Subject: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Marion Date: 03 Nov 00 - 05:58 PM What musical accomplishment has made you the proudest? For me: I once sang an original song, just once, to a friend. When I saw her again six months later she told me that the chorus had been running through her head. I was very proud to have written a song that could stick in someone's head six months after one hearing. Marion |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Bert Date: 03 Nov 00 - 06:01 PM A little old lady was watching a performance of mine. She said to me after. "When I sat down, I was in great pain with my arthritis, but I laughed so much that all the pain has gone." |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Little Hawk Date: 03 Nov 00 - 06:17 PM Writing some original songs that were every bit as good as what I had hoped to write, I guess... I am mostly just proud to be human, and very happy to be a musician. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: MK Date: 03 Nov 00 - 06:32 PM Being accepted as a guitar player by my peers, as I've been doing this for a far shorter period of time, than as a keyboard player. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: MAG (inactive) Date: 03 Nov 00 - 06:46 PM A $5 tip for a cappella "Song of the Seals" -- as a busker. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: mousethief Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:08 PM I was in a grocery store in Wilkeson, Washington (a tiny former coal-mining town near Mt. Rainier, where our church used to meet regularly until we built a new church down closer to civilization). I saw a couple of guys who were visitors at the service that morning, and introduced myself to them. One of them said, "Alex? Alex Riggle?" I said yes. He said, "Hey, you're the guy who wrote Existential Sheep, aren't you?" I allowed that perhaps I was. Turns out he was a former roommate of a former roommate of mine, who had a tape of some of my songs. Vain peacock that I am, I was tickled pink.
Alex |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Matt_R Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:10 PM Hasn't happen yet... |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Dharmabum Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:13 PM First time my daughter joined me on stage. 2nd was when I joined her. Ron. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: kendall Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:14 PM My proudest moment was when I received my very first copy of Lights Along The Shore, and knew I was now a member of the Folk Legacy Family. Appearing on NBC's TODAY SHOW was secondary, as was appearing on Charles Kuralt's On the Road. There is nothing to compare with being part of the Folk Legacy folks, and I am both proud and humble for it. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: The Shambles Date: 03 Nov 00 - 07:43 PM I remember being very proud when someone considered me good enough to ask me if I could teach them to play guitar.
And folks, that person was Richard Thompson and the rest is history....... No I jest, it was one of my mates from school. He was however already a pretty good player but he played classical guitar and I thought he was good. To be asked by him was a great boost to my confidence. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Bill D Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:14 PM ....looking up from singing and playing "Storms Are on the Ocean" on the autoharp and seeing Tom Paley expectantly waiting for a fiddle break...and giving him the nod, and having it WORK...just like the big boys... |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:18 PM Switching on the Mudcat Radio by chance a few months back, and hearing Áine and her husband Layne singing a song of mine, and doing a damn good job of it too. (And if you've got Real Audio, here it is, if I've done the blue clicky thing right..) |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:20 PM Well, I hadn't, but here's another go. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Mooh Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:22 PM A former band recorded, rather primitively, a cd of trad songs and tunes with two originals, one of which was mine. No big deal, I had the opinion that once it was recorded it was time to get on to the next project. However, I was completely blown away by the fact that at a festival several months later I could hear, from stage, some of the audience singing along to lyrics I wrote. Weird sensation, and I was proud. That band has evolved into something else and there hasn't been another recording, much less the will to make one. Oh well. Mooh. