Barberville (Spring) 2010

Tucked away just east of central Florida's Ocala National Forest is Barberville, Florida---one of those "real Florida" towns usually missed by tourists from all over the world who visit the Sunshine State. In Barberville is the Barberville Pioneer Settlement, a "living history" village depicting the Florida of an earlier age. At the Settlement, twice a year, once in spring (April) and once in autumn (November), Joe and Katie Waller produce big music festivals that I especially enjoy playing. They are always highlights of my touring year.

Just last weekend I played the 2010 spring event. I don't know how in the world I could have had more fun. With five stages of music perking away all day long both Saturday and Sunday, and a dance stage as well; workshops and mentored public jam sessions; a performer campground full of music friends old and new and performer jam sessions lasting until the wee hours; a large craft show; an old car show; and all located only a few hours from my home on the Gulf Coast of Florida, this was a festival I dearly LOVED, my friends!! These Barberville festivals are VERY cool events. Not only are they are attractive and well-organized (thanks, Joe and Katie); there is a down-home, warm and friendly, deep-south ambience in them that is a great joy to experience. I am a Florida person, of course, so naturally they feel like "home" to me.

Here's the festival: http://www.folkfiddle.com/barber.htm

I rolled into the performer campground at about 7 PM Friday evening, and by the time I got there performer jam sessions were already underway. Pulled up and parked next to the campsite of Jay Wood, one of my oldest musical cohorts in Florida, and his wife Valinda McQueen (who perform as Starbird). Connected a few minutes later with a whole crowd of music friends all on the festival bill, including Joe and Katie Waller, the Amundsen family, Jim and Melanie Robertson, and many, many more. Fifteen minutes after I arrived onsite I was playing music in a big jam session. Kept at the music, pretty much, all weekend! One of the first pieces I played on arrival was the great Cindy Walker western swing standard, Sugar Moon. A little girl named Fiona, maybe ten or twelve years old, played it so well on pennywhistle I had her guest on one of my shows Sunday and we did it then! Fiona gets a scholarship to my Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp, second weekend of November annually.

Here's the camp: http://www.cgmusicman.com/camp/index.html

If you use the link above, you may be interested to know that the gorgeous young woman playing fiddle on the opening page is sixteen-year-old Gailanne Amundsen, of the aforementioned Amundsen family. Gailanne assists at the camp and has been the camp "poster girl" for years. Beauty, as well as talent, definitely runs in that family! Gailanne's mother, Scarlett, is equally beautiful, as is Gailanne's little sister Mattie, about four or five years old. Oh, all right, dad Roger Amundsen and son Roger Jr. look okay too. I tend to notice the pretty ladies though...

My shows at Barberville were lots of fun. My good and faithful Florida musicians Carl Wade (guitar) and Rick Kennedy (bass fiddle) accompanied me in all of them. Jay Wood guested on one show. Jay is a terrific guitar player (and singer, and songwriter). John Allison guested on a couple of shows, playing mostly mandolin---although he is also a terrific guitarist, and in fact teaches flatpick guitar classes at the Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp. I did lots of my usual wide range of music.

Jacksonville musician Ron Johnson says he thinks every festival has a particular song that stands out as best of the festival, and in his opinion my Play Something We All Know from my new CD Roll On was the one on this Barberville weekend. It was certainly very well received. I consider Ron's comment a great compliment indeed, because Ron Johnson is himself a very fine songwriter who has written a GREAT "Florida" song called Pigs In My Garden---commenting on the tendency of far too many of the enormous number of visitors who come to Florida every year, and corporate polluters as well, to trash our beautiful state. Tis true, sadly. Ron comments on that in his song in a very witty way.

Here are the lyrics:

PIGS IN MY GARDEN (AGAIN)
Copyright (c) By Ron Johnson. All Rights Reserved.
Performance and/or Reproduction in Any Form by Permission of Author Only

I used to have a beautiful garden
A wonder of floral delight.
But my neighbor had some pigs and one day they rooted in,
And my garden was destroyed overnight.

PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
With their tails and their snouts and their...
Who let the hawgs out?!
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN!

