{"id":854,"date":"2017-01-26T15:00:51","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=854"},"modified":"2017-01-26T15:05:24","modified_gmt":"2017-01-26T15:05:24","slug":"ftv-pmmf-12-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=854","title":{"rendered":"FTV: PMMF #12 – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Saturday at the Singing Hills Stage kicked off with an artist I was not familiar with. \u00a0Reading Seth Walker\u2019s biography was like a geography lesson: \u00a0born in North Carolina, he has also spent time in Jacksonville, Florida, \u00a0Austin, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee, and his current home port, New Orleans, Louisiana. \u00a0His music is likewise from all over the map. \u00a0He is a jazz influenced Americana singer-songwriter who sounds like he has been percolating in both Music City and NOLA for some time. \u00a0I may not have been familiar with Walker\u2019s music, but the size of the crowd that trudged up the hill for the afternoon opener was a good indication that many others were. \u00a0It was a good set to start the second day at the Singing Hills Stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Scottie Miller and band rolled in next. \u00a0I was really looking forward to hearing them again and mentioned to Scottie that I had been spinning his <\/span>Rise Up! <\/span><\/i>CD a lot since PMMF #11. \u00a0He said, \u201cReally? \u00a0Well, we have some new music coming out for you pretty soon.\u201d \u00a0I had a great time talking drums with Mark O\u2019Day last year. \u00a0He too was surprised when I told him I was disappointed that he was playing the house set on our stage and not the funky set he had with him last year. \u00a0\u201cOh yeah,\u201d \u00a0he replied, \u201cI have them in the van and will use them tomorrow. \u00a0They had the other set already here so I figured it would save time to use the house set up.\u201d \u00a0Scottie played the Singing Hills stage last year and then played in Ruthie Foster\u2019s band on the main stage. \u00a0This go around, they did our stage and then headlined the Peace Hill stage on the closing night. \u00a0I can\u2019t say enough about his new CD <\/span>Reciprocation<\/span><\/i> and assure you we will keep spinning that and <\/span>Rise Up! <\/span><\/i>until me puts another disk in the can! \u00a0The musical variety played and his up tempo delivery makes me believe we may get to see the Scottie Miller band again at some future festival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Craigie was the first solo act on Saturday. \u00a0When I found out he works out of Portland, Oregon, we had a little discussion about the area. \u00a0I have limited knowledge of the town having spent two weeks there post college graduation and a couple of hours on a quick pass through by train and bus last summer. \u00a0It turns out he hasn\u2019t been there all that long but we were able to make some connections. \u00a0Like many of the singer-songwriters that come through the PMMF, Craigie was an engaging storyteller. \u00a0While telling the story in a song is a true art form, the stories artists tell to set the scene for the songs are always a blast to hear. \u00a0I have never been to the Burning Man Festival, but thanks to Craigie, I now know one has to wear a watch and never ask another attendee, \u2018What time is it?\u201d (cliff hanger alert: \u00a0to find out \u00a0more about Burning Man Festival time, readers will have to wait for an upcoming <\/span>FTV: \u00a0It\u2019s About Time<\/span><\/i>) \u00a0I made it a point to pick up Craigie\u2019s <\/span>Live in Portland<\/span><\/i> CD and will be sharing that with our listeners as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Road warrior Randy McAllister blew in next. \u00a0He had been at the festival many years ago and judging by the age of his current band, most of them were probably in elementary school at that time. \u00a0His fiddle player has roots in Marquette as her folks used to work at Northern Michigan University before they headed out west. \u00a0She had a lot of questions about all things U.P so we had a nice conversation about her roots. \u00a0A Texas native, McAllister works out of the Dakotas these days and one could confuse him for an oil shale worker or a sod buster. \u00a0He plays a drum set that looks to be held together with spit and bandaids. \u00a0It can only be called a \u2018set\u2019 because it had a bass drum, snare and a cymbal. \u00a0As rugged as it looked, it was the sound that he coaxed out of it to accompany his harmonica playing and vocals that made everyone sit up and take notice. \u00a0Rocking, roadhog, country blues – whatever you would like to call it – McAllister put on a set that kept everyone who wasn\u2019t rooted to the ground dancing frenetically at the stage front.