Notes From the Cabin: July 30, 2024
Did I manifest a porcupine? Also: Caffe Lena this Friday ~ joining a parade ~ tour reports ~ recent books & movies
Hello!
We’re still basking in the glow of a really wonderful outing to Vermont this weekend to play the Cabot Arts & Music Festival. Dana Robinson (along with many delightful helpers) has created a really special event there. Kieran participated in a songwriter’s round-robin, I got to be part of an “official” old-time jam session with some way-fun players, and then we had a set on the main stage in the evening. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the whole scene was an all-around pile of great vibes.
One of the big treats for me was reconnecting with music buddies I hadn’t seen in wayyyy too long. It was great to see and hear Ruth Ungar and Mike Merenda, both in the songwriter circle and on stage with a full band as The Mammals. I was thrilled to get to play fiddles with the glorious Rosie Newton in the old-time session alongside Steve Selin, Brad Kolodner, Ken Kolodner, and Alex Lacquement. Rosie was there with her smokin’ hot dance band, Rose & The Bros, who closed out the night. So good.
Also, the audience there was, like, weirdly sweet and demonstrative. There was a couple who said they had come all the way from near Toronto to hear us! How do you even respond to that?? We were very very touched.
CAFFE LENA ON FRIDAY!
We’re psyched to be making another visit to this much-loved listening room in Saratoga Springs. Our show is this Friday, August 2, at 8pm. Get your tickets here.
If you wish you could attend but are too far away to make the trip to upstate New York, you’re in luck—Caffe Lena does the best livestreaming in the biz! You can be a virtual audience member from anywhere, and we’d love to have you. Livestream tickets are over here.
Also of note:
Aug 23: Putnam Valley, NY / Tompkins Corners Cultural Center
Aug 28: Whately, MA / Watermelon Wednesdays
Tour Report
A couple weeks back we got to make a return trip up to Paul Smith’s College for their Music Over the Marsh summer concert series. Driving north from the cabin into the high peaks of the Adirondacks is just off-the-charts gorgeous, and we had a beautiful day for the trip. We were—again!—confronted with a freakishly great and enthusiastic audience.
There were some particularly heartwarming moments after that show. One was having a little girl ask for our autographs because this was the first concert she had ever attended. What an honor! Another was meeting a very-recently-married couple who told us they’d sung our song “I Don’t Know Why” as a duet at their wedding. Good heavens! We floated all the way home.
Wildlife Report: Did I Manifest a Porcupine?
In our last note I lamented having not yet seen some of the more specifically-north-woodsy critters, including a porcupine. Well, the very day that note went out, my porcupine dreams came true! We were out on the golf course (of course), and my habit of walking along the edge of the woods scanning for lost balls was rewarded with THIS:
KK, being an old hand at the Adirondacks and its spiky wildlife, said he thought it looked kinda mangy. I thought it was adorable. I’ve looked for it every time we’ve been there since, but haven’t had a repeat sighting.
In the interest of further manifestation, I’ll repeat that I haven’t yet gotten to see a moose. Or a fisher.
Watching & Reading
Recent films: 12 Angry Men, They Live By Night, Maltese Falcon.
Because my mom mentioned that Ivor Novello is portrayed in it, we finally got around to watching Gosford Park. Which then led us to start re-watching Downton Abbey. So we are working our way through that (and also the 1950s Dragnet TV series).
Recent books: I loooooved this book on famed Adirondack hermit Noah John Rondeau. Also really dug this biography of Diderot, which was a completely random library-shelf-perusing find. (HUGE shoutout to the Southern Adirondack Library System—we adore you!) We’ve both been geeking out a bit about the Revolutionary War history in this area, and KK has been digging up Richard Ketchum books on that topic. He also read something about Ursula Parrott in the New York Times and thus ordered both her book The Ex-Wife and a new biography of her.
Local Life
WE WERE IN A PARADE!
The little town closest to our place here is Northville, where they have an annual 4th-of-July-adjacent event called “the Doin’s”. It’s exactly what it sounds like—a weekend of family-friendly festivities in an adorable mountain village. Our frequently-mentioned buddies at the J.F. Farm Store cooked up a vision for a float to include in the Doin’s parade and I was very happy to get involved. The theme was “Hometown Hoedown”, and my job was to sit on a hay bale in a pickup truck and fiddle (through an amp hidden under a burlap sack) while various Farm Store folk waved from a produce-laden trailer (rigged up with switch-activated sprinklers) and handed out treats to the crowd. Kieran was planning on wandering alongside the float to capture some photos and video, but pretty quickly his “observer” role was abandoned as he was swept up in the parade spirit and got involved with distributing fresh apple cider donuts to the spectators. It was a total blast. You can see a little video snippet on our Instagram page.
Thanks
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Till soon —
xo rg & kk
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Love that things are bright in your world!
Had a great time at your Paul Smith’s show!!!