Hey Folkies

For me, Monday holidays are annoying. It's just a day when I can't figure out why things are closed and the bus isn't on time when I'm trying to run errands on my day off.
I did shows all this rain drenched weekend and forgot that there are activities going on in the city even on Monday. So when a friend called me this morning about Folklife - I decided the laundry and dishes could wait another day. I had totally forgotten that it was still going on. And the rain had finally stopped.
Seattle Center has things going on everywhere all at once. Whatever you are in the mood for - listening to musicians, dancing (watching or participating), shopping, eating, watching documentaries, learning a craft, etc. etc. And it's all free (as long as you don't buy anything).
Normally I haven't heard of any of the musicians playing there. I almost didn't bother getting a schedule of events. Thought I would just wander around. Luckily I did though, because in one hour, Dana Lyons was here and I could see a live performance of Cows with Guns! I was surprised he was at one of the smaller stages. That song gets played on one of the mainstream radio stations here. The whole crowd sang the choruses. When the song ended, the crowd, totally unprovoked by him, started mooing. It was hilarious. (Jenny, if you're reading this, I always think of how much you would love this song if you don't know it already).

I love the mandolin. And you can bet a Folklife Festival has plenty of those. This is a picture of Pete Martin and Friends (jazz mandolin).



I took a workshop for the didjeridoo. I figured I could use a refresher since the last (and only other time) I learned about it was sixteen years ago in Queensland. For the people who did not bring their own didj, they gave us plastic tubes to use. Here's a picture of my didj and the tube I used at Folklife.