A recent e-mail from Ashara (about something else) reminded
me how much I missed this list, so I signed on again - at which
point my phone lines went dead rendering me off-line for the
last week. Now repaired, and catching up on digests, I find.....
Kakki wrote:
>I recall the story posted here about the guy who was hitchiking up
>there and got picked up by Joni.
and Steve D replied
>The guy was Rick Scott, and the story was told by Paul Castle.
>Rick and Paul were both at Folk Alliance - Rick lives on one of
>the islands on the coast up there. Never met up with Paul,
>despite my efforts. :(
So sorry to miss you, Steve. My fault - I did get your message
but stupidly lost the piece of paper with your room number on it
in my bulging tote bag and generally got swept away in the swirl
of panels/showcases/more showcases etc - I was sure I would
bump into you at any moment, but sadly.....
I wanted to tell you about the great Jonifest we had on The Folktrain
on the way to Vancouver - (I've mentioned it briefly in my latest 'Across
the Pond' column). I'd already gone to sleep, jet-lagged and exhausted,
when the train shuddered to a grinding halt sometime after midnight.
I remember waking up wondering where the hell I was and peering
out of the window into the darkness and seeing a sign emerging out
of the snow saying SASKATOON. I noticed a few of my fellow
'folktrainers' - Gregg Cagno, Christian Bauman, Annie Wenz, I think,
excitely taking photographs of each other in front of the big sign (I later
discovered they nearly didn't make it back on to the train as when they
returned from their brief night-time run round Joniville, they found the
steps already up and the train doors all closed - and no one
responding to their frantic banging and crazy cries for help - it was 20
something degrees below out there !! - and they didn't have their coats!
They were finally let back on - after frantically running right up to the front
of the train and begging the engineers to help them - they got a right
bollocking, apparently).
Lying in my cosy bunk, blissfully unaware of all this, a voice in the train
corridor says "Are you awake in there? C'mon, get up! They're having a
Jonifest in the coffee bar at the front of the train." I don't think I've put my
trousers on so quickly in months - running down the narrow train corridor
with my heavy guitar case, praying that it wasn't all over by the time I got
there - now I know how you all feel on the way to Ashara's! I arrived in time
to find my pal from London, Karen Bates, singing Carey.
I needn't have worried - the session went on for hours, Joni after Joni, with
howls of "Saskatoooooon!" after each song (this remained our 'secret'
greeting whenever we saw each other in Vancouver) - I forget exactly who
did what - Gregg Cagno (a really lovely guy with a James Taylor-type voice)
did a truly beautiful version of 'River', I remember. I ended up doing 'Case
of You', 'Little Green' and 'Gallery'. A major 'night to remember' that really
makes me want to go to Topsfield this year.
PaulC