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Cap't Bob Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:40 PM This happened a few years ago while substitute teaching for our local elementary music teacher. After a long day of teaching (one 20 minute lunch break during the entire day), I was on my way walking across the parking lot with my ukulele case, tenor banjo, brief case full of penny whistles, recorders, etc. One of the little boys (most likely from the 3rd or 4th grade) walked up to me and gave me a great BIG HUG. The kids just loved the folk music and the small instruments like the ukulele. CAP'T BOB |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Benjamin Date: 03 Nov 00 - 08:52 PM Hasn't happened to me yet either. Give me some time! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Matt_R Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:03 PM Ok, maybe. Midchuck wanted to learn the tune I wrote for "The Plains of Emu". |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: P05139 Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:12 PM I've had three. The first one was when I was 12 and Keith Donelly dragged me up on stage at Crewe and Nantwich Folk Festival. I was only going to do one song but I ended up doing three. That was my first time using a mic. The second was in April this year and my folk group, Fireboots, got asked to perform at Talent 2000, which was a charity concert for Selby District Nightstop. The third was in May, when we (Fireboots) got asked to perform at the Year 11 Leaving Assembly on the last day before our GCSEs started. We finally managed to convert some of the year group, and we even had stage divers doing a bit of a jig while we were playing"Athol Highlanders". That was absolutely unbelievable!!!!!!! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Escamillo Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:14 PM Congratulations to McGrath, Áine and her husband for a lovely song. I liked it very much ! Un abrazo - Andrés |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Morticia Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:25 PM I think it was when Micca came to one of our gigs and I nervously launched into Raglan Road, knowing it's a favourite of his. He told me, and I've never forgotten, that he had never heard it done better and anyone who knows my uncle would know he doesn't give out praise lightly, furthermore he's heard some of the greats over the years. It meant far more to me to be praised by my family than anyone else. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Bill D Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:49 PM ...a lovely song, McGrath..... |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: JenEllen Date: 03 Nov 00 - 09:50 PM I sang "Farewell to Tarwaithe" to a pod of killer whales in the Haro Strait one night. The air was perfect for it. Not only did the whales hang around (we could hear them breathing) 'Someone' slapped their tail fin against the water several times when I'd finished. It's great when you are scared shitless and can still make a friend. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: MMario Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:01 PM it would have to be one of two moments...either when I sang an original song to a musician fiend and she refused to believe I had written it.... or watching my father struggle to hold back tears when I sang at my parents 50th anniversary party. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Gypsy Date: 03 Nov 00 - 10:21 PM Having a recorded artist tell a friend how nice it was to hear me play. And that she was looking forward to hearing me again. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Jimmy C Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:25 PM I have had a few, the second time was when I was approached by Edith folk and asked to sing at her workshop at the Mariposa Festival. That made me feel real good. The third was when a song that I wrote was recorded, didn't sell a lot but it was recorded, that made me feel real good. The fourth time was when I was doing a set and the Dubliners came in to the pub, they were over in North America on tour. When I had finished, the great Barney McKenna looked up at me and said " Ok Brother" being a banjo player that made me feel real good. But the very first time was when someone offered to pay me for playing the banjo and singing. That made me feel real, real, real good,! The |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Jimmy C Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:29 PM Sorry for the typo - but that should have been Edith Fowke,a great lady. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Rick Fielding Date: 03 Nov 00 - 11:47 PM A couple come to mind. Having Sandy and Caroline Paton ask me to be a Folk-Legacy Artist. I was almost afraid to tell them that I bought my first Folk-Legacy albums when I was in grade 9! (didn't want to make them feel old! Ha Ha) What an honour (eh Kendall?) Singing a Vietnamese song (in Vietnamese) to 3000 people at their new Year's celebration in Toronto. Enjoyed it tremendously although I was scared shitless! (needless to say I kept my political opinions to myself!) Rick |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Naemanson Date: 04 Nov 00 - 12:10 AM There are many for me but the following three stand out. The day I was invited to join Roll & Go. The night I came off of the stage at a festival in Camden, Maine, and Ann Dodson laid her head on my shoulder and said, "I love to hear you sing!" The time Gordon Bok complimented me on my performance at the Side Door Coffeehouse. