I'm just going to write stream of consciousness stuff. I wish it had been a week instead of just a weekend, but the weekend was a great improvement over just one day. I got a chance to get to know some people better - unfortunately missed a few people, though. If I had been less busy attending workshops and playing music, I might have gotten to talk to everyone who was there.
I remember the first person I saw when I arrived was Chuck E. It was such a relief to see him, because I wondered how soon I'd have a guitar. He brought me two guitars (!) to choose from for the weekend, his neighbor's Guild, and his own precious Thompson. I actually used both of them Friday night for Jenny's set so that I wouldn't have to retune between songs, but for the remainder of the weekend I held on to Chuck's beautiful Thompson. He told me it was made by a man named Thompson who lives in BC who makes only 100 or so guitars in a year. What a great guitar! Such a sweet sound and so finely crafted! I am very grateful to Chuck for entrusting it to me for the whole weekend. I hope I didn't put any dings in it (I really tried hard to be careful)! Friday night started with a recording of Anne Sandstrom singing one of her beautiful songs and we were able to join in on the chorus which was about everyone singing together. Very moving. I wish she could have attended the fest. You were very missed, Anne! I hope you are doing well and that we'll hear from you before too long. All of the performances were really fantstic. It was wonderful to see each person get up on the stage and perform, especially those who had only performed a few times or never before. And the audience is the best audience any performer could ever hope for, because they listen and they are appreciative of everyone. It did a lot for my confidence to be able to perform for such a crowd. Walt Breen can play the piano really well and he has a deep rich voice that made me feel safe and peaceful. Les Ross has this really quiet quality when he sings and plays his guitar - he has a strong voice, but somehow he makes it seem quiet, like you're sitting with him in a beautiful forest with sunbeams coming down thru the trees. His guitar playing is gorgeous. Jenny just blew me away with her acapella arrangement of Urge For Going - I can't WAIT for the CDs so that I can put that track on replay for a few days! Yael Harlap has such purity in her voice and music - her heart really comes through when she sings and I enjoyed her set very much. Victor has so many beautiful original songs. I hope he will do a new CD soon! Chuck I love your piano playing - wish I could play like that! Hope you'll do some dulcimer tunes for us someday, though - sorry that there wasn't a space for that this year! Except it was great to hear you play in the workshop!!! Kay Ashley - what can I say? You are fantastic - your songs have such unique melodies and chord changes. I was mesmerized during your set and am so glad that you brought those demo CDs so that I could listen to you on the drive to Boston. Especially love that third song. Oh, and please do something with that piano tune with the ethereal chords that I asked you about. Alison! What a great voice you have! Please consider a singing career! Sharon, I'm so glad you brought your accordion and I really enjoyed your set. You led us to believe that you were just a beginner, but it sure sounded perfect to me and really hard! How do you keep track of all those buttons???? Next time, I want you to show me how it all works. Donna, I loved your set! I love you! You have so much heart and I wish we could have talked more and I hope we'll get another chance someday. It was comforting to be around somebody who can cry as much as I can! More later. Love, Marian NP: Domini - Miriam
