they realize i'm not trying to poison them and also join in.. A beautiful lady named river with a fantastic aura tells me that watermelon is one of her major food groups in the summertime... I met her last week at one of the threadgill evening concerts when her and her daughter munched down on some raisin bread and cantaloupe...

Btw, now is as good a time as any to let you all know something that should be obvious... sometimes when i'm tired, i forget to proofread or spellcheck... As i'm sure you're all only too aware, i type 200 words a minute, unfortunately, only about 5 of them are right... so if i forget to check this one, please understand... it's 4:51AM right now... & i'm sure the office will be calling me sometime in the morning... Usually they're pretty good about not waking me up until they have to..

Cindy greene is done, and here comes spuds.. it's brutally hot... I decide i need to move up to the second row (the first 10 rows or so are unshaded, so plenty of seats are available.. I've got the bandana on, but i'm still frying.. Jacquie looks like she's going to melt.. At least they're not in the sun... They're great, and they close with waltz of the wallflowers which get an unabashed standing o and tremendous reception from the entire audience...

Ok, now don't repeat this to a soul, it's a secret...

A single new folk winner is chosen to skip the typical 4 year wait for mainstage, and is moved to the head of the line to open next years festival. I think we've got a winner here guys and girls... It's not official, so don't tell mr & mrs potatoe head i said anything, or they'll be real pissed... but i think they're the ones that will be bumped up... All their stuff was tremendously received... comments i heard from other major players were the excellence on rich's guitar work, and their yodelling got shrieks and screams in return from the audience.

ok... moving on... 20 minutes in the sun, & i was in danger of burning... I was also in danger of falling asleep in the sun... I decide to pass on the rest of the newfolk, and leave the ranch to head back to the hotel (20 minute drive).. i can catch a few winks (maybe), and grab my hat... OK, get some add'l email..

ok, it's too late to get any sleep, or i'll miss the ballad tree... back in the car... decide i don't need to stop at the supermarket, and make it in plenty of time... Make a right this time, and park in the meadow near most of the campsites, the ballad tree, and threadgill. get to the ballad tree site, get a good spot in the shade.. Gina forsyth from new orleans is running the show today.. pretty close to the best ballad tree session we've had... Chris chandler is 3rd up, Kevin so is 5th (he does Individual), marianne fleming does a jazzy number which wows 'em. and lots of other good performances.. I leave at 4:15, cuz i have to try and catch trout fishing at the childrens show at the threadgill stage .. The thee-A-ter is packed... it seats 300- 250 or so, and there has got to be 400 in attendance.. everyone is trying to crowd into the shady spots.. I spend some time talking with the bass player's wife (crs on the name), and their manager is not on ranch yet.. She advises me that if we can get them at the festival, they will "link to us from their website" (whatever that means ) Their experience is that we would have a significant website traffic hit, as well as attendance impact. Neither is sara hickman's manager on the ranch (they're both on the cruise robby/al).. i can catch them both tomorrow afternoon about 4:30 when the advanced songwriting and business school lets out. I need to know what to ask them, what to say... so far all i know is :"Wanna come play at our festival" (insert yukking sound of disney character goofy here) (note, i don't pronounce festival the way they pronounce thee-A-ter) any guidance would be appreciated..

20 minutes of listening to trout's children's show and i'm in real pain... i can't take anymore... my face hurts from smiling and laughing so much...

It's 10 to 5... gotta leave real soon to get a good seat at mainstage. (the gate opens at 5). I meet a disk jockey from st louis and he tells me his folk show is on he net... he gives me the information, and we start comparing festival notes... HE HAS BOOTLEG JOHN IMS (pronounced m's)!!! And he'll trade... Halleluheah (sp?).. (is an atheist supposed to know ow to spell halleas;lkhhvnu (you get the idea))

oh shit.. it's 5:03... gotta get across ranch to mainstage quick... can't get my usual seat.. it's gone.. still get a pretty shady spot, but the sightlines aren't as good, and heads are sometimes in the way... oh well..

the evening starts off with the burns sisters, with gina forsyth on violin.. They're great, and you can hear 2 of their CD's at the July 4th pot-luck party at brian's...

they're followed by chris smithers, very good, but i need to walk around... next up is the boxcars, christine Albert and chris gage. you can hear their cd july 4th also...

