Workshop and Concert (contd)

Apparently there is post length limit?

Anyway, the highlight of the evening was definitely Heathers duet with Cathy. Heather played Hawkers Dream and Greensleeves as beautifully as she always does. She then duetted with Cathy on Fanny Powers, with Neils on bass. Heather had confided in me that she was nervous, was not prepared, and doesn't do duets. Well she certainly did this one. The three of them absolutely nailed it, it should have been recorded for posterity. They were bouncing off each other, with Cathy improvising around Heathers graceful playing, with both players listening to each other and reacting together almost telepathically, with Neils steady bass holding it all together. I have not heard such superb musicianship from two players for a long time. Then after, Heather says "Was it alright?"

Cathy closed with her usual Harpers Blessing, and not for the first time, had me in tears again.

A bit of playing afterwards, some more excellent singing and several new friends made. Clearing up, bed, and off to MLAG tomorrow. Exciting times.

Workshop and concert

This is Buddy. Buddy is 14 but doesn't know it and is lucky enough to live with Holly and Neils. He is also quite deaf, so puts up with musicians. Which is good because Holly's house was full of music today.

A quiet morning after about six hours much needed sleep last night, spent doing a bit of practice and setting up for the day. Which was to feature a workshop from Cathy Britell, followed by a meal, a concert and jamming. Great workshop, with some lovely songs, almost spoiled by Cathy calling me out to sing Scarborough Fair because I was probably the only person who had actually been there! It was in a very low key for me but I managed. Learned a lovely song on the friends theme that seems to run through a lot of Cathys choices, and her humour and ability shone though everything she did. Then a bring it yourself meal, for which Neils had prepared about a ton of pulled pork. I have never tried pulling pork. I have never pushed it either. But however it is prepared, it was delicious as were all the dips, biscuits, salads and sauces that went with it. During this interlude Cathy collared Heather and myself and told us what we would be doing in the concert - which was news to us! We also spent some time jamming, and I quickly formed a good relationship with an excellent guitarist, and several good players and singers, and we had a good half hour session, with some particularly beautiful harmony singing.

Then came the concert. Cathy was very ably supported by Neils bass throughout, and gave us a virtuosic performance of many highlights. I particularly enjoyed Vincent with an amplified Autoharp and quite a naughty song by the guy who wrote The Scotsman - which continues to feature on Cyberpluckers I see! Holly was given several opportunities to feature her wonderful singing, and I was so glad. I can never get enough of her singing. I have now heard her Summertime with three different accompanists - it really says something when so many world class musicians want to work with a particular singer.

My bit was part embarrassment, part delight. I was asked to do one song, so I chose Autoharp Blues - and proceeded to forget the words to the first verse! Which I wrote myself!! But the audience still seemed to appreciate it. Then Cathy asked me to sing Dance to the St Anne's Reel in a duet with her, me taking lead. We had a partial run through in the afternoon, which went badly. The performance was quite good, with me just strumming on the fast bit while Cathy did the fancy bits. But we had good contact through it, and I enjoyed it very much.

(Contd)

Flight or fright!

I had very little sleep last night, woke at 5 and couldn't get off again. Breakfast, quick check of emails and taxi to the station with Gill. Nice kiss goodbye. The train journey then went quite smoothly and sort of restored my faith in Britain a bit. Every train - I had three to catch, plus a tube - was clean, on time and well signposted. There was some stupid behaviour from some yobs on the London train, where one dropped his trousers, that upset me quite a bit. But generally fine, the suitcase was no problem, the wheels made moving it easy, and I got to Heathrow early. Also very impressed with all ticket collectors and staff that I came into contact with, all cheerful and helpful.

Heathrow was just mind blowing. HUGE! 66 gates! Huge shopping centres. I had to wait an hour before I could check in, and then again a very helpful lady let me off paying XS as she said I could have put it into two bags and not been overweight. I had a coffee at one of the several Starbucks and then sailed through security - to find even more shops and Starbucks. I had to get an underground train to get to my departure gate!

The flight - I am about three hours in at present - is fine. I am really glad I paid for the extra space, and booked a seat on the aisle, must do so on the way back too. It is now very warm, but I was cold at first. I have watched "Jack Reacher" - no way Tom Cruise could ever play that part - had a not bad at all meal of braised steak, tried to watch "Lincoln" but given up, and may try to get some sleep now. I still find it amazing that a thing this size stays in the air, but I can see clouds below me, so it must be working. 

No sleep. Flight largely uneventful,  I had a computer nerd next to me, a real fidget but totally uncommunicative. The landing was bumpy - three overhead lockers came open near me. I note that it was a lady pilot but make no comment. The worst bit of the flight though was that it took 1 1/2 hours to clear customs at Washington Dulles! If you have 50 exit gates, why would you only man five of them? So I was very glad of the enormous welcome hugs I got from Cathy, Holly and Heather when I finally got through. We went home to pick up Neils - and what a home! - and then went for a meal. By now it was 4am for me and I had been travelling since 9.30 the previous day, so I was slightly hysterical. And not really hungry. Bed when I got in was very welcome. 

One.....