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Lyrical Lady Date: 04 Nov 00 - 01:25 AM My proudest moments have been when I've made someone cry through my interpretation When Vancouver's finest musician Hughie Rudd complimented my performance When 'Raffi' asked if he could sing back-up for Me! and THE #1 proudest moment was performing with my 13 year old daughter ... LL |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Ebbie Date: 04 Nov 00 - 02:57 AM I was thrilled when a bluegrass group asked me if they could include in their repertoire a song I wrote called (Gotta Get that Dust)'Off the Wall'. I'll never forget that first time I heard it performed. Ebbie |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Liz the Squeak Date: 04 Nov 00 - 03:15 AM Singing a version of the 23rd psalm at a freind's funeral, from the gallery in church. The congregation were not expecting it, and mine were not the only wet eyes. Of course, I can never sing it again without I sing it for her. Being asked where I got a song from and telling that it was mine is pretty good too, although the first time, it was because a chap wanted to tell me how trite and nasty it was. The second time was you lot. Guess which one makes me feel best! LTS |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 04 Nov 00 - 09:44 AM When I first sang a show for the folks at a local nursing home. A number of nice comments, but best of all was a couple of old ladies who seemed completely out of it, eyes unfocused, head hanging, brought up their heads and we clapping along, having a ball! I was walking around on cloud nine for several days! Dave Oesterreich |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Allan C. Date: 04 Nov 00 - 10:23 AM When my daughter, Kelly, who was about twenty, invited some of her friends to the house and then asked me to play a few tunes for them - that was a great moment. It was especially so when she chose to sing along. Farther back in my history was when three young women asked me if I would help them with a couple of songs for a talent contest. I was flattered that they thought I could be of help. I took on the project and created the arrangements, harmonies, etc.. They won. I was so proud of them that I took them to the Cellar Door's Sunday night hootnanny where they again did a fine job. I am not too sure where to fit this in the list of proudest moments, but certainly one of my finer moments was on June 21st of this year when Bill and I appeared with many fine performers on the Mudcat Radio Show. What a night! Perhaps another would have to be the moment that Max signed the Adventure guitar. It was just too cool! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: JedMarum Date: 04 Nov 00 - 10:36 AM I don't know about proudest, but I can tell you about the most moving ... a couple of weeks ago in Oklahoma we were ending the Yukon Celtic Festival with a bit of an on-stage jam - among Eammons Kitchen and several of the players from the festival headliners. I was asked to play Look Ahead, Tommy, a song I wrote for my Dad. I was honored to be asked to play that song. As we played, it was sounding pretty good and I was again honored to see that all of the other musicians had learned the song. Then I wondered how my Dad would respond if he could have been there and heard his story sung from that stage, on that day. When we came to the chorus I was floored to see nearly the entire audience was singing along. It hit me all at once, and I choked on a word or two ... but got through it just fine, afterall. It is true that a song has a life of its own, and I enjoyed the song as much as anyone listening - in those moments I was not the writer or even the performer, I was simply enjoying the song - but to see that many people all caught up in the story of my Dad and his family (which is similar to the stories of sooo many) was in deed an honor; for me it was a private tribute to the man. It was a gift. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 04 Nov 00 - 01:59 PM My local pub held an air raid shelter theme night a while ago and the landlord asked me to do a turn. It was a raucous night with a lot of community singing and I was unusually nervous as I got up to perform. I usually do comedy numbers at an event like that but because of the theme I sang Noel Coward's "London Pride" unacompanied. I think the crowd, most of whom knew me, sensed my nerves and were pindrop quiet. Several of the older people who had lived through the blitz were blinking back tears. Several people have told me that that song is their abiding memory of a cracking night. I don't really perform in public very often, so to get a reaction like that chuffed me. