My Family Tree is Full of Nuts...

Today was a good, incredibly productive day. Seth sent in his grades for his high school dance class, and didn't have to head into work until noon. I spent the majority of my day online, typing up content for our new, soon-to-be-launched website, writing press releases, answering emails, and posting (professionally) on Facebook.
Seth got home from high school just as I was taking the laundry off of the line.  We cleaned up the house a bit, and I found the truck keys, and around 3pm David Slatkin, our mutual friend from Cleo, got in to the farm from his place in Charlottesville, Virginia. Slatkin is a graduate student (studying religion, specifically Buddhism) at the University of Virginia. He's made it out to our last two Pink Moon Festivals, and is on a very short list of Cleos who've been to Rock Camp. He's also dragon'd with us before, for EOTO in Charlottesville, and for Particle at Pink Moon III.
Seth gave Slatkin the new-and-improved, spring tour of the farm while I continued working into the evening. I made vegan, veggie, fried rice for dinner with red peppers, onions, broccoli, garlic and mushrooms.
Now all I've got to do is make 35 cupcakes for Seth's final dance class tomorrow morning and go to bed. I'm exhausted, but I feel generally accomplished!

Slatkin & Little Kitten, "My Family Tree is Full of Nuts!"

Rock Camp Productions will be at Rootwire Music & Arts Festival August 16-19, 2012

Rock Camp Productions is excited to be bringing our famous glowing characters to this year's Rootwire Music & Arts Festival in Logan, Ohio, August 16-19! We will be present all weekend, parading our giant glowing stick figure puppets Dr. Molly and Siddhartha (Sid) Glo throughout the venue, and the amazing Puff T. Magic-Dragon just might make a special appearance through the campgrounds! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for incredible, and once-in-a-lifetime shows all weekend, not only from RCP & friends, but throughout the festival.

Sid & Molly Glo

     It looks like Rootwire 2012 will be as spiritually grounded and mind-blowingly artistic as years past, at least that's the impression I got from their Facebook event page:

"What is Rootwire? Simply an environment designed from the ground up to inspire and enlighten, created entirely by those in attendance. It is an attempt to re instill the values of the original psychedelic movement, to transform society. Also, to banish the pitfalls of todays modern music festivals, which are funded by corporations, and designed solely for profit.

Rootwire 2k12 will feature the Live Music, Visual, and Performance Art of the Nations Greatest Visionary Masters. 3 Stages, Massive Circus Tent, Visionary Art Gallery, Art installations, Guided Meditations, Yoga, and Ceremonies, Forums and Live Speakers, Film viewings, Woodland Lighting, Wooded camping, Workshops and Lessons, and much much more.

It has been said time and time again, Rootwire is the ideal festival, but dont take it from us, ask someone who has attended and they will surely tell you this is the ONE not to miss!

We invite you to be yourself, all are welcome, come home to Rootwire."

Pre-sale tickets are $85 (for general admission camping throughout the weekend) and are available here. 

So get your tickets and spread the word, Rock Camp is going to Rootwire!!

Struggling Angel

A beautiful song, written by Keith Moseley and Kyle Hollingsworth for the late Sarah Gewald. She is survived by many friends and family, including close Rock Camp Productions friend, and EOTO's old road manager, Sarah's husband, Chris Gewald. Go to the SCI bandcamp site, make a donation of your choice and download the song! 100% of donations go to Front Range Hippotherapy (www.frontrangehippotherapy.com) in Sarah's name. Please support this great cause by making any size donation you feel comfortable with and download this beautiful, heart wrenching song.





- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Everywhere

Artist Feature: Galaxy Dynamite!

 

