SHARING THE SHOWS
Yonder Mountain String Band - B Chord Brewing Company - Round Hill, VA - October 11, 202010/12/2020 This past Saturday I co-organized the first ever Singles Studies Conference with my friend and colleague Ketaki, and while I derived a great deal of intellectual pleasure from it, to say I was ready to see some live music would be an understatement. Plus, this will more than likely be my last concert until spring.
I drove into Loudon County, Virginia, uncharted territory for me. The rain didn’t add to the trip, and Route 267 doesn’t have much in the way of scenery, but once I pulled onto Route 7, I was mystified by the rural landscape, including a sign that said “Mama’s Apple Pies” and another one for “Fresh Crabs.” I devoured a personal BBQ chicken pizza before Angela and Paul came in. We had a bit of a puzzle in setting up Angela’s rain shelter, but we made it! Angela and I know each other virtually through the Community of Single People (COSP), but as it turns out, she’s a friend of my friend Paul. Small world! The rain came down during the show, but Angela and I hung toward the front (away from the clusters of people), and I got to know her in person a little bit. The band had been playing since before we arrived, but as we got to the front, they announced a rain-themed sequence, including “Don’t The Rain Still Fall on the Way Back Home” and Blind Melon’s classic “No Rain.” At the lyric “They see banjos and look into the heaven,” Angela said, “I’m gonna pick up my banjo!” I encouraged her. I don’t know YSMB’s catalog by heart the way I do Phish or WSP (speaking of which, I broke in the “Bear’s Gone Fishin’” shirt Mark/Brodysseus got me), but I did pick up on “Boots.” They also sang Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” which got me thinking of this lovely pandemic-inspired parody. Apparently, the band had some behind-the-scenes issues with their monitors, but they still managed to pull it off. Another good dialogue exchange between me and Angela, inspired the band singing, “You Only Had One Corona.” Angela: Great lyrics! Me: Not as good as “Boy, man, God, shit.” A really profound line though: “I wish I knew I what know now when I was younger; I wish I knew what I know now when I as stronger” Couldn’t be more true, but I find it’s best to just embrace the past for what it was and the present for what it is. After the show ended, we broke down Angela’s rain shelter and discussed the possibility of some hikes in this area. Angela’s mention of a book about great hikes within 60 miles of DC got me thinking I want to explore this part of town. I wish I could end this blog post with “the ride home was peaceful,” but I can’t. I had a collision with a pick-up truck on the way home. I’d rather not go into the details of it, and I was very keyed up at the time, but after having had some time to process my feelings on the incident (writing about it helped), I’ll say I’m grateful for these things: 1)Neither of us were hurt. Better to be the car than us. 2)I made it home safely. 3)I have good friends that helped talked me through my emotions (Maggie, Paul, and Angela, you rock).
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