Case packed. Comes in at about 58lb, which means a charge of £40 going and $60 coming back - I can live with that. I could have had two cases with 51lb in each, but I could not handle two cases on my long journey - three trains and an underground! In spite of the number of ladies who have advised me to go commando so I carry less weight. I can assure everyone I will be modestly attired at all times, and believe I have enough clothes so that I will not need to wash - clothes - till I get back. Carry on bag packed, except for this iPad which will be with me at all times, meaning I can stay in touch via Skype and Facebook, and this blog. Apparently my cell phone will not work in America, but I will be carrying it so I have some contact on the way to and from the airport.  Despite all the scare stories about poison ivy, I ave no calamine or other remedies. I do have Deet and after bite care, but I do not have sunscreen. Perhaps I should. I have booked the taxi to the train station in the morning. I still have to print off a boarding pass tonight.

This is a big thing for me. I have never been to America. I have never flown for eight hours - my longest flight was one hour when I was sixteen, to Munich. I have never been away from my wife for more than a week. I have never been in a pop-up on a campsite in the middle of nowhere with no transport of my own. I am so grateful to Holly and Neils, and Coleen and Neal, for all the help they have given me to get me thus far, and look forward enormously to spending time with them and to meeting so many people that I feel I know already because of our shared interest in autoharps.bring it on!

Two.....

Gills birthday today, so out for a meal tonight and with visitors during the day, very little time to worry. Which is good. I worried a lot last night! Hardly any sleep at all. Tomorrow I pack. Maybe time for a short practice later, the last one before America probably.

Three.........

Getting a bit fed up waiting now. Very little left to do. I have made some extra labels for my carry-on bag and my harp cases, and now just have to wait until Friday evening when I can print off my boarding pass and itinerary. Good job I have retrieved my computer from Stormfront, where they were transferring all of my stuff to my iMac. Which is now sitting in my office, in its box, until I get back on July 11th. Probably have to wait a while after that as well, because a) I will be well jet lagged and b) I will probably be involved with new grandchild - Serin or Orin, apparently. And no, they are not dwarves in the Hobbit! Must remember to order a taxi for Saturday morning as well.

Four.....

Bought a money belt and a plug adapter. Now must have everything I need! Surely!! Holly says I need swimming trunks - sorry, I don't do swimming, don't have any trunks and will be very happy not to borrow some. Today I took my computer in to have all the files transferred to Mac - and they claim this will take them all night, so I pick up the new computer and the old tomorrow. They did give me a lesson in Mac though, and it all seems straightforward - more logical than a PC, and a lot quicker, so I should be fine with that. Have split my money into three piles for different stashes. I booked a seat last night as the aisle seats were going fast. Trying to decide which of the scary stories on cyberpluckers about poison ivy, poison oak, sasquatch, chapacubras, deer tics, and other hazards of camping in US woods are just leg pulls and which I need to heed. I think if I stay on paths, fully covered, and dont touch anything, I should survive. Have learned that Heather will be joining us as well - YAAAAY!! Now really just waiting. Still time for more practice.

Five

Packing medicines today. My carryon bag will rattle furiously. Lots of advice and "stop worrying" messages from folks. Actually, having Melanie and Dylan and the dogs here for the weekend while Jeremy went to the heavy metal Download Festival, has meant I have had no time at all to worry! Or sleep, for that matter! Discovered I have no bumbag - I refuse to call it what the Americans do - so may have to buy one tomorrow when I go to collect my iMac. They will be transferring all my stuff to the new computer and giving me a lesson on how to use the iMac. I may be some time. I need a good couple of hours practice tonight. Over the weekend I only managed 30 minutes. But, that was enough to play through each piece twice - almost perfectly, certainly the best yet. Feeling good about this. If I can play as well as that a week on Thursday I will be happy, even if I come nowhere.

Take your pick....

The more I play my five tunes - yes, I have five now, though no way will I need them - the more decisions I have to make. What order, what key, where do I speed up, where slow down, where soft, where loud .... So many choices. Tonight I had a really good practice, but complicated it yet again by looking at different thumb picks. At the top is my favourite Perfect Touch thumb pick that I have used for years. Below is the orange Kelly Speed pick that June Maugery introduced me to, though not trimmed as short as she did. I thought I would give that a try for a change and was just amazed at the difference. It is louder, but also much brighter. So then the question is, do I want a bright loud bass line that might compete with the tune? And the answer is - sometimes in some parts of some tunes. Ideally I would be able to swap picks when I need to but that is of course impossible in a live performance. So .... more decisions. Which tunes will work best with which picks? I think I have made up my mind, for now .... it may change, still time. Meanwhile back to my list - spare glasses to add!

PS: have today recorded on my iPad four of the five tunes, once using the Kelly, once using the PT picks. So that is eight recordings to listen to. I needed about 30 seconds listening to each track. In every case, the Kelly made a harsh sounding bass line that competed with the tune. This is my opinion, yours may vary. But I want the bass to support the tune, not compete with it, so for every tune I will be using the quieter, more mellow Perfect Touch thumb pick. And still bare fingers, with about 2-3mm nail showing.

The other things recording showed me were how many dead notes I am still hitting, how inconstant my tempo is, how I still don't have enough dynamic range, how I am still making loads of mistakes .... I will definitely only need two tunes, so I have to make those as good as I can.

Countdown!

Two weeks today, at this time, I will be at check-in at Heathrow Terminal 5 pushing the Big Boy - that's the case, not me! - and hoping it will be under the 51lb weight limit. So I just packed it with everything I think will be in it - came to 48lb!! And that is including the two autoharps. The problem is that actually it is very heavy but not very bulky, there is quite a bit of space inside, and I can see the harps moving about and bumping into each other. Bubble wrap is called for I think. Now back to my list making, tune practicing, singing, and worrying. It really can't come quick enough.