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Bernard Date: 04 Nov 00 - 02:11 PM The day we found out that John, my piano student who, aged 19, but born with cerebral palsy, had passed his Grade One piano exam... The doctors claimed he hadn't even sufficient co-ordination to play the piano one-fingered, but John's determination showed 'em all!! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: WyoWoman Date: 04 Nov 00 - 02:11 PM Lovely moments described here, folks. Many goosebumps. JenEllen -- that's one you'll never "get over." What a lovely thing. Jed -- I've seen a couple of my plays produced and it's simply amazing to be sitting there seeing something you sweated bullets over for months, being spoken (sung) from the mouths of others and not even noticing for a bit that it's YOUR stuff. And then thinking, "hey, this isn't all that bad ..." Makes all those sweated bullets worthwhile. Greyeyes-- what a story. I'm not familiar with that song. I'll have to look it up. My proudest moments come when I've finished a song I've lost myself in and the song is still lingering in the air and there's not a sound from the audience. And I know we all got to the same place at the same time, which is what I live for. Mmmm. Union. Concord. And also, once when my son was 14 and experimenting with drums and I was singing with the Gonzo All-Star Garage Orchestra and doing picnics, parties and receptions for all our friends, Austin sat in on drums for some rock 'n' roll song I did. Looking back seeing that swell kid playing drums just about made my heart explode. Seeing the look on my daughter's face once when I was performing. That much admiration beaming a mother's way from the face of a teenager can be life-altering. ww |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Mrrzy Date: 04 Nov 00 - 03:58 PM I'm not a professional but... the other day walking with my twins and singing along with a song they'd learned in Kindergarten, meeting up with my X2B for custody transfer. He --who would normally rather DIE than say anything positive to around or about me-- looks at me and says Is your singing getting better? Now, I've been singing more since joining here, and have sung with several mudcatters and asked for, gotten and followed advice, but if I've gotten to the point where the prizest asshole in creation is moved to notice, maybe I'm not just hallucinating that I can sing, now! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 04 Nov 00 - 04:04 PM I haven't tried this before but here goes:
LONDON PRIDE
|
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Ely Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:17 PM 1) When I finally got the the point where I could show up at a fiddle & mandolin gathering with a lap dulcimer and nobody would groan. 2) Any time we're out playing and the older guys who played for dances when square dancing was a bigger deal want to go get their instruments and join us. Once we had a mandolin, a banjo, and four guitars. Oh, well. They always look amazed and very happy to see twentysomethings playing string-band music. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: dick greenhaus Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:49 PM AS I recall, it had something to do with a F Chord on a guitar |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Mark Clark Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:50 PM I guess I've had my share of proud moments but there is one that stands far above the rest. It's the day long ago when my middle-school aged daughter presented me with this poem she'd written for class. Her hand lettered copy still hangs on the wall. - Mark
The Guitarist
He plays and I listen
He makes me laugh
I cry away the hurt
I can laugh at all the good times
The music rolls on
But the blue moon of Kentucky
The happiness never leaves
|
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: WyoWoman Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:55 PM Ok. I'm crying. Between London Pride and the pride of Mark Clark, I am undone. ww |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 04 Nov 00 - 05:57 PM Mark Clark, what age group is middle-school? Those are amazing words. Almost make me regret not having children. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Mark Clark Date: 04 Nov 00 - 06:07 PM Middle-school here in Iowa is the 6th through 8th grades (age 11-13). It turns out I was wrong about the time though. I just asked Jan and she thinks it was written when Kate was a high school freshman, age 14. - Mark |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 04 Nov 00 - 06:07 PM Wyo Woman - undone - best not to go there. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Bagpuss Date: 04 Nov 00 - 06:16 PM My proudest moment was when my grandma asked me to play and sing the music for my granda's funeral. Bagpuss |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Oversoul Date: 04 Nov 00 - 07:27 PM My proudest moment was when I did't resond to this thread. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Oversoul Date: 04 Nov 00 - 07:36 PM ...when I did not respond to this thread. oops! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 04 Nov 00 - 07:41 PM Don't worry, we got the point. