We'll Sing In The Sunshine

Always ready for a new experience, the YesterUkes made their first festival appearance at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival in Woodruff.   Playing first for a senior adult luncheon felt like a typical performance.   This audience knew all our music.  One group had come from a retirement home in Spartanburg, bringing several folks using walkers and canes.  One man seemed particularly challenged as he labored to get into the building.  We weren't sure how much of the music he was absorbing , but then--about halfway through the program, he pulled himself to his feet.  Hanging onto his walker for support, he danced and sang through the rest of the program.  He made our day!  Their director asked it we would come to their home and sing for all the residents.  We'll go if our friend will be there to dance.

Later in the afternoon we gave an outdoor concert.  We had never played outdoors before.  Everything we've done has been a "learn as you go" venture and this was no exception.  We did prepare for the breeze by bringing clothes pins to keep the wind from turning music pages as we sang--we thought.  A gust of wind caught the director's music and blew it over mid-song, so she stepped back to read from the closest notebook.  That page flipped over, too.  Then it was time to pray for the memory to last.

The challenges we did not anticipate were the blinding glare off the music and all the competing noise--fire trucks, low flying helicopters, trains and even a hoot owl in a nearby tree that sang along with us!  Someone said it sang in tune.  But it was fun to play in the fresh air with folks sitting on park benches and blankets spread on the ground.  Children had room to roam and the adults found a spot to enjoy their bowl of "Stone Soup" that was being served just up the hill.  One more event to add to our ever growing list!