indiana State Fair day 5 - 2011 edition

An epic day at the Indiana State Fair. Read all about it by clicking here.

hot rollers

I joined an all-woman jug band and purchased hot rollers. Yep, that was pretty much the path from not owning a brush to buying rollers. And you know that this will lead to other purchases, like hairspray and sparkly eye stuff.

It's been fun to hang out with girly-girls who dress up and take the time to apply makeup and wear red lipstick.

Next thing you know, I'll be wearing a flower in my hair.

band practice

 

My typewriter case is starting to look more rock and roll.

Yay! We had band practice tonight, for real.

I sure do love hanging out with the Alice Chalmers woman (and their kiddos)!

It was another whirlwind Thursday. I worked late, followed by committee meeting for the neighborhood board and blowing in to rehearsal an hour after everyone else.

I kept time on the typewriter....and even Barley joined in:




The sweetest part of the night was watching Jude explain parts of her 1850s claw hammer banjo to the girl twin. Now the girl knows more than me about banjos.



Band practice nights are good for the soul.

the best laid plans....

typewriter, 49th and Broadway

I'd been looking forward to Thursday - I'd spent three nights in a row at home (gasp!) and had a full evening planned - in fact I was joking earlier that  'Thursdays were the new Saturdays. Everything seems to fall on Thursday...

6:30 - band practice
8:30 - Danny Flanigan and John Byrne playing at the Corner Wine Bar
10:00 - Hotfox playing at the Melody Inn.

And since I'd planned no wiggle room things started to fall apart before they even started.

I didn't leave work until 6:15 and the roads were slick and I've driven like an old lady since I was 12 so I didn't get home until almost 7:00. I tossed some food toward the cat, grabbed my typewriter and some pastries and ran out the door, forgoing changing into something cute.

I drove to practice and juggled the typewriter, baked goods, my camera and a diet Pepsi as I walked toward the house - as Dad would say, this was a classic lazy man's load. I was thinking that I should set something down and come back.

I kept walking.

And the inevitable happened.

The case popped open and the typewriter bounced off of my foot and into the intersection.

I scooped everything back up - thank goodness the pastries survived - and burst through Cara's front door - arms loaded, red faced and full of apologies. 

Which shocked the heck out of Cara, since it was not band practice night.

I left the baked goods as a peace offering and went to Plan B - joining up with the Girls Night Out dinner that I thought I couldn't attend. I missed the dinner part, but it was good to join the conversation and laugh and talk about boys and the future.

The party moved to the bar to finish our drinks. I like most music and even if I don't, I appreciate that folks have enough guts to get up and play. I do have a few musical prejudices - I take an immediate dislike to any guitar player wearing a tie-dye shirt. And the duo was was playing to a prerecorded sound track, which is just weird and wrong. I had a headache and furrowed brow by the time I got out of there.

And I was late for seeing Danny and John. I got there just as they were done. Boo.

Since I was 0 - 2 for my plans, I sent a text to a member of the next band before I drove to the venue. Sure enough, they'd canceled their set. I had a slight freak-out when I realized that I was texting with a 19 year-old college freshman. The fact that I'm older than his mom didn't help.

I ended the evening by wandering through yet another grocery store looking for cranberries. I forgot to do my annual stock up. No luck on finding those either.

Boy is my timing off...

indiana State Fair day 5 - 2010 edition

Big fun day!

I got to play in a band!

At the State Fair!

Read all about it here. 

band practice

I had band practice Monday.

You read that right. Band practice.

I’m in a band – Alice Chalmers and the Stick a Cork in Your Jug Band.

An all-woman jug band. [insert your jug jokes here]

We need Cliff to pull us around with Spooky Old Allis.

There are seven of us. Five are actual musicians, one is quickly picking up the washtub bass and then there is me - playing percussion on an old typewriter – with a wooden spoon.

I’ve dated musicians and band practice always seemed like a mysterious event, and often-unhappy one.

Would you like a breakdown of our band practice?
I’m sure they’re all like this one.

We started out with root-beer floats, cherry pie and complimenting each other’s makeup and instruments.

The moment practice started you could tell it was going to be a wonderful experience.

Beautiful four-part harmonies and gorgeous music.

Cara Jean Wahlers put the group together – she has an amazing voice and plays guitar, bass, accordion and whatever else she puts her mind to.

Stasia Demos Mills also has a marvelous voice and plays just about any instrument she lays her hands on.

Joni Back-Bubenzer plays ukulele like a rock star. And writes like one too.

Holly Jae Smith plays violin and sings like an angel.

Jude O’Dell is a marvelous singer, plays banjo and guitar and has a wealth of musical knowledge and a brain for old-timey songs. See her amazing clay work here.

Tammy Lieber plays washtub bass. I was not familiar with the instrument; it is an upside down washtub, a stick and a long string. The string makes a delightfully deep sound when plucked.

It took me a while to find the sound in the typewriter, but with coaching from Jude and wooden spoons from Cara we discovered some fun sounds.

I am partial to G.

I mostly just giggled about how remarkable the evening was.

Our first gig is at the Indiana State Fair, Tuesday, August 10, noon - 2:00, Pioneer Village. Check it out on facebook here.