Big Photo Finish to Our Summer Tour (This is gonna suck if you have a dial-up connection)

Last weekend, my partner Amy Gustin and I performed at North Country Fair in Arcata.

We had a terrific time playing for an appreciative and generous audience.

We performed a couple of pieces from Amy’s album, The Big Picture, and one from my album Um… Uh…Gum Eh? as well as several new works-in-progress.

After a busy Summer, we expected to conclude our season of live engagements with our performance at North Country Fair, one of our favorite venues, before taking some time off to record a new album.

Most bands that play North Country Fair don’t bring a full, theater-scale, light show, but since it was the last show on the tour, we decided to go all out.

It did take a rather extraordinary effort to set up 50,000 watts of lighting and four floors of scaffolding for a 45 minute set, but I think all who were in attendance would agree, it was worth it.

As a band, Amy and I sound pretty good, but our light show will blow your mind. You really need to experience it first-hand.

Photographer Bob Doran turned up for the event, and took all of these great photos.

After our set, we chatted a bit with Bob.

In addition to being a music writer and photojournalist, Bob Doran is also associate producer of my favorite radio music show in Humboldt County, Fogou, with host Vinny Devaney from 2-4pm Weds on KHSU.

Bob invited us to perform on Fogou the following Weds. Of course we were honored and delighted to play for KHSU’s listeners on Fogou.

We met Bob at his exquisitely decorated home in Arcata, and met his lovely wife Amy.

Before we went to the station, Bob showed me some of the photos he took at North Country Fair. Bob has a great eye, and his photos were not only well composed, but they captured the energy of the event as well as our personalities.

I really appreciate that he came out early on a Sunday morning to catch our set.

When we got to KHSU, we set up on the floor of the studio.

We had some technical difficulties with the Theremin, which took a while to work out, but we played four pieces from our repertoire and did our best to help them raise money during their pledge drive.

Bob Doran took several photographs of our performance on Fogou.

I had a great time, and it was a real kick to be a part of my favorite radio show.

Something Better To Do This Weekend

Something Better To Do This Weekend

This Saturday and Sunday, September 21 and 22, folks in Northern California will have a chance to hear me play electric didgeridoo for free at the 40^th annual North Country Fair on the Plaza in Arcata.

Get there early though, because I’m the first act on the North Stage, playing from 10:30-11:35AM, both days.

North Country Fair is my favorite local festival. It includes lots of great music on two stages, a samba parade, and the famous “All Species Parade” led by animal themed kinetic sculptures followed by revelers in animal costumes and puppets of all kinds.

They also have the best of our local craft artists, festive food, and information booths for local non-profits. Besides playing at the festival, I’ll be manning a booth for KMUD all weekend.

I love North Country Fair for many reasons. First, North Country Fair is a free event. It costs nothing to attend because the costs of putting on the festival are born by the craft artists and food venders.  Anyone can come and enjoy the fair, whether they have money to spare or not, and people who have money, can spend it on handmade crafts, clothes and food, which supports local artists, and helps build Humboldt County’s economic diversity.

Second, North Country Fair pays all of the musicians who perform at the festival. It’s not much, but each performer, not each act, but each performer, gets paid $10 for appearing on-stage at North Country Fair. That is a token of appreciation for the work that these artists put into their acts.

When you listen to a live musical act, you enjoy the fruits of years of training and practice, months of rehearsal, hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of instruments and equipment, not to mention the courage to get up on-stage and the energy it takes to pour themselves out for an audience.

Too many local festivals, (like the big one at the beginning of the Summer in SoHum) pay big bucks for a headline act, but expect local musicians to work for free. At the same time, they charge admission to the festival, even though local craft artists pay the expenses of putting it on, and volunteers provide most of the labor for free.

Yes, the folks who put on North Country Fair (The Same Old People) may not make much money themselves, (which comes from beer, wine and t-shirt sales) but they provide an excellent example of how a community non-profit should operate. The Same Old People don’t own a world-class concert hall, but they know how to support the arts in a small rural community.

A Didgeridoo Diversion

 

A Didgeridoo Diversion

Remember the old TV variety shows? They always used musical numbers to pad out the funny stuff. Well I thought I would borrow a page from their playbook, and use this new video I shot of me playing electric didgeridoo to pad out this weeks post. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Come hear me play at the North Country Fair in Arcata, CA on Saturday September 21 and Sunday September 22 on the North Stage from 10:30 to 11:45AM both days, and please “like” my fb page.  It will keep you up to date on future appearances.  Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Hardin-Electric-Didgeridoo/345710938798286