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: GUEST,Nancy King Date: 04 Nov 00 - 09:07 PM I feel proud whenever my singing is complimented by people whose taste and opinion I respect--last night, Rita Ferrara and Dottie Hurley. There have been a surprising number of others, and that makes me feel great. But I'm MOST proud, folk-music-wise (and in other ways as well), of my two sons, Ken Schatz and Dan Schatz. They grew up as folk brats and have both turned out to be excellent folk musicians. Ken is half of The NexTradition and a really fine singer. Lots of Mudcatters have met him at Getaways. Dan, who now lives in New Hampshire, is a multi-instrumentalist who sings traditional and modern folk, and also writes really good songs. He was at the 1999 Getaway. Anyhow, they're what I'm proud of! Nancy |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: WyoWoman Date: 04 Nov 00 - 10:01 PM Greyeyes -- I haven't. For SUCH a long time ... ww |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Guy Wolff Date: 04 Nov 00 - 10:07 PM Hi Gang.. I guess for me it was the night I was coming back from out of state and was on the Long Island ferry and heard a radio station give the time to play my first cd in it's entirety. No one had told me that was comming and it really hit me hard.. I guess having Steve Lavere of Robert Johnson fame ask to agent the cd's to the film industry is way up there as well. All the best from Connecticut, Guy |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: DonMeixner Date: 05 Nov 00 - 12:53 AM Opening for Gordon Bok with my friend Mike Waters and have Gordon say thanks after the set. And then having him say it again over coffee in the dining room at 3:00am the next day. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Willie-O Date: 05 Nov 00 - 09:40 AM At a session in Ottawa tenor twelve years ago where I played mostly guitar with some stellar fiddle players, we were just packing up and Pierre Schryer, who is a restrained, quiet sort of fellow, said to me "You play very well." Ya could have knocked me over with a shaved-down toothpick. Can't remember if I returned the compliment out loud, what with the ringing in my ears. That and maybe when my daughter (also 14 now) told me my song The Anna Grace (see Mudcat songbook or my mp3 site) was her favourite lullaby when she was little, and she still makes me play it whenever I perform. this could get to be a very long thread. Maybe pride is a vice not a virtue, but we're really just talking about how playing and sharing music makes us happy...sometimes extremely happy... W-O
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Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Greyeyes Date: 05 Nov 00 - 10:15 AM And makes other people happy too. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Musicman Date: 05 Nov 00 - 12:54 PM .... like everyone else,... where does one start.... Events that stand out..... At work, when I worked as a music therapist...... Coming into work one day, a resident comes over to me (this is a fellow who used to be a performer, just getting back into singing with me, but can't play because of a stroke), he comes over and says " Paul, Fred is not doing well (another resident who was dying), I think we should go and sing some songs for him". as a Performer, long time ago, singing 'The Dutchman' for the first time at a weekend retreat, in the evening song circle..... all is quite while singing, then afterwards a lady coming up to me saying something like how hearing the song the way I sang it moved her to tears (this was a good thing) ... Hanging out with Bill Staines in my house for a day.... (can't wait till next year!) When my CD was finished!! the first one (only one so far)... and... the proudest moment as a musician and father..... watching my daughter (13) dance her solo in her ballet recital dancing to "Remember Me Dancing"... a song written by her Aunt, played by her Uncle and father, danced in memory of her Mother.
musicman |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Peter T. Date: 05 Nov 00 - 12:55 PM Nice thread:"London Pride" is a favourite of my mother's (she was in the WAAF in London during the war, and was bombed several times). Nothing to compare on the music side, I am afraid. When I acted, I once played Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing, and there is very funny soliloquy in it, and one night for some reason I nailed it, and the audience became hysterical with laughter -- it just sort of started and took off. That has never happened to me before or since, but it was the proudest moment I ever had in the theatre -- for about 4 minutes I could do no wrong, and the audience just handed themselves over to me. It also gave me an insight into the sweetness of that power, and its potential dark side that I have never forgotten. yours, Peter T. