I'm sorry about seeming to be elusive, but I was still a bit under the weather and spent most of the weekend plopped in my lounge chair under the trees enjoying the music. Surprisingly the heat did not bother me, but the dust was wrecking havoc with my voice and my cough. I had to watch a few workshops from the back so I could sneak out if a coughing fit came upon me.

Still, the music and the festival turned out to be great medicine! I am feeling so good today!   The music was amazing.   One of my favorite moments was at the songs of personal conscience. Bob Franke did a powerful song about Fredya Epstein and the incident surrounding her death called "Collatoral Damage". When he finished, Priscilla Herdman burst into tears - just as it was her turn to sing. Priscilla went on to sing an incredible rendition of Pat Humphries "Swimming to the Other Side". She slowed it down and it was the perfect setting for the song.   Great workshop.

So many other moments - the various collaborations that Bruce Molsky took part in, Vanaver Caravan, Guy Davis, the Berrymans & Michael Cooney's workshop, the Vietnamese musicians whose names escape me at the moment, the Arrogant Worms, Sara Grey and so many others.

The Folk-Legacy workshop was wonderful, save for the incident that Allan mentioned. I happen to know the individual that made those unfortunate comments, and I was quite surprised at the things he said. I'd like to think he was just not articulating properly, but he kept putting his foot further into his mouth which makes it difficult to accept that it was just a misunderstanding. It amazes me because this individual is a good musican and one of the guiding lights for a coffeehouse here in New Jersey, and it shocked me that he did not comprehend the power and importance of field recordings. How can someone with his experience not hear the beauty? I guess it comes down to the fact that many people became aware of "folk" music during the seven year period that began with the Kingston Trio topping the charts with "Tom Dooley" and ended with Dylan going electric at Newport. These are people that are used to fine studio recordings and staged performances.   Sandy and Caroline handled him well and I think Sandy put him in his place.   


Another great weekend.   So how many days until next year???