David C. and Allan C.'s Wonderful Mudcat Adventure

On May 26th of this year my good friend, David (whom I often describe as a Mudcatter in spirit because he lacks a computer) and I will embark upon what we fully expect to be a wonderful adventure. Our plan is to visit with as many Mudcatters on this continent as is humanly possible. One of our goals is to find out what is happening with regard to folkmusic in the various areas we will visit - sort of taking the pulse of folkmusic by actually visiting some of the people who make it. We are also aware that there are many 'Catters who have not yet actually laid eyes upon another Mudcatter - who have not been able to attend some of the gatherings, Getaways and such. So we would like to bring some of the spirit of that kind of thing to a few folks. But mostly, we just want to have some fun and hear some good music!

We have already been in contact with a few Mudcatters and have made tentative plans to hook up with them along our way through something like 22 states plus a sojourn to Toronto. But there are certainly more Mudcatters out there we probably don't know about who would be almost directly in our path and with whom we'd at least like to meet and possibly have a cup of coffee. And of course, if time permitted, we might be able to sing/play a few songs together as well.

The whole trip will take almost exactly a month to accomplish. Where possible, we wouldn't mind driving just a little off our route to meet some of you. So please send me a personal note to let me know what you think we could work out.

So here is our proposed route. At the stops indicated we have already been in contact with one or more 'Catters with whom we will visit. But I have not included any names here because I am not certain about which of them might not want their location known. I imagine, though, some of the "oldtimers" will recognize the hometowns of a few of the Mudcatters.

We will leave from Virginia (actually, David will leave from West Virginia to meet up with me) towards our first stop near Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, May 26th. After spending a day or so there, we will head down to the Florida Folk Festival at Stephen Foster Memorial Park in White Springs, Florida. After a couple of days there and in Tallahassee, we will load up and head for Dallas where, among other things, I will visit an 88 year-old uncle of mine who still owns and plays about five guitars - including a double-neck. After hanging around in the Dallas area for about two days, David and I will head through Oklahoma City and then angle up towards Denver. From there we will pass through Casper, Wyoming. We'll rest a day or two there and then head up into Montana. Then comes a long stretch of road which will lead us to somewhere close to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Soon after we will find ourselves in Toronto where we will stay a day or two. We will then head through western and central New York state (sorry, I have a phobia about NY City and so will not be stopping there). Then we will make our way southward to the Philadelphia area for a visit at Mudcatland. By then it will be somewhere near the end of June. Soon after we will head for home.

It is rather difficult at this point to nail down specific dates for arriving in certain spots along the way. We hope to stick to a rather general kind of schedule which will allow us a bit of freedom to get the most out of the trip. But we hope some of the folks we visit will post a note here from time to time concerning our whereabouts, etc.

I'll post more details as the date approaches.