Old Town School – On The Road
Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.
Why Abbey, Dvorak, Maddox, and Tyler
On two days notice, Juha Reunanen filled his photography studio with 30 guests for a Thursday night concert of an unknown American band Abbey, Dvorak, Maddox and Tyler. Auli Lehto-Tähtinen did an enormous amount of legwork in order to produce Finland’s 2009 Rootsinpyhtaa Bluegrass Festival, including making a cheese cake for the American band. Wasel Arar gave up sleeping for a week so he could host the Americans as well as play in two bands and help with the re-enactment camp. Marija Karhinen-Ilo and Lassi Logren dedicated prime space at their Helsinki folk school, Kansanmusiikkiopisto, and many hours of organizing to host a workshop put on by ADMT. Why would these Finns do so much work to host an unknown band of known folks whose reputations are spread out evenly across bluegrass, old time,folk and rock music?
Well, the answer seems to be that this band was billed to these presenters as both a group of professional roots music performers and as a group of teachers who have been trained by their work to lift the human spirt with all available musical means. What a joy to tour under these terms. Released from the need to be sexy young things or super pickers or torch bearer for a singular tradition, we were able to just be ourselves, make great music and communicate with some folks who were ready to receive. Paul sang a mean baritone and pitched some great material that bridged the gap between bluegrass and old time (Prodigal Son), Mark played some super fine claw-hammer banjo and transformed his amazing songs into ensemble pieces, and John found his inner-hillbilly and made everything sound cool by holding the whole band in his bear-like embrace.
As for myself, I felt like I was getting a rare opportunity to communicate using the international language of music. Silly style divisions were removed in the company of this band, and as a result the quality of the performances shot way up and the Finns really dug the vibe. This is the kind of festival experience that give people a chance to practice the art of being better people, and I was happy to be on board.
Filed under: Country, DMT in Finland, Finland 2009, Notes from Colby by Colby | June 18, 2009 | Comments (3)
3 Comments so far
Classes
- Adult Classes
- Wiggleworms
- Kids' Classes
- Private Lessons
- Teen Classes
- Workshops
- Summer Camp
- New! Teen Camp
Note to Colby,
Hi,
Enjoyed reading your report and hearing you talk about it. Sounds like the kind of event to do more of whenever, wherever you can. Best way to spread peace and the soul of music.
You said I would find a pic of YOU here and I cant find it. ????
Going to see A. Fraser tonight.
Happy Father’s Day, love mom
Colby,
Enjoyed reading your report and hearing you talk about it. Sounds like the kind of event to do more of whenever, wherever you can. Best way to spread peace and the soul of music.
You said I would find a pic of YOU here and I cant find it. ????
Beautiful, Colby. ” . . . practice the art of being better people.” Just beautiful.