We had a great time. I normally don't even think about Old Songs, since it normally happens at the same time as a conference I go to for my work, but it was truly enjoyable. We didn't get much sleep, and for the wrong reasons (try sharing a hotel room with a two year old and you'll understand), but it was wonderful seeing everyone. I even ran into an old college friend.

Going to festivals with very young children is a challenging experience - you don't actually get to stay and enjoy much of the music, except when they're napping. We did love the "Crazy Love" workshop, and the Gospel and even saw a bit of Jez Lowe and Kate Bramley (and I agree about "The Bergen"). We also loved Bruce Hutton's "For Kids and Kin" workshop, although it took awhile for the kids to come over - the performance space was weirdly removed from the craft space. And we caught about half of each night's concert before needing to take Kiran back to the hotel.

The nice thing about Old Songs is that there's music everywhere, so you can just be there and soak in the folkie dust. And when the power went off (on the sunny day, oddly), one voice could still be heard, from halfway across the grounds (seriously) - Elizabeth LaPrelle.

What I enjoyed most was seeing and talking with folks - Jeri, Colleen Cleveland, the Meixners, the LaPrelles, Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangeson, Barbara and Duane, Dick and Susan, and of course, Nick Apollonio and Kristin Tescher, among many others. (The new 6 Nick built for me is unparalleled in tone and balance - truly a major achievement, even for him - he likes it so much he's making a bunch, and at ridiculously affordable prices. I played one song on it in front of anybody and got a request for the luthier's name and phone.)

So it was a great festival - now we're back to work and in need of serious coffee to get through the day.

Dan