  For those of you who don't already know Galaxy Dynamite! is an incredible psychedelic rock band out of Norfolk, Virginia. They are one of my favorite bands, even though I only discovered them a couple of years ago. I first heard their catchy name at the official Hulaween after-party at the NorVa in 2010, with EOTO and DJ RahBee (where Puff T. Magic-Dragon appeared). Galaxy's unique and vibrant sound left me wanting more and more, and I made sure to book them for Pink Moon III, in 2011, here in Rock Camp.
   The members of the band, Baker Cunningham (guitar, synth), Sam Wolfe (bass), and Mike Mahgerefteh (drums), are young but phenomenally talented musicians. Each of them has been playing and creating music since their adolescence, and their individual influences shine through in their tight jams and trance-y melodies, ranging from greats such as Joe Satriani, to Nirvana, to Ozric Tentacles and The Disco Biscuits. The guys try to be as "organic as possible when coming up with new material". They have never used a pre-made set-list to guide their shows to date, and are a truly live and improvisational band. Their "songs" are more like themes which can branch off in any collimation. "Not having the constraints of written structure allows for so much more freedom to take the music in any spontaneous direction [they] choose at that moment".
   Galaxy Dynamite! has been performing pretty prolifically since their conception two years ago. They began by playing a weekly open mic night at 37 & Zen in Norfolk, Virginia. On June 26, 2010, they played their first professional gig, a party for Penthouse Energy Drinks at the Regal Beagle in Virginia Beach. Since the addition if their new guitarist/keyboardist, Baker Cunningham, in January, they've practiced constantly, and their sound has evolved and grown. Sam and Mike have been creating music side by side for nearly a decade, having played in three different bands together since high school, and their close friendship shines through in their cohesive and endless jams.
   It's precisely those endless jams that set Galaxy Dynamite! apart from other bands. Where as most groups must reconvene their jam, or bring the jam full circle, to go back into the last lines of a song, Galaxy Dynamite's "songs" are more like transient overlapping themes that flow like cosmic strings through their sets. If that riff sounds good, they go with it, build on it, and play it out. They don't always know if what they try onstage will work, sometimes it doesn't...but more often than not Galaxy Dynamite! sounds amazing, and the feeling is mutually displayed on the faces of players and audience members alike. Such pure improvisation is, to me, indicative of incredible talent, and is something few bands can actually pull off. Not just anyone can get onstage with such energy and enthusiasm, and produce such soulful and fluid music off the cuff. Their unique style launches them into a lofty category with improvisational greats like EOTO.
   Early in the game the guys dreamed of playing the NorVa. They have attained that goal (plenty of times over) having now performed there with EOTO, Ozric Tentacles and Conspirator. They have appeared with many other big names and talented performers including Boombox, Future Rock, Ballyhoo, The Heavy Pets, Iration, Sonic Spank, The Mantras, Damn Right, and DJ RahBee, and in incredible venues throughout the region and beyond, including The National (Richmond, VA), Emilio's (Richmond, VA), Cleo of Alpha Chi (Hartford, CT) and Pinky's Farm (Rock Camp, WV) to name a few.
   Speaking as a booking agent, promoter and stage manager,  these guys are cool and incredibly easy to work with. They rage hard at every performance, and always seem to give 110%, with huge smiles on their faces the whole time! They genuinely just want to get out and play, and are constantly putting themselves out there for new and exciting opportunities. Galaxy Dynamite! is determined to take it as far as they can, to keep the jam going. And they are definitely going places.
   They are currently holding a residency at City Dogs in Richmond, Virginia. They are also booked for  Pink Moon 4, here in Rock Camp, WV September 15th. For a complete list of their upcoming tour dates, music, and more information visit their website at www.galaxydynamite.com and visit their Facebook page! If you're interested in booking this unique group whose organic electro groove has the straightforward ferocity of a punk band, contact Allie at (703)-362-4728 or send an email to galaxydynamite@gmail.com

