Quail Hollow 7Feb08

[Paddler]

From the Gig Journal:

Jody and I arrived at 7:05. The ranger had us park in the lot at the top of the hill above the
Manor House. The weather was 30 degrees and dry. There was about an inch of snow on
the ground. The road and sidewalks were clear for a change.

The usual suspects were already playing when we walked in. Ken had only brought his
fiddle this time; he left his mandolin and banjo at home. Russ was there with his
melodeon, concertina, and harmonicas. There were two mandolin players, a guy with a
five-string banjo, and a guy with a Martin D45. I had my 12-string guitar and Jody
brought her melodeon and concertina. Roselyn came with her bull fiddle and the baby
shoe on the peg. She was wearing a brand new diamond engagement ring. Everybody had
to ooh and aah over that thing. The trouble is supposed to take place sometime in July.

At about 8:30, a couple of people came in from one of the Bluegrass venues. Ken
immediately launched a couple of fast and very crooked tunes that needed minor chords.
The Bluegrass boys, Roselyn, and our other guitar player left.

Russ asked Jody to play "The Sailor's Return". These guys want to hear that tune every
time we show up. Unbeknownst to us, Ken had a recording frobnitz about the size of two
packs of chewing gum. We didn't know he was recording until he played our tune back
for us. We saw him trifling with that thing but only thought it was a cell phone or a tuner.

At about 9:30, I went down the hall for a couple of cookies and a cup of coffee to ignite
'em with. I carried them around the house and looked into the various rooms to see what
did betide. There was a Bluegrass band in the main office area. There was a Bluegrass
band in the side room. In the basement room, where we used to play Celtic music, there
were two Bluegrass groups playing different tunes at the same time. They didn't seem to
mind the cacophony. I minded it; I did a Bob Dylan "OOOOOH!" and got the hell out of
there double quick.

Quite a few flatlanders came to listen this time. Some of them stayed for the whole three
hours.

At 10:05, the volunteers came in and began to stack the chairs. That was our signal to
pack up and git. It was a shame, too: Ken was just beginning to loosen up and hit his
stride.

MCR>
Abstractor of the Quintessence
Order of the Digital Grail