Posted by azfiddle on Thursday, September 18, 2008
It might have been sheer laziness on my part... but I never got around to sharing how the Round the House tour back east went. This is the abridged version. Full details on our myspace blog: www.myspace.com/roundthehouse.
It was FUN! We actually made a profit, thanks to generosity of so many folks along the way who provided us a place to stay. The only thing that was sub-optimal was the recurrence of my repetitive stress problems (thoracic outlet syndrome) and even a couple of full length massages were not enough to keep away the fatigue and pain, especially during and after the dances....but the band is such a great team, they supported me through it.
We arrived from various points to a rendezvous in Pittsburgh on Friday the 13th (of June): Dave came from a work trip in Boston, Mark and his family were driving over from Ohio and Claire and I flew in from Tucson.
We started at the PIttsburgh contra dance Friday night - a bit hot and humid, but otherwise, it was a great kick-off to the trip. Saturday morning we had a great time on the incredibly long-lived radio show: The Light Brigade, which is housed in the basement of the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. A relaxing afternoon and then we enjoyed a small but appreciative audience at the Claddagh Pub. Sunday night, we had a great time entertaining in a house concert in Annie Trimble and Curtis Cooper's living room. Annie and Curt are great musicians too, and have a unique link to the southwest with their hobby of "Cowboy shooting"
Then Monday morning we headed east to central Pennsylvania. We checked in to one of our two nights of hotel lodgings- at the very comfy Yorktowne Hotel, then made drove up to Harrsiburg to play in a very cozy coffee-house held in the Unitarian Church.
An unexpectedly early wake-up with a fire alarm... then we headed further east to Princeton. Tuesday night we played in a charming little venue that is both a recording studio and concert - Looking Glass Pond and then enjoyed the generous hospitality of some of the Princeton contra dancers. So of course, Wednesday night we played at the Princeton contra dance, and then enjoyed a very pleasant post-dance get together. That was the end of the leisurely paced part of the tour and into the back and forth and back and forth driving part of the week.
Thursday morning (by now, it's June 19) we had to get up at a ridiculously early hour to get back to York to play a lunch-time concert downtown. Then we rushed back to the car to get to Philadelphia for the Glenside contra dance. Wow- a lot of energy. Friday- back to Harrisburg for a pub gig, and our 2nd night of hotel lodging near the Maryland border.
Finally.. the end of the tour was coming up. Saturday we played a set at the Penn-Mar festival and then hosted an Irish session. We said farewells to many new friends we had made from York and the Penn-Mar fest.. then on to our last gig at a pub near West Chester. Despite some miscommunications about sound, we had a fun evening, and then Mark took his leave. Next day- the end of the tour and back to our ordinary lives as people who play music mostly for fun.
Oh yeah- we've been invited back for next June.
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