November's Story....

(in other words....traveling with my band, family time, harvesting, music, and enjoying nature's fall show...)

These boys performing in my town.....





Combined with the third blizzard of the season blowing through....





Equals having four awesome people snowed into my house and being serenaded at whim...




What a lucky gal I am!

The Highlight of my Year......


...was meeting Jean Ritchie at this year's Appalachian Festival. She was the Capstone Performer and the day's events ended with a performance by her in the historic Palace Theatre. I was so giddy with excitement that I blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl when I was talking to her. She's MY American Idol.

Born in Viper, KY, Jean Ritchie was really the first person to introduce the mountain dulcimer to the world outside of the Appalachian Mountains. She left Eastern Kentucky in the 1940's to do social work in New York, and she brought her dulcimer and old family songs with her. Many of the songs I sing are her versions, and a lot were actually written by her.

I was so moved during the performance, as were most people. Jean is now in her 80's, and although her voice falters, she still has a pure, unadulterated voice that is unmatched, as she grew up without any of the outside influences that today's traditional musicians have. I will treasure the experience.....

Finding Common Ground....

This past Sunday, I gathered with friends and spent the afternoon getting this 405 acre farm in Western Maryland ready for the first annual Common Ground on Martins Mountain Festival:



My friend and former neighbor, Jon Felton, is the brain child for this music festival. It will bring musicians together from a four state region, and it will also have an environmental-sustainability emphasis that focuses on regional issues.

We all brought hammers and gloves and worked through the afternoon cleaning and preparing the Coffeehouse/Music Barn:


and building the music stage for the Ruckus Tent (the bands playing on this one will live up to the name!)



There will be workshops all weekend on topics from gardening to wild edibles. We also lined up a speaker to do presentations on Mountaintop Removal mining and we will be doing some direct actions from the festival site, such as calling our representatives and petitioning.

It looks to be a fun, all ages festival with great music and comraderie. I'll be playing a set in the Coffeehouse barn and there will be a very eclectic line-up of musicians under the Ruckus Tent including Jon's band 'Soulmobile Eternal', and another local friend's band, 'The Christmas Lights'. A sample of their fun ruckus HERE and HERE.




(as a side note, i posted below about setting my blog to private. those who have contacted me need to send me an e-mail because i have to put in your e-mail address to send you an invitation to read. there is an e-mail link in my profile. i'm still trying to figure out how to do it! thanks.... )

A West Virginia hoe-down and a little nepotism....

We know how to have a good time in Appalachia. I was caught on tape recently flat-footing at the Cd Release party for my friends, The Fox Hunt. If you love traditional music, you'll love their new album. It can be ordered here.

I miss all of you and hope to be posting again soon!

With Love.... Blue

Why Am I Fainting?

Hmm.... Four hours of intensive instruction each day, afternoon workshops, evening concerts, and late night jams. This low-key, homebody, mountainmama isn't used to that kind of schedule.

But the vibrant energy of the Dulcimer Week kept me going. I learned enough to keep me occupied for months and months to come..... which was exactly my goal. My wonderful instructor, Jeff Sebens (below), met us exactly where we were.... and taught in just the right way. He challenged us and took us to the next level on our instruments, but didn't give us so much new information that we became glassy-eyed and overwhelmed.

Of course, it didn't hurt that all our classes were held on the gorgeous Davis & Elkins College campus with its historic buildings and lush greenery. Our class was held in the Victorian Halliehurst building:

And this was our classroom... the parlor of Halliehurst, with its ornate fireplace, high ceilings, beautiful paintings, and old woodwork:

Spring was in full bloom and sights like this greeted me on the footpaths between classes and events:

Another added bonus was that my mom was one of the instructors, and we got to room together. We've never had a whole week together like that.

Good medicine, folks..... good medicine......

Strains from a dulcimer........


....will be flooding and surrounding my senses this week. I am off today to cash in my birthday/Christmas/Mother's day gift, wrapped up in one intensive week-long Dulcimer workshop.

I hope to come home next weekend no longer an 'advanced beginner'.... taking the step to the intermediate level.... woohoo! :) And Fiddlegirl and I, (above on Easter Sunday), will have some new repertoire.

