June was a Blast!

All of June was so much fun, but there were a couple of days that I just need to mention.

Jim and I have been playing music for the Novi (Michigan) Heritage Festival for several years. (We love when Tommy goes, too, but he's busy at Blue Lake right now.) It is so nice. The setting is at the beautiful MSU Tollgate Farm. (Check out their website for other free public events.) June 16 had wonderful weather -- a lot too warm for Jim, but most of the presenters and guests enjoyed the nice, dry day. To play music all day in the middle of the well-tended gardens is really a treat. Everyone is happy and it's a joy to share our music and knowledge with them, as they are eager to ask questions and learn about our interest.

Jim and Loretta at the Novi Heritage Festival

 There are also lots of other events going on within the main event.  There are civil war (re-enactor) recruiters, hay rides, garden walks (beautiful), honey and vegetable sales, and FREE hot dogs and ice cream!

Glen, Brad, Loretta, Judi, and Jim at Turkeyville

We played in Novi from 10-3 and headed right out to make it to Marshall, Michigan, to have more fun with our friends, Judi and Glen Morningstar and Brad Battey. This event was a civil war ball at the Turkeyville Mansion. Quite a storm went through, but we we dry under the big tent. All had a wonderful time, both the band and the dancers, from the Grand March through the last waltz.

Brad, Loretta, Judy on Bass, and Jim

You can see in the photos that it was bright and sunny following the storm. Brad kept us apprised of the storm's arrival with his new app that would tell us exactly how long before those drops would hit.

What a great day that was, and to wrap June up with a bang, we went to our friends', the Kaiser's, music party. Lot of fun, food, visiting, and of course, MUSIC!! A great time was had by all, as always.

At The Pike Room

While the music we play and what we listen to is primarily string band dance music, we like to sample other kinds of music. Frequently, we pick up some flavors from different types of tunes we hear and incorporate them into our music.

Dark Chrysalis

Something new. Something different. On June 8, we were at the Pike Room in The Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac. Dark Chrysalis was opening for Dengue Fever.  . I have no idea what kind of band Dark Chrysalis is. Phreddy Wischusen and Jennifer Shea were the performers. It was interesting, and definitely modern, by my standards. Jennifer knelt on the floor for the performance, while Phreddy sat on a low stool.  I couldn't understand most of what was being sung -- just because it was so loud and distorted. We weren't sure whether this was intentional at the time. I met Jennifer backstage afterward. She was telling me that they couldn't do a decent sound check and couldn't tell at all what they sounded like to the audience. (I felt bad for them. Jennifer was very nice. She said they've only been performing together since January, and it's difficult for her with three small children at home.) They just had a lot of noise bouncing around off the walls and couldn't tell what to do one way or the other. Jim and I agreed that we probably would have liked their music more, if it hadn't been so distorted.

Zac and the Dengue Fever tour bus before the show

Showing their energy!!

Dengue Fever plays Cambodian Surf Rock. They describe themselves as being 100% Cambodian and 100% Indie Rock. That's really about all I know about them. Jim, however, has known about them for years. I can say, though, that they were just fantastic musicians and performers. What a high-energy group!! If you ever get an opportunity to see them, DO IT! I didn't know any of the songs and couldn't sing along with any, except for the little bit where they had audience participation and told us the one or two syllable things to say, but it really didn't matter. It was really the energy more than the words. But I couldn't believe the fantastic, never-faltering voice of the front singer, Chhom Nimol. I have never heard anyone sing like her before. It was wonderful.

Jim with a few of the Dengue Fever folks

And not only were these folks wonderful artists on stage, putting on a fantastic show, they were very nice off stage. They took as much time as everyone wanted in the audience for photo opps and just to chat, even though they knew they had to drive all night to get to Wisconsin for their next performance. This is one way to win fans and keep them.

Listen in a bit at their website:    Dengue Fever Website

Dengue Fever plus one fan that just wanted to be in everyone's photos

The Pied Fiddler

That would be Jim McKinney. He was initially asked to play Henry Ford in a short theatrical performance at "The Henry" (which was previously "The Ritz") in Dearborn. As time went on, the plan changed. There was still a short theatrical performance, but that was with Clara Ford and her son, Edsel. Jim played fiddle for the event, but prior to Clara and Edsel.

