I just got back from three nonstop days and evenings with too little sleep and too little voice left after sharing of my stories and songs. Other than catching sight of Stewart at my stage show on Saturday, Genie is the only other confirmed Mudcat sighting that I sawwwwed whilst there. She was volunteering in the Hospitaltality Room loading soft drinks into the coolers.

My musical saw workshop, though 30 minutes shorter than in previous years, was allotted a much more accommodating location this year, in the Lopez Room. It was another capacity audience of folks all wanting to learn the secrets of this most unusual folk art, the art of flexing razor sharp spring steel betwixt your knees and walking away with all your appendages still intact. With my workshop 'cut' short, I didn't have time to include the question and answer period. Instead, I launched right into the Hands On (or if things don't go well) the Hands Off part of my presentation.

This year I offered all of the attendees the next best thing to the Q&A part, a free copy of my new publication, How To Play A Saw In 5 Minutes Or Less. Everyone was eager to to get a copy of my How-To booklet. In it, I organized seven pages of tips and instruction, everything that I ususally present during my workshops. Unfortunately, due to my underestimating the overwhelming attendance to this year's event, I didn't have enough to go around.

About 100 folks showed up. It was great to see such enthusiasm and interest in saw playing. The age range was quite wide. Kids that looked as though they were perhaps in elementary school were there accompanied by parents and folks old enough to be grandparents attended. Previous students came by to show me their progress and a couple of folks wanted private lessons.

Most of the rest of my time at Folklife this year was spent either sawing along with friends during their sets or trying to coax my voice into functioning well enough to spend some time busking on the grounds with my handtool and my homemade Nobro resophonic. I also scheduled several sets at the acoustic stage in the Alki Room.

It was surprising to find that there was a mic available to use at that stage this year. It fed the sound throughout the room via a series of permanently mounted speakers. I wish that I would have checked to see that it was working the last time I played a set there. DOH! My tired vocals could have used the help.

Thanks to all who came