Varities of Musical Experience (more, cont'd)

I've been posting on my experiences as a singer, instrumentalist and listener (to recorded music). I haven't touch on attending and participating in 'live performances' which in many ways is the whole point of it all. Of course before the late 19th century, the only way to hear music was 'live', but most of us now have spent many more hours listening to recorded music than live.

Other than church or school productions, I don't recall going to many live events as a kid; although, I'm sure I heard my Dad play in a community orchestra once or twice. In high school, I started played in the band and sang in the boys glee club. I know I sang the lead for a choral arrangement of 'Goodbye Liza Jane', but I don't recall how close it is to the old timey version. By the time I was a junior I was performing with my friend Dan as a duo (The It'll Never Duo, a take-off on another folk group we know about: the Uppa-Trio). I remember learning and singing the Hills of Shiloh for our first 'performance' and that it was way-way too long. We added Rick Wolfe on bass and became the Hidden Valley Trio and then the Frontiersman. We did Kingston Trio/Peter,Paul&Mary type of material.

Around 1964 another friend who was into Bob Dylan took me to the 'Scholar' Coffee house in Dinkytown where Dylan got his start. I don't remember much about that at all now. Although we had dances in high school, I don't think that live bands ever played.

In 1965, I started college at Carleton in Northfield, MN (finished there 4 years later, too). This expanded my opportunities to hear live music tremendously. The college sponsored concerts - I remember seeing Doc Watson and other folk musicians as well as Koerner, Ray and Glover. (Their performances were legendary for the amount of alcohol consumed on stage). I also went to classical concerts, including Lynn's Junior and Senior piano recitals. Although I was taking piano lessons and playing guitar and singing and jamming; I didn't do much performing per se; however, I did have have a starring role in the Shakopee Community Theater's production of the Fantaskticks. This was put on the summer between my freshman and sophmore year and I played the Matt (the Boy) and my Dad played Hucklebee (the Boy's father). Among the songs I remember are Try to Remember and Soon It's Gonna Rain, but I'm sure they'll all come back. I had been in a couple of non-musical high school plays, but this was my last appearance on a theatrical stage.

In the summer of 1967 (summer of love, you know), I was working a factory job in Shakopee, but spent a most of my free time at the Scholar Coffee House. This was where Dylan got his start, but by 1967 it had moved from Dinkytown to the West Bank (it's now a parking lot next to Theater in the Round). I listened to performances by Dave Ray, Leo Kottke and Lazy Bill Lucas.

I would also bring my guitars (Sunday afternoons?) and I remember doing some sort of open stage. I was pretty self-conscious about my voice at the time and thought it sound 'adolescent' or some such. (I guess I wanted to sound like a world-weary blues singer at the time).

After college, Lynn and I taught high school for one year in Broadus, Montana. Lynn was the band director so our live music was limited to her concerts and probably other school events. I remember doing a folk song at a school event.

The next year we moved back to Minnesota and lived in Minneapolis in a house with former Carleton people. One of them was my junior year roomate. A lot of us were working at the Black Forest Inn (the house was a block away). Mike Frehling a Carleton classmate (and then a housemat) played guitar, and he and I learned enough common repertoire to play at a few nursing homes. There were also jams with folks who worked at or were customers at the Black Forest, but I didn't do much performing. As mentioned, in the mid 70's I started focusing on classical guitar: Lynn was playing in a Viol Consort (Viola da Gamba) at the time and she I worked out some pieces with Viola da Gamba and guitar. The event we got paid for was Aldo Moroni's Wedding in Long Lake.