Busy Weekend

It's been a very busy weekend here at Almost Awake headquarters. Or should I say, It's been a very busy weekend for almost awake. So much so, that we've barely been home at all, and now that we are, Dave is cleaning at a feverish pace while listening to Appalachian Spring by Copeland, and I'm typing this blog entry.

Thursday Dave got his new djembe. He ordered it at Parkway Music from the remo catalog. It's exactly the same model and design as Jules, but now Dave really owns it. That night he gave jules back to our friend Jo(h)n, and, samantha, as she is called, is borrowing Isabel (Dave's first djembe)'s case (overcoat) until Samantha's Case comes in.

On Friday, we were on WAMC's roundtable performance place, being interviewed and playing a few songs. It was fun, as always, and although I was freaking out a little bit at the beginning, i calmed down by the end and all was well. Afterwards, we went to guitar center where I found the guitar i'd been searching for, was forced to obtain it only partially against my will because it was calling to my soul, and played her (Sarah) that night at our show at the Night Sky Cafe.

Night Sky was a very good show with a nice turnout of couples that had heard us that morning on the radio, some people who had seen us before, and a few random wanderers in. We sold five discs and gave one away. I had a small fiasco in which i didn't have a capo in my new guitar case and had to rush over to Moon and River hoping Richard would have a capo...which, to Dave's great surprise and my great relief, he did. I also had to cut the hole in my guitar strap bigger so that it would fit over the massive peg that I plug in through.

Afterwards we saw Mudfunk and Hector on Stilts at the Daily Grind. A blast. Mudfunk will never get old. They are always god-like. Part of "Into the Woods" sounds like the "Beef it's what's for dinner" song, or the bit of Copeland that is playing in my kitchen right now.

Saturday was filled with Emma Willard. We played at their spring fling (sadly forced indoors due to weather) with the bookdrop bees (friends of ours, and very talented musicians, Gemma and Ilan Halfi) and a random student band called the Chupacabra's, or something like that. It was fun though. We played about two hours, The Bookdrop Bees played about two hours and we did six songs together at the end. It was nice to just sing on a few songs and not play guitar, but I felt sort of naked up there. I didn't know what to do with myself without a guitar occupying so much of my energies. Harmonizing with Dave and Gemma was awesome though. Three-part harmonies on March Neverending kicked ass.

Sunday, today, we played at church, as always...and then went up to coffee planet for some breakfast and tea/coffee before we headed over to the Saratoga County Fairgrounds for the Old Iron Springs Festival of Music and Art. Headed up by the McKrells, it was a fundraiser for St. Mary's School, that apparently has been going on for many years. It's a pretty big event, with rows and rows of craft and food vendors, kids games, live radio broadcasts from the fest, and two stages of music. The weather was horrid: Rainy and windy and all this under a roof with no sides and parking in a lot that doubles as a mud-wrestling pit. It turned out that we had a special spot to park right by the stage though, and the sun came out right when we were supposed to play. We even sold a disc, and got to see some great performers like Kate McKrell, My Friend Other and the wierd and ecclectic Ramblin' Jug Stompers. After that we got to hear ourselves on 104.9's Kaleidescope with Jim Barrett.

And now we're home and the fish has been fed.

It's been a weekend.