Are You Dave?

Kindiefest is a huge three-day conference in Brooklyn for folks like me: musicians with a family-oriented groove. Last night was the kickoff reception and keynote; I’m trying to read my scribbled notes from the night to see if I can make sense of them.

I rolled into Littlefield in Brooklyn at about 7:00 (after some frantic photocopying of the Fuzzy Lemons’ press material). The party had already spilled out onto the patio! It was a gorgeous evening to be sharing a beer with two hundred of your colleagues and peers.

I squeezed through to the registration table and immediately struck up a conversation with Ashley Albert of The Jimmies, who was in line right behind me. I’ve been hearing about The Jimmies for a couple of years and we just checked out their videos on WiggleNation last week–I congratulated her on how amazing they looked.

Then I made my way to the bar and met some members of a band called The Not-Its, from Seattle. About that time, Dan Zanes wandered in off the street, with his unmistakeable suit and hair. Not long after, the organizers called everyone in for some opening speeches, followed by the Keynote. I found my friend Erin Lee Kelly and followed her into the conference hall (actually a nightclub).

Dan Zanes gave a quietly inspiring speech. He started by admonishing everyone in the room to check out Pete Seeger’s “Incomplete Folksinger,” which lays a clear foundation for everything we do as family musicians. He described an experience I’m sure most of us share: going to the record store and being horribly disappointed by the Children’s selections, which mainly consisted of cartoon tie-ins. He compared that to his own childhood experience of growing up listening to those classic Folkways recordings of Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, et al.

He spoke of his surprise upon learning that people were much more interested in the tape of songs he made for his new daughter that they were in his latest album of pop songs about drinking and old girlfriends. And he described hanging out on the playground with West Indian nannies and sharing music with them (in my own career I’ve been blessed with a similar crowd) and how things just sort of grew from there. The importance of finding other musicians, diverse musicians with different backgrounds and influences, cannot be overstated. He spoke of the vital questions to ask people: “Where are you from?” and “What did you grow up singing?”

The diversity is important because kids and families want to be able to relate to what’s up on stage; kids of all backgrounds want to be able to look at the musicians and hear their music and find a piece of themselves. Further, he spoke of his goals: “My goal is to build bridges, it doesn’t matter if I know how or not.” And, just as those old Folkways records came with all the lyrics and chords printed in the liner notes, he reminded us all that that the music we make should inspire people to make music themselves.

It was a lovely speech and he closed by encouraging us all to keep building this community. Sure, we could all view it as a competition for market share, but the best music comes from the heart and encourages folks, rather than showing off.

After that, two hundred eager community builders headed for the bar. A side note, there’s a lovely little microbrew called SouthHampton that I quite enjoyed over the course of the evening.

From then on it was schmooze-o-rama time. I brought a dozen Fuzzy Lemons press kits with me and handed eight of them out to various bloggers, labels (including Putamayo!), a radio show or two, and even a reporter from Time. I plan to hand out the rest today. In return I came home with a goodie bag full of postcards, CDs and stickers from a bunch of other artists.

The first folks I bumped into at the bar were familiar faces: Paul Helou, whom we’d met at Great South Bay last summer, and Mark Lipsitz of Bar None Records. I introduced them to each other and we all swapped ideas for venues and such.

I tagged along with Erin Lee off and on over the course of the night, meeting a bunch of folks in her (not inconsiderable) circle. I jotted down some notes: I met and/or schmoozed Recess Monkey (very cool guys from Seattle), Jessie Atwell, the creator of Wigglenation, musician/videomaker Michael Rachad, Bill Childs of Spare The Rock (a radio show!), and members of Justin Roberts’ band, the Not Ready for Bedtime Players.

Members of Brooklyn-based King Pajama shared a laugh with members of Philly-based The Cat’s Pajamas, while Sara Hickman, State Musician of Texas, laughed at just about anything that moved.

Mr. Ray held forth on the advantages of creating your own music program as a source of ongoing revenue; Patricia Shih held court in a comfy chair, surrounded by fellow musicians (she claimed she was only sitting because her feet hurt but she sure looked like the queen bee); and I negotiated World Peace by pointing out that Putamayo’s Mona Kayhan, of Iranian descent, was engaged in a warm conversation with Israeli horn player Oran Etkin.

My work thus complete, I went home.

~ Dave

As I mentioned recently, I was invited to be part of an all-star concert in celebration of the great Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday. Geri Fallo got some of Hoboken’s top musicians (and me) together to put on the tribute show, which kicks off the town’s Thursday-night summer concert series.