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0McCallister mentioned something about being down to two drumsticks and someone in the audience actually brought him a pair for his supply. \u00a0He graciously took them and while packing up, he mentioned they were not the size he prefers. \u00a0I took note that his two beat up sticks were size 7A which is what I normally use. \u00a0About the same time, his young guitar player asked, \u201cHow far is it to the nearest music store?\u201d \u00a0He had broken a string one one of his two guitars and was clean out of replacements. \u00a0After telling him that he was an hour away from a store and the odds of them being open on a Saturday night were slim to none, I asked him what size he was looking for. \u00a0He said he didn\u2019t really care what size they were (makes sense if he didn\u2019t have any at all) so I volunteered that I had a spare set of Ernie Ball Super Slinkies at home. \u00a0Not doing the Sunday shift, I was able to make arrangements with security guy Greg Nelson to stop by and pick them up to deliver to the band on Sunday. \u00a0As long as he was going that way, I threw in an extra pair of 7A drumsticks and figured I had done my part supporting a band of true road warriors. I told Greg that they were on the house unless the band offered up a CD in exchange. None was offered, so I guess I will just have to keep spinning the McCallister promo CD provided by the PMMF music acquisition committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My original schedule showed festival stalwarts Seth Bernard and May Erlewine as our final act, but the weekend of the show, only May was listed. \u00a0I never got the scoop why she was soloing this weekend, but it was good to see at least one of them. \u00a0In the early days of the festival, I was never in the right place to see them. \u00a0Back when they were still billed as Seth and Daisy May, I was supposed to run the soundboard for a workshop but I was told it was at 2 pm on a Saturday and when I got there at 1:45 pm, they were just wrapping up. \u00a0\u201cSchedule change,\u201d was the only explanation I got so I never did get to talk to them until years later when they finally appeared on the Singing Hills stage. \u00a0That year, they performed with a band borrowed from the Lansing area and I still think of it as the <\/span>Turkeys in the Rain<\/span><\/i> band because that is the one song that pops to mind when I think back to that performance. \u00a0\u00a0Some were a little disappointed in the \u2018electric Seth and May\u2019 but I enjoyed them in a band format. \u00a0I had a little more time to talk to Seth that year because we both showed up to see Sharkey from Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovians play slide mandolin (yes, slide mandolin). \u00a0A little awed by Sharkey\u2019s performance, we discussed the finer points of something neither of us had ever seen attempted before.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Talking to May (and I am sorry if some are still stuck calling her Daisy May – that was an earlier version of her musical life) after her sound check was like talking to an old friend even though we had never had a one on one discussion before. \u00a0Music, family, traveling, and (again) Portland, Oregon came into the conversation and before we noticed it was show time, Marty \u00a0\u2018suggested\u2019 that we should end the conversation and get on with it. \u00a0May is yet another example of a singer-songwriter who shares stories of songs and inspirations making her set part living room concert, part travel log. \u00a0She ended her set with one of the most beautiful interpretations of <\/span>People Get Ready<\/span><\/i> that I have ever heard.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We packed up before taking my leave of Mary, Marty, and the rest of the Singing Hills crew. \u00a0I had been asked repeatedly if I could come back and help Sunday but I assured them that one of my former WOAS DJs, Anna Fuller, would do just fine. \u00a0PMMF #13 is still seven months away, but I am already getting excited to be part of this unique festival. \u00a0New volunteers are always welcome – hope to see you there in August of 2017! \u00a0The Sunday emcee slot at the Singing Hills Stage would be a fun way for another volunteer to get their feet wet. \u00a0Be forewarned: \u00a0That is how I started eleven years ago. \u00a0The whole PMMF thing kind of gets into your blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Piece Video: \u00a0Randy McCallister Band from a 2015 festival performance in Libby, Montana<\/p>\n