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: kendall Date: 05 Nov 00 - 01:44 PM Many years ago, Gordon Bok did a performance at Bowdoin College. It was his last gig of a long tour, and he was exhausted. On top of that, he had the worst cold you could imagine. He asked if I would be willing to help him, and, of course I did. After the gig, he said "Man, you saved my ass..I hope you never find out how good you are!" What a boost to the old ego.. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: GUEST,dita Date: 06 Nov 00 - 12:28 PM Don't know about the alltime proudest, but finding some of my songs posted on Mudcat threads in response to queries, by people I don't know, is way up there, believe me. It's just like sitting in a session, when a stranger sings one of your songs, totally unaware that the writer is sitting four chairs away. Pretty good feeling. love, john. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Willie-O Date: 06 Nov 00 - 01:04 PM Another thing I like is when I occasionally show up at a xenophobic country-music scene shindig and feel like the whole crowd is staring at me going "who's the hippie and what's he doing here?"--then get to play some mandolin or something and the whole perceived climate changes, the telepathic crowd-message I'm getting has become "hey, that hippie can play pretty good. Make us proud, son." W-O |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Kim C Date: 06 Nov 00 - 02:00 PM On a couple of occasions complete strangers have thrown their arms around me and thanked me for performing, and little kids have thanked me too. Very little can compare with that. One night I played an original song for a friend, about a novel I had read and loved very much. This friend is friends with the author of said novel, and I had been reluctant to play the song for him. I said, do you think Howard (the author) would like it? My friend could not say anything because he was crying. Now, it's not that I take pride in making people cry, you see, but I was touched that he liked it so well. The greatest, though, is that Mister and I were able to get our tape finished before my father died. I gave him a copy for Fathers Day this year, not knowing he was only going to live for two more months. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: MikeofNorthumbria Date: 06 Nov 00 - 02:07 PM Hi everybody! Just caught up with this thread, and enjoyed all the stories. Note that a key factor in several of them is the unexpectedness of the great moment. A long-anticipated occasion can sometimes be a big let-down, but disappointments make you even more appreciative when something good arrives unheralded. Here's an example. Summer 1963. A trio of scruffy students, busking their way around Cornwall, descend on the small fishing village of Looe. We're asked to leave every pub and coffee bar we enter – before we even get out the instruments. So we go and sit on the sea wall, playing to amuse ourselves while contemplating the ocean. Between tunes, Roger the banjo player whispers: "Look round!". Behind us, there's a small but interested audience. We turn about and start playing for them. The crowd grows, so we pass the hat. Suddenly, a man in a smart suit hurries out of the shiny new hotel overlooking our spot. "Oh no!" we think. "He'll threaten to call the cops unless we go away." Instead he says: "Would you like to come and play in our lounge bar for the rest of the evening?" And a great night follows. Moments like that come all too rarely – but they're worth waiting for. Wassail! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Don Firth Date: 06 Nov 00 - 02:17 PM I don't know if I would own up to it being one of my proudest moments, but -- in a concert I did in 1963, I sang Wade Hemsworth's "The Black Flies." Later, a friend told me that her mother liked all of the songs I did -- except that one. "Why didn't she like it?" I asked. My friend responded, "Mom said it made her feel itchy!" I guess I must have really put the song across. One of the Seattle coffeehouses I sang in regularly in the early Sixties was a place called Pamir House. It was sort of a pit, but a lot of good people sang there and a lot of good music happened there. In 1991, thirty years after the place opened (there is now a parking lot where it used to be), a Pamir House reunion was held at a Seattle pub that frequently features folk music. Singers I hadn't seen for years showed up -- there was lots of hugging, backslapping, catching up, and "whatever happened to old whatzizname?" And many, perhaps most, of the people in the capacity audience had frequented Pamir House way back then. The program for the evening consisted of each of the singers doing a set of three or four songs. It was a long and nostalgic evening. One of the bits I used to do back in the Sixties was Frank Beddoe's "Copper Kettle," immediately followed (no pause, just a brief guitar segue with key change) by a particularly mournful version of "Kentucky Moonshiner" that I learned from Rolf Cahn. I used to get a lot of requests for it back then, so I decided to include it in my set. I didn't verbally introduce it, I just went into it. I got as far as "Get you a copper kettle, Get you a . . . " and the audience burst into applause! People remembered me singing it from