sound visions: Atlin Festival

Random Order's Saturday night audience

July 15
Atlin Festival Grounds
Atlin, BC -- just south of Whitehorse

I am moving through my days as if in meditation. We have three days off after the festival in Atlin, one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen. Yet I can scarcely feel grounded in the moment for this place seems almost too exquisite to be real. I am elated by such constant, monumental beauty.

I had a wonderful weekend of playing with both Evalyn and Random Order. It was so lovely to meet Ev, Brad and David (drums & guitar) here in a world so far and different from our Parkdale stomping grounds. The sound crew were a dream and the audiences as enthusiastic as one could possibly wish for. RO's Saturday night closing set was attended by such a packed throng that crowd surfing ensued. Such fun to watch from the stage!

I enjoyed meeting many of the other musicians and hearing some great new music. We had Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand, the bassist & wooden flautist from the Quebec group Genticorum join us for our Sunday afternoon set. Foxy Lady was never heavier than with twice the bottom end! We had a fun time goofing around with our moves together. During a long instrumental section, I jumped off the stage and crouched to dance eye to eye with a gaggle of toddlers. It was so sweet to witness the thrill this gave them even while some were made shy, running to the closest parental knee as they grinned widely at me.

Yesterday our new friend Athea took us on a tour of the area. We all soaked in the enchanted little warm spring pool where the view was spectacular and I fell in love with a husky puppy. (Damn, but do I want to share another chunk of my life with a dog one day, if and when my life settles some from this galavanting fast pace.) We harvested peppery wild watercress by a wooded glacier stream. We ambled through the last resting place of early settlers, reading the stories of their demise burned into their weathered, wooden grave markers. One poor 16-year-old was shot to death having been mistaken for a bear. We were all awed by a view which included the Lewellan Glacier slowly creeping between two mountains.