The Longest, Best, Weirdest Day Ever

The last 36 hours have been incredibly weird, but also insanely fun. It all started at 12pm on Friday...and ends with me, sitting on the couch, on the stage in my front yard, in Rock Camp WV, listening to the incredible sounds of DJ RahBee, who is spinning live, right next to me, for the first night of our Memorial-Day-Weekend-Work-Party! Wow that was a run on sentence my high school English teacher would be proud of...
Anyway...Friday at 12pm Molly and Jerm and I headed from Cleo to my Dad's house in Bristol. Molly and I took on the daunting task of cleaning (gasp) the basement, while Jerm weed-whacked the ridiculously steep and huge hill in front of the house. We were so grimy and tired after four hours of decently hard labor (definitely hard labor on Jeremy's part)! Our friend Adam, who also resides in Bristol, came over to help and hang out. He and Molly left right before Jerm and I took off from my Dad's around 5pm for a Dave Matthews Band concert at The Meadows (or whatever it's called these days...it will ALWAYS be the Meadows) in downtown Hartford. We met up with Erica (my little sister), Ashley (my best friend from high school), and Melissa (another friend from high school) on lot. They'd been tailgating for awhile, so Jerm and I tried to sell some Puff T. pins and patches. Seriously...actually...like 10 different Bros and Way-Underage-Preppy-Bitches actually, seriously asked us what a patch was. "What's a patch?" Wait, what...really? We bumped into one guy on lot who called us out as actual "heads" in a sea of posers and just straight up idiots. We laughed at the crowd for a little while, and ultimately left on the note: "you know dude, only one in ten thousand come for the show".
And it was a great show, despite the trashed KIDS everywhere. Jerm and I did have to leave early though...because we booked it straight out of Hartford at midnight, on the dot. And so Saturday began.
The drive was wonderful. Best drive back to Rock Camp ever! Daybreak hit as we rolled through Pennsylvania (which, we determined takes a quarter of the entire time of the trip to drive through). As we drove through Maryland and West Virginia (the teaser part, before hours of Virginia driving) the clouds were rolling down along the hills and fog covered the road. It was beautiful. From there the hours progressed, we drove down the road, and the most magnificent weather broke through the cloud cover. By 9am it was already hot, and incredibly bright, clear, and just so gorgeous. Even though we were beyond exhausted, Jerm and I were having the best time...especially once we hit the back roads of Monroe County.
We made the trip in record time...10.5 hours from Hartford to Rock Camp without driving even one mile per hour over the speed limit (thank god for cruise control) the whole way. Straight shot - all night, and we pulled up to the farmhouse at 10:30am, just in time for the work weekend, to a very scruffy, very happy Sethro. He gave me a huge hug and kiss, gave me a bouquet of lovely pink peonies (not to mention two beautiful hanging pink petunia plants), and a tour of all of the cleaning up he'd done on the farm. We proceeded to relax and regale stories of each others weeks, seated comfortably on the front porch. Sabrina and Justin came up, followed shortly by Melrod and Katie! After a good bit of catching up, hugging, and whatnot, we began picking up the yard and front porch. Katie and Sabrina did a bang-up job cleaning the porch...it's so tidy and comfortable now. While Melrod mowed the grass, Justin and Seth gathered wood for bonfires and grilling, Jerm weed-whacked the entire yard, and Katie, Sabrina and I cleaned up the front yard. Around 6pm Robbie and Jennie came around! We talked business for awhile then Robbie set up his equipment on stage and the rage began. He's been playing for about two hours and he's been on fire! He's been mixing up an incredible set and it doesn't seem like he's winding down at all. It's been a pretty glitch-hoppy set, with some funky house and a little drum and bass thrown in. Jennie is attempting to teach Jeremy to hula-hoop (with and led hoop, which is hysterical to watch). I think if he'd just listen and feel the flow of RahBee's beats he'd get it. Then again, maybe Jerm's just not built to move like that. Anyway, it's entertaining.
This is such a phenomenal way to end such a great trip up north, such a great drive, and such a great day working and playing with great friends. I'm dead tired, but sitting here on the couch, on the stage, listening, watching and relaxing next to my all time favorite DJ/producer, with some of my closest friends...well, there's no place I'd rather be.









- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Hartford, CT to Rock Camp, WV

Bleeps and Bloops and definitely a few Womps!

Jeremy and I are still in Connecticut, bouncing between Cleo and my Dad's house. We've been busy, throwing the graduation party on Sunday, my dress fittings, Rock Camp Productions work (having "real" internet is an incredible treat), not to mention Jeremy has done a bunch of yardwork for my dad.
I want to mention again that Eric & Ricky did a fantastic job on Sunday. The tunes were really good, and they played for a long time. They're good DJs and good guys!
I've spent today catching up on some business work, hanging around my dad's, while Jeremy weed whacks and whatnot. I watched DJ RahBee's broadcast on the-lost-art.com/live from 12-2pm. Erica (my little sister) even tuned in! It was a badass show. He plays every Wednesday on The Lost Art from 12-2pm EST...so remember to tune in. It's a cool site, and they have DJs of all kinds playing all the time, but RahBee is the only one on the site in his genre.
I fed Jeremy, who used to be  a butcher, a veggie burger for lunch. When I asked him how it was, he said, and I quote, "It's food. It's better than some things I've eaten."
We're sticking around up here until Friday, catching Dave Matthews at the Meadows in Hartford, then driving home for a Memorial Day Work Weekend! We're just beginning to adjust and feel rested, and there's a c-r-a-z-y weekend ahead of us. I am looking forward to getting home to Seth and the Farm though!

On the road again...

