I’m now concluding my third and second-to-last week of winter break. I finished the first semester of my junior year at Washington University in St. Louis when I turned in my last project on December 23rd. Over the break I’ve been relaxing, spending time with family, visiting with friends who are home from their respective colleges, and, until this past week, playing music.
This past Tuesday I had surgery on my left hand. Over the summer I developed a ganglion cyst on the back of my left wrist. It’s a benign growth that typically grows around the joints of the hand, most typical in women. They say it’s from a trauma to the area, but I’m pretty positive it’s from all of the repetitive motion of playing fiddle so much this summer. These cysts are frequently referred to as “Bible cysts” because many people, in order to get rid of these bumps in a low-cost manner, would smash the cyst with a Bible or a large book. Unfortunately, this method is not very effective, and the cysts often grow back within several months. Thus, I opted to have it cut out. I went under the knife the morning of January 3 and spent the remainder of that day as well as the next in a significant amount of pain. I had to keep my hand up in the air for 48 hours afterwards — I possessed a striking resemblance to the Statue of Liberty! I was allowed to take the bandages off, and now I am just required to wear a splint in order to immobilize my wrist. I’ll wear that for 2 weeks until the stitches are removed, after which I can return to my normal way of life. The only thing I can’t do for an entire month is play my fiddle. I was not too happy when my doctor told me this while I was being hooked up to IVs in the surgical center, but I’m hoping I’ll make it through by listening to a lot of CDs and playing my dulcimer a little more to compensate.
I’m currently finishing up an application to spend a week with Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall, and Jerry Douglas in New York City. While I was working for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra this past semester, a co-worker forwarded me an e-mail she received from Carnegie Hall thinking I’d be interested. Edgar Meyer is an AMAZING double bass player as well as pianist. He is hosting a week-long workshop in May for 15 musicians between the years of 18 and 30, who play traditional and/or classical music. The workshop will focus on both types of music, both improvisational and composed. Mr. Meyer is well-known for his roots in both genres and his attempt to fuse both elements in his music. He will be assisted by a wonderful group of musicians, Fleck, Marshall, and Douglas, to work with this group of young musicians. I was very excited when I first learned about this opportunity, and I really hope I have a chance at participating!
Reflecting back on the past few months, I’ve realized that I haven’t mentioned anything about the Walnut Valley Association Festival held in Winfield, Kansas nor the Sawdust Festival in Bennington, Oklahoma: both wonderful festivals I had the pleasure of attending! I have gone to Winfield every year for the past 7 years, and I must say it is one of, if not THE best festival I have ever been to. If you are a musician and appreciate old-time, bluegrass, or even a little Celtic music, I would highly recommend this festival! It is an experience to say the least! It’s not like a lot of the festivals out there in that it is not workshop-based at all, in fact they only have a handful throughout the entire 4-day festival. The main focuses are concerts and jamming. There are 5 stages strewn about the fair grounds, and there are concerts scheduled from 9 a.m. until midnight each day. The WVA hires amazing musicians from all over the world to entertain the attendees, and I always have a big time sitting in the grand stands or on a grassy hill listening to some hot bands all day and night long. When you’re not listening to concerts, shopping among the many craft and instrument booths, or eating those festival goodies like homemade ice cream, you can jam in the vastness of campgrounds or the Pecan Grove. This is also the location of the national competitions for hammered and mountain dulcimer, old-time fiddle, mandolin, autoharp, bluegrass banjo, flatpick and fingerstyle guitar. I participated in the HD contest, but I did not make the top 5 this time around. There were a lot of great competitors this year! I performed a number of times with the band No Strings Attached on a couple of the stages and had a blast! I also got to sit in on some amazing jam sessions. I’ve posted some pictures from here!
2 weeks after returning from Kansas, my mom and I drove down to Bennington, Oklahoma. Russell Cook hosts the Sawdust Festival right outside his Masterworks workshop, and I must say, he puts on a wonderful festival! There is so much to do, and he really knows how to keep you busy! I was fortunate enough to be one of the performers and teachers. It was certainly a great learning experience! I taught my first official workshops on the hammered dulcimer at the beginning and intermediate level. All of the people who attended my classes were very friendly and patient with me, and I felt like I really got the hang of it after my first couple of workshops. I played with the Bailey Family as well as the Wrights on stage a couple times, and I had a lot of fun jamming in the evenings. Lloyd Wright and I got a chance to play some of the tunes he and I had recorded for Jiggle the Handle over the summer as well. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to returning to Bennington for next year’s festival! I’ve posted pictures from this trip as well.
Finally, the last musical event that sticks out in my mind is my CD release concert!! After a lot of work finishing up the album and doing a little promoting, we put on a really great show at the Missouri Ethical Society on October 29. Lloyd Wright and Wes Chappell flew in to play on stage with me, Carole Bryan, and Mike Tiefenbrun. We all had a good time on stage, and I was sad to see it pass by so quickly! The Ethical Society has a great acoustic sound, and our sound man Paul Stamler did a wonderful job helping us get the sound we wanted. Overall, although the turnout was a bit smaller than planned, competing with Halloween weekend activities, it was a wonderful night surrounded by friends. I’ve also posted a release concert photo album.
I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays, and I look forward to all of the festivals quickly approaching in the spring!