Dulcimer is literally translated 'sweet melody'..... and it's haunting and sweet strains have been echoing through these ancient mountains since the first Scotch, Irish, and English settlers settled here. If you have a moment, stop over and read this beautiful poem from a post that a MySpace friend so kindly dedicated to me. Thank you, Little Pup.

See you next week!

Saturday night and the moon is out

I wanna head on over to the Twist and Shout

Find a two-step Partner and a cajun beat

When it lifts me up, I'm gonna find my feet

Out in the middle of a big dance floor

When I hear that fiddle wanna beg for more..

-Mary Chapin Carpenter

Fiddlegirl asked me to help play for a square dance a couple of weeks ago at the local Senior Center. As there's not a whole lot going on most Saturdays and I enjoy playing (and dancing), I obliged her. I'm telling you, those retirees know how to have a good time.... they had more energy than me! When I would take a break from playing to dance, they wouldn't let me sit any dances out, even when I was exhausted. I'd get grabbed back up on the dance floor.

And since our hubbies wouldn't dance, Fiddlegirl and I waltzed together. I made her be the guy. :) It was a fun night.... a perfect remedy for winter blahs, which I think we all had.

Ani lyrics of the day:

I'm okay

if you get me at a good angle

and you're okay

in that sort of light

and we don't look

like pages from a magazine

but that's all right

that's all right

I crashed your pickup truck

and then I had to drive it back home

I was crying

I was so scared

of what you would do

of what you would say

but you just started laughing

so I started laughing along

saying, it looks a little rough

but it runs okay

it looks a little rough

but it runs good anyway

we get a little further from perfection

each year on the road

I guess that's what they call character

I guess that's just the way it goes

better to be dusty than polished

like some store window mannequin

why don't you touch me where I'm rusty

let me stain your hands

when you're pretty as a picture

they pound down your door

but I've been offered love

in two dimensions before

and I know that it's not all

it's made out to be

let's show them how it's done

let's do it all imperfectly

Good things are meant to share.......

First of all, anyone that puts Bible stories to banjo music and sings them while wearing bird wings, is a kindred soul. :)

If you haven't noticed by my music player, I've had quite the fascination with Sufjan Stevens as of late. My friends have talked about him for years, but I just discovered his music shortly before Christmas, and was very excited to receive "Sufjan under the tree", as I phrased it, on Christmas morning....

So I'll leave you with a little Sufjan magic for the wintry weekend. Enjoy!

(as a side note, I have put up an original song on my Myspace page. The link is in my sidebar. You'll have to scroll down on the player, as it's the last song..... it is just a simple love song to God I wrote as a young 'un.... ) :)

Before there was P.Diddy, there was Uncle John Scruggs.......

Unbeknownst to most people, African-Americans had a huge influence on Appalachian music, including bluegrass and modern day country music. In fact, the banjo, what is considered one of the most traditional Appalachian instruments, was derived by slaves in the southern Appalachians...... they fashioned it from traditional instruments that they remembered from their homeland. The earliest banjos, they made out of gourds.

"Until 1800, the banjo remained essentially a black instrument, although at times there was considerable interaction between whites and blacks in enjoying music and dance—whites usually participating as observers. What brought the instrument to the attention of the nation, however, was a grotesque representation of black culture by white performers in minstrel shows...." ( excerpt from 'A Short History of the Banjo' by Mick Moloney)

Also, traditional flat-foot dancing has African-American roots. Regarding the different settlers in Appalachia:

"The social dancing of the wealthier groups was influenced by the French courts and Playford's English country dances, reflecting the formal and methodical philosophy of the Age of Reason. In contrast, the backwoods people danced lively and boisterous reels, jigs and square dances, brought from their native countries. Into this cultural melting pot were added dance steps copied from the native Indians and the African slaves. The resulting free style step dancing was known as flatfooting, buck dancing or hoofing."

This rich African-American tie to Appalachia has been lost in many ways, but there is somewhat of a revival in it amongst some young, black southerners... including one of my favorite new traditional groups, The Carolina Chocolate Drops. Go here to listen to their music.... I bet you won't be able to keep your feet still. :)

On My Plate.....

Besides the usual after-holidays crashing period, there has been a lot on my plate this past month. A cold virus has been present in our little family of three since before Christmas, and just seems to keep making the rounds. Sir Laughsalot was home sick from school for almost a week, and we had lots of middle of the night awakenings when cough medicine wore off. Now hubby has it, but everyone seems to be on the mend overall.

