Neffa

[Jim Besser]

I'll be there; let's get together and play some old time, Irish, English, Morris music, whatever.

 

I'll be wandering the halls, dazed, looking for playing opportunities.

 

Picture for identification purposes only, don't send it in to any fashion magazines or tabloids

Edited April 20, 2006 by Jim Besser

[Mark Evans]

I'll keep an eye out for you Jim. Me an' da' Gumbies will finish in the Lyric Room at 11:25 and I'll have until 12:15 at the latest to meet and jam. Hope we can connect for there was talk of old time tunes between us!

 

Oh, I'm easy to spot being short, stout, white beard, brown vest, a banjo strapped to my back and my box at my side!

Edited April 20, 2006 by Mark Evans

[Animaterra]

I'll be there all weekend- I'll look for you both! I expect the Button Box table will be a general meet-n-greet place.

I'm looking forward to seeing everybody there!

[Jim Besser]

I'll keep an eye out for you Jim. Me an' da' Gumbies will finish in the Lyric Room at 11:25 and I'll have until 12:15 at the latest to meet and jam. Hope we can connect for there was talk of old time tunes between us!

 

Yep, we can show them concertinas can do oldtime as well as anybody

[Richard Morse]

I'll be there too though only for Saturday.

I expect the Button Box table will be a general meet-n-greet place.

It often works out that way.... But be forewarned - the Button Box booth will be in a new location this year!. Rather than being relegated to the nether reaches of the far corridors (where other "noisy" vendors are), we'll be in the Crafts room this year (being that we MAKE - or craft? - concertinas).

 

And given the new location we'll only be bringing concertinas and sordid paraphernalia (especially lots of Englishes this year). And I expect we'll be only "half" as loud as previous years being that we'll not have accordions to try out. Doesn't mean you can't bring whatever instrument you have to jam!

 

See you guys there!

[Steven]

Hi gang. I haven't been hanging around Concertina.net for a while (kinda got out of the habit), but I've still been playing. I'll be at NEFFA this year for the first time, so I hope to meet some of you there. I'll probably be carrying a concertina case (with my EC in it, of course), so that will help you find me.

 

Steven

[Animaterra]

we'll only be bringing concertinas and sordid paraphernalia

 

Oops- I told an acquaintence that you might have some PAs for him to check out(he has a small 3-row and wants one with another row of buttons)! Oh, well, he can talk with you at any rate...

[David Barnert]

I'll be there, but only on Sunday. Probably arriving mid-morning, jamming until it's time to play for Pokingbrook Morris at 1:00, then Jamming again. Click my name at the left for a picture of me, then add 12 years and substitute a concertina for the banjo.

[greenferry]

Just got back from NEFFA (Friday night), stopped by after work for a bit. Saw ANIMATERRA !! Also saw Doug at the new Button Box NEFFA headquarters, prominantly situated in the Craft Room, with a full display of concertinas! The baritone Morse way up on the corner shelf called out to me wistfully, and said, "Buy Me!"

Edited April 22, 2006 by greenferry

[greenferry]

Click my name at the left for a picture of me, then add 12 years and substitute a concertina for the banjo.

Dave, I clicked for the pic. As of two weeks ago, you look exactly the same.

[David Barnert]

Dave, I clicked for the pic. As of two weeks ago, you look exactly the same.

Barbara, you're too kind.

 

I didn't realize how much color my hair has lost in two weeks.

[Mark Evans]

Lovely, lovely day at NEFFA!

 

I got there early and ran into a very nice fellow, Allen Hopkins from Rochester NY. He was playing a brass reed Wheastone EC and I walked over and before long we were playing. He tried out my Albion, I his treble and then his Wheatstone baritone. A fellow playing Hayden came over (can't remember his name), fine player. An anglo player with a Morris team came over for a bit as well as a melodeon player. Just a fine time. My fellow Gumbie Dennis pulled out his washtub bass and it was just great. Doors opened at 9:30 and we were all gone to the 4 winds.

 

The Gumbies had a very nice crowd for our little show, we checked out everything and I had to run off and teach an opera class up the hill. It was harder than I thought to switch gears. I regret I missed Jim et al.

 

This evening was a suprise topper however. Dominique invited some of her colleagues over for dinner. They are presently singing the St. Mathew Passion at Symphony Hall. Turns out the mezzo-soprano is Irish and plays the concertina (how freakin' cool is that). She brought along her lovey newer Wheatstone anglo and we had such fun (excellent player by the way..from county Clare). Her boyfriend was along and he sang, danced (quite well ) hornpipes, mazurkas and played the fire out of the spoons. Just never know what's going to happen do you? I'm done in completely and have a huge stack of dishes to do. It's time to shake off the effects of the wine and pay for my fun.

Edited April 23, 2006 by Mark Evans

[Animaterra]

Well, I saw Jim's retreating back across a crowded cafeteria at one point, never saw Mark at all, but had several pleasant sitings of Greenferry and David Barnert (thanks for coming to sing with me, David!). I barely played the concertina at all, except for my own concert Sat. night- though the vendor at the Celtic Revival store gave me a nice compliment- and it was in all a fairly overwhelming weekend. But a good one!

