August E-News Highlights

Aztec Two-Step E-News

Missives, Musings & Malapropos....

Another malapropos compliments of the king himself, Yogi Berra: "It gets late early out there."

July was a wonderful month filled with many memorable moments. First and foremost, my Mets went on a 10-0 run to recaptured first place in the NL East only to fall a half game back of our rivals the Phillies. I never thought I'd say this but kudos to Carlos Delgado for carrying the team all month long. I'm sure the boys of summer will give it their best the rest of the way. Should be an exciting race to the playoffs.

We teamed up with our buddy Pete Fornatale again to play our first outdoor Simon & Garfunkel Songbook Show at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Huntington, NY. There was an overflowing crowd of 4600 people in attendance. This was our first time playing there since it was renamed to honor Harry Chapin who died tragically on July 16, 1981, almost twenty-seven years to the day of our performance. Harry, we hardly knew ya. We also teamed up with longtime band mates Freddy Holman and Marshal Rosenberg to another overflowing crowd at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, CT. Local resident and musician extraordinaire Robin Batteau of Buskin & Batteau fame sat in on violin for the entire set. We'll be sharing a bill with B&B at Cheney Hall in Manchester, CT in February 09. Another highlight was returning to Brownfield, Maine to play Carol Noonan's (of Knots and Crosses fame) Stone Mountain Arts Center. Carol and her husband Jeff Flagg opened one of, if not the best 200-seat venue in America. "It is housed inside a striking 32-by-72-foot timber-frame barn built a decade ago for Flagg's business, which makes fishing nets. Jeff, a Maine native and former commercial fisherman, now constructs his nets in the barn's large basement." Other July highlights included Rosetta & Bryon Eddy's 20th and Nancy & Bob Cleveland's 25th Anniversary Parties. They were truly lovely events and very touching to be a part of. Yummy food too!

"August, die she must..." and now Artie Traum is gone. I met Artie when we first arrived in NYC in the spring of '71. He and his brother Happy were already an established folk duo managed by Albert Grossman and recording for Capital Records. They were playing all the major folk festivals and the cooler clubs in Greenwich Village - the places Neal and I wanted to play. Artie (and Happy too!) was always very friendly and supportive whenever we performed together. In 1993 Artie and Happy Traum released The Test Of Time, which included my song 'Ban Vinai' - inspired by a weeklong visit to the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Northern Thailand in August of 1986. My sister Andrea was based there for many years processing the Hmong (Meo) and Yao (Mien) Hill Tribe people who, at great peril and facing certain death, fled across the Mekong River from Laos after Vietnam fell. This is the only song of mine that was ever covered by an established artist or band. I will be forever grateful for this honor and for Artie's kindness. He was a dear heart.