From: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org (lucy-list-digest) To: lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: lucy-list-digest V4 #169 Reply-To: lucy-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-lucy-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk lucy-list-digest Tuesday, July 30 2002 Volume 04 : Number 169 In this issue: [lucy-list] My Falcon Ridge report [lucy-list] Falcon Ridge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 22:38:18 -0400 From: "Benay Bubar" Subject: [lucy-list] My Falcon Ridge report Well, it appears that the Lucy-list has been pretty quiet in my absence, so now that I'm (just) back from Falcon Ridge, it's time to make some noise! Maybe it's silly to report here because a whole lot of you were THERE too, but some weren't...and, as usual, I feel like reporting anyway and hope you'll all indulge me (of course, you can always just hit delete instead and I'll never be the wiser!). A sidenote, before I forget...according to my parents in upstate NY, Lucy got another NPR mention Friday morning, at least in the Northeast. It was in the context of a discussion about Falcon Ridge, but there was definitely specific mention of Lucy's being there. I didn't hear it, so I don't know the exact conversation, but if my non-folk-listening parents who are always doing 10 things at once heard and recognized the mention of Lucy, it must have been significant! Anyway, Falcon Ridge...how can I begin? It was my (and, as it happened, Lucy's, according to the program) third year there, and it was, as usual, amazing. Before I talk about Lucy (anyone who doesn't want to wait can scroll down, I guess), I have to say that the Dave Carter tribute was particularly special...Tracy was among those who sang, and even aside from the actual tribute, Dave's songs were included by some of the other artists in various sets. It was all done just right---Dave Carter was very much remembered, but it wasn't depressing and it didn't make sadness overtake the joy of the festival. He was just THERE, in all the ways he could be without...being there. My own little story: the little tape recorder I'd brought for the first time this year, in hopes that I could relive Falcon Ridge later, abruptly stopped recording at the very start of the Dave Carter tribute, though it had functioned perfectly before. Suddenly the machine would do everything BUT record...it just went dead when I tried, and it didn't help to change the batteries or the tape. Just as I realized the probem was insoluble and was about to be upset---I'd so wanted to have this tribute to keep for myself, and now I couldn't have it or anything else to come on tape!---my friend next to me nudged me and pointed to the sky, where a small flock of birds was flying directly, majestically over the main stage as the light was just beginning to fade. I'd almost missed that sight, fooling with the tape recorder as I had been. There were a lot of ways to take this, I guess, if one wanted to take it as anything at all, but I decided to take it as a sign that I'd been thinking too much about taping and not enough about being PRESENT and listening fully to the music. And for the rest of the tribute and the rest of the festival in general, I made the real effort to just drink it all in...in every way I could be, I was really THERE, singing and clapping and listening with all I had. Whether or not Dave Carter had anything to do with that, I would never have thought about it if not for him and Tracy and that tribute. So what would normally have been just frustrating and disappointing...a malfunctioning tape recorder...became, in the end, a rather unexpected gift. At least, that's how I choose to see it. Now...Lucy! She was there all three days, from the Friday night song swap to her early Sunday evening main stage set. The only unfortunate part, in my eyes, was that neither John Gorka nor Richard Shindell was there...she and they add so much to one another's sets, and Falcon Ridge has been one of the places they're likeliest to be able to do that. Lucy didn't have anyone to really show off her harmonies with this time, but she certainly made the best of it and was wonderful every time she did appear. Aside from Lucy, the song swap featured Chris Smither, Erin McKeown, and Greg Brown. Lucy sat next to Greg Brown, in the position to go third after Erin and Chris, but she went last instead in the five rounds of songs they did. There wasn't a lot of interchange amongst the four of them, although Lucy did hum with the others on an Erin McKeown song that called for it, and Greg Brown harmonized on Lucy's first song, Ten Year Night (I couldn't hear him well, but Lucy was obviously delighted). After TYN, Lucy sang in her turn: Broken Things One Good Reason (incidentally, I ended up noticing the words "one good reason" in two other songs by other artists at Falcon Ridge...also "every single day" appeared twice...Kris Delmhorst had the two phrases in two different songs, while Trina Hamlin had a song called One Good Reason that actually contained the words "every single day," as I recall...of course, both are very common phrases that Lucy didn't invent or copyright, but it was odd to be so attuned to them!) Land of the Living Goodnight (a beautiful choice as a closing song of the evening) Saturday, Lucy was in two workshops. The first, Our Roots Are Showing, featured Greg Brown, Kris Delmhorst, Eddie from Ohio, Jimmy Lafave, and the Paperboys along with Lucy. Lucy, to my delight, did her FANTASTIC version of Someday Soon that she learned from Judy Collins, with Jimmy Lafave's guitar and piano players among others helping her out instrumentally...I know Lucy has done this song at other shows recently, but I'd only heard it from Judy Collins at the shows Lucy did with her, and to hear it in Lucy's voice was breathtaking. Her second song in the workshop was For Once in Her Life...again, some of the