Jim McKinney at "The Henry"

  This was a HUGE fundraiser dinner/dance held May 19 for the Henry Ford Estate, located on the U-M Dearborn campus. If we still had the society pages in the newspapers as we used to, this event would definitely have been included. Just about everybody who's anybody was in attendance, and can you imagine the designer dresses??

Jim getting wired for sound

Waiting, waiting . . .

When we entered, we were instructed to enter through the back -- well, the normal musicians' entrance, right? As Jim said later, and very correctly, we were led through a labyrinth of halls and would not have easily found our way back. When we got through to the main ballroom, the sound professionals wired Jim and his violin up for wireless functioning. Then we were escorted once again through a maze of people, including an in-progress fancy cocktail party, and hallways to a small room filled with chairs and tables where Jim was to wait until 7:28pm!! How exact can they get with this? They really did have everything timed out to the minute.

Although I probably was supposed to also wait in the room, I kept wandering out to just see what was going on and who I might see. The room opened onto a small hallway, about ten feet long and maybe six feet wide. This was the only way in to the room where the cocktail party was being held prior to the dinner. There was a pianist at the grand piano accompanying a jazz vocalist.

Jim waiting for his queue in the small hallway

Finally, the time came for Jim to come out of the little waiting room. He stepped into the room where the guests were enjoying their hors douvres. On queue, he turned back toward me and began to play. (I snapped a photo of Jim and Edsel Ford at this point. Unfortunately, Mr. Ford wasn't turned toward me at the time, nor was he in the same room as Jim ....)

Jim seemed to be walking very fast. I still managed to stay a few steps ahead of him, but I wanted to tell him to slow down, that the guests following would not be able to keep up. The organizers had been so precise about everything that I figured they must be directing Jim to walk this quickly. (I found out later that Jim was told to walk even faster!!)

Three People Following

Glancing back over my shoulder, I REALLY wanted Jim to slow down. I fell back to where he was and whispered that there were three people following him! He didn't know! Neither of us knew that all of the other guests were far behind.

Jim on the ballroom stage

Well, we got to the ballroom, and it was already filled with hundreds of people! There must have been over 1,000 in total. Jim walked up to the stage and continued playing, going through many of the tunes in the "Good Morning" series. It was wonderful. I was so proud of Jim. And it was especially satisfying that someone thought to include this.

Performing tunes from "Good Morning"

Generally, people don't know, or just don't mention the huge passion that Henry Ford had for music, dance, and the violin. I think that this is so minor to all of the other interests he had -- at least in most people's minds. It was a big part of his life and in fact, was an enhancement to his personal, as well as professional life. He insisted on proper manners and respect and used dancing and music to teach others the importance of these. He even required Ford Motor Company employees to attend contra dances, and had an orchestra on staff specifically to provide music for these events.

Practice would be fun if . . .

. . . I just didn't have to tune my dulcimer before I play music with other people.  But, this awful task has now only been taking me about 20 minutes, instead of 45 minutes to an hour. When I first got my Snark tuner, I have to admit that I only got it because they just seemed so new and different than my old rectangular tuners. Or maybe those bright colors attracted me!

Regardless. Now that I have it (and only about $12 from Elderly), tuning is practically a breeze. I still wish I didn't have to do it, but it isn't nearly the chore it was. I couldn't figure out why it was so much faster. I asked Renzo. (He had one long before I did.) He figures it's the reaction time and I suppose I have to agree with him. It is right there when you pluck the string.

So last night when we had band practice, I don't think I started tuning until about 6:40 for 7:00 practice, and I didn't have to worry about finishing. And Renzo didn't even come over and check to see if I was in tune, either. He loves to do that. Before we play for a dance, he goes up to my dulcimer and checks it to be sure I tuned. Does he actually think that I would show up to play for any event without tuning?? Come on.

The Rossford Dance was Fantastic!

The Rossford Dance last Saturday was fantastic. They're done for the summer now, but when they get started again in the fall, everyone should check this one out.

We were very tight on time, as we had to get sound inside, set up and get tuned, and we had probably had less than an hour to do all of that. (We need to remember to ask to have someone there early for us to get in next time.) AND, the gym dance hall was full of tables and chairs, set up for an unknown church function. So those needed to be cleared away, too.

