This past weekend was the annual Olympia Old Time Music Festival. The event began on Thursday night with a honky tonk kick-off dance with live music by The Dead Tide Country Band and Rhinestone Deluxe. On Friday and Saturday afternoon I took advantage of the wide variety of workshops. I did some great singing workshops, and learned how to get started with washboard percussion. I also took workshops for guitar, beginner mandolin and beginner fiddle. Between schlepping around several instruments and getting to the next workshop on time I felt like I was at some kind of awesome school. It was a full couple of days and I loved the immersion.
On Saturday night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing The Onlies, a trio of very talented high school seniors; Pharis and Jason Romero, a captivating husband/wife duet; as well as Bruce Molsky, one of America's premier fiddling talents. Needless to say, it was a fantastic concert and I left feeling inspired and ready for a full day of workshops the following day.
On Sunday was the open mic caberet downtown at Arbutus Folk School. I took part in four songs. It was my first time playing guitar at an open mic since I picked it up this past Fall. I was proud of myself for flowing through all my 'mistakes' while on stage and keeping 'having fun' as my top priority. I am now a few steps further along on my journey towards feeling comfortable and confident to sing and play music in front of others - yay!
On Saturday night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing The Onlies, a trio of very talented high school seniors; Pharis and Jason Romero, a captivating husband/wife duet; as well as Bruce Molsky, one of America's premier fiddling talents. Needless to say, it was a fantastic concert and I left feeling inspired and ready for a full day of workshops the following day.
On Sunday was the open mic caberet downtown at Arbutus Folk School. I took part in four songs. It was my first time playing guitar at an open mic since I picked it up this past Fall. I was proud of myself for flowing through all my 'mistakes' while on stage and keeping 'having fun' as my top priority. I am now a few steps further along on my journey towards feeling comfortable and confident to sing and play music in front of others - yay!