storms that approached but never quite got close enough to make me worry about getting blasted through the microphone – we had a great crowd and a good time, and by the time we got off stage we weren’t TOO exhausted to break everything down and head over to New Deal to do it all again… but you know… once again… with FEELING.

This past Sunday my featured artist was Esther Haynes. She was really marvelous. I'd had a pretty rough day and I get the impression the Universe had had a rough day too - and she really was the perfect medicine. If her music had been imported directly to everyone's ears right at that moment, once the populace of planet Earth was done freaking out about the strangeness of the phenomenon of the conveyance it would have done everyone a LOT of good.

Last night’s show at the New Deal Café was bad ass.  Especially the second half – even though at that point my hands were feeling it (I think Hands, ironically, was about the sloppiest I’ve ever played it) just from all the heat and the humidity and having played for about five hours at that point.  It was great to share it with Beggar’s Ride, and really wonderful to share the New Deal as a whole with them.  They’d never been there (I’ve got to remember that just because it’s been a staple in the local scene for over a decade doesn’t mean EVERYONE’S played there) and it looks like that’s going to be a really dazzling match.

I also think I FINALLY have really gotten the hang of the New Deal’s sound system.  It’ll probably change by the time we get back there though.  It’s their way.

I haven't been to Williamsport, PA since I was a child. It was where my father's mother Lived (and I believe where he grew up) - I have a lot of fond memories of her house, of coming to visit and Loving the area. I remember exploring her magical attic and the Bat Encounter... it wasn't till years later that I knew about the familial strife that came with each of these visits. If my father was alive today he'd have been SHOCKED that we got excellent sushi in Williamsport!

July 19th, 2012.
Aaaand we’re OFF!  As is typical after almost a decade of touring, the stress of packing compared to the pack itself is completely anticlimactic.  We’re trying to compress a bit as we’re camping with four people, in addition to having to bring a sound system an dall our usual accoutrements.  Heather, Kristen and I are packed into the Saturn with a 4 human tent, the small Behringer rig (+ monitor now!), all of our gear and clothes and stuff for the next 10 days.  Rowan will meet us at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival next week with a couple of our less-needed camping bits, himself and all his percussion pieces and a guitar to boot.