Before performing with Odetta on Monday the 16th, I spent several days on the road. Friday night I played a full concert at the Kemp Performing Arts Center in Wichita Falls. It was a very pleasing evening and my friend, Dr. Hull, a guitarist and musician and accomplished doc in his hometown was a great host and a very talented producer of the show. My friends at KCCU-FM, the public radio affiliate for north Texas that airs WoodSongs, came out to the show we had a fine visit. The hall was full, the audience sang and was memorable.
The next day, I traveled about 7 hours to Kerrville for a concert there.
Again, full house, wonderful music lovers and my hosts for the evening, Marty and Paula Reynolds, could not have been friendlier and more encouraging. I hope WoodSongs makes it on the air in the Kerrville area, maybe KUT or the NPR station in San Antonio. It made me miss my days when I lived in Laredo. Gosh, the food is indescribable!
I flew back to Lexington, did a TV interview for some PBS stations then had dinner with Odetta. By Monday, I was cooked but very happy. Folks often comment that I don't have enough pics on the website or on my CDs. believe it or not, I hate posing for the camera. Paula emailed me this shot she took at the post-show gathering.
Folk On!MJ
Odetta.
She has one name long before Madonna and Prince made it popular. She was the inspiration for Dylan to pick up the acoustic guitar. She made Janis Joplin want to learn how to sing like you "own" the song. Odetta is a magnificient woman, a true friend and generous lady. She could have been anywhere in the nation this past Monday. It was Martin Luther King, Jr Day. She marched and sang with Dr. King. She was there with him during his "I Have A Dream" speech.
She could have been anywhere on that day.
No doubt earning a huge fee.
But she came to WoodSongs for free.
What an example of a genuine soul who puts the audience and the art first. After the show, we had dinner together at Natasha's Cafe. My friends Bonnie, Richard and Richard Jr and Erica, who came to the show as audience members, joined us. Odetta sat with them and treated them as if they were old friends. Odetta and her musical passion deserves to be studied closely by every new artist.
Michael
folkboy@woodsongs.com
I am surrounded by an amazing, magnificient volunteer crew. They make WoodSongs possible - for me, the artists who appear on the show. And for you. Without them, there is no WoodSongs.
I guess Kevin Johnson is first on this list. He's our chief engineer ... we call him Darth Fader, because he sits behind the huge mixing console. If you like the way WoodSongs sounds, Kevin is the guy along with Brandon and Adrian and the rest of the audio crew.
Jim Piston works for the Kentucky PBS affiliate. He's very busy, very accomplished, very smart. I've known Jim for years and we've done all my music videos together. He's good, those videos aired on TNN, CMT and VH-1 because he is so technically careful and artistic. The past two weeks, Jim has pretty much consumed himself into making WoodSongs a national TV broadcast. A TV broadcast of a live audience radio show.
Corday, his new wife and an on-air announcer for the show, is also the WoodSongs Crew Captian. She organizes the varios jobs for the crew so everything is organized. And it always is. Corday, like Jim, offered a tremendous amount of time and effort to maiiung the TV broadcast of WoodSongs possible.
KC Campbell, another of the hard working crew members, contructs and then brings down the set every week. Without KC, there is no WoodSongs.
And without you there is no WoodSongs. Without the audience there is no art. Nothing. I guess what I am trying to do is say Thank You, as passionately and publicly as I can.
This is an amazing ride ...
Michael
Monday night
January 9, 2006
