It's been busy!
24/11/09 19:53 Filed in: Festivals
Well. October was FULL ON. What a great time. We've
just got back from Harrietville in Victoria,
Australia, so there is too much to talk
about. But I should start at the beginning.
First: Kowhai Festival. It did indeed pour down with rain, but not the entire time, and it didn't discourage the crowd of listeners huddled into the beer and wine tent while we were playing! That was so much fun, and we really hope they have us again next year. (Hello? Dave? Dave?)
Where did we go after that? Matakana Farmer's Market? Yeah. The usual. It's good exposure. Though this time was better than any previous engagement, because Dave Hoskins from Heron's Flight brought us over some grape juice, and the lovely baker lady whose name I failed to get brought us delicious pastries. Yum! The funny bit: my bass instructor, the lovely and talented Barbara Hamilton (who reminds me too much of my dear, much-missed grandmother) was sitting right up front listening to us, which completely freaked me out to the point where I couldn't play nearly anything.
And the weekend after that? Ah, Bunker Folk Club in Devonport! Fun fun fun! Love those folks there.
And then we get to the BIG MOMENT. Wellington Folk Festival. The Pipi Pickers and families loaded up the cars and made the long drive south. Nat and I enjoyed a couple days with friends in Wellington first. Barry and Dee brought the chubblies* down with them later. We were warmly welcomed, and settled into our same cabin from last year. The weather was very very fine! So instead, everything else went wrong. They lost all power to the festival grounds for three hours, Richard Klein's fiddle bridge collapsed mid song in the opening concert, Jimmy Young's pipes just up and stopped working, and worst of all, Barry, our Barry, got very very ill Saturday. An early night and long sleep in didn't find him any better and Nat ended up having to rush him to the hospital where they found his blood pressure through the roof. Medication had him feeling better almost immediately, but he was in no condition to play with us at our 11:45 am set that morning! Nat raced back and in a panic, I asked Gerry Paul to stand in with us. We had something like 20 minutes to teach him 10 songs. But like a true professional, he had no problem AT ALL. We were also emboldened to ask Tim O'Brien if he would stand in with us on "What Does the Deep Sea Say" and "Ralph's Banjo Special." What an amazing time we had! Gerry was fantastic on rhythm guitar, and what can you say about getting to play with THE Tim O'Brien??? I fully expect that to be the Best Thing that ever happens to me. EVER.
There's video on YouTube, but I got a DVD from the Levin Folk Club and it is higher quality video, so I'm planning on posting it here and getting rid of our crappy song sample page.
We had a break after that, before heading off to Harrietville Bluegrass and Old Time Country String Music Convention. It was an AMAZING weekend. So many fabulous musicians! So much GREAT Bluegrass! We played 3 blackboard slots, Saturday and Sunday, and had a great time with that. Got to meet the Coolgrass fellas, and most of Bluegrass Parkway including the lovely and talented bassist/vocalist Maria Duff. Woot! Girl power. Also met and fell in love with the Canadians of "Hungry Hill." What great people, and GREAT pickers. So talented, so nice. We would love to see them tour NZ. And they seem keen, so you never know. Watch this space.**
OK, work to do, and then I'll try to deconstruct the DVD and get the clips on to here.
*chubblies: kids.
** I don't know why I pretend anyone but me reads this, but you never do know.
First: Kowhai Festival. It did indeed pour down with rain, but not the entire time, and it didn't discourage the crowd of listeners huddled into the beer and wine tent while we were playing! That was so much fun, and we really hope they have us again next year. (Hello? Dave? Dave?)
Where did we go after that? Matakana Farmer's Market? Yeah. The usual. It's good exposure. Though this time was better than any previous engagement, because Dave Hoskins from Heron's Flight brought us over some grape juice, and the lovely baker lady whose name I failed to get brought us delicious pastries. Yum! The funny bit: my bass instructor, the lovely and talented Barbara Hamilton (who reminds me too much of my dear, much-missed grandmother) was sitting right up front listening to us, which completely freaked me out to the point where I couldn't play nearly anything.
And the weekend after that? Ah, Bunker Folk Club in Devonport! Fun fun fun! Love those folks there.
And then we get to the BIG MOMENT. Wellington Folk Festival. The Pipi Pickers and families loaded up the cars and made the long drive south. Nat and I enjoyed a couple days with friends in Wellington first. Barry and Dee brought the chubblies* down with them later. We were warmly welcomed, and settled into our same cabin from last year. The weather was very very fine! So instead, everything else went wrong. They lost all power to the festival grounds for three hours, Richard Klein's fiddle bridge collapsed mid song in the opening concert, Jimmy Young's pipes just up and stopped working, and worst of all, Barry, our Barry, got very very ill Saturday. An early night and long sleep in didn't find him any better and Nat ended up having to rush him to the hospital where they found his blood pressure through the roof. Medication had him feeling better almost immediately, but he was in no condition to play with us at our 11:45 am set that morning! Nat raced back and in a panic, I asked Gerry Paul to stand in with us. We had something like 20 minutes to teach him 10 songs. But like a true professional, he had no problem AT ALL. We were also emboldened to ask Tim O'Brien if he would stand in with us on "What Does the Deep Sea Say" and "Ralph's Banjo Special." What an amazing time we had! Gerry was fantastic on rhythm guitar, and what can you say about getting to play with THE Tim O'Brien??? I fully expect that to be the Best Thing that ever happens to me. EVER.
There's video on YouTube, but I got a DVD from the Levin Folk Club and it is higher quality video, so I'm planning on posting it here and getting rid of our crappy song sample page.
We had a break after that, before heading off to Harrietville Bluegrass and Old Time Country String Music Convention. It was an AMAZING weekend. So many fabulous musicians! So much GREAT Bluegrass! We played 3 blackboard slots, Saturday and Sunday, and had a great time with that. Got to meet the Coolgrass fellas, and most of Bluegrass Parkway including the lovely and talented bassist/vocalist Maria Duff. Woot! Girl power. Also met and fell in love with the Canadians of "Hungry Hill." What great people, and GREAT pickers. So talented, so nice. We would love to see them tour NZ. And they seem keen, so you never know. Watch this space.**
OK, work to do, and then I'll try to deconstruct the DVD and get the clips on to here.
*chubblies: kids.
** I don't know why I pretend anyone but me reads this, but you never do know.