Everyone picked out one or two of their favorite Pete songs, and most of us rehearsed with the Demolition String Band backing us up. Rehearsals sounded great… the night of the show, however, was something else entirely. For starters, it was drizzling, and when I got to Pier A I found Elena and Boo huddled in their car, with no one else around. Concern was expressed.

But lo, Tom Sweeney rolled up shortly in a red “short bus,” which apparently has replaced his familiar white van. He and his sound guy (I didn’t catch his name, but he knew what he was doing) set up the gear in a tearing hurry, only to rip it down again and move it into the gazebo at the end of the pier when Geri showed up, frowning the weather.

Meanwhile, I jawed a bit with Ray Korona, who told a couple of Pete Seeger stories and did a dead-on impression (”Y’know, if we all held hands in a circle around the globe… three-fourths of us would drown”) and with Clarence Ferrari, fiddle player, dad, and all-around nice guy. We sat at the end of the pier and watched the Clearwater, Pete’s famous sloop, motor in and tie up next to the Waterfront Museum.

Before long, the gear was set up in a dry place, and most if not all of the musicians were in place.

The lineup went something like this:
The All-Hoboken Youth Chorus - This Little Light of Mine
The All-Hoboken Youth Chorus - We Shall Overcome
Kate Jacobs and the chorus’ conductors did a fantastic job, leading a group of over 100 kids from every school in Hoboken in two great sing-alongs.
Ray Korona - Toys for Peace (a song he wrote with Pete!)
Jon & Deena (of The Cucumbers) - Kisses Sweeter than Wine
I have been a fan of the Cucumbers for years, and we’ve gotten to the point where we say “hey” at these functions. They have been doing “Kisses Sweeter than Wine” as a gorgeous duet for just about ever.
Dave Lambert - Inch By Inch (The Garden Song)
I pretty much ripped off Arlo Guthrie for this version (I’ve been aping Arlo since I first heard - and memorized - “Alice’s Restaurant” in high school). I can’t come close to his performance, so click here for the real thing. It was fun to see folks in the audience singing along, even the rare anti-garden verse. There were some true folk fans in the crowd!
Dave Lambert - Turn! Turn! Turn!
I got to welcome the Demolition String Band back to the stage - Elena Skye and Boo Reiners on guitars and vocals, Dave Post on stand-up bass, and Clarence Ferrari on fiddle. What a treat to be able to share the stage with this gang; they are, as I introduced them, true keepers of the musical faith in the strongest tradition of Pete Seeger and his ilk. We launched into the Byrds arrangement of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with me on my Danelectro 12-string and Elena and Boo backing me up with rich, rich harmonies. Thank goodness they’d brought music stands - Pete Seeger songs tend to have lots of verses. When we got to the solo, I liked what I heard coming from Clarence and his fiddle so much that I gave him a nod and he launched right in; I picked up the solo in the 12-string for the 2nd half. Every now and then I am privy to those moments of musical telepathy, when two players can wordlessly go somewhere together. Playing with folks like the Demolition String Band, who have music rolling through their veins, makes moments like that much more likely!
Kate Jacobs - Goodnight Irene
Kate has such a sweet, simple voice, it’s actually hard to describe. She’s not a belter or a warbler, she just sings clearly and cleanly, with an incredible emotional impact. The entire audience joined in on harmonies, to glorious effect.
Abbe Rivers - Mary Don’t you Weep
Abbe Rivers - Jacob’s Ladder
Abbe is a wonderful counterpoint to Kate Jacobs: bold, brassy, and no-holds-barred. We all rocked along to her two songs, swaying to the full drunken-gospel feel.

Unfortunately, I had to take off at this point. But here’s what I missed (sadly):
Gene D. Plumber - Joe Hill
Gene D. Plumber (with his daughter and special guest Perry Robinson) - Guantanamera
Boo Rieners - Talking Union
Boo Reiners - Michael Row Your Boat Ashore
Elena Skye - Little Boxes
Elena Skye - Which Side Are You On?
Eddie Fogarty - John Henry
Annalee Van Kleeck - Where Have All the Flowers Gone? (She couldn’t make it, see her comment to this blog)
Dave Calamoneri - Bring ‘em Home
group finale - If I had a Hammer & This Land is Your Land

I can only imagine that the rest of the night was as magical! I sent some thank-you notes afterwards, and got nice replies from Boo and Elena. Next up, I have a Woody Guthrie project in mind that they’d be perfect for; watch this space for details!

Here’s a photo of the night from my cell phone:

Dave Post, Clarence Ferrari, Elena Skye, Boo Reiners (seated), and Abbe Rivers