CONTRA DANCING, THE "ROCKSHOP" BANDS, &C...

I practice with our impromptu contra dance band (fiddle, piano, and guitar) Sunday night. “Contra dance music”—I looked it up on the Internet—is 32 measures, with an “A part” of 16 and a “B part” of 16. Sounds like fiddle tunes—but if one thinks of the “A part” as a verse and “B part” as a chorus, the range of possibilities gets a whole lot wider. The “A” and “B” parts (verse and chorus) are supposed to be different, or at least start different, as a signal to the contra dance caller to do something mysterious that I guess contra dance callers do.

“Red Wing” is a classic example—and it’s a fiddlers’ favorite, as well as being a bluegrass standard (not surprising—it’s over 100 years old). But “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams fits the standards just perfectly, too, and might be even easier to dance to. A few of mine would work also—one of the polkas, my medieval ballad, and (of all things) “I Want a Man for Christmas.”

The lyrics don’t matter, of course; only the melody gets played. Instead of a singer, there’s the caller, who will presumably be choreographing the dancers’ moves and telling them what to do, as in square and round dancing. I will learn the fiddle tunes, though, instead of promoting anything else; it’s an opportunity to learn new stuff, and play with new people, and I don’t want to be hidebound to my own material. I’d like to be versatile.

Still two more members of the band to convey the bad news to, about only getting to play ten minutes at Garibaldi Days. And I still don’t know what we’ll do. (As Yoda would say, “There is play. There is not play.” We will do one or the other.) I wanted to do something for Mike Simpson’s “Rockshop” bands, though—they’re just kids, and they’re being victimized by this ten-minutes-only rule, too, and they’ve been practicing for this show. They are good (one of the bands is fronted by a girl singer—she must be 12 now—with a knock-your-socks-off voice), and it would be nice to get them some exposure and attention. More than ten minutes, anyway. Is there somewhere else they can perform?

There are two local venues over which I might have a little bit of influence. One is the Bay City Arts Center, where I’m one of the staff, and where we have Saturday night, July 31—a week after Garibaldi Days—available because the Jews Harp Festival cancelled. I’ve sounded out Mike (and he’ll sound out the kids Monday), and the idea has been proposed to the BCAC Board. The Arts Center’s Dance Floor is a good performance space—and we can videotape the kids, too. And we can promote the heck out of it and see how big a crowd we can generate.

The other is the new 2nd Street Market in Tillamook, where I’m on the Board. It’s got a nice stage (though no PA system), and it’d be free (the Arts Center has to charge $15)—and the Market has been in need of events to draw in a crowd, but has no money since they blew their wad on the Portland bands for their July 4 grand opening. The “Rockshop” bands will bring in a crowd, and would be free.

Both events might open up a new dimension of entertainment which thus far has remained unexplored by anybody, I think—showcasing out in the community things the schoolkids do. (We’ve talked about this at the Arts Center. There are art and music things the kids are doing that only their parents and teachers know about. The public never gets to see or hear them.) It would be nice to develop a symbiotic relationship between the kids’ activities and the business community; right now, the schools don’t seem to communicate with the community at all—but as money dries up in the ongoing Depression, and budgets and programs get slashed as a result, the ability to call on the community for support is going to become extremely important. (Hmm. I wonder if there’s a grant application in that?)

I’ve been wrestling with the application to be city manager in Rockaway Beach, trying to make it as perfect as possible, because I’d really, really like that job—but I’ll have to give up on being perfect, and just be me—I’m really not good at being anything else. And I don’t have any control over what happens.

Last note. Fred and Barb got married today—that’s the second time in recent years that two Friday Night Group musicians have gotten hitched. (He plays guitar; she plays keyboard and spoons.) May they (shall we say) make beautiful music together.

Joe