| Atlantic Crossroads Festival continued |
| Before and after supper, Lillian and I stapled the schedules together for the Festival. Lillian was surprised we could do 300 brochures in that short amount of time, but I assured her it could be done if we worked as a team. As a teacher in an elementary school, I'd had plenty of practice collating and stapling up to 750 booklets in less than an afternoon. Even Jim got into the act, helping out with the stapling while Lillian and I collated the two pages. The brochure was gorgeous, Lillian having designed it. It listed the times for all the performers at each venue every night of the Festival and short bios for each performer.
After supper, we headed out for Erin's where there was going to be a meeting for the volunteers at the Festival. Wayne and Sheila Cook were in charge of figuring out who was covering what venues and I was assigned The Ship Inn on Saturday and Sunday. I had never been to the Ship, so that was perfectly fine for me. Lillian would join me for a while one of the evenings when Jim wasn't playing. I enjoyed meeting and spending time with the other volunteers and fooling around with Lillian and Flat Stanley. Plus the musical entertainment was enjoyable; Anthony McDonald was pleasant and enjoyable to listen to. I did miss hearing Mike Hanrahan, though. When we got home, of course after 3 AM, Stanley tried to call Vic on the Ham Radio but he doesn't have a license so he had to wait for me to talk. Vic wisely called after 3 AM. But it wasn't that late in Pennsylvania, an hour and a half earlier in time. Friday, June 24th The fun part was, being awakened once again by Vince at 9 AM! Plans had changed and I was contacting her at a different Bed & Breakfast now. But today was D-Day for the Festival and I knew it'd be busy with last-minute details. I was prepared to be the go-fer and willing to do whatever had to be done. Jim and Lillian had really put their hearts, souls and hard-earned money into this Festival. I was honored to be able to help out. We were supposed to pick up the Irish songwriters at the airport at 12:30 PM with Hugh Scott. I only had one bench in the van and it�d only legally hold 5 people, three of whom were Jim, Lillian and I. But we got news from Ken Cotter and Moray Bresnihan , who had arrived from Cork a few days ago, that the flight was delayed. So Jim and I decided to chill at the house for a bit. It�s always interesting to visit Jim, as you get into the most unusual conversations. No topic is off limits it seems and he is a master at asking the right questions to bring out your thoughts. He brought me up to date on the latest podcasting news. His most excellent podcast can be found at www.republicofavalonradio.com. I had a few minutes to visit Signal Hill during the busy day. I was surprised it took me so long � a whole day and a half! A quick trip in the afternoon gave me the opportunity. I love Signal Hill and try to spend at least some portion of every day here. I haven't figured it out yet, but there's some kind of spiritual connection with me and that place. Standing on Jim's front porch, you can see it clearly. So if I can't be there, I can always get a visual. Then it was time for Jim and I to pick up Lillian at work and we made the 20-minute ride to the airport. Graham Dilabaugh took Hugh�s place as the other �taxi.� The Irish contingent ended up arriving at 5 PM, a mere 5 hours before they were to take the stage at Erin�s Pub, Bridie Malloy�s, the Ship Inn or the Celtic Hearth. I met Martin Finn and Mick Flannery for the first time, as we had missed them in Ireland in March. It was so great to see Mark Greville, Ger Wolfe and Niall Connolly again. Clare would be arriving late in the evening so she wasn�t scheduled to perform tonight. Vic and I had traveled to New York City to see Niall and Clare last week for our 33rd wedding anniversary. It was like a reunion from our trip to Ireland in March. Their performances were delightful and Clare�s CD, Secret World, was finally out. We bought it and enjoyed the ride home even more than usual with Niall�s CD and Clare�s strong voice belting out beautifully crafted songs. The contingent from Cork was exhausted, as they had been at the airport at 5:30 AM. It was now 5:30 PM but they had crossed several time zones so everyone�s internal clock was messed up. Graham and I divved up the group and drove them to the Stanford Hotel, the newest one in St. John�s. The Stanford is in the west end of St. John�s on LeMarchant Road, next to St. Clare�s Hospital and was so new that the parking lot didn�t exist yet. It was a combination dirt/gravel