Fremont and Onward

Following my concert at CGS Music in Lincoln, Nebraska, I drove to Logan, Iowa, for another short visit with old friend Bob Raine. On Thursday of this past week I travelled with Bob to Omaha, where I played an afternoon show with Terry Smith. John Cox guested on bass. It was one of Terry's usual high-quality shows. The next day I drove out to Fremont, Nebraska, for another weekend at the Rural Roots festival, which had closed for a number of years but was revived a few years ago by Bob Everhart, at Christensen Fieldhouse in Fremont.

Terry Smith headlined the festival this year, with concerts on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening. As usual I played his acoustic guitar and mandolin leads, and sang some harmony; Jay Kelly played fiddle; Lee Muller played rhythm guitar and sang harmony; Harriette Andersen played bass fiddle on two shows and Sharon Kenaston played bass fiddle on one (with Sharon also singing her wonderful harmony on the Sunday evening show); Rick Andersen played harmonica on two shows; and Eldon Hardekopff played pedal steel on one show. All of the shows were good, and I thought the finale concert, on Sunday evening, was a particularly strong outing for us. I love it when that happens!

I was quite well satisfied with my own three shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I had Jay Kelly with me every show on rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and fiddle; Harriette Andersen on bass fiddle on two shows, and Sharon Kenaston on bass and singing harmony on one show; and peerless drummer Terry Durr on every show. Strong musicians all, their strength and skill enabled me thrice again to play anything and everything I wanted to play. The audiences were very complimentary. As usual, I tried to present music that was not usual but that fit the format of the festival. I did The One Rose, a little-known, gorgeous Jimmie Rodgers piece. I did Spanish Fandango in a double-g dropped d guitar tuning on one of the shows. Jamming with Jay Kelly one of the days I discovered that he did a terrific job on fiddle playing Gershwin's Summertime, so we did it on the Sunday show---to great response. Not exactly country music, but the audience loved it. I did my fast, complicated instrumental All American Ride, springing it on Sharon Kenaston, who with no rehearsal at all did a great job with it on bass fiddle. She is one talented woman!! My new friend Rebecca Truax joined me to do harmony vocals on one of my compositions that she likes, The Band's Playing Waltz Across Texas. I played Cindy Walker's great Sugar Moon on Dobro...just because I usually play it on mandolin and wanted to do something different. I played lots of other things I like to do, and the audiences received everything very warmly indeed. That's extremely rewarding.

Many of the other acts at the festival were people I've known for years, part of our "music circuit family" in the midwest: Bob and Sheila Everhart, of course; Danny and Donna Dee; Jackie Shewey; Frances Hahn; Lee Muller; the Kenaston family; Jim Hughes and the One on the Mountain crew; Tommy Buller and band; the Kramer Sisters; Ervin Pinkhinke; Bob Keim; Marge Lund; Pat Boilesen, and many more. There were also a number of acts not familiar to me, and it was interesting to hear them. There was a dulcimer band. Standouts were members of the Ballyeat performing family who were at the festival on Friday and Saturday.

My young friends Austin and Rebecca Truax were there and acquitted themselves well. They are just getting into festival performing. I'm helping them when I can with their act and music. Just introduced them to the musical number system this weekend! That will give them something to think about and work on. I like these fine young people. I've taken them on as two more of my "adopted" nieces and nephews and nieces, and their lovely kids Shane and Makayla as grand-nephews and nieces.

The jamming at Fremont was very good this week. I spent a lot of time trading tunes with others in the jamming room. Jay Kelly and I kept at it pretty constantly. Others came and went, most of them pretty darned good. An elderly gentleman let me play his Dobro, a very old one that is, I do believe, the very best Dobro I have ever played. Wow!! It had a beautiful deep warm tone!

I enjoyed playing Dobro leads for Ervin Pickhinke, a solid country singer and entertainer. I don't get to do many purely Dobro jobs, so this was a lot of fun.

It has turned cold as hell in the midwest. I was very glad to have both of my sleeping bags as I slept in my van during the festival. I am glad I'll be heading south to Missouri, east to Nashville, and then on south, back home to Florida, after the Bentonsport Festival in Iowa next weekend.

See you here next time!