Jeremy and I have been on the road since 5pm Thursday. After stopping at Riffe's, Sabrina's, The New River Grill, and Jennie's we got on the road finally around 9:30pm. We drove all night to CT...no traffic, no trouble...straight shot. It only took us eleven hours as opposed to the usual fourteen!
We arrived at Cleo at 7am on Friday. Jerm and I passed out on the couch watching Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I woke up to one of my best friends Molly Dill, and we spent the day catching up and enjoying each others company. Around 7:30pm we headed over to Sully's (in Hartford) to check out the venue and say hello to Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. We grabbed some pizza at Lena's then headed home till the show started.The drummer scootered over to the house to chill for a bit, before heading back to Sully's for the show. But when we got there it became the dragon show would just be impossible...too small a venue with too many people! We were bummed, but it was ok since Pigeons came back to Cleo after the show and we got to chill!
We spent Saturday at my dad's, relaxing and recovering from the craziness of the two days previous. It was a great break before Sunday: Trinity Graduation.
The weather on Sunday was gorgeous ! It was sunny and bright and very very hot! We headed out to the Trin quad for the actual graduation ceremony around noon. It was long, but nice...and then we headed down to tent city to celebrate. A huge congratulations to all of my Cleo grads, and friends: Molly Dill, Chau Pham, Hannah Kaneck, Will Moffit, Queyn Tran, Terri Incampo, Dippi, Timmy, Elsie, and everyone else!
We headed back to the house and Eric (Gengar) Robinson and his friend Ricky came out to DJ for the Graduation Party RCP produced for Molly and Timmy. They're great guys and very talented DJs. Found them through the Festival Artists Collective! This was the second show they've played at Cleo, the first being Spring Break Blowout.
After not and incredible amount of sleep Molly and I headed out to Canton to meet up with my mother and sister, then well headed to Torrington for my wedding dress fitting. It's an incredibly gorgeous dress,but it definitely needed some alterations. It was too long, and almost impossible to shorten (for reasons I don't want to get into so as to not give away too many details)...the moral of the story being...I can't wear crocs for the wedding. Super. Frowny. Face. I have to wear actually pretty tall wedges, which spurred and very frantic, very silly emergency shoe store visit. Blah, but the dress is gorgeous. The seamstress is a slightly crazy, very funny, very Italian, little old lady...and she's a character.
We grabbed lunch after the fitting then Molly and I headed back to Cleo. Probably headed home to dads later, but for now I'm just relaxing. These trips are always just exhausting!


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Volunteer of the Week: Paul Roberts

This week's volunteer is the loyal, dedicated and hardworking friend of RCP, Paul Roberts!

Paul has attended Pink Moon 2 & 3, and countless work weekends. He has a tendency of bringing cool people along to experience Rock Camp and our Pink Moon Family, and always works really hard...well past simply earning his ticket.


Paul laid ALL of the Pink AstroTurf on our backlight mini-golf course, has painted, pruned, mowed and weed-whacked all over the farm, helped build our laundry line, and continues to come back again and again! We always have a great time together. You can find Paul's initials on the cement block next to the mini-golf course.


Paul has also been on our dragon crew. He was Puff's tail for our set at Pink Moon 3 for Particle, and he came with us to a EOTO sow in Richmond, VA, at The National. Despite getting ticketed relentlessly by some spunyun, he had a great time, and he was unquestionably a great dragoneer!


I always love when Paul visits Rock Camp! He really appreciates the farm, in all of it's beauty. He's a good friend, and is always incredibly helpful. I love that he's part of the family!


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Artist Feature: DJ RahBee

  DJ RahBee is the Rock Camp Productions Resident DJ as well as a production partner with The Pink Moon Festival. His unique style and incredible showmanship has kept dancers throughout Appalachia and beyond raging for over 16 years!
  He first got into the industry listening to Herbie Hancock's Rockit with DJ Grand Wizard Theadore, Run DMC and Slick Rick/Dougie Fresh. RahBee explains, "what they were doing in the early '80s was revolutionary and unheard of. It was incredibly cutting edge music at that time." He was hooked, and continues his journey in the music industry today. His music is ever evolving and progressing, as electronic music is ever evolving and progressing, with new technology and exciting opportunities.

  According to RahBee his style is "all over the place" - spanning a huge cross-section of EDM genres from Dubstep, all kinds of House, Glitch,  to Glitch Hop, and more. RahBee calls his tunes "LazerBassMusic".
  No matter what he's playing, RahBee's "old school" style of icorporating turntablism with cutting edge music has a powerful effect.. We've all been to that show where it appears all the DJ is doing is pressing play on an iPod....not DJ RahBee! Every show is alive, and RahBee by no means stands there pressing buttons. On the contrary RahBee caresses the vinyl like you would a beautiful woman, manually manipulating every sound that booms out of the speakers and through our bodies. He produces jaw dropping mixes, and articulates every track masterfully. New music constantly flows from his fingers before anyone else has a chance to play or even hear it anywhere else.

