Thanks for the kind remarks about my shows at the Mountain Music Festival. Once again, the weekend proved to be a highlight of our summer. Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was spectacular. And Saturday night's cancellation due to weather actually ended up being one of the most fun evening's of the weekend. Bud Ford's decision to move everybody into the tavern across the creek turned the event into a free-for-all jam. (Well - free for me anyway - I don't know who paid for the beer and pizza.) Chilly Winds, members of Cripple Creek, Robert Force and several fans, including Zach Kaplan, Josh Fuller and John Reid, all joined in to make the evening just fly by. We all stood around in a circle, no mics, and played requests. Too much fun! One of the weekend's highlights for me was hearing Robert Force play again. When I lived up on Vashon Island I had occasion to book Robert and his then partner, the late Albert d'Ossche, in concert at our little theater. Robert continues to amaze me with his unique approach to the dulcimer and his unbridled creativity. This year he was joined by a fellow named Bing, who used to work for Bud Ford at his dulcimer shop in Florida. Bing flew out just to experience the festival and ended up jamming with Robert during a couple of his shows. The two of them were absolutely amazing! It was certainly not apparent that they had never performed together before. Their ability to read each other and flow together was magical. It was as if they'd been playing together for years! It was also great to get together with John Birchler, Jim Moran and Bruce Blazej, aka Chilly Winds. They did some cool stuff this year and the addition of Rick Jarusiewiscz (a name that he can't even pronounce himself) on bass was a plus. Not to diminish Dave Batti's contribution to their performance last year, but Rick really fit right in and the sound of his sleek-looking upright electric bass was perfect. I also got to work in a new bass player this year, David DiCocco. David's a recently retired school teacher in Colorado Springs and he did a great job of following my charts with no rehearsal. I look forward to playing with him again! Another newcomer to my show this year was my young protege, 2-year-old Logan Brewer. His 7-year-old brother, Taven, brought him on stage with a very professional introduction and Logan and I did "Camptown Races" together. This is a child who is inquisitive about everything. When the boys and their parents, Krista and Mike, moved in across the street from us this year, we immediately adopted them. Since we have no grandchildren of our own yet, we have plenty of room in our hearts for these kids. Logan and Taven have spent most of the summer at our house. Every time I pick up a guitar or banjo, Logan has to follow suit. He has an amazing knack for imitation and he holds his instruments (a 1/4-size guitar and a banjo uke) as if he's been playing forever. He doesn't quite know how to make a chord yet, but he puts his fingers on the fingerboard as if he knows what he's doing and strums or picks the strings individually, depending on what he sees me do. Sometimes he'll say, "Fingers", which means that he wants me to show him where to put his fingers for a chord. By next year I know he'll be playing for real. He can't quite sing yet (or speak in complete sentences for that matter) but when we get to "Doo-dah" he shouts it right out! I know he's going to be a star and as his manager I feel secure that I'm set for life. At one point between shows he walked over to where I had my one-man band rig sitting on a stool and backed up to it as if he were going to put it on. Meri even helped him get into my big shows. I wish I knew how to post a picture here - if you'd like to see him just e-mail me and I'll attach a phot back to you. So, that's my report and I'm stickin' to it. Now, back to work. Bob O'Luney is performing at a 2-day festival next weekend - 5 hours each day. I'm going to be doing a lot of push-ups this week to get ready for that!
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