July 1 2004

Well, it’s been a while since we wrote. A thousand apologies! We will try to do better. But life has been exciting and full and we are enjoying the ride.

Since we last wrote we’ve been working on a new CD and have been to the UK twice. Our first trip was last summer when we spent most of August and into September touring in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. What a blast! We met so many great people and had so many adventures, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Morris dancers at Towersey

Well, for a start, we were met at the airport in Edinburgh by our contact in Scotland, John Sheldon, who had arranged for us to play at the Guildtown Bluegrass Festival. Before long we were driving on the wrong side of the road, jet-lag and all, and made our way up near Perth, where the festival happens. And what a great festival! We highly recommend it, if you ever are in Scotland in August. A wonderful party! Our only regret was that we had to leave immediately after the weekend as our next engagement was way down south on the English Channel and started on Tuesday. But once we were in Broadstairs for the festival there we found it also to be fantastic. Broadstairs is an old resort (ancient, actually) on the English coast. We swam and walked on the beach and drank tea on the cliffs overlooking the sea and got to hear some great music, particularly Ben Paley (son of Tom) and Tab Hunter. Happily we ran into our old friend Barbara Slade (alias Jessie) and her friends Jock and Vera, and went with them back to London when the festival ended. We spent several days sightseeing and playing on the streets, then headed for our next festival, the Towersey Village Festival where we finally got to meet up with Nick Pilley and Claire Rudd. Nick is the secretary for FOATMAD, or the Friends of American Old Time Music and Dance and had been unbelievably helpful in getting us over there. It was great to finally get to hang out with him and his wife, Claire, and even play a few tunes over a Pimm’s. Other highlights at Towersey were Michael Jackson of Australia, Dana Robinson, USA, Colum Sands, Ireland, the legendary McCarthy/Waterson Band, and the remarkable lantern parade on the final evening. Incredible!

The Lanterns at Towersey

From there we headed to Jock and Vera’s neck of the woods and spent a few days R and R on the Welsh border with them and their friend Jamie. Mostly we ate and drank and played music. A little bit of heaven. Next stop, Matlock. Debbie McClatchy had put together a weekend house party there and we were to do a couple workshops and concerts. It was a treat to see Debbie and to meet some more of the local old time players plus the countryside there is incredibly beautiful. From there to Northern Ireland and a couple more days R and R which we used to drive all the way around the top of Ireland before heading for the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh. Northen Ireland was so beautiful, we hated to get back to work, but what a treat to see so many friends. Ira Bernstein was on the bill dancing, and Alice Gerrard, Carol Elizabeth Jones, and Ginny Hawker were touring as the Oh Sister act with the Laurie Lewis Band backing them up. Kind of like old home week for us and by then we’d been on the road nearly five weeks so a little slice of home was much appreciated.

It was pretty much straight back to London and home after that, only to return again in April. But that’s another story for another time. We’ve barely scratched the surface of this tour let alone begin telling about the next. In the meantime we are hard at work finishing up our second CD. Look for it by end of summer. Thanks so much for all your love and encouragement. We promise to stay in touch!

Peace
Carl and Beverly

At Trafalgar Square in London