Note: i'm willing to sell some of these cd's i'm bringing home... they'll be first come first served on july 4th...

Next up is mickey newbury and jack williams... jack is impressive, but i'm not impressed with mickey.. I'm also not paying much attention, and I find out later that he is playing and breathing through an oxygen tube...

Tish hinojosa follows and is better than usual.. (one of her cd's is also coming home)...

and then finally, peter yarrow and his 60th birthday... I'll get to the details in a couple of minutes...

First, some personals:

Rachael and Marianne fleming send their regards to michael stock.. "Michael, you belong here... Your butt should be on the ranch" (for further suggestions, go back to last weeks message from annie wenz re:"You suck" ).. I know rachael and marianne had more greetings , but 5:30 in the morning CRS on that..

Dave Nachmanoff to Al/Robby.. He wants to come down festival time and wonders if he could get a side stage slot, or do some sort of a workshop ??? He left earlier today, but i told him i'd relay the request...

we start off with birthday goyem gift cowboy shirts for the yid.. (Peter says: Not only do i buy a house in texas, now i have to dress like one??") a birthday cake, and we're on to the music.. Here's where i start to have some trouble tonight... It's real difficult for me to enjoy peter yarrow or pp&m, or similar things from that era alone.. it's very much of an energy drain... there are songs that he plays that make me want to cry.. that's not easy to do, where the only shoulders within easy reach are your own... So, by the end of his set and a half, i'm pretty much a wreck..

back to the music for awhile... They start off with a song where the sound isn't right, and you can't hear peter's daughter singing. Peter hasn't changed, he just has never changed...
"too much hum"
"raise this mike 10db"
"more monitor on the cello"
"no, i said more monitor"
"still too much hum"

He'll start walking over to stage left where the sound people are situated, waving his hands dramatically.. then come back and continue to direct the sound people.. of course, he'll tell them what a wonderful job they're doing, pause for a moment and then "raise the mandolin 10db... too much hum...

Anyway, since the audience couldn't hear his daughter (and a couple of the instruments on stage), he said, of, let's do that song again from the top... everyone else on stage looked at each other in amazement, AND THEY DID THE WHOLE DAMN THING AGAIN!!

As the set continued, more and more people were brought up to the stage.. Lorin rowin, rod kennedy, all the children in the audience for puff the magic dragon. no one left the stage, just more people keep on coming up... at the finale, there were probably 80-100 people up there.. it would have been more, but they wouldn't fit...

The nights' finale as always to close the weekend, was bobby bridger singing heal in the wisdom.. I don't have the cd yet, but it will DEFINITELY be coming home with me..

So, everything is done, and i'm mentally exhausted, and physically feeling very low energy... Rachael and marianne were invited to play at camp cuisine, but i'm not up to that tonight.. I head for nashville, and the quality of music has been very high this week, and i enjoy the players... Sitting around are kate wallace, buddy mondlock, quite a few previous new folk winners that i'm crs'ing on... richard berman, Michael McNevin, chris williams, lucy CRS, tom smith, great stuff, and i start to feel a little energy returning.. or at least a slowdown in energy leakage..

After sitting there for awhile, i find a nice lady standing alongside.. (actually, i'm surrounded by people, i just happened to notice this one... She makes a comment as i'm getting up to leave, and we start chatting... she hasn't been around to the cap's yet this year, etc. etc.etc... wait... buddy mondlock is doing magnolia street.. i have to catch this... There's no jonathan edwards to do the whistling, so that part of the duet falls by the wayside.. darn... but the song is still great, and generates a bunch of sing alongs... if johnathan edwards was whistling, i could have whistled along also, and it could have been the three of us... I knew i should have rehearsed whistling that song with steve taylor when he was staying over at my house for a couple of days...Ok, someone toss some cold water on me please... stop dreaming... anyway...

Amazing how someone asking you some questions about things like other campsites, and "stuff" can create instant energy... And away we went... and had a nice couple of hours till i had to get back, and she had to get to sleep so she could drive home to dallas tomorrow morning with her daughter...

damn i'm tired, and this has been a long rambling... i also know i've forgotten bunches of stuff... oh well, if you want to hear it all, GET YER BUTTS ON A PLANE...

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