We’re driving home from visiting Aunt Faye and Uncle Jack at their cozy home near Grand Lake. The temperature was perfect, as was the lack of mosquitoes and the stew we had for supper. I love visiting Faye and Jack – they are down to earth, welcoming and easy to be around. Michael and I are making an effort, a real effort to spend some time visiting people. Life, it seems, is far too short.
Just as we were exiting their road and starting out on the main highway, which once was the Trans Canada Highway, at Sheffield, Michael reminded me that he had put his laptop in the back seat for me, in case I felt the urge to blog. I said I didn’t really much feel like it, but I was reminded that I had so much to write about. Such as? Oh yes, all the events taking place lately at Studio 16. How could I forget?
Right now the car is stopped along the highway in Maugerville (route 105). We saw a sign indicating the Ch Church Rd is coming up. We have stopped to take a picture of the sign. What is so remarkable about that particular sign, you might ask? Well you should. Michael has a cousin, Gary, that thought for many years that the Ch at the beginning of every road sign meant “church.” Gary, like the rest of us, was born and raised in bilingual New Brunswick, but somehow he missed the fact that “ch” stands for “chemin” (road en Francais) and has always thought it stood for “Church.” Because of that, we thought it funny that Gary would say this particular signs says “Church Church Rd”. Never mind. Perhaps it’s one of those things that you have to be there to understand. Oh, and don’t miss the fact that we’re taking a picture of a road sign…
For those of you that don’t know, my dad passed away on August 8th. I miss him terribly and as I said when mom died on May 25th, 2007, the fact that people miss you after you’re gone is perhaps the best legacy that a person can leave. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our many dear friends in the Bluegrass community. We are deeply blessed with true and real friends.
Back to the blog – Studio 16. Little did I know, many years ago when we married, that I would someday be married to a recording studio engineer, and constantly having celebrities in my home, and most impressive of all, having to listen to take after take of the same song. I’ll call it a song for lack of a better word. Yes, I’m rolling my eyes.
First, it was the fish song. Michael’s brother Steven wrote a song about a fish – a muskie, to be exact. Someone please shoot me in the head if I have to listen to that one again. Like, man! Oh, and I loved how Steve was at our house and Mike the recording studio engineer kept saying “your timing is off, do it again.” It didn’t take me long to figure out where I’ve heard that before. I hear it every single time I go near any musical instrument, regardless of whether it has strings. Even with the triangle, I struggle with timing. It should be noted that when Michael said “your timing is out, do it again,” Steve would rebel, to the point where I imagined that they sounded like that when they were 10 and 13. And in between the hollering, I had to listen to the song. I don’t need to wonder why people take valium.
We moved from the fish song to Southern Flavour, which is supposed to be a Bluegrass song. I’m thinking it sounds like something from Cape Breton, but Michael assures me that it’s Bluegrass. I don’t think it has a Bluegrass arrangement, but the recording studio engineer / Bluegrass music committee member tells me different. Mark me as not impressed.
So, right off the go there’s a problem in that I don’t really like the song, and I’m ticked because I hear it in my sleep and in my head and I want it to go away, and then he starts dissecting it. First, the bass track. Then 492 takes with Kenny the mandolin player. Kenny wasn’t liking the recording studio engineer too much at the end either, I bet. Then, the fiddle track. Somehow Michael lured Matt Hayes up to our house with the promise of a tuna sandwich. I was told that day’s fun consisted of 30 takes. What I find absolutely remarkable is that they all literally sound the same to me. Not that I would know. I vacated. I’d like to tell you that I was thrown out, but that is not the case. After I made the tuna sandwiches, I exited, stage left; call it survival instincts.
First I went to a craft store for a short visit. I love the stuff in that store but I had the sensation that it was probably too expensive for me to breathe in there. Usually I end up just buying a candle, but even that was more than I wanted to spend. Next I went to Fabricville, which is lovely. So many colors, so much material, so little time. I spent an hour and a half in there – pure luxury. It’s probably the only store I’ve ever been in where I just wanted to throw myself on the piles of fabric and roll through the aisles. The colors and patterns and textures are so appealing to my senses. Then I went to the Baptist Bookroom (I didn’t know they moved!), then to Wal-Mart. This morning I heard Michael say in a loudish voice “You bought another pair of shoes?!?!” Place the emphasis on *another*. I didn’t answer him, but I’m fairly certain when he reads this blog, he’ll know I heard. A smart woman would be hitting the backspace key right now, but not me. I also bought 10 spools of black thread for making more quilts, and two flower pots for splitting up the beautiful plant that the Bluegrass Friends sent when Dad died. Thank you very much for sending it. My sister Heather wanted to take it home with her, but I talked her into letting me keep it and I promised I would split it in two. She said ok, hesitantly, and then asked if I still had a problem with keeping plants alive. Har har har. Very funny.
Then, I had to go back home. Matt was still smiling. I can feel your pain, Matt. I smile through it all too. Oh, I forgot…in between the mandolin track and the fiddle track, Tom came up to have his banjo fixed. He said it was making funny noises since he had replaced the strings. I hate to tell you this Tom, but it’s a banjo. It’s always going to sound funny.
My buddy Mike (friend Mike not husband Mike) was telling me that he saw half a dozen banjos at the Sussex flea market. I asked Michael (husband Mike not friend Mike) if he wanted to go up to Sussex and check them out – maybe one of them was a pre-war whoosit whatever. He said that there’d be no way they would still be there. I love it when he feeds me ammunition for the Gotcha Gun. I said “no one bought those things – in fact there are probably three more there with them!” Jeepers. Seems so obvious to me.
I’m feeling so much better. Nothing like a good blog to get the adrenaline flowing.
I’m really looking forward to Thomas Point. Michael keeps saying that we’re not going, but I know we are – that’s what I bought the new shoes for.
Happy day, everyone!
Helen
Just before Christmas 2008, Michael and I recorded a series of interviews with some of our Bluegrass friends. The intent of the interviews is for the inclusion on a DVD slideshow that will highlight some of the events we've shared as a result of our common interest in Bluegrass music. Michael took care of the technical aspects; I did the interviewing.
Interview with Kenny Innis.
