Rambling Along And The Lake Erie Folk Festival
First, a few recovery updates for those interested.
I continue to have occupational therapy sessions with an incredible provider who happens to sing with the Cleveland Orchestra Choir. Consequently, she is very tuned in to the quirks in the needs of musicians. She is delightful, inspiring, and innovative. I owe this incredible pairing to Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Brandon King, a product of a local school system. His mom used to work for Lake Metroparks. Small world, right?
He was an attending physician at the rehabilitation hospital. He is also a guitarist and worked to find an occupational therapist familiar with the needs of musicians.
I feel like I hit the jackpot with Sharilee. Between the two of us, we are coming up with all sorts of exercises and techniques to help my hand and fingers recover.
She will be trekking off to sing with the Orchestra at Carnegie Hall next week. What? How cool is that!
Some of my therapy gizmos…
Remember, in past posts, I have stated I couldn’t pick up a set of car keys. It was a pretty big deal last week when I picked up an apple. Now I’m stacking fruit and other objects as part of my at-home therapy sessions.
Also, I have switched physical therapists. FYI my occupational therapist deals with my hand, my physical therapist deals with my arm and shoulder, and my shoulder is partially frozen. My new PT, Leigh, is great! During our first assessment interview, she asked me if I had thought about getting a dulcimer. I think we will do just fine!
This week, I also had an appointment with my hand doc, and he was pleased with my progress and very encouraging.
On another recovery note of sorts, Shorty made a guest appearance this morning and prepared bacon, eggs, and hash browns for breakfast!
Now on to the other issues at hand, small pun intended.
Pre-accident, one of the board members for the North East Ohio Heritage Music Association (NEOHMA) asked me if I would be interested in preparing a presentation for the upcoming Lake Erie Folk Festival on Cleveland‘s contribution to the 1960-70s folk music revival. I think this was inspired by “A Complete Unknown”. I was very flattered, but quickly pointed out that I’m not quite that old and I grew up in southwestern Ohio. He seemed to think I was old enough.
I offered to put something together and facilitate a panel discussion if that would be acceptable. The following week, on a ramble with my good buddy Alex Bevan, we talked about the music scene during the late 60’s and early 70s in Cleveland. We discussed the items that should be touched on in such a presentation, including musicians, venues, and promoters.
Now let’s fast-forward six months. I got an email asking if I was still interested in doing that panel presentation. Needless to say, without the rigors of my performance schedule, I do have the time. I figured this would also provide a great opportunity to educate myself about the early folk music scene in NEO.
I put together a tentative outline and sent it to the folks in charge of the festival. They decided that it warranted a double session with a portion devoted to the past, followed by a discussion of present conditions in Cleveland. Consequently, I have been researching the history of the Cleveland folk music scene, specifically, performers, venues, promoters, and other “hosts”.
The book “La Cave” has been a great resource!
As I delved into this research, thoughts and conversations about current conditions kept recurring. Does Cleveland have a folk music identity? I mean, there are lots of venues, some excellent players, but is there something that comes to mind when a person discusses folk music in Cleveland?
To compare and contrast current conditions with what once was, I started to build an informal inventory of the attitudes and approaches of contemporary local folk musicians. Perhaps opportunities to enhance their efforts will become obvious and be helpful toward creating, or restoring, a Cleveland identity as a folk music hub.
I have really enjoyed talking about this with several of my NEO music buddies, and I also think I have made a few new friends along the way.
The Lake Erie Folk Festival is Feb. 14th, and will be held at Case Western Reserve University.