Davis Pickers and Singers

Subject: RE: Davis Pickers and Singers
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 03:20 AM

Don't think I've heard Dick sing "Fields of Athenry," Mark. He did honor a request and sang "Flash Company, the second time I've heard him sing it in a month. He sings it with his usual flair. I couldn't quite make out the lyrics. It's not in the database, but I see in the forum that it has been recorded by Norma Waterson and June Tabor, and performed by our own Lamarca. Time to post a request thread.
-Joe Offer-

Uh....I'll take that back. It IS in the database, although it's spelled "FLASH COMPANIE." The database even says it was recorded by Holdstock and MacLeod.

Subject: RE: Davis Pickers and Singers
From: Barbara
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 12:26 AM

You'll meet some Oregon ones there too, Mark, like me. And if you don't want to wait until next year, Dick and Carole will be at Rainy Camp Feb 2-4 this year, the Seattle Folklore Society's gathering.
Blessings,
BArbara

Subject: RE: Davis Pickers and Singers
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 12:20 AM

I'm sure glad Dick and Carol Holdstock are still singing and hosting music; they are two of the world's finest people. Dick has a wonderful voice and a wealth of English songs; listening to him I feel I'm back in King George's court, or at least in a pub down the road. (Did he do "Fields of Athenry"?) Hearing Joe rave about Camp Harmony, and now hearing Seed talk about Joe talking about Camp Harmony, has me determined to get back there next year (my last time was in 1991). I hope to meet many of the California Mudcatters then.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: Offer meets Seed
From: Joe Offer
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 07:07 PM

Well, I finally got the chance to meet BSeed, and I wish I'd done it a lot sooner. We had a great time singing together last night. BSeed has a quiet, unpretentious style of banjo picking that I really liked. He got lots of compliments, and not a single dirty look. It was a delight to sing along with him. Too bad he missed me singing "Power In the Blood."
Seed's a darn nice guy, too!
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Davis Pickers and Singers
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 05:06 PM

Last night after work and supper I made a dash up I-80 to Davis, having been invited to participate with the Davis Pickers and Singers (Joe Offer connected me). Dick and Carol Holdstock hosted: I'd met Dick at Quinn's Lighthouse in Oakland and at the Starry Plough in Berkeley, and heard him sing both places: a fine singer and a great host. I got there a bit late, confused by the streetnumbers on Pole Line Drive, and when I got there about 20 participants were strung around the den: I got there just when a woman clockwise of Joe was leading a song, so I missed at least one of his--but next time around he showed off his great songleading skills.

I managed a couple of songs: "Times Are Gettin' Hard" and a Georgia Sea Islands Singers spiritual, "Free Grace," and played banjo or harmonica backup for most of the other songs--and nobody threw anything at me (not even dirty looks).

Davis is a funny town: Its major industry is the University of California campus, once primarily an aggie school, but now a full university, but despite the presence of tens of thousands of students, Davis rolls up the streets soon after sunset. The song session ended right at 10:00, so I could have been home in bed soon after 11:00 (El Cerrito is less than an hour away--but some people felt I was so far away that they offered me a place to stay) but Joe suggested we go for coffee afterwards and I was happy to join him (there had been one brief intermission, so we'd had little chance to express any more than greetings upon our first face-to-face). I followed him into downtown Davis, all four or five square blocks of it. The first place we went had been closed for ten minutes, but we finally found another place where we had coffee (decaf) and pie a-la-mode (three berry), and talked for an hour--I especially enjoyed hearing about FSGW and Camp Harmony and the Muddies Joe had met at them. We spent a little (very little) time talking about our different feelings regarding B.S. threads.

Anyway, Joe, I look forward to seeing a lot more of you--and in the Bay Area as well as the Sacramento Valley (I plan to try to make the Davis sings at least once a month--and maybe I'll gather up the energy to make it all the way to Sacramento soon).

--seed