others played along with her, and she was so thrilled in listening to how it sounded in the middle that she forgot the last verse briefly...she asked for help and I tried to shout "In our home movie," but I am not a natural shouter and I don't think she heard me...in any case, she remembered by herself in short order. That wasn't the only mishap...I think this was the workshop at which Lucy broke a string, too...but she gamely kept going and the beauty of the music and Lucy's delight at the communal participation in it were the memorable parts. In that workshop, Lucy (as well as Kris Delmhorst) also sang along with Greg Brown on 12 Gates to the City and with Jimmy LaFave on The Weight---I am generally not a Jimmy LaFave fan, but with Lucy's voice and the other voices too, this song sounded spectacular, and we all sang along. The next workshop, a couple of hours later, was a Beatles tribute. Lucy didn't do the predictable I've Just Seen a Face---that was the Paperboys' contribution (she was, however, singing or at least mouthing the words as they did it). Instead, she did an amazing version of I'm Looking Through You---a song I love anyway, and her version was gorgeous. Perhaps it was a one-shot deal, but she could easily add it to her performance reportoire...it was great! While she didn't sing any other songs at this workshop by herself, she did sing harmony on Eddie from Ohio's version of Nowhere Man, and she sang along, as we all did, with She Loves You done by the Kennedys. Lucy looked like she was having a great time---I'd seldom seen her smile more even when she wasn't singing----and we did too. That was my favorite workshop of Falcon Ridge this year. Lucy's main set this evening, with Duke Levine: Written on the Back of His Hand End of the Day I Had Something Ten Year Night (with bug intro!) Scorpion Hole in My Head This Is Home Land of the Living Don't Mind Me Turn the Lights Back On By Way of Sorrow A great end (as it was the end, for me...I left after that, missing Greg Brown and Ani DiFranco, but also very willingly missing the frenzy that seemed certain to occur amongst the hordes of Ani's fans...did anyone here stay to the end and see how things went?) to a great festival. And now for a MUCH-anticipated shower and the bumpy return to real life. But one more thing first that needs to be said: I always anticipate Falcon Ridge with unbridled joy because it is always perfect. I mean, of course it ISN'T really...you get hot, you get wet when it rains (and it did so today until midafternoon), you get grimy, you get tired, you get irritated, everything hurts from sitting on the ground for hours, you sleep badly or not at all the first night and usually not all that much thereafter...but Falcon Ridge remains consistently one of the most perfect experiences I've been able to have as an adult. Part of that, a big part of it, is the music, and just seeing Lucy and the other performers I love, but an equally large part of the magic for me at this point is the people who share the appreciation of it with me. To all those I saw this weekend whom I've met and/or known before---including Sharon, Renee, Donna and Bruce and Erik and Scott, Chris, Timothy, Claire, Billy, Suzi, Joanne, Candy, and anyone else I'm forgetting in my quick, tired typing---and those I've only just finally managed to meet---like Libby and Simona---thank you for making it great for me. There are a lot of people I know whom I've just sort of fallen into knowing, through school or work or other friends, just all those general outside influences, and that's all fine and good. But I can seldom forget, nor do I want to, that this musical community is mine by choice...I got here solely because I loved the music, even without initially knowing anyone else who did. And now the people I share that enjoyment with are part of my life---not my entire life by any means, but part of my life that I love. I don't know if I'm explaining myself well here, but I am thankful to have had this weekend, and to know, even now that we have gone our separate ways again, that you are all...well, to shamelessly use a Lucy cover quote (but it's what I mean) somewhere out there. I hope you are all safely home, or that you soon will be. And I hope it won't seem like such a very long time until we can go to Falcon Ridge again next year. Benay ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 20:53:02 -0400 From: Donna Myers Subject: [lucy-list] Falcon Ridge Two tickets to Falcon Ridge....$140(children are free) Tent, sleeping bags, air-mattresses & tarp...$200 Camping stove, picnic table, food & drinks...$150 Three days of quality time with children, husband, friends and Lucy....PRICELESS!! Highlights for me were: The Dave Carter tribute...I don't know how Tracy was able to sing with so much grace. She ended the tribute with "Gentle Soldier of my Soul"....simply beautiful!!! Lucy on the Workshop Stage singing "For Once in Your Life" with help from the banjo player from the Paperboys among others. The tribute to the Beatles was fabulous. We took bets what song Lucy would sing...she surprised us all with "I'm Looking Through You"....fantastic!!! Lucy's Mainstage performance was wonderful. She ended her set with "By Way of Sorrow" and asked the crowd to sing along. Lucy seemed thrilled that so many people knew the words. It was beautiful!!! My 9yr old said it best this morning..."I'm bored, take me back to Falcon Ridge"! It was great to see and meet so many Lucy-listers. I agree with Benay...this musical community is special. We are all different in many ways and the love of this great music binds us together. Thanks Lucy!! Donna ------------------------------ End of lucy-list-digest V4 #169 ******************************* This has been a posting from the Lucy Kaplansky mail list digest To unsubscribe send mail to Majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe lucy-list-digest" in the body of the message