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ComFest Rules!
Entry 4 of 9 | show all | print this entry |
(The Dolphins, Amsterdam, September 25, 2006)-My original intention was to leave Amsterdam June 27th and abandon my flight at Newark Airport (instead of continuing on to New Orleans, from whence I'd departed after Ash Wednesday) in order to spend a few days in New York City before taking the train down the East Coast to Baltimore and my week at Common Ground on the Hill.
But a frantic exchange of correspondence with a fellow blues mental patient from Columbus, Ohio called Peter Simon convinced me to alter my plan in order to accept an invitation to attend and be honored at their venerable ComFest celebration, a joyous community festival first mounted in 1972 that has continued unabated ever since.
ComFest is an all-volunteer affair presented free by and for the people of Columbus over three glorious days in June. The bands playing on the several stages in the public park each day are all local and regional residents contributing their performances for the general good; the many citizens who staff the booths, the stages, the sound crews, the security forces and the administrative effort are likewise giving their time and talents on a voluntary basis. There are no corporate sponsors, and all the food and drinks are supplied by community-based vendors.
My assignment is to play a blues duet with the fine Columbus guitarist Sean Carney on one of the auxiliary stages on a nearby sidestreet, appear with Sean and his band for a concert on the main stage, and make a brief speech in acceptance of the 2006 Honored Artist award made annually to worthy artistic activists. I've invited my daughter Sunny and my granddaughter Beyonce to join me for the weekend in my sumptuous suite at a local hotel, courtesy of the festival organizers, and we spend a lot of time walking the grounds and sampling the great food and beverages on-site.
Adam Brook also comes down from Detroit to join us, and he's escorting our friend and comrade Dean Kuipers, who's promoting his new book Burning Rainbow Farm, the long-awaited expose of the tragic events in Michigan five years ago: our own Twin Towers experience of terrorism by the police and state and federal authorities. Dean will be speaking at ComFest and hawking copies of his books along with my own products.
I had a ball listening to the myriad Ohio performing artists and bands all throughout the weekend and performing with the excellent guitarist Sean Carney. We did a duet performance at the Blues Garage on Friday night and a full-band show on the Bozo Stage Sunday night, where I also had the chance to meet and hear the music of bluesman Willie Pooch and soul singer Teeny Tucker. The Jazz Poetry Ensemble was exciting too: a poet with jazz group that does the same thing I do but totally differently. That's what I like to hear!
I was trying all weekend to promote an on-site episode of the John Sinclair Radio Show with Peter Simon, a noted local blues broadcaster himself, but our efforts-which continued well into Monday evening-came to naught, as did the promised Monday afternoon recording session with Sean Carney. It just didn't happen. So I sent Sunny & B back too Detroit on the Greyhound bus, spent a welcome night to myself, and flew on to Newark the next day to start a brilliant new chapter in my life.
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