Also on my plate has been writing letters to the editor, making phone calls, and being a general nuisance about a mining permit that got approved in our county, with another pending. Despite our county government opposing it, along with the mayor and residents of the town it will affect, our state's DEP approved it. The decision is being appealed and two people are in the process of taking the decision to court, so all is not lost yet. This particular mine will be mostly underground, but some strip mining is involved. The reason it is being heavily contested is that it will take place near a water reservoir that services over 900 residents of our county. Residents of this community have already had their water supply disrupted by previous mining activity, and even in underground mining, there is acid mine drainage that runs off and is deposited in our streams. The second permit that is being sought will dump waste directly into the main river that flows through our town. This river is already struggling in water quality and health and has seen an abundance of fish kills in recent years. It seems absurd after last year's drought that a mining company is being allowed to come into our county and pollute and disrupt our water even more.

And lastly (is that a word? ) on my plate has been some music projects. I have been practicing with Fiddlegirl for an upcoming coffeehouse performance and I have also put up a music page on Myspace. The music page will serve as a way to pass along the mountain songs I love so much, and I will also use it to help spread the word about Mountaintop Removal, as it will be a wide open venue for me. There are already some songs up, and I hope to put some live music up from when Fiddlegirl and I perform locally.... You can check it out here.

Whew! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Hearth and fire be yours tonight, and all the dark outside...

Fair the night and kind on you, wherever you may bide.
And I'd be the sun upon your head, the wind about your face...
My love upon the path you tread and upon your wandering, peace.

Song and wine be ours tonight, and all the cold outside....
Peace and warmth be yours tonight, wherever you may bide.
And I'd be the sun upon your head, the wind about your face...
My love upon the path you tread and upon your wandering, peace.

Hearth and fire be ours tonight, and the wind in the birches bare...
O that the wind we hear tonight would find you well and fair.
And I'd be the sun upon your head, the wind about your face...
My love upon the path you tread and upon your wandering, peace.

- Gordon Bok


My parents used to sing this folk song to me.... One of my all-time favorites. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and I dedicate this song to you, dear friends, for the new year!
I probably won't post again until after New Years because Sir Laughsalot is home from school and I want to cherish these warm and cozy days with him.

Warmest wishes for the New Year.........

A Humble Christmas Offering......


Ask and ye shall receive.....
Many of you have asked to hear me sing and play guitar, so
my husband helped me figure out how to record myself through our computer..... so I present to you a traditional Christmas carol , very rudimentaly recorded in our computer room.

http://www.box.net/shared/jqoppmpwkc

Merry Christmas, everyone!

My best audience, ever......

Kindergarteners are the bomb! They have yet to develop an attitude of self-conscienceness, nor do they worry about being *cool*.... they are ALL about having fun! I had the privelege of playing for Sir Laughsalot's little class of 13 at a party.... and I must say, that's the most fun I've had playing in a while.

May we all be as spirited and as carefree as these lil 'uns! :)

( A good article on the importance of music and the arts in school is here)

Morning Has Broken......


"Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word....

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass...

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's re-creation of the new day... "

- Traditional Hymn by Eleanor Farjeon

(photo: morning view from my front porch..... )

If They Play It, I Will Come.......


One of the first things I do when I move to a new town, is seek out fellow old-time musicians. This was a difficult task when we lived in Maryland, as the Appalachian culture wasn't quite thriving there, even though we were still in the Appalachian mountains. But it didn't take long in our new town....

Old-time musicians are usually some of the friendliest and welcoming folks around... and they love to have other people sit in and play with them. Traditional music lends itself to group playing...sitting around and 'jamming'... and the more the merrier.

At the dawning of our second month here, I met my new friend, Fiddlegirl, at the church we've been attending. We immediately hit it off, and she gushed that I was an answer to prayer, as she had wanted to start an 'all-girl' group and had yet to meet many female musicians that loved traditional music. She already plays at local coffee shops and jams, but wanted some others to sit in with her.

We spent some time playing and picking on her porch in preparation for this Friday night jam and we made our big 'debut'. To tell you the truth, she's an answer to my prayers, too, as playing music feeds my soul... but I don't do it regularly. I only tend to play if I have others to play with.

It may not be the Friday Night Jamboree, but I am so glad to have found that the music scene is alive and kicking in our little community..... and will hopefully continue to grow!

