We have just finished a 10-day tour of New York, Vermont, and Mass, and though it went by in a flurry, we had a wonderful time meeting new and old friends, experiencing some winter weather, and performing at a couple of festivals for the first time. The tour kicked off February 11th at Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn where we shared the bill with our friends, The Mike & Ruthy Band. Despite cold winds that seemed to blow right through our layers and coats, those hardy New Yorkers ventured out to see the show. We got to catch up with fellow musician friends, cousins, and old pals. We went on with the Mike & Ruthy Band to Albany the next day to perform at The Linda, WAMC’s beautiful performance space. Of course we were a bit sleep deprived that night after staying up talking around Mike & Ruthy’s kitchen table until 5am the night before. That is not the first time that has happened at that kitchen table I am sure. With a fire in the wood stove, and records spinning, it took many hours to get on to sleeping. Nice to catch up with old friends.

The following day, as we made our way to Framingham, Mass to perform at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, we stopped off in the Hudson Valley to do a video shoot for the OldTone Roots Music Festival. They are beginning promotions for this year’s festival in September. Foghorn will be there! The guys were pro and we filmed a few songs and tunes in a beautiful refurbished (and heated) barn. Keep an eye out for these videos. This will be the second annual OldTone Roots Music Festival, and I’ve a feeling, with the mission behind this festival, that it will become a sought after event for the summer season. The curators of the festival are three friends who have an ear for music that is firmly rooted, yet alive and kicking. I think many people are longing for these kinds of sounds these days with all the commercialized music that is forced upon us all the time. So, come join us there in September!

We had a fantastic weekend at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival just outside of Boston in Framingham, MASS. From the moment we walked in the door, the festival had a welcoming and friendly air, and folks there really embraced the Foghorn Stringband, despite the fact that we are an old time string band! Ha! We like to dispel the bluegrass vs old time chasm as frequently as possible as these musics are so intertwined, and we love them all. It’s all country music as far as I’m concerned! We felt well-loved and met many new friends and fans. The festival is held in the Sheraton Hotel, and with the winter weather, there was really no reason at all to go outside. We had everything we needed indoors: tunes, food, and our beds. We performed a main stage set, as well as the Sunday night dance to close the festival. We hope to go back there soon! It is a wonderful tribute to the music of Joe Val.

Monday morning came awfully early after staying up til the wee hours playing tunes and visiting with pals at Joe Val, and we had to drive to Provincetown, on the very tip of Cape Cod to play on WOMR Radio. Afterwards, we made our way back down the cape to Orleans, where we were hosted by Dinah who curates the Brick Hill House Concert series. It was snowing and blowing and yet folks trickled in for the evening performance. They were such a warm and receptive audience, and we had a great time putting on a show for them. Tuesday night took us to Northampton, MASS to the Parlor Room at Signature Sounds. This is always a great audience for us. Those folks show the love. Nice to see so many new faces there too. It’s a pleasure to play there. We drove to Burlington, VT the next day for a show at Nectars. The Burlingtonians (is that what you are called?) must have been busy with other things that night, as not so many came out to see us, but those that did made it worthwhile. We stayed with friends on the shores of Lake Champlain, home to many fat squirrels enjoying the winter fare from the multitude of bird feeders hanging outside. The lake didn’t freeze over this year, but we watched ice floats drift by along the shore. Our good buddy and musical collaborator, Joel Savoy showed up a day early for the weekend Spice on Snow Festival in Montpelier, VT that we would all perform at together as Foghorn Stringband, and Cajun Country Revival.

Spice on Snow is in it’s sixth year I believe, and what a sweet festival it is. Perfectly intimate, and everything is right downtown, so it is not hard to decide what to do, as it is all within a few blocks’ walk. We arrived in Montpelier on Thursday, and Foghorn played for the square dance at the Legion Hall right in town. We performed with Jesse Lege and Joel Savoy as Cajun Country Revival for the Friday night cajun dance at City Hall. This is great fun, and there are many iterations: Caleb on drums or mandolin and singing, Sammy on fiddle or guitar, Nadine on bass and singing, Joel on fiddle or electric guitar, Jesse singing and playing accordion, and myself playing triangle or guitar and singing. We all taught a variety of workshops at the Bethany Church during the day on Saturday. Harmony singing, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, string band class, as well as a cajun band class. Then our work was finished, and we spent the evening playing a session at a bar, then watching the Sweetback Sisters perform a concert. The festival culminated with a cajun dance hosted by the Green Mountain Playboys. The Playboys invited Cajun Country Revival on stage later in the night, so we had one last hurrah for the festival. It is always a pleasure to play music with Jesse and Joel, and I’m thankful we keep getting opportunities to do so. Jesse is a powerhouse on the accordion, instantly lifting the music, and his singing cuts straight to the heart. Or grabs you right in the balls, one or the other. Probably both. And Joel’s fiddle playing is energetic and tasty, a powerful sound rhythmically, or when he’s soloing, or when he lends perfectly woven backup to a singer. We enjoy the collaboration whenever it happens. It was a great weekend all around.

And now we are parting ways for a few weeks. Sammy and Nadine go on to play a few gigs in Montreal and Hawaii, and Caleb goes home to dive into some projects in Portland and to teach a week long fiddle residency to Pendleton grade school students. I am heading out to Central Washington to visit family and await the arrival of my new nephew! We will meet up at the Snow King Festival in Yellowknife, NT, Canada. We will be performing inside of an ice castle…. the places old time music takes ya! We are also very excited about the release of our first vinyl. Our latest recording Devil in the Seat arrives on vinyl March 11th, and we are excited for you to hear it in this high quality format!