Wet eyes started early for me Friday when Tom Rush launched “Child’s
Song”. I don’t know if it is the memory of my leaving home at 16 or the realization
that my own son is about to leave for college, but this song gets me every
time.
The festival surprise was NewFound Road. I had not heard
them before. Their bluegrass numbers were impressive but they went out of their
way to show that the talent could easily put him into superstardom as a solo
country or pop performer.
I appreciated the opportunity to listened to Stacy Grammer talk
about the late Dave Carter and perform some of his songs.
Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen are living examples of
perfection of a craft over time. They make me proud to be growing older.
The campfire music was as impressive as ever. The only
downer was that my daughter, who sat on the bench next to me, said it was
painful to hear me sing. I’m sure it is true; I just otherwise choose to ignore
it and sing away anyway.
I was surprised that someone took one of my lawn chairs overnight.
I refuse to believe that it was a deliberate theft at a folk festival. Rather I’ll
just believe that it was taken as mistaken identity. The staff at Spring Gulch
is always fantastic and I was glad that I took a little time to talk with a few
of the staff members.
The neighborhood roads were significantly busier than in
past years with both auto and buggy traffic. We noticed that the road bordering
the campground has been subdivided for development.
After the concert I was very much aware that my ability to
recall performances has deteriorated. I notice that my ability to recall
lyrics remains strong but not so for the names of artists and writers.
Who did “Gentle Arms of Eden” on Sunday?
Leave a Reply