The Trip Home
Thankfully, the trip home was largely uneventful. I usually become sort of depressed when it’s time to end a trip and head back so I like to just get on with it and get myself back home. I passed through Austin again and hung out with Frank Chodacki a bit more – and got to sit in on guitar and drums with an Elvis tribute band he plays with. That was a first to be sure. Elvis tunes are a blast to play as just about any musician knows but is loath to admit. I spent some more time in the hill country outside Austin doing some cycling on those great Texas back roads. After Austin I went north to Fort Worth to spend a few more days with my brother and his family. Again much time was spent fishing and watching pony league baseball – my nephew Dana is on his city’s all star traveling squad and they’ve made their way to the district finals so all the games meant something and were well played for a group of 10 year olds. We didn’t record anything this time.
From Ft. Worth I went on northeast to Mountain View, Arkansas, the self-appointed folk music capital of the world. On the way I spent a night in the dumpiest RV park you’re ever going to want to see in Hope, AK. The whole town is a little scary… no wonder Bill Clinton bugged out as soon as he could. Mountain View, on the other hand, is beautiful and populated by a combination of genuine hillbillies, aging hippies and various types of interesting misfits who have found a home there – and all of them seem to be good folk. Every night of the week there is live music on the town square played by anywhere from three to eight groups positioned at various spots around the square and the surrounding downtown. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my friends Jack Giger and Mary Tangen, collectively known as Red Dog Jam have moved to Mountain View so I was able to hang out with them. They have focused on learning, playing and carrying on the tradition of the music of that region of the Ozarks. Kudos to them on a noble path taken. We agreed that on my next trip through Mountain View we will do some recording – I look forward to it.
Next stop was mom’s house again for a couple days of relaxing and from there I made a stop at Pere Marquette state park which is right on the Mississippi on the Great River Road. There is a great bike trail along the river so I rode that twice. Then it was the final leg taking me back to Elmhurst. When I dropped the RV off at the place where I store it, I felt a tinge of sadness at leaving behind what had been my house for the last three months. I’m sure it won’t be long before I hitch it up and take off somewhere but in the meantime; I’ve got some music projects to work on…
2 comments July 16th, 2006
