Prowling Zootown Music Again

My heart had taken flight, during the days in wilderness, on the coast and by the rivers. Reconnecting to my home town took some time. I tiptoed into the Sunrise Saloon to hear Cash for Junkers, and they hooked me right up.

I love people happy in their work, and I love good music. Nailed the twofer on this night, Thursday, August 26, 2010.

It was great to return to the Saturday markets, and find Hot House Tomatoes performing under the bridge at the Clark Fork Market.

The final weekend of August belonged to the Roots Fest, although only the headliner, Robert Earl Keen, could lure me back downtown Saturday.

Broken Valley Roadshow inspired me to spend more time at Roots, as they opened the second day.

Tom Catmull and the Clerics were up second on Sunday.

Susan, 7X a grandmother, now homeless, busking on Higgins

And then came Hempfest on Saturday, September 11, 2010 

with Not Quite Punk

Secret Powers

and Voodoo Horseshoes highlighting a strong line up. 

The big event was followed by the Hempfest After Party at the Top Hat, where Miller Creek performed.

Headliners, Lubriphonic, produced an extravagant sound, deep, strong and tight. 

Hundreds of photos have gone on the Flickr archive in recent days, as I work to catch up from vacation hang over. There's new stuff coming soon. I want to cover more jazz like the Indulge Jazz Quintet, which has a Flickr set of their recent Missoula Winery appearance. 

Hempfest 2009

Mother Trucker showed up at Hempfest, the first time I'd seen her since Love Your Mother up at Lolo. Of course, I had to have the Captain's Booty, for old times sake.

Several local bands are named after natural disasters, and the best I've heard is Rising Waters. I didn't even know who they were until this event. I immediately recognized Mike Avery up front, because he does the open mike at Sean Kelly's on Mondays.

The line up for Hempfest was top quality from start to finish, including some old favorites.

Ruthie sang and danced, and it doesn't get any better than that.

Speaking of Ruthie, she has teamed up with Tonsofun to create a dynamic hip-hop duo. They played the Palace on Tuesday, September 15.

Just the tip of the iceberg. There are three sets, on flickr, for this blog posting, titled Rising Waters @Hempfest 2009, Zeppo @Hempfest 2009 and Dynamic New Hip-Hop Duo.

Rainbows Bless Hemp Fest

Moving is good in many ways; not moving is a symptom of death. Moving, as in changing residences, can be stressful, however. It quickly teaches us how much crap we accumulate, as time goes by in the same residence. I handled the logistics well, moving everything I could with my car, until one van load held the big furniture. I spent a full day spit-shining the old apartment, hoping only the carpet cleaning would come out of my deposit. Communication, however, was lost for 10 days, until cable service could be transferred to my new home, and then all messages to my voice mail and all my passwords for the phone system were lost. My mail isn't going to my old box, but still isn't arriving in my new PO Box.

Yesterday afternoon was dedicated to handling email and catching up on some photo work. Now, I can let off some steam by blogging for the first time in three weeks.

My new home is matched by my new job. I'm working in the registrar's office at MAM, helping catalog the collection. I'm surrounded by art, artists and art lovers, a situation which nourishes me instead of sucking my soul and numbing my mind. Can you say Wal-Mart? After a lot of that over 40 years, I think I've had my share, and its time to do something that suits my nature better. I'm in hog heaven.

Summary: three weeks on new job, changed address, and tons of internet stuff to catch up on. Here we go.

Saturday markets, Peoples' and Renegades', checking the art and chatting. I'm on my way to Hemp Fest, when I hear it cost $5 to get in. Since that represented two full thirds of everything I had, I wasn't going to the expense. Imagine my surprise to find I'm the "official photographer" for the event. It was one of those you're-on-the-list-get-your-ass-in-here-and-start-shooting moments.

I'm glad I attended Hemp Fest for a lot of reasons. Two of my favorite bands played, I saw a bunch of friends and the rainbows blessed the occasion.

As always, I hope all my beloved readers are healthy and happy. See you at the end of the Rainbow.

Speaking of rainbows...no, that's another story.