Greetings from Liberty,
Just a short note of thanks to all of you that showed up, practiced patience and watched the Pass the Song, Pass the Hat virtual concert on Thursday night. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. It was a real hoot. The platform, Crowdcast, had a glitch at the beginning of the concert and Amber, the host, wasn’t able to start the concert on time. Fortunately, many of the attendees were chatting away, and it made for some amusement. Folks were speaking about what they were drinking, from herbal tea to whiskey. The anticipation was building, and it reminded me of many concerts I went to in the late sixties/early seventies at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, where conversation with your neighbor helped pass the time, while the rock stars got enough nerve to walk out onto the stage.
For those of you that were unable to watch the concert, you can watch it here. I performed two songs, “I’m A Painter Too” and “Janesville.” I also traded licks on “Dueling Banjos” and “Happy Birthday,” with fiddler extraordinaire, Craig Eastman, Amber’s brother. The concert was a birthday celebration for host, Amber Black.
This was my first virtual concert and I must say, it had all of the experience that an in-person live concert has. I made sure I was in tune, I wore an outfit, I had a very short set list, one song, and I could feel the circle of energy from the audience, though I couldn’t see anyone, and we were in altogether, different places. It was an event and it felt like it.
Thank you Amber Black, Deb Fife and Craig Eastman for pulling off a fun evening and bringing ninety plus folks together to share some community, celebration and song.
Wishing everyone good health and better days ahead…
Billy
p.s. This is what the stage looked like for me.