A song for my heart this week.....

i don't want to leave here, i don't want to stay..... it feels like pinching to me, either way. and the places i long for the most are the places where i've been...they are calling out to me like a long lost friend.

it's not about losing faith...it's not about trust

it's all about comfortable, when you move so much....

and the place i was wasn't perfect, but i had found a way to live

and it wasn't milk or honey...but then, neither is this.

i've been painting pictures of egypt...leaving out what it lacks

the future feels so hard, and i wanna go back....

but the places that used to fit me, cannot hold the things i've learned

and those roads were closed off to me, while my back was turned....

the past is so tangible...i know it by heart...familiar things are never easy to discard

and i was dying for some freedom...but now i hesitate to go

i am caught between the promise and the things i know

i've been painting pictures of egypt...leaving out what it lacks

the future feels so hard, and i wanna go back.....

but the places that used to fit me, cannot hold the things i've learned

and those roads were closed off to me, while my back was turned

oh...those roads were closed off to me, while my back was turned....

if it comes too quick, i may not appreciate it.... is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

if it comes too quick, i may not recognize it.... is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

- sara groves

you can go here to listen....and there are other beautiful songs by sara here, especially the song 'awakening'

Jammin' at the DQ........

Our local Dairy Queen is the place to be on Tuesday nights. Old country and traditional Appalachian music can be heard floating out the windows and door as you walk up.

Whoever says that America doesn't have any culture just needs to find a small town in Appalachia. On any given night of the week, you are guaranteed to find a group of old-time musicians sitting around picking and singing..... carrying on the traditions and old songs that their mountain ancestors sang hundreds of years ago.

Our town has two gatherings..... One at the Dairy Queen and one on the sidewalk of Main Street every Monday and Friday night. Some musicians play at both, but some refuse to play at the DQ because they play those drinkin' and cheatin' songs....and the good Baptists they are, they just can't participate in that type of debauchery! :)

Dave, the fiddle player, is a little more open-minded. He plays at both. He doesn't talk much and is pretty serious about his fiddle playing. I like to tease him when I play with the group on Main Street, and occasionally I can get him to crack a smile......

Hazel, pictured dancing here, is 89 years old and comes every Tuesday and dances when they play the fast songs. She's been coming to the jams ever since they started. She has lived in this county her entire life and her daughter brings her so she can enjoy her favorite music. Maybe Hazel knows the key to a long, healthy life...... you reckon? Old-time music and dancing?

YAY........I Did It!!!!

Performed at a local Spoken word and Songwriters night, that is...... For those who have been reading a while, in December I posted about going as a listener to a local Songwriters night and how much fun I had and how inspiring it was. I noted that maybe I'd practice and be brave enough to participate the next time. There has been one since and I chickened out, but finally got up the nerve to do it this weekend.

I have been singing and playing music most of my life, as my parents are musicians. I rarely ever perform solo in front of people, though. I've always played with other musicians or sat in on big jam sessions. There's a huge difference between sitting on your porch with the local neighborhood kids for an audience and playing in front of a packed room full of other adults, many of them writers.

L.L. Barkat recently did a post called "Desirous", in which she talked about dreams and desires and how they are starting grounds for creative growth. She responded to a comment I left with the question, "What do you desire?" I had to think about it for a while because so many of my desires and dreams have been buried and put on back burners since becoming a wife and mother. I haven't felt in touch with that creative side of me for a while. Music, though, and the pusuit of it IS a desire in my heart, although I have rarely picked up any of my instruments or written songs since my son was born.

I have always loved playing music, but tend to hoard it. It's a very vulnerable feeling to get up in front of people and pour your heart out in song. I haven't written many songs, but most of the ones I have are filled with strong emotions and memories for me. So I never know how they are going to affect me when I'm singing them.....or how someone else might respond to them. But, that said, I want to grow both as a musician and songwriter......I am very lacking in so many ways......and I tend to grow the most when I am around other musicians and by putting myself out there.

So...... I did it! I almost chickened out again, but my husband and friends urged me on. I was nervous as all get out...and it wasn't my best performance ever...... but I'm glad I braved it. I received lots of encouraging words afterwards and was invited to come to the Writer's Group that hosted the evening. And, maybe...just maybe.....it will be a tad bit easier next time..........

(photo, compliments of my husband.....)