From the Outside In

Once a hesitant diarist, now at least a more curious one.

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Ooh, cool new promo stuff! #dreamsandghosts #mynameonstuff

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Ok, pure guilty pleasure here, but the history buff in me is loving this kind of documentation. The show's use of real historical events and contexts provides a beautiful illustration: education + entertainment = a really good story.

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Photographs are such poignant, yet raw invitations into the past. No one knows why these photos were never published by Life Magazine, but perhaps these things must fully ripen with time to fulfill their original purpose. Suffice it so say, I am affected.

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Fabulous article just published. In particular, I enjoyed the author's treatment of Hillenbrand's disability and how it has contributed to the development of a writing style that has made her so famous. May we all allow our greatest vulnerabilities to emerge as the greatest strengths of our creative work.

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What if singing was a primary vehicle for learning at school?

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Our Wisconsin contingent: house concert hosted by Folk DJ Jim Canales in Stevens Point; radio interview with him the following morning; our final host, the lovely Mary of New Holstein. We were so very blessed to meet so many wonderful people on this tour!

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"Poor Wayfaring Stranger", traditional tune performed by Avery Hill & Dan Weber at Wire in Chicago.

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So much Chicago activity! Old Town Arts Fair with our new friend Brad Cole, Dan opens for James Curley, and house concert in Oak Park hosted by Peter & Nancy. Life doesn't get much better!

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Another FABULOUS house concert - this time at Flying Cats with Joe & Joanne and their stellar team. Thank you!!!

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"If You Were a Bluebird" by Butch Hancock - performed at Flying Cat House Concerts in Indianapolis by Dan Weber & Avery Hill.

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Our hosts, Katie & Roy, of St. Louis - they are distant cousins of mine, but we are oh so close now! Great visit, and a rare tourist opportunity to discover the Gateway Arch.

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Catching up...

Shame on me for dropping off the face of the social media earth after this segment of our Front Porch Tour! As I write this now, I am half way through another tour, this time closer to home through California and Oregon.

But before I get into that, I can't not share just one more story from the Front Porch. From St. Louis, we traveled next to Indianapolis, Chicago, and Wisconsin, with audiences ranging from big city crowds to intimate dinner parties. Wonderful folks everywhere we went, a continuing testament to the power of music to bring folks together a forge friendships in just moments.

I find it particularly fitting that we ended our tour with a show for 5 people in a tiny Wisconsin town, and I've continued to carry their story with me. There's nothing melodramatic out here in the country, just simple and strong people doing what they believe is right. They live in an area of the country where many farmers are going larger scale, and accepting help from Monsanto and other companies who are changing the face of single-family farming. These folks are definitely in the minority as they insist on growing food without the use of harmful chemicals, and it was clear that their social status in their community has been affected. And yet, they've held on to their values, their ideals, and the friends in town who are trying to do the same. 

We traveled over 3,000 miles on The Front Porch Tour. Everywhere we went, we were welcomed warmly, fed, put up for the night, engaged in meaningful conversation. People talk about the road being a hard place to be, and I'm sure it is when you're out there for months at a time. But, interacting with the folks we met on this tour, I would venture to say it is much harder work to do what they do: they stay. It's easy to leave and move on to the next adventure, whether you know what's coming or not. It's hard to stay, to build relationships, to take risks in those relationships, to make history as a community instead of striking out on your own. I have such immense respect for these people, from the farmers of Wisconsin to the community volunteers of Iowa; from the much-beloved Flying Cat House Concert of Indianapolis to the first-time concert hosts at Wildwood Park of Little Rock. It is a privilege to witness everything they do, and humbling to share my music with them.

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Funky bar in the Cherokee neighborhood where we played our St. Louis show. It was the most Portlandian venue of the whole trip, in my opinion!

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By far the **zaniest** song of our Front Porch set: we took a Hank Williams classic and, well, made it a different kind of "classic." At Foam Coffee & Beer in St. Louis, Missouri.

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There are plenty of photos from the road, but this stretch of State Route 79 through Missouri was quite memorable ...

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A few glimpses from our house concert in Hampton, Iowa. One of our more intimate audiences, but these were some of the most magical shows of our tour...

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Scenes from KHOI community radio in Ames, Iowa - a magical day!