Pinewoods 5: The Music Makars

[jere7my]

(Sorry for the slow updates. If you look at my moods since returning from Pinewoods, you may detect a subtle pattern. I am still sick, still sore-throated, still tired all the time. I walked into town for the first time today, to mail something at the post office and look at futons, and I am now debating whether that was a good idea, since I can barely move. Currently I am sucking down ramen and Lady Grey tea with a lot of honey, trying to recuperate in preparation for Futon-Hunt, Phase II.)

Musically, this was a very good Pinewoods for me, perhaps the best to date. Half of each dance, more or less, was open band, and I played four to six sets every night—often the only sit-in on the stage. Peter (sound guy) asked me at the first sound test if I wanted to be mic'ed, and yes I did, and yes I was, and people actually heard me playing. This is a big deal for an acoustic guitar player competing with an upright piano, three to six fiddles, and occasional bagpipes. Kathy G. gave me a thumbs-up after the first night, and K. agreed that she could hear me, and that I sounded good. So, yes: I was part of the Pinewoods band every night, and I contributed positively to the sound, and I played so hard on Friday that I broke a string. Go me.

As I mentioned, I feel I've finally crossed some invisible threshold, finally showed up as a small blip on the radar of real musicians:

• Howard L. (drummer) asked me, during a pause, if I was going to perform in the ceilidh again, since he'd enjoyed my previous performances.


• Anne Hooper (fiddler) told me how pleased she was that I was going to be playing with them, and hugged me after the last ball. At one point, we were going over which sets I would be joining on, and she said, basically, "Oh, play whenever you want. You're a sensitive player." This may have been code for "We can barely hear you," but I choose to interpret it as a compliment.


• Tom Pixton, bandleader, asked me across the stage if I could do a little "chock chikka-chikka cha-chock" during one tune—which makes more sense when it's audible and comes with hand gestures—to which I replied, "Of course." And I did. Later he asked me if I could swing a particular reel, and I said, "Sure. I usually swing too much anyway," and he laughed. (Yes, I know I am a dork for letting this please me so much.)


• Muriel Johnstone, probably the finest Scottish piano player now living, told me how nice it was to have a guitar in the band. Moreover, I got to accompany Muriel on the fiddle, which is not something many people have done.

I am not Josh B., who was invited up from the sit-in section to play with the fiddles in the front row (go Josh!), but I was much more a part of things than I ever had been.

There was still some trouble with communication between The Band and The Sit-Ins: at one point I was told they wouldn't be getting to the sit-in portion of rehearsal for a while, since they wanted to go over Muriel's stuff before she had to leave, so I went and hung out in Miriam's cabin (next door) for a while—then returned to find the sit-ins leaving, because they'd done our bit first after all. The next day I showed up at 4:30 for the rehearsal, only to find it had been moved to 3:30 without my knowledge. But The Band was much better this year about making sure everyone knew about any changes to the tunes, any unusual directions, any weird tune orders and repeats. Or maybe I was better at listening.

I did not, in fact, participate in the ceilidh, nor did I go to the music class (which was pretty basic this year), but I did noodle around in the camphouse, playing some Indigo Girls and Tom Petty and Dylan. Kathy C. (rather insistently) told me how good I sounded and how much she'd enjoyed my playing, which was much appreciated; I've been striving for that level of competence since high school. (On the other hand, I tried playing Romeo and Juliet for Miriam and fumbled up the words. I also screwed up Pelorus Jack, the one dance we did together. I think she makes me nervous.)

After the ceilidh on Thursday night there was English dancing, thanks to Dan B. and Bryn Mawr Joanna, which meant I got to get all swingy on Levi Jackson Rag, probably the best rhythm-guitar piece in Barnes. The English dancing very quickly devolved into International, which uses strange key signatures and tunes not in Barnes, but I had four or five tunes of fun, and then went off to chat with Miriam in Ampleforth, so I was well pleased.

Tomorrow night I have a gig playing for an English class, which I am nervous about due to the tired-me-ness. But I think I should be able to handle it, if my hands continue to follow my brain's instructions. Pinewoods has once again boosted my confidence, and possibly even boosted my ability.

Comments

[flammifera.livejournal.com]

Muriel Johnstone is certainly my favorite Scottish keyboardist, so I agree that she's the best. :)

Josh rocks!!

And the drummer ... yeah.

[echo-eriol.livejournal.com]

hey! Could we perhaps get coffee or something Wed or Th afternoon? I'd like to see you before I leave . . .

I'm glad you had such a kickin time at the camp; Levi Jackson Rag has always been one of my favorites.

[kelilah.livejournal.com]

Tom Pixton, while a highly cool person and an awesome musician, is also a highly snarky and rude person, so if he's amused by you and asks you to do musical stuff, that's a Very Good Thing. Says me, who was in his family for one Revels and got to listen to him being rude about, well, practically everyone. :^)