Fresh new talent emerges at VI MusicFest

I went to hear Earl Scruggs, because I didn’t know he was still alive. He is, and still plays a mean banjo.  But I stayed for Matt Andersen, Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, Maeve McKinnon, Baka Beyond, and an astonishing array of fantastic musicians that I had never heard of before.

The Vancouver Island Music Fest July 11-13, 2008, held in the town of Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada, was a magical event, its entry gate a portal to a parallel universe totally devoted to music of almost every imaginable kind.  Six different stages set up across the local fairgrounds run simultaneously from about 10 am to 5 pm, with the main stage continuing until midnight.  I couldn’t take in every act, or even every act that interested me.  I loved all that I heard, but a few performers were unforgettable.  They are now a revered and much-listened-to part of my music collection and I highly recommend that you see them live if you get a chance.

Blues singer and guitarist Matt Andersen was the brightest star of the whole show, well worth the price of the three-day pass all by himself.  All I could think of while I listened to him with increasing astonishment was, “The spirit that was Janis Joplin is reborn as a male and is better than ever.  Easy on the drugs this time.  Stay with us a bit longer.”  He sings with the same intensity and passion as Janis, as if the voice of the earth herself was surging through him, reaching down into our guts and pulling up emotions we didn’t know we had.  And what a guitar virtuoso, flying from hard and raunchy to ethereal and back in a heartbeat.  Janis never played like that, or anyone that I’ve ever heard. 

He performed in a couple of group jams before his solo concert at one of the smaller stages, and obviously he had captivated everyone who had heard him because that little stage area was jammed with people when I arrived, and the buzz in the crowd was that his CDs had already sold out at the festival CD tent.  Vancouver Island Music Fest has a strict “no encore” rule, because they want to stay on schedule.  Earl Scruggs didn’t get an encore.  Taj Mahal didn’t get an encore.  But Matt Andersen was allowed an encore.  

When I got home I ordered his CDs online.  You can get them at www.stubbyfingers.ca. The CDs, and the YouTube videos of this remarkable talent, don’t really capture the energy and wonder of his live performance, but they do give you a good idea of what to expect.  His website has already improved remarkably in the short time since the festival.  He’s obviously found himself a good web designer and a professional photographer.  I’m hoping he can get a decent music video of himself made sometime soon.

Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet was my next favorite act for the ethereal, almost eerie beauty of the music and the originality of the approach.  Think tasteful, artfully done blend of bluegrass, Chinese traditional and 20^th century symphonic.  Washburn lived in China, learned Chinese, composes and performs in Chinese, and has integrated some of those songs into her act.  She has a high, pure, slightly breathy voice that floats above instrumental compositions played by bassist Ben Sollee, violinist Casey Driessen and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck.  To call their music an accompaniment or a back-up arrangement would be a total misstatement.  This group really does function as a quartet with all four parts working beautifully together – the quality is right up there with the best chamber quartets.  Check them out at http://www.abigailwashburn.com/.  They have put out two CDs, and their latest is a masterpiece. 

Fleck himself is apparently well known as one of the greatest banjo players living, and the reputation is well merited.  He’s also a brilliant composer. I hadn’t heard him or of him before, which just proves that I need to get out more.  The Sparrow Quartet has led me to his own impressive collection of CDs.  He plays every conceivable type of music:  classical, jazz, bluegrass and beyond, often blending and mixing these styles in stunning artistic compositions.

Maeve McKinnon is a wonderful Celtic traditional singer, who performs mostly in Gaelic, in a deep, rich, velvety voice.  McKinnon is emerging, and I hope to add more and more of her music to my Celtic collection as she becomes better known and puts out more CDs.  Find out more at http://www.maevemackinnon.com/.

Baka Beyond, which bills itself as “the original African Celtic crossover band”  presented a fresh, lively program.  Martin Cradick and Su Hart, Irish musicians who spent time in African working with the Baka people, create superb music blending rhythms and melodoes from the two cultures.  Su Hart has a beautiful voice, whether crooning in Baka or in Gaelic, and an energetic stage presence as she never seems to stop dancing.  Check them out at www.bakabeyond.net.

For information on the Vancouver Island MusicFest, see http://www.islandmusicfest.com/. 

Mountain momma diet Part II - Hooray!

Whoo-hoo!  I'm officially thin!

That is, just about where I want to be given my height of 5'6".

Weight as of May 17, 2008:  151.5 pounds.

Weight as of July 31, 2009:  135.5 pounds.

Well, ok, I've still got another half pound to go.  But that's peanuts, er, celery. 

Once again, for the first time in years, I am happy with my body image and weight.

My secret?  It's a shocker.  But it's free.  Diet and exercise.

See "Mountainmomma diet". 

It worked.

The challenge, now will be to keep it off and stay at or near 135 (just so's I can be comfortable in a Size 10.)

The plan:  re-introduce a bit more sweets, starches and alcohol into my diet in reasonable quantities, so I don't keep losing weight, but not enough to start me on that dreaded upward spiral.  It will mean weighing myself daily and making little adjustments.

I'll keep you posted.

The mountainmomma diet

My friends notice how skinny I've gotten.  My doctor tells me not to lose any more weight.  Last week I bought my very first pair of size 10 pants since . . . oh about 15 years ago.  I have lost 17.5 pounds in the past three months.  And everyone wants to know which diet I follow.  Atkins?  Weight watchers? 

Nope.

I've got my very own diet.  You can call it the mountainmomma diet if you like.  Or name it after yourself, because you're going to make little changes to make it suit you.  

It basically consists of being sensible, eating less, eating the right things. 

Breakfast is fairly hearty by my standards.  An apple, a big bowl of oatmeal (well, half a cup of dry oats to a cup of water, zapped), with a teaspoon and a half or so of peanut butter and a tablespoon or so of maple syrup, OR three whole grain muffins with fruit and nuts, OR whole grain waffles, OR an egg scrambled with chives and a slice of whole grain toast, and a decaf soy latte.  This is my sweets and starch blast for the day, and I have all day to work it off.

Salad for lunch is fairly key to this diet.  Green salad, with some form of protein:  meat, fish, seafood, beans and a bit of cheese.  Homemade olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing, with a bit of good-tasting nutritional yeast for flavoring.  Mostly no-carb lunch.

Supper is veggies and again, some form of protein. 

A glass of wine or beer only two or three times a week.  An intense sweet (candy or chocolate fudge sundae, for example) only two or three times a week.  This actually helps the weight to drop if it's starting to plateau.  Once or twice a month it's ok to pig out.

That's it.  Oh, and regular exercise.  When I follow it, my weight drops quickly.  When I get lazy, my weight rises quickly. 

So my challenge now is to keep my weight steady once I reach my goal, that will be 2.5 pounds more, in a week or two.  I'll have to let you know how that goes.