Saturday, October 18, 2008

Notes of Music

Bill is off at Big Sur for a bluegrass music festival this weekend. He hasn't done the festival thing for many years. The festival thing usually includes spending a whole weekend (at least one night), camp out, attend multiple performances day and night, jam with various groups at all hours, eat junk food, crash whenever. I'm not particularly interested in his kind of music, even less of a camper, so I tend to avoid the subject of music festivals. Bill was very involved in the local music scenes before we met. On the night of our first date he played at Paul's Saloon in San Francisco, and that was his last time to play on stage. Since then he's been a "man of responsibilities". Lately he's been taking mandolin lessons, practice every night, and now, a real festival. Life is back on track. It's hard for a tone deaf to live with a musician, but here is a clip from Youtube that we both enjoyed lately, combining knitting and traditional country music.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the song it's really cute!

YawnOver said...

omg - thank you so much for sharing!! That is just hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Vivian, you CRACK ME UP!!! Who'd thunk you could find a video that combined both your interest in knitting and your hubby's in bluegrass (well, country isn't bluegrass, but it had a nice banjo riff playing before and after the actual video, so it counts!!!).

I didn't realize your husband was a bluegrasser! Welcome to MY WORLD! So is MY husband...hardcore, uncurable! Except he didn't walk off the stage when we met...but, when I showed up at one of his festivals unannounced and stalked him all weekend like a groupie, he finally figured out I was INTERESTED in him. (He was slow to figure things like that out!) I had to chase that man down relentlessly. He finally got tired of running and just married me so he could get back to picking bluegrass in peace!

I remember camping (primitive style) at bluegrass festivals with an infant (Darcy--now age 13) who was so lactose intolerant that she had at least 12 hideously loose stools filling her diapers (overfilling, sometimes!...I know...TMI!) daily. That was always such a joy to deal with in a place that had no running water and just a Johnny-on-the-spot!!! But, I loved the man (and hadn't yet developed an appreciation for separate times)...so I followed where-ever picking took him!

Actually, though, I am the one who loves camping (yes...especially way out in the woods away from any roads or signs of civilazation...where you hike several days in and, once you set up came, you dig your OWN latrine...that kind of camping)...but NOT with a lactose intolerant infant!!! Grant HATES, DETESTS, CAN'T STAND camping...is strictly a hotel kind of guy...but no sacrifice is too great if he is allowed to jam with other bluegrassers!

I didn't even know what bluegrass was before I met Grant. But, I like it now...except for the overly contrived, sentimental slop that pops up now and then on albums (but, then I can't stand "Walker, Texas Ranger" either, because it IS contrived and overly sentimental...same formula every episode...just nauseates me...if it weren't for the mandatory round-house kicks to the bad guy's head, every episode, it wouldn't have any redeeming qualities what-so-ever! But, of course THAT is one of Grant's favorite series...just like he seems totally oblivious to the overly contrived to yank at your heart strings lyrics of a few bluegrass songs that refuse to go away!). I also kind of wonder about what kind of bad influence it has on our children to always be singing about murdering this person or that person (and usually skating away scott-free)...but, if you take out the "killed my girl because she was gonna leave me" songs and the sentimental slop songs, what is left is really good stuff!!!

I hope your husband has a great time at Big Sur! (My husband went solo to Starvey Creek not long ago.) Hey, and I think there is an article coming out in BlueGrass Now (I think that is the right one) this November that talks about foundational bands in the mid-West. One of the four featured bands is the one that my husband played in for 28 years...just left it a year and a half ago when we moved to the Ozarks.

Anonymous said...

Just had to come back a second time and enjoy that music video one more time! Oh, and, also, to TAG you!!!!

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