  DJ RahBee has appeared with a wildly impressive roster of artists throughout his career; Griz, Freddy Todd, iLL So Naj, EOTO, Papadosio, and members of The Glitch Mob, just to name the slightest cross section. Some highlights RahBee mentioned from his career include opening up for EOTO at the NorVa in VA Beach for the Official Hulaween After-party in 2010, performing at Rootwire Music Festval in 2011, not to mention opening for Ooah of the Glitch Mob.

  While playing with incredible musicians is certainly an exciting aspect of the job, RahBee's favorite part about DJing is "playing for people who really get it and really enjoy the music for what it is!" According to RahBee there is no feeling more exhilarating than "looking out over a crowd of people while they dance and cheer for you!"
  DJ RahBee is currently booked for the Happiness & Harmony Festival, this weekend, as well as multiple dates and festies throughout the summer (dates below). RahBee also holds a weekly live slot on the Internet radio station The Lost Art, every Wednesday from 12-2pm.
  Be sure to check out and "like" his Facebook page, and while you're at it...tune into his SoundCloud for some great mixes. I promise, you won't be able to stay in your seat...DJ RahBee brings the party anytime, anywhere.

DJ RahBee's Upcoming Tour Dates:

Happiness & Harmony Festival - May 18-19

Nomadic Roots Music Festival - June 28-30

Housequake w/ Doc Martin - August 3

Rootwire Music & Arts Festival - August 16-19

Camp Barefoot 6 - August 23-26

The 4th Annual Pink Moon Festival - September 15-16

The WerkOut - September 20-23

A Very Good Day

It was a wonderful day on the mountain. After Seth got home from teaching dance at the local high school we ran some errands in Union, the town over. We picked up a pizza and wings from Queen's and arrived home to a message from the director of the Directing and Public Dialogue MFA program at Virginia Tech! Seth returned the call, and come to find out he was accepted into the program! They only take ONE candidate, so I am very proud!!
Looks like we'll be living in Blacksburg, VA next year! I'm already looking for a pet-friendly, smoker friendly place to live!
Needless to say after that Sethro was is a fantastic mood. He even had the patience to give me a few Photoshop lesson while I whipped out an EPK (electronic press kit) for a friend and client of mine. I finished a rough draft, and it came out really well if I don't say so myself!
We also spent a lot of time hashing out proposals to a few new festivals. It's a lot of work, and I've been doing a ton of writing lately, but I enjoy it...and Seth gets this glimmer in his eyes when we discuss puppets and dragons.
I also got a pretty decent guitar lesson of of Seth. He's really a phenomenal guitar player...I am not. I've got a few chords down pat, but my transitions between them are pretty awful and I can barely figure out how to strum or keep time...which is silly because I'm a trained signer and have pretty good rhythm in general. Just have to keep practicing I guess!
All in all it was a really great day. I'm incredibly proud of Seth and I'm optimistic for the future!


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Super Duper Early Bird Special!

NOW THROUGH FRIDAY!!

$15 Pink Moon Tickets, ONLY until we post our line-up!
Expires May 18, 2012


Send a check or money order made out to Seth Abramson for $15 to:

Pink Moon Festival - Ticketing
c/o Seth Abramson
RR 1 Box 137
Lindside, WV 24951

All envelopes must be post marked by Friday May 18, 2012. Please include your full name in the return address (so we may send you your tickets!)

Save $5 ($10 ticket!?!) by using your paypal account! Send $10 to jessofrockcamp@yahoo.com, and email your full name and address to the that address as well.



- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Volunteer of the Year, RIP Isaac Wegbreit

Everyone at Rock Camp Productions mourns tonight. I was just informed of the untimely passing of Pink Moon Family Member, Rock Camp Productions Volunteer, and all around great guy, Isaac Wegbreit.

I first met Isaac at Elysian Fields Festival 2011. He was super psyched for Pink Moon 3! And then he started coming to work weekends with his best friend Paul Roberts. He was certainly among the greatest of volunteers, painting, building, mowing, dealing with trash, and exploring the corners of the farm with the rest of us. And every night he partied down with the rest of us! He was always such a good time, charismatic, and fun.

If you come to Pink Moon 4, stop by the small cement square just next to the first hole on our mini golf course. There you will see Isaac's initials, along with Paul's, mine and Seth's, and all of our all star volunteers from that weekend. Leave a flower, leave a kiss, and remember how many people it takes to build a strong, fruitful community...and how many are lost along the way.

