First of all, having been involved in several tours involving multiple folk acts I've had a chance to see the perils of such an endeavor from the inside. I've seen promoters lose their shirts and more because of poor turnout to shows. The most recent tour we did like that was the "This Land Is Your Land" tour that featured The Kingston Trio, The Brothers Four and the Glen Yarbrough Folk Reunion group (with Dick Foley and Rick Dougherty). While I think this tour was ultimately successful financially, it was not without it's hectic moments and plenty of dissatisfaction among the performers with regard to travel arrangements and lodging accommodations. Meri was appointed "travel agent" on one of these tours and she was required to bring all of us (14 - 15 people) into one airport at approximately the same time, coming from all over the U.S. She pulled it off nicely, but there were complaints from some folks about how early they had to leave their homes in order to fly this itinerary. Having had that experience I don't think we would have much of a hankering to deal with the additional problems of actually booking the dates, arranging the ground transportation, lodging, tech support, back stage catering, etc. It's an immense undertaking. I don't know about Eric Darling, but I know that Scott and Alex are virtually retired. I met Scott when he was touring with The Mamas and The Papas back in the 1990's - I think that burned him out. Mary will only perform with Peter and Noel, as far as I know, and Roger is happy touring as a solo artist. There are probably other people who might qualify for such a monster group, but I think if there was viability in the concept it would have been done by now. I have to be realistic about my place in history, too. I've stood in as a replacement with two well-known groups - I was never involved in any hit-making. While it would be great fun to work with some of these people, reality begs the question: would they want to work with me? Meri and I are still pursuing "Concerts For A Cure", a vehicle through which we hope to raise needed money for Parkinson's and neurological research. Having produced two of these events last December, we are not overly ambitious about taking on another project. As it stands now, we are actively seeking a national sponsor to back future concerts and even this foundation-laying takes time and energy. We only have so much of both of those valuable commodities, and what we don't spend on "C for a C" we try to save for ourselves. Also, it takes time to write a book, and I am working on that - in addition to writing and recording new music, performing in the local market and doing maintenance and up-keep on our house. I need another 24 hours in each day just for that. So, Dan - the short answer is "no" - I would not consider putting together such a group. If you'd like to do it I'd be glad to supply you with some phone numbers and then you can tell me when to show up for the rehearsals and the shows. That would be fun! Ron Fitz also posed some rather deep questions. First he asked: "What one single moment in your career stands out as the one, the pinnacle, the defining essence of Bob Haworth?" Holy Moley, Ron - how could I ever pick one single moment? There were so many events over the years that all went into the melting pot to define my professional essence. So I guess, if you had to pick one moment, I'd say - when I was born. From that moment on I was on a path to where I am today. Another "moment" was probably my first piano lesson, then my first banjo lesson. There were so many mentors along the way who helped define my essence as well. Some were teachers (Lyn Sjolund, Dutch Groshoff, Carroll Graber, Roger Wagner, Wally Bowers...) and some were friends and colleagues (John Eads, Dick Foley, John Paine, Bob Flick, Bob Shane...) Each one is a chapter in the book and each one had a hand in my development in some way. So, to try and pin it down to one thing or moment - no can do. Ron also asked me another really dark question: "What, when and where was your own personal professional "performance from Hell" where NOTHING seemed to go right? (And please be specific.)" This one is a little easier to pin down, although there've certainly been many times that I wished I could have just walked away. I've usually managed to salvage something from a disastrous show, but one event does stand out as being somewhat hopeless. During one of my last Trio shows back in 1988, I was approached by the promoter who told me to contact him if I ever left the Trio and went out on my own. He said he saw something in my stage presence with the group that had potential in a solo context. I did later contact him and he told me that he booked a show room at a resort outside of Chicago and if I could put together a good solo show he'd book me in. I felt that I needed a band behind me to do the kind of show I wanted to do, so the promoter offered to hire a local bass player and drummer as well as a trio of girl singers that had an Andrews Sisters tribute around Chicago. I specified that I'd like to bring in my own band-leader, a long-time friend and keyboard-man, Fred Schactler. The promoter booked me for a week and we had a couple months, as I recall, to write the show. Fred and I flew into Chicago and rehearsed for a couple days with the band, but it never gelled. Opening night was a disaster and the show was pulled. To this day I can't really put my finger on what happened. The musicians were all good players, the girls sang well, I pulled out all the stops and felt I was in top form, but it just wasn't right. I came home pretty depressed, but I went to work on refining the show and eventually did get it together here in Denver. I called it "The Fabulous Bo Mooney Show, featuring The Luna Chicks." I was really happy with this show and I dearly wished I could have gone back to Chicago with it, but it was not destined to be. We did some nice convention dates, fairs, festivals, etc. around Colorado and had a lot of fun. Meri and I owned a Lincoln stretch-limo at the time and we did one tour with the show around the state, all of us riding in the limo pulling a trailer full of equipment behind. That was a sight to see! Thinking back on that night on the outskirts of Chicago, trying to drag along a band of strangers in an under-rehearsed show still gives me the willies, though. Thanks for bringing it up, Ron!
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