I was walking along the sand with my baby,
We were taking in some Florida Sunshine,
But the cigarette butts and the cans
And the trash along the sand
Made us both wanna break down and cry.

PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
With their tails and their snouts and their...
Who let the hawgs out?!
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN!

Now, we don't mind if you come 'round here and you take a look around,
Please don't leave your garbage on our sacred ground!

Instrumental solo (verse)

Spoken over solo: Whatta ham...I've been bacon to play...
Don't wanna be a hawg about it...sow we change keys?!

Now, the St. Johns River is a grand ol' river,
But they're pouring' poison in it, sad to say,
To be specific its, Georgia Pacific!
With their 30 million gallons everyday!

PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN;
With their tails and their snouts and their...
Who let the hawgs out?!
PIGS IN MY GARDEN AGAIN!

Now, I think that's a good one!!

New songs... I did my new one, I May Be Old (and Bald, But I'm Not Dead) , on a show Saturday, because the pretty lady who inspired it was there. I didn't think she'd bring her mother along, but she did---and luckily, mom liked the song as well. It's harmless, I think: just a comment on how although the body ages, most older men don't lose the capacity to admire good looking women.

If you'd like to look at lyrics for some of my songs (but not that new one yet), here they are:

http://www.cgmusicman.com/lyricspage.htm

Let's see... what else?? Oh, yeah---in one of my Sunday shows Carl Wade fell off the stage when a leg of his chair went over the edge. Carl is no spring chicken, but he rolled into the fall smoothly enough and wasn't hurt. Whew!! Little Fiona (the pennywhistle kid) was on the stage with us when that happened. Her eyes got very big as she watched Carl pitch over the edge...

I enjoyed teaching a workshop on music theory at the festival. Had numerous youngsters in the crowd, as well as older folks. It makes me feel good to explain some of the "nuts and bolts" of making music. A number of talented people make music strictly by instinct, without being aware of all there is to know about the craft of music making or of all the doors that are opened by having some knowledge of how music is put together. Joe and Katie Waller make sure to include much worthwhile workshop material in their events. I think that's commendable and important. Only a few other festivals I play have real workshops. The NTCMA festival in Iowa does; so does the Florida Folk Festival, and the Phoenix Folk Festival, and the Will McLean Festival.

Another fun thing I did at Barberville was to host an hour of the mentored jam sessions. It is very rewarding to me to do this---to help people, many of them new to music, to participate, to urge them on and support them as they try their wings leading numbers and playing with others, which many rarely get to do. Round a circle we go, each person in turn leading, each person supporting others when it is not his/her turn to lead. Makes for some big smiles!! More experienced musicians are invited to participate too, and some do. I wish more of the festivals I play would have hosted jam sessions.

A highlight of the festival for me was playing a couple of sets with my old friend, flatpicking guitar wizard Jesse Sam Owens of Daytona. Jesse Sam has not been doing much performing lately, having lost his beloved adult son Thad in a tragic accident in Africa last year. It was very, very good to have Jesse Sam back, and I got a big kick out of playing some fancy flatpicking numbers with him. Hmmm... Red Haired Boy, Arkansas Traveller, Billy in the Low Ground, don't remember what all else. We nailed 'em again, Jesse Sam! I don't get to do a whole lot of fancy flatpicking anymore, so it was a special hoot!! Also enjoyed hearing and accompanying some of Jesse Sam's poetic, meaningful original songs. Playing fiddle with us was our lovely and talented friend Ellie Gans.

In other news... I'm happy to report that I have a solid summer/fall tour booked this year. Much of it is in the midwest--so midwestern readers, have a look at the schedule on my website. I hope to see all of you midwestern friends and supporters somewhere this summer. Be sure to let me know you are followers of the blog!! I'm also producing a CD for Austin Truax and group, Silvertip, of Nebraska, this summer. Just this week I've firmed up my trip to the west coast (Seattle and Washington state area) for September with a number of good bookings--soon to appear on the website schedule. I hope to see all of you west coast friends and supporters out there somewhere in September!

Enough for now. See you next time!!