Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Green Food Bluegrass Festival, AKA Cabbage Crik Reunion
July 19 was a day we had been excitedly anticipating. We had been invited to play a new West Michigan music festival, the Saugatuck Green Food Bluegrass Festival. Not only were we glad to play the festival, but we were doubly excited that one of our favorite bands from the 1970's would be reuniting to headline the show. Cabbage Crik was truly our first ever exposure to live bluegrass and, as we like to say, "Life hasn't been the same since."
The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot, and the venue was beautiful. The Felt Mansion was directly behind the stage, and the audience was divided between the sunny soccer field and the shade of the surrounding trees.For our set we were joined on stage by John "Sky" King on guitar and Dan Seabolt on fiddle. We were the only band playing this bluegrass festival without a banjo, but nobody seemed to mind.
We played a mixed set of Ruth's originals including High As A Mountain, Michigan Girl, the yet to be released Daddy Was an Old Man, and some of our favorite covers such as Remember Me (When the Candlelights Are Gleaming) and Crazy.
Sky and Dan played great as always and we all felt really good about our set.
Our longtime dear friends Paul (banjo) and Todd (bass) Kirchner opened up the whole festival with their band Full Cord.
The Green Food Bluegrass Festival turned into a wonderful reunion of West Michigan Bluegrass and Roots musicians and music fans. There was a lot of hugging and backslapping going on all day.
The Green Food theme of the festival was a great success. Several local restaurants that serve up locally grown food impressed the crowd with their great quality and flavor, and a couple of local microbreweries served up their fine locally brewed beers-fabulous.
We truly hope that the Friends of the Felt Mansion raised some money for this local landmark and that there will be a repeat of the festival next year. If there is don't you dare miss it.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Double Gig Day
Saturday we played two shows, both under tents. Our good friends Tom and Dawn Willi actually came to both shows, and these photos are curtesy of Tom. We had been scheduled
for months to play the fundraising carnival at St. Mary's Church in Spring Lake, Mi.
This was our third year in a row to play this fun afternoon event. The parking lot is always full of children, and the parents and grandparents sometimes like to grab a snack and a beverage and come visit us under the tent while we play. Sound was provided once again by John Lutz in his inimitable fashion. There's never a worry in that department when John is on the job.
Just a few days ago we had a call from our friend Lou Lincoln. It seemed that the Michigander Bicycle Tour which is held in his neighborhood had had their entertainment cancel out on them, and though he was not directly involved Lou was helping out trying to find a replacement. We said we'd take the job and would try to make it up to Edmore from Spring Lake (one hour and 22 minutes according to Mapquest) in time to set up and play at 7:00. Then we immediately called our friend Dan Seabolt to see if he'd help us out on fiddle. Dan's a great player and a great guy and we were SOOO glad he could make it.
Dan only lives about 40 minutes from Edmore so he got there first and met us in the parking lot.
The sound system provided was a bit limited, but we had brought some mics and stands and a few other items and managed to make it work. Dan and Max got cozy and shared a mic for fiddle and vocals. Lou and his family showed up to add to the audience of weary cyclists and provided some welcome "liquid refreshment" for the thirsty bass and fiddle players. Ruth stuck to pure Michigan water.
for months to play the fundraising carnival at St. Mary's Church in Spring Lake, Mi.
This was our third year in a row to play this fun afternoon event. The parking lot is always full of children, and the parents and grandparents sometimes like to grab a snack and a beverage and come visit us under the tent while we play. Sound was provided once again by John Lutz in his inimitable fashion. There's never a worry in that department when John is on the job.Just a few days ago we had a call from our friend Lou Lincoln. It seemed that the Michigander Bicycle Tour which is held in his neighborhood had had their entertainment cancel out on them, and though he was not directly involved Lou was helping out trying to find a replacement. We said we'd take the job and would try to make it up to Edmore from Spring Lake (one hour and 22 minutes according to Mapquest) in time to set up and play at 7:00. Then we immediately called our friend Dan Seabolt to see if he'd help us out on fiddle. Dan's a great player and a great guy and we were SOOO glad he could make it.
Dan only lives about 40 minutes from Edmore so he got there first and met us in the parking lot.
The sound system provided was a bit limited, but we had brought some mics and stands and a few other items and managed to make it work. Dan and Max got cozy and shared a mic for fiddle and vocals. Lou and his family showed up to add to the audience of weary cyclists and provided some welcome "liquid refreshment" for the thirsty bass and fiddle players. Ruth stuck to pure Michigan water.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Oscoda Concerts On The Beach
On Thursday, July 9 we played in as beautiful a venue as any anywhere.
With the setting sun on our faces and our backs to calm Lake Huron, we played for about 200 people that came with blankets and bag chairs for a concert on the beach. Was there ever a better setting for "Michigan Girl"?
Oscoda is a pretty little town and the people there treated us great.
We'd love to play again next summer and a lot of the folks there said they'd love to have us.
Special thanks to Bob and Linda for putting us up for the night and taking such good care of us. These pictures were taken by their daughter Kalie.
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