Music. Its enormous influence on me – a great source of joy and inspiration. Where to start? Both past and present.
I grew up a dozen years younger than my siblings, and therefore with the music of the Everly Brothers, Elvis, Conway Twitty (his rocker days), Johnny Cast and the Platters. Yes, it was the early days of rock n’roll, but it was also the music of Doris Day, ‘How Much is that Doggie in the Window?’, a song I sang as a little boy; Mantovanni, Lawrence Welk: the old stuff.
One of my first albums was a recording of Scheherazade, Rimsky-Korsakoff’s masterpiece. That $1 warped record transported me to an exotic other world of the east. It open with a haunting solo violin, a theme that recurs. It is Scheherazade’s voice telling her 1001 tales night after night. That music and story have remained a profound influence. I have heard it performed live 3 times and look forward to a 4th. There is nothing as powerful as live music.
…
To the present –
We are in Brevard, North Carolina, a music hotbed. We were drawn by The Steep Canyon Rangers, host band. We were not disappointed. They closed the Saturday festival with Steve Martin joining them.
A Virginia band, The Steel Wheels, blew us away with their energy, vocals and musicianship. We rushed from the festival venue downtown to Ecusta brewery where they played a two hour set in a cozy downstairs setting – 5 exceptional musicians on multiple instruments, primarily banjo, steel guitar, fiddle, upright bass and drums. We visited with them after – so friendly and gracious. The drummer, originally from Ann Arbor, MI, lives in Brooklyn. It is interesting in that in today’s music world they live in various places, coming together to tour. It is a world of travel and multiple projects in order to make a living. The drummer plays Broadway in addition to his other music.
The highlight of Sunday’s lineup was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. We had a wonderful night with them in Highlands two years ago when they revisited the making of ‘Will the Circle be Unbroken’ with John Carter Cash. That evening was a retelling in music and stories of the making of that great album: a hippie jug band recording and preserving music with the likes of Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, and Doc Watson. We had the opportunity to visit with them at a reception after, almost embarrassing how few stayed, but it was an older group of people.
I showed John Carter Cash pictures of June and Johnny taken in concert in 1965. He said Johnny was taking over a hundred pills a day at that time. Johnny was rail-thin and sweating, but put enormous energy into his show. John’s wife was fascinated with the photos. I was put in touch with a producer working with Ken Burn’s on a country music documentary, but haven’t heard from her in a while.
The festival ended with the total ensemble singing ‘Will the Circle be Unbroken’ immediately followed by ‘The Weight’. It was a wonderful close to a special event.