thirty years before! It was like the sort of thing that happens when some famous singer launches into one of his big hit songs from years ago. I managed to get through the rest of my set despite the fact that I got pretty choked up. That's really heady stuff! Not to hog the thread, but I feel impelled to recount an experience of music therapist Esther Littledove John, a local native-American woman who plays the flute, composes, and is a powerful advocate of the healing power of music. She and a woman who often accompanies her (guitar/Celtic harp) frequently play in retirement homes, hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes. After their main performance in the dining room, lounge, chapel, or whatever, they usually go up and down the halls and play for people who are bed-ridden or who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend. One the occasion she was telling me about, she and her accompanist stopped outside the room of an old gentleman who sat motionless, staring out of the window. They spoke, but he said nothing, just continued to stare. A passing nurse or attendant said, "Don't waste your time on him. He's in a world of his own. He just sits there and stares out the window. He hasn't responded to anyone or anything in two years." Not to be deterred, they started to play. After several minutes, Esther said she noticed a slight movement. He was patting his foot in rhythm to their music! When they finished the piece a few minutes later, he turned slowly and looked at them. "He was completely toothless," Esther said, "and he smiled the most beatific smile I have ever seen!" "That," she said, "is one of the reasons I do what I do." Don Firth |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Geoff the Duck Date: 06 Nov 00 - 07:07 PM Perfecting "Duelling Banjo and Kazoo" was probably my proudest musical moment, although not as proud as the non-musical moment of first juggling custard. Quack!! GtD. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: ddw Date: 06 Nov 00 - 08:51 PM I think one of my proudest moments came just a couple of weeks ago at a Windsor Folk Society coffeehouse. My partner (Ernie, harmonica) and I usually do blues, but we had dredged up an oldie that we both knew from our childhoods — The Prisoner's Song — to do between two pretty hard-driving, intricate pieces. Simple three-chord thing, one harp solo. I had worked out a guitar solo, but we changed keys at the last minute and I didn't have time to work out anything in the new key. As we ended, I opened my eyes just in time to see one man jump to his feet, applaud like he was trying to break his hand — openly crying. After we left the stage a woman, probably in her late 60s, came up to me and asked if she could give me a hug to thank me for the song and then a woman in her 40s told me her mother (not the same woman) sat through the song with a smile on her face and tears running down her cheeks. Guess we did something right. david |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: death by whisky Date: 06 Nov 00 - 09:05 PM Winning the worst song in the world competition...Pontardawe 84 Shell Shockeds' first self composition... Playing for Wales..Lorient 86 My sons first chord. THE DAY I JAMMED WITH JOHN STEVENS AND JAZZ MADE SENSE |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Art Thieme Date: 06 Nov 00 - 09:58 PM About 1978 I had a gig in Madison, Wisconsin. Afterwards I went over to Club DeWash to hear Peter and Lou Berryman's last set. While sitting at the bar having a beer and a Glenlivet a rather tipsy fellow came up and told me that a song on my first LP had saved his marriage. That night I first realized a bit more consciously than I had before that this music we make can have a larger impact than any of us will ever truly know or realize. Art Thieme |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: John P Date: 07 Nov 00 - 12:03 AM There are so many rewarding things -- My first gig when I was fifteen, scared shitless and proud as could be. Hearing any of our albums for the first time. Having an audience go wild when we finish a song or a gig, cheering, screaming, and stomping on the floor. There's nothing quite like it. Sitting in the basement practicing and getting a complex arrangement of a difficult song right for the first time. Being asked by musicians I admire if they could record a tune of mine. Looking back at 30 years of pretty much non-stop music making. John |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Melani Date: 07 Nov 00 - 01:10 AM Waiting with a crowd to be picked up by a shuttle bus after a day of river rafting, I was playing my penny whistle--a stranger came over and thanked my for playing! It makes a nice change from people throwing things--I guess I must be improving. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: CarolC Date: 07 Nov 00 - 01:59 AM Tonight. Just a little while ago. When I played, all the way through, from beginning to end, Kate Martyn's Waltz on my accordion. (I'm using the term "musician" rather loosely here.) Now ask me about my proudest moment as a sound technician... Carol
