Well, the Montana Wild West Fest was held over the last weekend and it was a lot of fun. I ran sound for the main entertainers stage as well as performing several times. There was a Cavalry encampment, numerous shootouts, vendors and displays.
For me, the highlight of the show was Jim Jones; an excellent Western Music performer from New Mexico. I had a great time talking with him and we got our guitars out and jammed a couple of times. If you get a chance to see him perform, I heartily reccommend it!
I encountered one frustrating episode at the WWF. As I have mentioned, I was doing sound for the main stage. The AM String Band from Helena was playing for the Frontier Ball on Saturday, August 10th. When I went to the stage area to meet with them and get them set up, I found that they had already torn down my equipment so they could set up their own! My cables were in a snarled pile by the sound table, speakers disconnected and moved, microphones and stands moved and the cavles tangled...It was quite the mess. At first, you can imagine the responses I was thinking of. But, on the bright side, if they didn't need me for sound, I could go home and go to bed. I got my stuff more out of their way and then did exactly that. It only took me a half hour or so to get things reset the next day. My only real comment was and is that my daughter, at 3 years old, understood the concept of "If it's not yours; don't mess with it!"
I'm back in Virginia City, MT for the week, then Parade Rest Ranch again Friday; Virginia City Cafe Saturday and Sunday and then Parade Rest again Monday. That's my basic schedule for the next few weeks. It's been a GREAT summer!
See y'all later.
A place to read stories, facts, opinions, ramblings and rants of your basic low income, working poor, old fashioned and often seriously disheartened Old Guy
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
I'm baaack!!
Ok. I know. I’ve been neglecting my blog really bad lately. Here I am again for a quick entry.
I’ve been keeping the highway warm between Townsend and West Yellowstone (West) since our Townsend Gathering ended. I play on Friday at the Parade Rest Ranch in West; run to Virginia City to play at the VC Café Saturday and Sunday, back to Parade Rest for Monday and then either back to VC for T-W-T or head back to Townsend to glance in the general direction of one or the other of my regular computer customers. Anyway, most of my running is in areas where blog entries are not easy to make.
It’s been fun so far this summer. I’ve also had a couple of gigs in the Big Sky area and one this last weekend at the Bale of Hay Saloon in Virginia City.
This is one of the worst mosquito years in West that I have ever seen. The skeeters around here aren’t very big but they make up for it in numbers…like piranha! If you walk into the tall grass anywhere within 20 miles of West, you may never be seen again!
Actually, I stopped tonight at Story Ditch (a BLM area along 287, between Ennis and West) as I planned on staying there for the night. Before I could even get out of the pickup, there were skeeters on the windows, staring hungrily in at me. I kept on heading upriver to a better place!
I had an interesting time with the >Yellowstone Club in Big Sky. First, they wanted my Contractors Insurance info so they could set me up as a vendor. When that didn’t work out, they found a way around it, I guess, as they finally did contract a small show with me. But, I had heard that it could take as much as 3 months to get a check from them so I insisted on payment up front. Then, they cancelled anyway, so now I have to send them a check for half of the fee already paid to me. Anyway, if you get a call from them, make sure you get your payment set up before hand.
I’ll do a better job of keeping this blog up to date from now on. Maybe I’ll see ya out here somewhere!
I’ve been keeping the highway warm between Townsend and West Yellowstone (West) since our Townsend Gathering ended. I play on Friday at the Parade Rest Ranch in West; run to Virginia City to play at the VC Café Saturday and Sunday, back to Parade Rest for Monday and then either back to VC for T-W-T or head back to Townsend to glance in the general direction of one or the other of my regular computer customers. Anyway, most of my running is in areas where blog entries are not easy to make.
It’s been fun so far this summer. I’ve also had a couple of gigs in the Big Sky area and one this last weekend at the Bale of Hay Saloon in Virginia City.
This is one of the worst mosquito years in West that I have ever seen. The skeeters around here aren’t very big but they make up for it in numbers…like piranha! If you walk into the tall grass anywhere within 20 miles of West, you may never be seen again!
Actually, I stopped tonight at Story Ditch (a BLM area along 287, between Ennis and West) as I planned on staying there for the night. Before I could even get out of the pickup, there were skeeters on the windows, staring hungrily in at me. I kept on heading upriver to a better place!
I had an interesting time with the >Yellowstone Club in Big Sky. First, they wanted my Contractors Insurance info so they could set me up as a vendor. When that didn’t work out, they found a way around it, I guess, as they finally did contract a small show with me. But, I had heard that it could take as much as 3 months to get a check from them so I insisted on payment up front. Then, they cancelled anyway, so now I have to send them a check for half of the fee already paid to me. Anyway, if you get a call from them, make sure you get your payment set up before hand.
I’ll do a better job of keeping this blog up to date from now on. Maybe I’ll see ya out here somewhere!
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