[greenferry]

I, too, have had several very pleasant run-ins, chat-ins and eat-ins with Animaterra, and had a nice chat with Dave Barnert, as well. I was looking to see who was dragging around concertina cases, and got into a conversation with a delightful woman named Robin who had driven all the way from Maryland. Perhaps some of you know of her. She knows about Concertina net but hasn't been on for some time. She's doing her (M.D.) residency but nevertheless plays concertina and manages to drive seven hours just to go to a folk festival. That's pretty cool. Other than that, I also had a nice conversation with Bob Snope about Morse concertinas at the Button Box display this afternoon. In addition, I spotted a CD version of Ian Robb's "Rose and Crown" which was a cassette tape for many, many years, and I have always hoped it would come out in CD version, and it has! There's a song on it that I want to learn (Song for the New Year) and it's been such a drag to have to rewind the cassette over and over again. Now I can play the song endlessly on CD!! Also Ron and Bob Copper's very first album, which was also a cassette tape for many years, has now come out in CD form. I got one of each. There were some great music books to be had at NEFFA, and I managed to get a couple to inspire me (waltzes). I also saw John Roberts who was fantastic, but unfortunately I arrived at the members music sales table too late to buy more of his CDs, because he had already collected them and left (Sunday afternoon). Darn! Well I have enough already! Plus a brand new baritone Morse .... Wooo-hoooooo!!!

[Jim Besser]

Well, I saw Jim's retreating back across a crowded cafeteria at one point, never saw Mark at all, but had several pleasant sitings of Greenferry and David Barnert (thanks for coming to sing with me, David!). I barely played the concertina at all, except for my own concert Sat. night- though the vendor at the Celtic Revival store gave me a nice compliment- and it was in all a fairly overwhelming weekend. But a good one!

 

Overwhelming, yes. More concertinas than any festival I've attended, except for NESI. Never connected with Mark, Allison or Greenferry; had no idea it was such a densely populated festival.

 

 

I basically jammed all day Saturday, before our 4 minutes of glory on the dance stage. Really excellent players, especially the running session in the back corridor.

 

Mark, there were several oldtime sessions going most of the day, and they weren't too shocked by the appearance of a concertina in their midst.

 

I found what I thought was a private dead-end corridor to frantically practice the changed tune list for our rapper set (playing at about a million beats per minute). Had a productive 45 minute practice -- and then found out it wasn't quite a dead end, it connected to the men's bathroom and locker room through a tunnel that transmitted the sound with great clarity.

 

Sorry, guys.

[David Barnert]

I spent a mere 5+ hours at NEFFA this afternoon and had a great time, accomplishing pretty much everything I had hoped to do. Saw some c.netters. In addition to Allison and Barbara, I made brief eye contact with Jody Kruskal while I was playing for the Morris Dancing, but we never had a chance to chat. Similarly "hammering gal" Britt, without even the eye contact (did you notice that was me playing under that huge umbrella between 1 and 2, Britt?).

 

I did some neat workshops, reconnected with some old friends (and one friend of my brother's who was playing fiddle for another Morris team), and even found some folks to jam with in the last half hour before I had to rendezvous with my passenger and get ready to leave.

 

It was during that jam that I was approached by a curious young couple. She was taking copious notes on a steno pad, he was taking serious close-up photos of my instrument with an expensive camera. Then she asked the usual question: "Is there some other name for that instrument besides 'accordion?' "

 

I gave the "short answer" and asked what they were up to. They are journalism students at some college (I don't remember where). I wished them luck.

 

The Morris Dancing went well, the weather holding at gray and misty for most of the hour we were out there, with only two brief torrential downpours. Fortunately, I had my trusty beach umbrella set up (the end of the pole in my right hip pocket, running up through my belt, between my right arm and my side to spread out over my head, protecting me and, at one point, two other musicians). The instrument did not get seriously wet, although the dancers did.

 

Quiet drive home. After the deluge, the sun came out briefly as we crossed the

state line and we saw a rainbow.

[Steven]

Well, I was there almost the whole time all three days. Mostly, though, I was on or near one dance floor or another, rather than jamming. It's what I'm better at, after all! I did spend some nice time in the Button Box stall and had a lovely conversation with Rich Morse. Didn't meet many other EC players (except Rachel Hall, who I already knew) or any other C.netters that I'm aware of. I did go to Ken Sweeney's EC workshop on Sunday afternoon, which had about 5 or 6 people with concertinas in it, but I didn't really get a chance to chat with them. After all, once it was over, there was a dance session to run off to! If any of you were in Ken's workshop, I was the one with the Frankentina (steel reeds put into a box that previously had a set of ruined brass reeds) that Ken used to accompany himself on a sea chantey.

 

This was my first NEFFA, and I had a grand time. Well worth the 6-hour drive each way (heck, we go at least as far for Pinewoods every year).

 

Steven