North Carolina

The open road. A sticker-smothered guitar case. Sidewalks, strumming, and pocket change.

They just seem to go together, right?

I like a good road trip every now and then. I just retuned from another such trip to North Carolina, which in many ways is a second or third or fourth home to me.

The impetus for the trip involved a friend's wedding in Boone, which spun out into about a week of dancing and catching up and music. 

Here's a dulcimer shop in Blowing Rock, NC. This guy was so awesome. He let me try many of the dulcimers behind the counter.

Instrument shopping is something I take seriously and I go long-term when I'm making a decision. I need to play a variety of instruments and really feel out which instrument is the best fit for my need and personality. He had some cool ones, including some dulcimers in the shape of a banjo... I have mixed feelings about that.

I did purchase a dulcimer capo, though, in order to increase my current playing potential:

I managed to line up a gig at Tate Street Coffee while I was there. Coffeeshops, again, my favorite of venues. I had a small and extremely dedicated crowd, which are the best! And I played about 18 songs. All in all, a very awesome night.

I have to give a shoutout to all my friends who gave some of their time to catch up and talk to me. I felt really really super-encouraged after my trip was over. On my way home, I even listened to my own music and I was 200% less critical than I normally am. So thanks.

Finally, I stopped over at House of Musical Traditions near DC on my way back up the east coast. I used to live down the street from this store... I never appreciated it the way I should have.

Here we see the wall o ukes. They also had a whole wall of banjos, a dulcimer room (hammered and mountain), various percussion, tinwhistles, guitars (including some guitars upstairs that were too expensive to even breathe on), mandolins, some asian instruments I didn't even know the names of, and I'm probably leaving some stuff out.

Again, I bought nothing. But it caused me to dream again in ways I haven't dreamed in awhile. To imagine a fuller extent of what I could do. And, heck, one day I will buy a new instrument or two or seventeen.

I will leave you with a little happy, courtesy of my friend Jessie. I danced the last waltz in Winston-Salem on Tuesday with a gent by the name of Austin. As you may or may not know, usually that's it for the dance, but on this particular evening, the band (Pilot Mountain Bobcats) struck up this bouncy little number and we couldn't see not dancing to it... so here's a short clip of us doing just that, mostly improvising on swings, and me in my new skirt that my mom made. :)