What a crazy, wonderful, exhausting, validating, worthwhile adventure in Missouri last week. My first trip that far east and south (aside from the Northeast) gave me a glimpse into the grand buildings and high hopes of my great grandparents, who lived there in the early 1900s, and the tiniest view into what life is like now in that area, 2000 miles from my home in Oregon. Nice new song came out of it, too! Thank you, Magi Disher Leone for introducing me to the Ozarks and Oz!
And then the music -- wow, the music. With Folk Alliance International overtaking the Kansas City Westin, I'm not sure the business travelers knew what hit them! Five days of panels and workshops and short sets and conversations -- basically geeking out about music for as many hours a day as I could stay awake, for days on end.
Huge thanks to Mike Beck and the Access Film Music crew, Michael Banker Bank and the Conscious Alliance crew, and my fabulous room co-host, Kristen Ford. And to everyone who made my birthday there amazing, especially the wonderful Northwest crew including Beth Wood, Jeffrey Martin, Anna Tivel, Freddie & Francine (honorary!), Pete Karstounes, and my amazing, celebratory Baked Alaska team: Avery Hill and Jasper Lepak!
I took almost no pictures, but here's a funny fuzzy one that my bandmate Steve Sever's son Matt took when we met. Matt is the fabulous new FAI board member Matt Sever, AKA Austin-based musician Matt the Electrician. (To make it funnier and fuzzier, this image is showing up sideways on iPhones, and right-side up on Windows -- Oz, much?)