Summer Recap

In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya, "Let me explain... No. There is too much: let me sum up." This was the summer where being a part of songwriting contests introduced me to some of the best songwriters and nicest people I've ever met. I can't tell about what happened without mentioning a lot of people. So at the risk of sounding like I'm just dropping names...

Summer sort of started in March, at the Suwannee Springfest in Live Oak Florida. I wandered around in a travel-induced haze, wondering if the flowers were always in bloom there and what that really awesome, pungent, swampy smell was. I got to meet Marc Douglas Berardo and Nick Annis, reconnect with Michael Troy, hear Jack Williams for the first time. I found a diamond ring on a couch in the dark back corner of the music hall. I won the songwriting contest.

May started with Wildflower! in Richardson, TX: arrive in Dallas 12 hours before my luggage, got to know Marc, met Karen Mal, reconnected with Erik Balkey. I was one of the three winners of the contest. Stayed up til way way too late swapping song with Marc, who can, I swear to God, play every James Taylor song ever written. That may not mean much to you, but when a guy pulls out some deep album cuts from "Gorilla" and plays 'em like he means it. Well. That's just enough for me. Got to see Abi Tapia again - an old buddy from Portland who has been making good in Austin for the last few years - she was one of last years winners. Got to listen to Ruthie Foster while baking in the Dallas sun and bought myself a real life straw cowboy hat to prepare for the saga that would be...

Kerrville. You've heard the hype, it's all true. It's like summer camp for songwriters. It was like high school all over again, only good. I discovered that I am not meant to wear straw cowboy hats. I discovered I can live on 3 hours of sleep a night for 10 days. I met and re-met the most impressive array of songwriters ever. Amy Speace, Alastair Moock, Kendall James... the list goes on and on. Got to talk tunings and swap Bruce Cockburn songs with Tom Prasada-Rao. Got to play in the winners showcase with Karen Mal on mandolin. Got to hang out with Pat Pattison at the river. Ate Tai in Austin with Diana Jones and Antje Duvekot. Got to podcast with my old buddy Jeff Tveraas. Went home with a little piece of paper that said I am officially a Kerrville New Folk Winner. Time to set some new goals...

Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest: as I recall, this is when the contests started to feel weirdly surreal. I was a finalist in this two years ago and got to watch from the sidelines as Michael Troy took it all home. I'll be playing at the Boston Folk Festival on Sunday the 17th of September as part of the prize for winning this one. Highlights were pal-ing around with Tena Moyer, talking to Pete and Maura Kennedy, and watching Digney Fignus perform his song in a chef costume with a thick, cajun accent. Great to meet Chuck McCabe.

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival: mud. Fires, too - that weird truck/propane tank fire in the middle of the night on Saturday. The Big Orange Tarp. Swapping songs with Amy Speace and Ellis in the back of the volunteer mess hall, passing Ellis' 12-fret Collings around while our cases collected mud. That Saturday song circle at the BOT with Joe Crookston, Brad Yoder and Iain Campbell-Smith that went until 7am. Iain is everywhere now, but I don't think his songs

Great Waters Folk Festival: VIP boat rides on the lake with Antje, Anais Mitchell, Gretchen Witt and the winner of the songwriting contest, Robby Hecht.

I know I've left a lot of folks out of this, and I'm sorry to them and to you. There's an awful lot of great music being made. It's exciting to be a part of it, and I can't wait for the next festival!

Nat Hussey's Island Time

Up this morning with Eleanor, listening to a friend of mine on the "radio," Nat Hussey. I've got his whole discography on shuffle. Thinking of Nat because he's on his way out to Matinicus Island -- a little bit of rock and soil 20 miles off the coast of Maine. Lawyer, songwriter, father -- on his way out with his wife and 3 kids to take a stab at a new kind of living. Maybe by now he's got a job as a stern man in a lobster boat -- that was one of his options, and he had a boat lined up. He stopped by a couple weeks ago to drop off a banjo on a kind of long-term loan. "Just don't sell it or give it away without asking."

Nat is just about my favorite songwriter anywhere. When I think of Nat's songs, I think of splitting wood. You can go at it with a little wedge and a hammer, tonking away at a piece over and over -- knocking the wood off the block and re-setting it up over and over until you've got it split right down the middle. Nat's more about heft and swing -- he's one of those guys who sends the two halves flying off the block and has a new piece of wood up there before they've stopped rolling. The wood splits along the grain and tells a story that's half about the tree and half about the axe. That's Nat's songwriting. I'm looking forward to another cord of songs from Matinicus.

George Washington Bridge by Moonlight

News news news... new baby, new album, lots of travel... Did I mention new baby? So no time and/or energy for bloggings, precious (gollum, gollum), but I had to say thanks to everyone who made it out to the Hillside cafe last night. It was a turning point for me, knowing I can -- under extreme circumstances -- hit the road at 10 in the morning, play a show in or around NYC that evening and -- here comes the crazy part -- jump back in my car, armed only with Sobe Energy Drink (2 bottles: highly recommended for late-night travel) and make the sojourn home.

Now of course, my schedule is flipped so it's 1:00 and I just came up from the studio where I'm laying some guitar tracks over the basic rhythm section work I did with Josh Caron and Sam Sherry last weekend. Drums, stand-up bass and guitar. And I have borrowed a beauty of a guitar for recording -- Tom Williamson, a long-time friend and seriously accomplished luthier -- has graciously let me nab a beautiful koa OM cutaway of his own creation. You just point microphones at it and roll -- it's amazing. And very much geared toward fingerstyle playing.