Right about now one week ago Erik, Patrice, Ted, Lynn and I were all piled into Ted's car leaving Mt. Vernon, Virginia. We had enjoyed a short visit to the Washington farm and were headed back to Takoma Park where we would gather our instruments, meet up with Pat, and head over to Glen Echo to play at the afternoon Waltz Time dance and the evening contra.
The night before we had played for a very high energy group of dancers in historic Shepherdstown, WV, after a visit to the Antietam battlefield. I'll spare everyone the step by step description of our tour but I can honestly say that it was as much fun this time as it was the first time we played in the region over ten years ago.
This was the first tour that we were joined by Very Significant Others and, from my perspective, this made the whole thing even more fun. Of course Lynn and Margie didn't accompany us up to Glenside, or to Shepherdstown, so they were spared an episode by episode recounting of the intricate plot developments of a certain cable TV series. These tales provided us with the actual title of the 2010 Tour but, in the interest of not being sued by HBO, that title remains a band secret.
Musically we had a great time. Everyone was playing with lots of invention and energy and we enjoyed a little nostalgia by playing some of our older, tried and true sets more often than usual. We enjoyed great sound at every stop, especially at Glen Echo where the phenomenal
Jamie Platt once again made us sound great, despite our constant experiments. Ted Hodapp called night after night of great dances and had the crowds enthralled with his physics jokes. He also played some first rate hambos with Erik and taught us all a great new schottische.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the dances and made them so fun for us. Special thanks to Ted and Lynn for sharing their home. Lynn even revealed to me the existence of a nearby fast food hamburger joint that Ted had neglected to mention over the years. Thanks also to the good folks at the
House of Musical Traditions for all of their help. Rumor has it that we may be able to head east again in the winter/spring of 2012. We'll keep you posted.
(P.S. While there were several excellent, even professional, photographers snapping photos on this trip none of them have delivered any pictures to me so far. So the photo above is taken off of my cell phone from a week ago Friday while we were visiting the Mall.)
(Contratopia at Antietam)
(Glen Echo on Friday Night)
(Glen Echo on Friday from the stage)
(Ted and Lynn in conversation)
(Shepherdstown, Saturday Night)
(The Spotlight Dance)
(Pat takes a camera break)
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