Ed Vincent teaching a dance move

Ed Vincent stepped in to call the dance. I'd like to know where he gets all of that energy! And - he let us pretty much decide what we were going to play for each dance. Unbelievable!! A caller that trusts the band! Well, actually, we do have several callers that we work with that do. We understand that in their experience, there's a tune they like that works well with this dance or that dance. We don't mind that. But, please.

Ed Vincent

We would appreciate not being told for every single dance to play this tune and that's it. OK - I'm wandering. I'll have to remember to blog about this topic later.

Ed was fun and energetic. It was nice working with him.

Mike and Rachel Vinarcik

There were about 70 dancers in attendance. That was really nice. There were long lines so the dancers could really get into the dance without starting and suddenly having to wait out and switch at the end. And really good energy! We had lots of energy-sharing going on Saturday.

We know that we were playing much faster than we like to for dances, though, but those energetic folks didn't seem to mind. To us, it's better to keep it a bit slower (not dragging), so we can keep the feel in and the syncopation and bounce. When you get going as fast as we were, sometimes you can't even get all of the notes in.

One of the scout families from our troop showed up to dance, and had the best time! I'm glad they came and got to experience the dancing. I'd say they're hooked now! Maybe they can get some of the others out. I've been offering that if any of the scouts from our troop - Troop 237 from New Boston -- come out to any of the dances we're playing for that I'll pay their way. The rule is that they have to come and say "hi" to me.

What are you up to, now?

Hi. I'm Bob.

Missin' the Music

I fell behind in my blogging, and definitely fell behind in my music. At least it feels that way, because I have not been playing the dulcimer much in the last few weeks. I was working on SO MANY new tunes and then it hit me. Lots of traveling, working, jury duty, bad colds (as if there are any good ones), and yard work. If it hadn't been for the colds we had, there would have still been music-playing going on. We always work around those other things. But there was just no functioning.

Huron Wind Ensemble at Adler Planetarium

We did squeeze in a 4-day trip to Chicago with the Huron High School Wind Ensemble. We are so proud of this group. This was forty of the most talented and well-behaved teens that you could ever meet. Being a chaperone just meant that for the occasional check-in, your five would come stand by you for a second to get a count. All of them got up on time, met where they were supposed to at the right time and place, looked great, and played fantastically.

HHS Wind Ensemble at The Field Museum

This was such a full itinerary, visiting Shedd Aquarium, Navy Pier, Willis Tower, just to name a few. The real exciting part of the trip was that the band performed at three locations -- The Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry. At each location, we were given high accolades. The representatives that worked with us had only good things to say about our group's professionalism, attire, and skill. The band director, Mr. Matthew Herr, has worked hard with this group and deserves a huge round of applause himself.

Performing at The Field Museum

That trip was two weeks ago, and just this last weekend, the Wind Ensemble performed at the State MSBOA Festival, earning a 2 overall. This was a very good rating, as high ratings for the day were tough to get. As I understand it, there was only one rating of 1 awarded.

Pre-concert at The Museum of Science & Industry

Way to go, Huron High School Wind Ensemble!!

At MSI -- They are way up there!

The Fat Boy Jig

Well, it's actually called "The Corpulent Stevedore", but doesn't "The Fat Boy Jig" also have a nice ring? This is a REALLY nice tune that Jim just wrote. Ah, yes, it's just in G, right where those dulcimer players like their tunes -- if they aren't in D. A would be pushing it for some. It's a trick. Sure, it's in G, but nicely splattered with accidentals -- C#, F natural -- middle-ish and high, B flat, G#. Come on, you dulcimer players -- you CAN do it. Most of it isn't really full of accidentals, anyway. They are there, and just make this tune different and one of those good ones.

This tune doesn't even really have a challenge until measure 7. Work on that for 5 minutes, and you'll have it. Yes, there is some right bridge business involved.  E, D, E, F natural -- just right, right, left right over there. So you have your left hand free to hit that F# at the middle bridge now. Then back to the bass bridge.


I'm sure Jim will share this tune, so let us know if you'd like a copy. IT IS a nice one!!