Thank you, Isaac, for all of the smiles, laughs, and good times we had together. Pink Moon is for you, and all those we've lost along the way.

An untimely death is always hard on the community. Grieve. Love each other. Breathe deeply. Come together, and stay strong. And don't forget to celebrate. Celebrate Isaac's life, the joy he brought those around him, and the fact that he lives on in us, his friends and family. Remember him, but do not dwell. Hold onto him, but also let him go. Do not dwell. Don't ask yourself "what if?"...and don't blame yourself. Just know that, no matter what you choose to believe, he is in a better place.

We love you Isaac. We will miss you forever. Rest in peace, brother. Rest in peace.


For anyone who would like to read his obituary it can be found here (funeral details can be found there): http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesdispatch/obituary.aspx?n=isaac-lyle-wegbreit&pid=157563651&fb_source=message

- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Rock Camp Productions Volunteer of the Week!

Welcome to our new weekly feature, the Rock Camp Productions volunteer of the week!



This week we'd like to honor Jesse Zimmerman! Jesse is a Rock Camp veteran for sure, having lived here on the mountain just before, during and after Pink Moon 2 in 2010. Jesse has been to tons of Rock Camp Productions and Pink Moon work weekends, and can often be found mowing acres upon acres, gathering fire wood, weed whacking, or fixing wiring around the farm.



We met Jesse at the Elysian Fields Festival 2010 in Boyce, VA. Not long after that he came out to live on the farm with us and helped us prepare for Pink Moon 2. Earlier this year Jesse was initiated into the co-Ed literary society, Cleo of Alpha Chi, in Hartford, CT.


Since then Jesse has done countless Rock Camp Productions tours with us. He has appeared under Puff T. Magic-Dragon, for EOTO, Papadosio, Keller Williams, DJ RahBee, The Bridge, and many more.

Jesse is an invaluable member of Rock Camp Productions. He is always helpful, hard-working and considerate. We are very thankful to have him on board, year after year, and glad to have him as part of our family.


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Spring Weekend!

It's a quiet Saturday afternoon up on the farm. Paul rolled up to visit last night, and is hanging out for the weekend. He's from Richmond, and has been to two out of three Pink Moons and more work weekends than I can count!
Sabrina and Justin also came up; so with me, them, Paul, Jeremy and Seth it was a downright party up here. We chilled, watched "Caddyshack" and I wrote up content for our new (in-the-works) Rock Camp Productions website.



Today has been a relatively mellow day as well. Sabrina's stepdad brought up her short-bus today! It's SO cool! I made hamburgers and veggie burgers stuffed with onion and green peppers, and homemade relish for lunch, out back on our grill. Seth's grandpa made it years ago out of stones from an ancient chimney and foundation on he farm. An the wood fire adds such flavor!
Now we're hanging out with kittens, I mean, how could we resist? They're so darn cute! Seth's Aunt Peggy, her brother Rusty and his two kids are visiting the mountain as well. Rusty has a get-away cabin up past our house. All of them are down in the park cleaning up! It was our intention to go to church with Peggy and Grandma on Sunday for Mother's Day!


We definitely needed this mellow spring weekend. Seth has been super stressed out, with his grad school application pending and his high school students have been a handful (as high schoolers always are...), and I've been super stressed as well planning the wedding and Pink Moon and our summer tour.

And finally check out this neat blog post about the very talented DJ RahBee on The Space Haven...

http://thespacehaven.com/dj-spotlight-rahbee/


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Spring has Sprung!

It's definitely spring here on the farm! Everything is incredibly green, flowers are blooming, we have almost 1 month old kittens, and Jeremy has already had to mow the yard four or five time.



It's always beautiful here on the farm, but spring is really special. One of my favorite pass times is sniffing (new-to-me) heirloom irises, that have been here a lot longer than I've been alive. There are the fairly conventional light purple irises (they smell like artificial grape flavor) which are everywhere down here, dark purple irises that smell like vanilla, dark purple and yellow irises that smell like lemon-bar desserts, yellow irises that smell like lemons, big white irises that smell like white Necco wafers, little dark purple Japanese irises that don't smell like anything at all, and pink irises that smell like strawberries! And I'm NOT crazy, Seth and our friend down the road, Joel, confirm!



Joel has got the most beautiful gardens! Flowers of all kinds surrounded by rock sculptures, fruit trees, and a couple acres of fruits and veggies! I'm so envious!



