home again home again, jigitty jig!

Hi folks, just got back from the Bay Area Renaissance Festival in Tampa Bay, FL.

I must say, it really feels great to be back in the hills where I belong instead of the Babylon FL is turning into. Even so, I had a great time performing for the FL crowd, and I had a chance to rub shoulders with some truly great artists.

The photo is from the Faire (taken and sent to me by a patron, Bobby Peel... thanks Bobby!) and shows me playing with my good friend and ace bagpiper Charlie Rafferty. If you're wondering why he's not blowing into his pipes, it's because he's playing the Irish "uilleann" pipes. "Uilleann" means "elbow" in Irish Gaelic and he pumps air into them by means of a bellows under one arm, while the other arm squeezes the bag. At my feet is a harmonium that I set on various drones and pump with my foot (also with a bellows connected to the instrument... up Chicago way they call us "the Bellows Brothers"). I usually will then play flute, guitar or percussion along with the harmonium depending on the arrangement.

Tomorrow, (Sat. April 22nd) I'll be spending Earth Day at the Jacksonville Center in Floyd, VA (540-745-2784) http://www.jacksonvillecenter.org. It's an open house so please stop by. There will be food, and various Earth friendly exhibits. We set the old grain silo up for a musical performance (the acoustics are amazing). I'll be playing around 2 pm and there'll also be old timey music by the Snake Hollow String Band at 4 pm.

Later Sat. evening I'll be playing with Chris Luster at Oddfella's Cantina just down the road in Floyd. Great food, music, and odd and (somewhat) normal people that like that sorta' thing will be there. Hope you're one of 'em!