The year 2008 was a busy and emotional year for us in our musical and personal lives -- one of milestones that raised the spirits and pulled at the heart.
“The Wandering Fool”
Tribute to Bob Dyer Album and Concert
In early 2008 we finished the production of a CD of songs by the late Bob Dyer sung in tribute by many of his friends. Bob died in 2007 after planning for the album had begun. Dave and Cathy had known Bob for nearly 30 years, worked with him for 22 of those, and he was a great friend and mentor in the currents our music has ridden. A sad but sweet honor to pay a compadre, the album brought together dozens of Bob’s many friends with diverse musical styles completely filling the CD. In June, we produced a tribute concert that brought as many of the artists as possible for a great expression of community.
Gone Up the Hill
Our 13th year on America’s rivers was our busiest, but also bittersweet. The legendary steamboat Delta Queen was packed for every cruise of what may be its final year of overnight passage. Failing to gain its ninth Congressional exemption from the Safety at Sea Act, the 80-year old boat ceased operations after Oct. 31. We were frequent guests on the Legends of the River cruises throughout the year, and hearing the captains blow her whistle long and slow up and down the Ohio valley was hard to take. The Majestic America Company shut down in November ceasing the operation of all six riverboats. We were so lucky to have been a part of that heritage. It fit our music and interests in history so perfectly, and we came hold many of its crew and passengers dear. We’ll miss it so much we can hardly stand it.
We will play in August 2009 for a cruise along the Maine Coast aboard the American Star as part of a reunion cruise with Phyllis Dale, former Delta Queen entertainer who is now a travel agent. Phyllis is one of the first people we met on the Delta Queen, and she is the one and only.
“Gumbo Bottoms,” A Musical
November saw the premier of the musical Cathy co-wrote with local writer Meredith Ludwig about Missouri River life. We were half of the pit band, and the show played to 1,000 people in three days and to enthusiastic standing ovations. The show was produced by the Turner Hall River Rats for the Arts (who also financed the Bob Dyer tribute album), and toured to Hermann, Missouri, at the Showboat Theater in March 2009, and is scheduled for a single performance at the spacious Miller Auditorium in Jefferson City July 18. Other Missouri River towns Washington and Lexington are among those interested in bringing the show to them. It was a real gas to be part of this show.
Mo-Hip Theater Productions
Boonville playwright and producer Mary Barile has collaborated with the State Historical Society of Missouri to produce plays and readings of Missouri historical subjects and has asked us to provide music for them. In 2008, we opened with abolitionists’ songs for a readers’ theater of the writings of William Wells Brown, a conductor on the Underground Railway, and mid-19th century music for “The Editor is Absent,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of Missouri’s newspapers. This year will see us in “Song of the Middle River,” based on the story and book Celia, A Slave, and the 1831 play “Lion of the West,” for the Santa Fe Trail Association.
Big Muddy
April 3-4, 2009, marked the 18th Big Muddy Folk Festival at Thespian Hall for which Dave serves as artistic director, with a lot of help from Cathy, the Big Muddy Committee and sponsors, the Friends of Historic Boonville.
Music Camps
We look forward to returning to the American Banjo Camp on Puget Sound in September. We enjoyed our first trip to the area last year and the music of some all-time banjo greats. For some, 48 hours of banjo immersion might be scary, but if you can muster up the courage the rewards are great.
We also return to the Kentucky Music Week in Bardstown KY in June, a camp we have done for many years. Cathy has a boatload of hammered dulcimer workshops; she and Dave share a banjo session and Dave will teach shape-note and gospel songs as well as some guitar.
We're also happy to return to the Augusta Heritage workshops in Elkins WV as part of Old-time Week.
"Pepper and Friends" to be Cancelled
The local "Pepper and Friends" show on KOMU Channel 8 in Columbia is scheduled for its last of more than 6,000 shows Sept. 18. Cathy and Dave have appeared on the show regularly since ( Show #3) the early 1980s, and though it never paid anything, those consistent 11 minutes of TV time helped our attendance in regional venues significantly. When it began, television was awash with "magazine" shows, and Paul Pepper has been able to make this show survive successfully giving a platform to the numerous civic, arts, health groups who otherwise have little access to broadcast TV. Paul has been with the station for more than 40 years, and the station is treating him with less respect than he deserves. I wish the reasons for the show's cancellation were clearer to me.