JUNE '12

 

Our cup over-floweth with joy to announce the release of Robert's solo album Playing Favorites on Thunder Ridge Records. This was a labor of love (well, most of them are) and in the works at Pepperbox Studio from April 2010 to November 2011. I enjoyed very much collaborating with Robert and musician Mary McGinniss over that period, working weekends when we could and making sure there was plenty of good food at the ready for impromptu meals between recording sessions. I would say that all three of us are lovers of fresh, organic meals made collectively and shared with enthusiasm. Where would a weekend at Pepperbox Studio be without the kitchen table? Congratulations to Robert!

Here I am weaving the magic wires once again, as a live sound engineer for the first annual Rockfire Festival (6/23), a celebration of Barre's cultural heritage relating to its famous granite quarries. The afternoon and evening happenings on the music stage included performances by Pete Sutherland and Deb Flanders, the Michele Choiniere band and Bow Thayer & friends. That last configuration took me off the board and in front of the mics, for an energetic set of music thanks also to Jeff Berlin, who joined us on the drum kit. Flanking us on all sides were stellar associates Robert Resnik as MC, Julie James as 2nd engineer and Amelia Moore at the CD table.  A totally fun art event culminating in the release of hundreds of paper luminaries into the night sky!

Actually in June I was way more of a gardener than a musician, truth be told. Probably the most hectic month of the year for Gardenessa, my landscaping business. The season started early and by the time the Secret Gardens of Corinth and Topsham garden tour came around (6/30), we were barely able to wash our hands in time for it. 

Okay, this is not exactly the Holy Plow, but close enough. This pic was taken at the Rockfire Festival, a day after our gig in Rutland VT at Friday Night Live, a street fair that shuts down one of the main blocks of town for music and general revelry. Because my car died in Troy NY earlier in the month on the way back from Ithaca NY, my running around to gigs in June was all done in my landscaping truck, and thank god it didn't rain on all my sound equipment piled in high in the truck bed!

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