I love the North Country with my whole heart, but this rain and cold is ridiculous. I'm tempted to start my pellet stove on July 14th -- unbelievable! The rains put a hurting on Adirondacks Unplugged, but I think most of the folks had a good time any way. I know I did.
I finally wrote my first song of 2009 yesterday. It took me seven months to do so, but I think I have a good one. It's called "Frozen In Time." I woke up feeling that I was born thirty years too late, as I've read in some reviews. I've also read that my lyrics are too sentimental, but I can't let that get me down. My lyrics aren't contrived; they come from the heart and I mean what I write. If that's too 'sentimental,' too bad. Some of my favorite songs by other writers might be deemed that way as well by some sorehead somewhere that nobody's ever heard of. It's a good thing I never got into politics like I planned as a young man. I am way too thin-skinned!
I am so looking forward to Grey Fox. There is always so much excitement there, palpable as you enter the gates. It's a good feeling knowing that the sound will be right and that a gathering of music-lovers awaits in large numbers. The festival holds a special place in my heart. I remember bringing my wife with me a few months into our marriage (when the festival was called Winterhawk). She was suffering with morning sickness (our first child would be born the following March), but we were young and ready to take on the world. Sitting on that hill under the stars listening to LRB and Laurie Lewis and Peter Rowan and Jerry Douglas with Corina by my side on a warm summer night, hoping one day my band would be on that stage...Oops! That's pretty sentimental. I played a great Stelling banjo the following day. She could tell I needed that banjo and convinced me to buy it. (I wish I still had it if only for sentimental reasons. I love what I'm playing, but that was a good one, too.) A few months later we'd play our first IBMA showcase, playing that Stelling at a showcase sponsored by the company, and secure a record deal as a result.
It's fun to look back and to look forward.