lot with steel drums and plastic caution tape marking ever-changing entrances, exits and parking areas. Jim and Lillian and I giggled a bit as it reminded us of our stay at the unfinished Clarion Hotel in Cork. Half the hotel was done and the other half was still very much under construction. The continuing construction would be the bane of the Irishmen as the vehicles began work at 8:30 AM. Jim, Lillian and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and packed up the car with speakers, cables, instruments and such. We had to drop brochures and CDs off at each venue, make sure the volunteers knew what was up, drop equipment off at a couple different venues, set up the mic system for the Ship� It was a busy evening to say the least. This was the first of five nights of Festival performances for the musicians, with the Islands of Song Gala scheduled for the 30th at the Arts and Culture Centre after a day "off." Jim was scheduled to perform at both Erin�s and the Ship this evening. Singers had been scheduled to do two sets per evening at two different venues. The Celtic Hearth and Bridie Malloy's were paired as they are right on top of each other. But the challenging one was the pairing of the Ship Inn and Erin's Pub. They are a block and a street level away from each other. Not a daunting distance, but a little jaunt carrying your instrument with you. Jim and Lillian had tried to time performances so that no one had to leave Erin's and go straight to The Ship, but that didn't work a few nights for Darrell and Jim, when they changed places back to back. It all worked out in the end though! I couldn't believe how much effort those two had put into the schedule, making sure everyone got to perform in various combinations and at all venues at least twice. When all was delivered, I decided to stay at the Ship and watch the evening unfold. I was not disappointed to say the least! The Irish singers were huddled at a back table and I joined them to watch Ger Wolfe, Ken Cotter, Colleen Power, Jim Fidler, Mick Flannery, and Darrell Power make their debut performances at the Atlantic Crossroads Festival. The huge posters Lillian had designed made a stunning backdrop and/or a compelling advertisement for the festival. The same design was on the brochures we had stapled. It was an eye-catching design, for sure. Unfortunately, my camera's batteries went belly up right after I took a snapshot of Ger. So you'll have to be content with my descriptions of the evening�s songs. Ger Wolfe was the first of the first at the Ship Inn. He opened with Call Me Down, one of my favorites from his Ragged Ground CD. He said it was written to recall those days waiting for the school bus on the corner with his Mother. He then told us that it was great to be singing a song in Newfoundland, that he had never been this west before and was surprised that it looks much the same as Ireland. Next was what he called an immigration song, written for his brother who emigrated from Mayfield to London in the 80�s, looking for work. It was called The Lark of Mayfield, from his Ragged Ground album. His next song was in Irish, The Rocks of Bonn(?). Ger sang it unaccompanied. Then came She Scattered Crumbs written after he had noticed a line of bird feeders hanging up in the winter. Then my favorite, Curra Road � �this is dedicated to Jim, Lillian and Anne for their support, and also thanks to Wayne and Sheila Cook.� He mentioned that Jim recorded a version on his new album. I was sorry to see him leave the stage, but another one of the great Irish musicians was scheduled next so I didn�t complain. Ken Cotter came up and began his evening�s entertainment with Without Love, a favorite of mine that I heard him sing in Ireland. The second song�s title I didn�t catch, but it had the line �highways of happiness with golden arches� in it. I thought that was a brilliant use of a phrase. Still Canal came next. I always want to call it Steel Canal. It�s one of his trademark songs. The more Ken sang tonight, the stronger his voice got, I guess he was happy to have his lovely wife, Val, there supporting him on this trip. I enjoyed spending a little time with her one evening in Ireland in March. There was an audience participation song - �La La La� we sang. �Let�s keep singing so the music never ends.� I�m all for that! The title song from Ken�s new CD, Agent Orange, was next. He explained it was written about �the situation in my country for the past 80 years.� I remember the line �Who says wisdom comes from being older?� Good question! He closed with a love song whose name escapes me. Good set from Ken this evening! |