November 18, 2006 - What a week so far! Played at Folsom Prison on Thursday the 16th with good friend Jerry Holder and Buddy Tabor. With help from Buddy, Cheri Snook and especially Jim Carlson (runs the arts program there) we stepped into a bit of history. Folsom's changed -- the old prison where Cash rocked the house is a relic. The new blocks are brighter, less stone more concrete. But the gate checks, the guards and the guys in the yard haven't changed. Each step taking you deeper into a life you can't really know. An odd feeling that. We played in the Chapel -- four concrete block walls -- on a stage where the only adornment were two roughly painted hands reaching up to the sky. Freedom was a theme, and loss, and life. We took turns playing and listened to the poetry of Spoon, the music of Marty and another inmate (who sang "A Cowboy's Confession" -- a song that came to him in a dream) as they and we belted out original creation. Thanks owed to all and those fifty who came to listen. As Buddy Tabor observed, whether your inside or outside those walls, its a limited gig for all of us. Following that we joined Terry Holder and drove up to Grass Vlley for a lightly attended fundraiser and some of the worst jokes I've laughed at in a long time...thanks Buddy!
Last night was our first here at FAR-West in Sacramento (that's the Western end of the Folk Alliance and a conference of music, venues, singers, tips, and talents held annually) -- Susan Mumma and I (she of the Seldovia Summer Solstice Music Festival) co-hosted an Alaska room featuring artists from Alaska (or born there) and those who have played in her summer festival. What a night, after successful showcases from Buddy, Lauren Sheehan, Dan Lowe, James Lee Stanley, Tim Mason, Terry and Jerry Holder and myself, Terry and Jerry, Tim, Susan and I traded songs (and liquid joy) until the wee hours of the morning finally stopping as the conversation drifted into world saving, life and the hard reality of loss -- bookends for another day of music.
Tired but awake, we begin another day.