I wimped out yesterday, I did not go to the Jack Hardy Lungs Harvest Arts Festival? So many of my friends and favorites played:
- Kathryn Bloss
- Charles Nolan
- Sharon Goldman
- Bev Grant
- Ina May Well
- Carolann Solebello
- Paul Sachs
- David Massengill
Those names should all be familiar to My Gentle Readers. There were a few reasons I wimped out, Kathryn went on at 10:45, just when I finished my morning ablutions. By the time I had breakfast it was too late to see Charles and Sharon. Then came the real wimping out part, I had to be in Red Hook Brooklyn by 8:30 and that meant too long a day. The afternoon wasn’t wasted, I got a phone call five minutes before Carolann came on, ironically from another friend of Carolann’s. We had a very satisfying two-hour conversation. That’s a worthwhile use of time. Then I was off to The Jalopy Theater & School of Music to see Nora Brown’s album release show. I went two years between the first and second time I saw her and six days between my second and third time. COVID-19 was a big reason for that. Going forward she counts as one of my people and part of my rotation.
Jalopy is not convenient no matter where you live. It felt like it took forever to get there when I lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Having that mindset made the commute feel much easier. I walked the half mile to the 4 train, and then switched to the B61 bus. It took only about an hour and 20 minutes. Yes, that gets an only.
I resisted trying to get there early, that’s not necessary at Jalopy, it is in some ways my favorite venue but punctuality not one of its virtues. I was happy to see that to enter the building you had to show not just your ticket but your proof of vax. As I was on the line to get in someone behind me said, “excuse me” so she could get in. It was Nora. We high fived. I was disappointed I didn’t see anyone I knew. The place was crowed and rather then squeeze in the pews I sat in the folding chairs behind them on the aisle. I was behind someone tall and couldn’t see Nora unless I leaned into the aisle. After two songs I saw an empty seat in the front pew and moved there. I thought it was many empty seats when I moved. It was a bit more tightly packed than I would have preferred especially in the age of COVID-19. I wore a KN95 mask as this was an extended time indoors. I was disappointed that most people were maskless. I went to the front to see if masks were mandatory and was disappointed to find that they are only encouraged. As there was no announcement saying that I don’t know in what way they are encouraged. The same thing happened at Rockwood. I do not understand the logic behind not making them mandatory. I don’t like wearing a mask but not as much as I dislike risking spreading COVID-19. Venues are worried about people not coming because they don’t want to wear a mask, I haven’t heard anyone say that, but I know many people aren’t going out as they are worried about COVID-19. How about catering to them. I will go but it makes going less urgent. That doesn’t mean that I think the maskless are terrible, or even bad people. I think it’s an unfortunate attitude that gets encouraged by so many people sharing it. I loved that month I could go maskless before Delta predominated, but I can live with masking.
The benefit of enquiring about the mask policy was seeing Stephie Coleman sitting in the window by the front door. I couldn’t see her when I came in as she was behind me. Each first time seeing a friend live is special. I knew she would be there as she was accompanying Nora on fiddle. She was joined by fellow fiddler Jackson Lynch, who I didn’t know. I remember his name as Steph said, Lynch as in David Lynch and Jackson like Any Jackson. I said, No, Johnny and June’s song Jackson.
I just wrote about Nora on Monday. Go read that. As great as she is solo, she’s even better with fiddle accompaniment. I love banjo with fiddles. I didn’t just love, and the instruments and vocals interacted but the people. I love when it feels like the musicians are friends hanging out in a living room. Nora had three banjos and even the fiddles needed different tunings so there was plenty of time tuning filled with banter. We learned that Nora wields are banjo as a weapon, holding it nears Steph’s face when she tunes so if the string breaks it will fly into Steph’s face. I had that happen with my viola, it’s not fun. The first time I saw Nora I asked if she knew Anna & Elizabeth; her music and presentation comes from the same place. She said, “Yes they are friends.” Last night she performed a song she learned from them. I love what a small world folk music is.
I had the bonus pleasure of making the woman next to me laugh out loud. Nora said, “This is our second Doc Watson song in a row.” I immediately quipped, “A Pair a’ Docks (paradox).” I’m a terrible person as I can’t resist saying things like that out loud. The laugh was extra appreciated by me as the woman was an artist who did a water color of Nora and was wearing a sparkly pantsuit, clearly a future friend of mine.
My timing with the bus coming home was not good so I had to walk to the F train. In the before times, I considered that a long walk, about a mile. Now it’s a short walk, “only” a mile. That’s the theory of relativity. It did mean the ride home was longer. I had to make the walk and then wait 16 minutes for the transfer to the D train. It took me an hour an hour and forty minutes to get home. The best tribute I can give to Nora, Jackson, and Stephanie, was that they were well worth the trek.
Wise Madness 