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Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Jeremiah McCaw Date: 07 Nov 00 - 04:52 AM Strange .. . I actually seem to have had such moments. A few, in fact. At a Christmas party a few years ago, I started to do Dylan's "Tomorrow is a Long Time". Beverlie Robertson joined in with some sweet harmony and made it very special. Turns out, it's a favourite song she used to perform with a musical partner who had since passed away. She said she just couldn't "not join in". At the Woods last summer, Tom Leighton described my bass palying as "totally competent". That darlin' madman do know how to ego-stroke! At the Woods the previous summer, I joined the song circle one evening. I mentioned that my occasional desire to do an a capella song was considered a sure sign by my friends that my medication needed adjusting. I got the laughter I'd been fishing for and launched into a solo rendition of the Artisan song "What's the Use of Wings?" Not sure what I did right, but I seemed to have nailed the song that time. I got a good round of applause (since there were so many performers at the circle, they were mostly foregoing applause to speed up the process). In there I heard two people go "Wow", and then one voice across the circle say "You're medication's just fine". Took me a long time to come down from that one! Now, lest that all seem like bragging, let me give you the flip side . . . another Christmas party. I'd had the joyful privilege of hearing Trevor Mills play my Glen Reid acoustic bass guitar for a couple of hours. In later conversation he said he was sure he'd met me before, but couldn't remember where. I said, "It was most likely at the Eaglewood Festival about 4 years ago; I performed at the open stage you were managing." "Could be, but I don't recall." "I did a couple of a capella songs." "Sorry. Still don't remember." "One of them was the Artisan song "What's the Use of Wings?" He shook his head, and then I added, "In 3 different keys?" "Ah, NOW I remember!" I have quite a few proud moments, but even more "character-building" experiences! |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Little Neophyte Date: 07 Nov 00 - 06:50 AM Jeremiah, it is so good to see your posting. Well my proudest moment just happened actually. Good friends of mine who live in Haliburton asked me to open up for a bluegrass band they are bringing in for a Folk Society event. It will be the first time performing at something like that and it feels like a true marker of my progress. I feel mighty proud Bonnie |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: Jeri Date: 07 Nov 00 - 07:41 AM I wrote a song I'm going to be doing at NOMAD this weekend. About a week after I'd written it, I was performing with friends at an event for the mentally challenged. It was very informal, and we were doing mostly background music. I'd started to sing the song, and the family of a young man in a wheel chair brought him over to the table we were all sitting at to hear and see better. They might have brought him over no matter what the song or tune was, but the timing got to me, and I almost didn't make it through the song. He was one of the reasons I'd written it. I guess aside from receiving praise from people I respect, I'd have to say it's an incredible feeling for me as a new song leader to start a song and have it come alive when folks hit the chorus with everything they've got. Simple, I know, but it's the level I'm at right now. |
Subject: RE: Your proudest moment as a musician From: KingBrilliant Date: 07 Nov 00 - 08:56 AM I'm really pleased when I get compliments on my singing - and I don't worry about whether or not I respect the complimenter :) I'm a late starter who always wanted to sing but just never had the nerve until a few years ago - so its nice when people like it. Especially late at night on festival camp sites (tho' I expect there are plenty of people who'd rather we shut up - sorry Guildford). My proudest moment was when I sang Lowlands a capella in a large hall at our local charity folk festival. The acoustics of the room were really lovely & I just couldn't resist, and people were singing along with some lovely harmonies. It was not a concert, just a singaround with not many people - but I really love the song & was really moved (don't know about anyone else tho'). A proud moment (as an audience) recently, was finally getting my father to come to a singaround, and hearing him sing to the pubfull - he has a lovely voice & knows plenty of songs, but had not sung in public for about 40 years or so. My grandparents were amateur performers at parties etc, but despite christmas sing-songs the tradition didn't really survive in the family. I'm proud that I can reintroduce it to some extent now, and that the three generations (dad, me & Hammerite) can sing together without embarassment at family occasions. Actually, I'm just proud to be part of the folk thing generally. Kris |
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