I love this time of year. The only thing I don't love about it is the bugs. And they're going to be bad this year because we've had such a mild winter! Luckily we've got plenty of cats. Stealie, the only not-white kitten from Ophelia's litter, and the only one we decided not to spay, had four beautiful kittens on 4/20. Two boys and two girls. Seth and I are keeping the two boys, one of which is bright orange and we named him Jerry (the other three kittens are dark tabbies). One of the girl kittens is a bobtail. The long tailed girl kitten, who we've dubbed Althea is going to my best friends Isaac and Danny. the other two kittens, the bobtail girl and the tabby boy are to-be-named, and the bobtail girl is looking for a home!



So this brings our current cat total to ten! Cosmic Charlie, Oedi-pussy Galore, Two-Eyes, Blue-Eyes, Bobby McGee, Stealie, Althea, Jerry, Kitten #3 and Kitten #4! Not to mention our two dogs, Virginia (Ginny) and Lucy! Thank God we live of a farm right?!


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Dancing with Dragons

Check out our feature article in Headstash!!!

http://www.headstash.com/magazine/artist-spotlight/1612-dances-with-dragons


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

April Fools

We've been on a crazy run since March 31st when we opened EOTOs tour with them at The Electric Factory with Shpongle. It was a phenomenal show, a great crew (Raph, Bea, Pete, Brian, Jeremy, Seth and myself). We gave Travis a 5-hour-energy pre-show and I his words "save the gig"....and we raged Puff T. at all the right moments! It felt magical!! After the show we helped them break down their brand new Lotus stage.
From Philadelphia we headed to Pittsburgh (a longer ride than we'd anticipated...) and did more Dragon shows in costume for April Fools, with EOTO at Mr. Small's theater. After the show the sockets for the power drills had been misplaced, so Jeremy and I pitched in and helped break down the Lotus stage with a hand socket wrench and our fingers. Got it done!
On the weekend on April 5th we had a work weekend. A bunch of great folks came out and we got the store significantly cleaned out! My mother and grandparents came by so my mother could see the mountain before the wedding.
April 9th Jeremy and I headed to Charlottesville to do another show with EOTO. Another great show, despite some resistance from the venue. We did four dragon sets and Jeremy Panda'd all night. We spent the night at Slatkin's and headed out the next morning.
We pulled in to Cleo at 9:15pm. It was great, finally a chance to relax. Seth and Jesse arrived at my dad's on Wednesday. And Thursday began Jesse and Jeremy's initiation into Cleo.
Monday Seth and Jesse headed home. Jeremy and I have been recovering since. I've been working on a bunch of Rock Camp Production busywork as has Seth. he's also applying for the directing MFA program at VA Tech.
I'm producing a party at Cleo tomorrow (4/20) including Galaxy Dynamite!, DJ RahBee, and Puff T. Magic-Dragon! It's going to be one hell of a blow out. And then, finally I get to go home to my sweetheart!


- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Up and down the East Coast

Spring Break Blowout

    Jeremy and I left Rock Camp around 7:30am on Wednesday the 14th, heading straight for CT. We picked up Jesse (via RT 66....that exit off of Rt 81 always makes me think of Dugald....) and magically, 10 hours later we just slipped by the tail en of NYC rush hour traffic, and crossed into CT. We listened to my iPad, on shuffle, the whole ride...and I tell you, it has a serious Beatles and Phish bias.
I dropped the boys off at my dad's house and rushed to Cleo. It was wonderful to see everyone again. We chit chattered late into the night, after I threw a book or two and Matt Piros and gave multiple hugs across the board, I headed back to my dad's and crashed out...exhausted from 14 hours of driving, 750 miles and so many friends. My eyes didn't open till 11am on Thursday (15th) even though I'd set alarms for 9:30am. I grabbed Jesse and Jerm and we headed out to Cleo. Mostly we just chilled...getting ready for the crazy party we were about to throw and introducing Jerm and Jesse to the various members of the house and their quirks. 

    Our VA DJs and Visual Artists arrived around 5 or 6pm, and we just gave them time to rest up, shower and get ready to throw down. Susan Helfrich began setting up blacklights and incredible spandex fabric decor, transforming the field house into an incredible, out of this world, party scene. Our fire spinners showed up (Find them at Sasha FireGypsy on the Facebook)....and even though Sasha had been sick as a dog the past few days, those girls were hot (pardon the pun) and ready to perform!  They Threw it down in front of the house all night long (after Roarke and I okay'd it with Campus Safety).
   We had seven DJs cranking....3 Cleo alums: DJ Oce, DJ Slava, and DJ BC as well as non Cleo DJs: DJ Viah, DJ Diabeats, DJ Gengar, and Artist Alex Kristoff. Brendan (DJ BC) brought his RCP commissioned/inspired dragon 'Tronic, which we hung as installation art above the bar.

