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Looper's Delight
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Well another year and another great festival is
in the books. In spite of the late start on organizing and the economic woes
that trickled down in various ways to us, I thought that this was as strong a
year as ever. I was lucky this year to be able to catch most everyone and I was
impressed by both new artists and artists that have been here before. Musical
evolution before my very eyes, that’s what I’m talking about!
I was lucky that the gear gods were smiling down on me this year and with
the exception of 4 o5 false starts to begin a tune Friday night, I had no gear
snafus. The Friday night set with Rick was very enjoyable with a highlight
being Kevin “Kalimba man” Curtis joining us for some vocalizing. It
was great to play with Rick, who played killer hand drums and ghatam, and it
was the first time I’ve performed an entire set using just lap steel
guitars. This was very gratifying as it is the instrument that I am having the
most enjoyment playing these days. I also had my Sunday night solo spot
switched to Saturday evening to accommodate a scheduling conflict which in
hindsight was a lucky break for me, as I wasn’t too tired from the weekend
to stay focused. As great as the Music was, it was the interaction with new and
old friends that makes this Festival so worthwhile. Getting to know new friends
like Roberto Z, Luis A, James B, Kevin C, Jim G and Darrel S and also getting
to spend time with old friends like Hidecki “Mandoman” , and
Ryusei, who stayed with us during the festival was beyond great. Many thanks to
Krispen H, Ted K, Chris C, Rodent, Jeff Sloan, Mike J, Gretchen M, Bob B, and all
of the artists, you know who you are, and lastly but not leastly thanks to
Rick, who puts a ceaseless amount of time and energy in to making this happen,
and manages to bring together an amazingly diverse group of artists to play,
hang out, swap war stories and information, and generally have a blast doing
so. I was marveling today that, where else can one go and be able to see, such
diversity and creativity in music? We had vocalists, an enormous variety
of guitar styles, a Theremin player, turntablists and beat boxers, lap top
users, sound collage artists, a guy playing a shovel, singer/songwriters.
Bass players of 4 5 and 6 strings, percussionists, keyboard and
synthesizer players, a Kalimba player, an electric mandolin player, a mad
scientist or two, and multi instrumentalists galore. Thanks again to all involved, it was fantastic.. Bill |