The Folk Alliance mini-tour extravaganza is in the books. Here is the curated, way-too-long recap you've been craving.
Monday 2/12 -- I played at Opening Bell Coffee with Jordi Baizan. We wore essentially the same thing, which photographs super well, I have to say. Bill Nash sang for us and any day that happens is a good day.
Tuesday 2/13 -- Dave Rogers is not on Facebook but he made me and Jordi bacon and eggs and then Jordi and I went on Notably Texan in Commerce and it was awesome. We drove through the rain to the The Blue Door and played with Susan Herndon, who let me play lead with her and who sang in French and who is just really the best. Jordi and I got burgers, beer, and a chocolate chip cookie each after and I'm not sure if I just needed them or what but I don't think anything will ever taste that good again.
Wednesday 2/14 -- Valentine's Day! (Sorry, Lindsay Sobel!) We drove to Kansas City, through the Flint Hills that will never not take my breath away. I walked into the lobby at the Westin and asked myself what the f-ck I was doing there and then I saw Jaimee Harris in a jumpsuit and I was all squared away. I sang with John Louis and Shawna Caspi for sweet Lou DeMarco. I introduced Jackson Emmer to people and they all thanked me because DUH. I walked past my heroes, rode in elevators with them, etc., and tried not freak out (you can just imagine I cut and pasted this sentence in each of the following days).
Thursday -- I woke up with a headache for the ages. I sat with Randy Brown and pretended to not be in pain. There was the DJ reception, in which a room full of a zillion introverts almost had a collective aneurysm. Mary Gauthier's official showcase and then Ruthie Foster's official showcase back to back were just I don't know but it doesn't get better. I walked into Carrie Elkin's spoken word showcase at like two in the morning but didn't realize it was a spoken word showcase and so we had a conversation in the middle of it (we'd never met) and the people listening started maybe getting a little frustrated.
Friday -- I woke up and did it all again. I played a neat showcases in Laura Thomas's room with Darling West, who are from Norway and sang better jet lagged in English than I could if roles were reversed (*gets idea to try to play a whole set singing in Norwegian; rejects idea*). Jordi and I and Nichole Wagner and Gaby Harvey had dinner with Mia Rose, who shared her idea for an important project on vulnerability in public spaces. It will be really special, guys. I saw Tim Easton in the Alaska room at 3 a.m. with a stuffed black bear.
Saturday -- I saw Jaimee Harris's official showcase and I wasn't crying you were crying. I saw Gretchen Peters's official showcase and I wasn't crying you were crying. The Los Texmaniacs with Flaco Jimenez showcase had me reassessing my priorities on this Earth. I dropped an empty cup in Hope Dunbar's purse but I'm not sure if she knew it was empty (sorry, Hope! Also, everyone check out Hope Dunbar). I played a showcase in which I attempted to deconstruct a Randy Newman song apart that bothers me. I failed. I sang "Better Luck Next Time" in the same showcase and people sang with me and that was better.
Sunday -- Jordi (who is my brother now) and I woke up after not sleeping enough and drove back to Texas. I didn't start to hallucinate until I was driving through Temple.
That's a wrap, y'all.