Folklife

I had a great time at the California Autoharp Gathering, saw some old friends from last year and made some new ones. Caroline Hester was a special guest and it was cool to see her. We traded CDs. I did a couple of workshops where we learned songs and improvised verses on “Goodnight Irene.” The idea was to come up with a song about the gathering. We came up with a few verses and ran out of time. Next morning I got up early and found a place to play guitar without bothering people who were trying to sleep. I figured it would be better to use the tune to “Acres Of Clams,” since Irene was probably still under copyright to the Lomaxes, and the spacing was basically the same. I put a whole song together, using the verses we had come up with the day before plus others, and we played it at the second workshop later that day.

Long drive back up to Seattle, including a visit with my 92 year old father in Medford. Real good to see him. Also a great gig in the wonderful intentional community of Takilma, just outside of Cave Junction, OR. They had embarked on creating their own radio station and this was a benefit/launch gig. There’s a lot to be learned from intentional communities and I’m honored to be included to the extent that I am.

I got into Seattle Thursday night at about 9:30. This is Saturday, the second day of the NW Folklife Festival. We have a panel today called “Busking in Theory and Practice.” It’s about the mythologies of the art form vs the civil realities. Or something like that. Should be interesting…