'Can I roam beside you, I've come to lose the smog..'

We were staying a few miles from Bethel this weekend, in upstate New York, a month before the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. On Saturday night Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Bob Dylan were playing at the Bethel Woods Arts Center, where there are just some great shows coming up. The countryside up there is breathtaking and truly soothes the soul.

This, by the way, looks hilarious; and is being released to coincide with the concert anniversary.



And, hey, I wonder if this picture might be the one they told me about here?


***********************


Even though I was taking a break from playing, the weekend was still full of music. On Friday night we spent a lovely hour or so listening to a pickup band round a roaring fire as a thunderstorm broke outside. The band - guitar, mandolin, double bass, accordion/fiddle - were called Too Much Fun and sounded a little like Nickel Creek, as they ran through some bluegrass and folk standards.

When I'm retired if that ever happens, that's how I'd like to spend my weekend evenings; hanging with good friends, playing music that we all love and not taking it too seriously.

The following night we were at the beautiful setting of the Caramoor Opera Festival, where stepdaughter was in the chorus for a production of Donizetti's 'Elisir d'Amore'. She's also in the chorus for Rossini's 'Semiramide' at the end of the month before she heads off to the voice program here in the fall.

It was a great weekend. I'm restored and ready to get back to the city and back on the subway tomorrow.