Violet and the Newsroom

We’re all back home safe and sound after attending the sixth annual Elliott County Fiddler’s Convention at the Little Sandy Lodge in Sandy Hook, Kentucky. It was our first year there together as a band, and we had a BLAST. John Ryster throws a great party!!

We played Friday evening on a little wooden stage in the valley behind the Lodge. John took good care of our sound, and we got to drool over (and…into?) a pair of Ear Trumpet Labs Delphinas.

We tried to set up a gimbal to get some video to post, but, well…

Too bad. We’ve got audio, though.

Timestamps: Squirrel Hunter @ 1:05, Paradise @ 3:37, Blue Goose @ 8:35, By The Waters Of The James @ 11:39, Old Aunt Jenny With Her Night Cap On @ 16:32, Take It Over @ 19:59, Waiting For Nancy @ 23:28, Wild Mountain Thyme @ 27:17, The Cuckoo @ 31:03, Cluck Old Hen @ 35:23, Ain’t No Ash Will Burn @ 39:11, and Jubilee @ 44:21.

After our set, we got to chat with our friend Hallie Adams (photojournalist, Morehead State alum) about the festival and the old time music tradition. We missed the square dance (heartbreaking!), BUT we headed to Morehead’s Stargazer Lounge for karaoke, unintentionally crashed a former classmate/coworker’s party (happy birthday Caylee!), and finally got some rest thanks to our dear friend Leeann’s hospitality. Whew.

On to day two! Breakfast at Fuzzy Duck, then back down to Sandy Hook for the contest day. We lucked out with sun for most of the morning and early afternoon. Violet netted second place in the ballad contest, while I (Clay) placed second in the dulcimer contest. Wahoo!

We got to see old friends and make new friends as the day went on. We saw three generations of John Rysters, we were gifted handmade possums by Maple (a fantastic musician whose version of Don’t Want To Die In The Storm placed third in the ballad competition), and we did the thing we’d been talking about all year – sitting for tintype photographs from Megan Snook.

Anabel and I were totally enchanted watching her do these last year, and we resolved to save up and get one of our band next time we were so lucky to cross paths. Megan explains the process very well on her website, but the gist is that you sit very still for seven seconds as silver nitrate has a light reaction on a black-enameled sheet of metal.

We’re also grateful to have been invited back to the Little Sandy Lodge next week for Minnie Adkins Day, which celebrates the local folk artist with music, food, and all sorts of whimsical and wonderful artwork. We play at 10:45 am – good morning to all!

See ya! Love, Clay!