September 6, 2016
Well, it was a beautiful weekend for all the festivities around our area. I hope you got out and enjoyed it as much as Shelley and I did. We had a music-filled weekend as well as spending some time with great friends.
We started things off with a special Bill Poss solo outdoor concert Friday in downtown Mattoon. Bill did a one-and-one-half hour show near Sound Source Music on Broadway. Bill recently had a song picked up for a movie and, coincidentally, had the same song recorded on the new album for a Denver-based band. He had a couple of new songs in his set, as well. It’s good to have him writing again.
Friday night we were at Jackson Avenue Coffee (The JAC) in Charleston for a David Hanners and Karl Burke concert and –WOW, what a treat. David grew up across the street from my grandparents here in Casey and has the distinction of being our town’s only Pulitzer Prize winner and is also an incredible singer/songwriter. His songs are rich in local history and are easily relatable to anyone with small town roots or anyone who has ever driven past a small town, for that matter. David now lives in Kuwait with his wife – talk about a road trip to do a gig!!! Karl is a great singer/guitar player/bass player from the Minneapolis area. Karl is a music performance instructor as well as a solo musician and member of the Eelpout Stringers Old Time String Band. Both have CD’s out as well as YouTube videos – check them out sometime.
On Saturday David and Karl joined local banjo legend Richard Hippler. They played a bluegrass set at the Moonshine Store in the morning and at the bandstand in Fairview Park during the Casey Popcorn Festival that afternoon. It was truly a treat. Richard is a master of his craft and has been playing since he was ten..
Grapevine Bluegrass Festival at Tuscan Hills Winery in Effingham is now over, I went all three days and had a great time. My old buddy Phillip Cramer and his band Flat Mountain started Friday night with a bang – I have never heard Elton John or Guns n Roses done bluegrass style, but they pulled it off. It was a lot of fun, guys – thanks.
I am looking forward to the Chicago Farmer CD launch party this Friday night. It will be a blast, I’m sure!!! I am told that the show will go on rain or shine.
The beans are really beginning to turn here and the corn is drying down. I suspect we will be out there in a couple of weeks. We are spending this week getting semi’s and trailers tested, bins fumigated, and tractors hooked to implements so we will be ready to roll when the time comes.
Until next time,
John
“The farmer has to be an optimist, or he wouldn’t still be a farmer”
-Will Rogers