Instead of camping in our Van, we stayed in a B&B: Lynn claims it was for my hip ;-) -- I did appreciate not tramping across the park several times a day and having a bathroom handy. We put up at the Scandanavian Inn and enjoyed 3 great breakfastes. It was about 4 blocks from the 'Gathering' and we may very well stay there again.
I went to 2 mandolin and 3 guitar workshops and otherwise attended some Carter Family singing sessions as well as some 'mini-concerts'. The Friday night concert was excellent and the dance was fun (although my hip issue prevents me from square dancing). Oh, and we bought about 8 CDs ;-)
At most of these types of events there is always a performer or something else that is unexpected. One of the suprises for me was to hear Skip Gorman in an intimate setting - he had been at a MBOTMA festival a number of years ago and I just didn't 'connect' -- I was talking to Bob Bovee about this - wondering if it was because I was still transitioning from bluegrass to old-time (or as he put it, coming over from the dark-side);however, I think Bob hit it on the head by saying that to see and hear Skip in a smaller and more intimate setting might have a lot to do with it. Skip is a very sensitve and skilled fiddler and mandolinist and is one of the best 'cowboy' singers around. I especially liked the way he addressed some hackneyed songs, like Streets of Laredo, and invested them with new life (often by singing an original, older version than the one that was in my head).
The last workshop I took was on 'Carter' Style guitar presented by Darren Moore and Jeremy Stevens with the New North Carolina Ramblers. I had seen them perform Carter Family songs the day before and Darren, who knows all but 16 Carter family songs by-heart was playing in the style of Maybelle Carter on a low-tuned guitar using thumb and index finger (with picks). In the workshop I was able to get flatten out one my finger picks so that it kind of worked for the Maybelle scratch (you brush the top strings back and forth). Once I got home I tuned my 'farmers-market' Epiphone 3 frets down (C#,F#,B,E,G#,C#) and have tried it out on a few songs. I also order the same kind of finger-pick that Darren uses which should make the back and forth easier. We'll see what develops.
In years past Lynn and I have been in some 'vocal jams' - last year with Alice Gerrard! This didn't transpire this year but there were a couple of tune jams at the Sons of Norway Hall that we sat in on. I play mandolin for contradances but most of the tunes I know are not in the 'old-time' repertoire. However, I was able to play along tolerably well and Lynn and I 'introduced' a tune that we got from the Dear Old Illinois book: Dog chased a Possum up the White Oak Tree. Later Gail Heil told Lynn that she liked the tune and was gonna learn it.
There was much more, but this will have to do for now.
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