While our attendance wasn't as high as we hoped: we weren't serving alcohol, and it was the Thursday before Spring Break. Despite all that it was one hell of a time. We ran around the house with Puff T. Magic-Dragon and around the campus a bit, freaking out freshman with giant glowing dragons and Molly's megaphone. I still lost my voice from too much screaming, smoking and singing.

Friday we chilled hard until evening, when all us Cleos and Jerm and Jesse (prospectives) partied down! Jeremy and I didn't get much sleep Friday night, so Saturday we took our time loading up the truck and getting the finality of my crap out of Cleo. I was in no shape to drive, after my weekend of sleep deprivation and debauchery....so Jesse got us past NYC, through Jersey into Allentown PA (with my help, how I stayed awake...the world may never know) where we stopped at a cheap and only mildly creepy motel. It had a heart shaped, red, whirlpool tub next to the bed (the whirlpools didn't work, and we didn't have hot water till 7am so the room only ended up costing us $10!!)
Sunday I powered through, dropping Jesse off in Manassass, and headed straight back for Rock Camp. We took the exit for the "back way" (159-311-3) but realized we were out of gas, and about to be in huge trouble, and magically found our way back onto the interstate and to an open gas station. Then just road rt. 219 (which runs all the way to Buffalo NY) home.
When we finally got up our bumpy dirt driveway to our cute, comfortable, welcoming farmhouse....we realized Seth was already in bed PASSED OUT and he'd locked us out. Jeremy and I spent an hour trying to jimmy our way into the house...and finally found our entrance. After such a crazy trip it felt good to be home. It didn't take Jerm long to pass out on the couch, and I headed upstairs to cuddle with Seth after missing him for over five days. Silly, I know...but I love the guy!

Donate torwards Festival Artists Collective (dot com)

Rock Camp Productions Resume

Rock Camp Productions

Jessica Mola & Seth Abramson

jessofrockcamp@yahoo.com

3048326223

Rock Camp Productions is a comprehensive production company, drawing from a large community of artists. The co-owners and operators are Seth Abramson (Creator) and Jessica Mola.

RCP has been a staple in the arts scene, specifically the counter culture art scene for over a decade, bringing glowing, interactive fun and mind blowing performances to music festivals and concerts across the country.

Rock Camp Productions has produced the following shows:

Glodeo! - A complete performance piece including our cast of classic glowing characters: Puff T. Magic-Dragon (our 35” long glowing festival dragon), and Dr. Molly and Siddhartha Glo (our 20” tall glowing stick figure puppets, affectionately called Molly and Sid). The characters interact throughout the performance, chasing each other, dancing, and occasionally Sid actually rides Puff...the rodeo aspect of the Glodeo!

Secluded Forest Fest 2004 – Alien Crash Landing Piece: performers dressed as an extraterrestrial band, that toured around the festival ground playing to the crowd.

Crobar Club Residency 2004-2007 (NYC) – weekly costume ensemble art projects, puppet shows

Play Party VIP – Collaborating with Jaysumma Old and Promoter

Serve Party - Collaborating with Jaysumma Old and Promoter

Zoo Party – Party Organizer and Promoter

Puppet shows and costume ensembles with DJ Oakenfold (Molly's Debut) , DJ Tiesto, Sasha & Dig Weed, Puff Daddy

House of Mercado collaborations & Chichi Valente & Rafi Mercado

Club Exit NYE Party 2005 (NYC) – Puppet Performance (Sid's Debut)

Happy Valley Night Club (NYC)

Heidi Klum's Halloween Party 2006 - Interactive Performance Artist

Bloomberg Media Summer Party 2006-2009 (Randalls Island) -Kite Installations, circus variety, 10 kite installation self designed and executed

Gathering of the Vibes 2005-2011 – We are officially the “Freaky People department” and provide our Glodeo! Plus a cast of costumed characters including caveman mimes, Dancing Bear Mascots, skeletons, body painting and more.

All Good Music Festival 2006, 2008, 2010-2011 – Glodeo! Plus a cast of costumed characters including caveman mimes, Dancing Bear Mascots, skeletons, body painting and more.

Bonaroo 2005-2008 – Glodeo! As well as official Bonaroo staff participating in costumed ensembles, performance art, circus variety shows, parades, blowing up acrobats in weather balloons, and more.

Mexicali Blues Zen Tricksters NYE Party 2005 – Puppet performances and costumed characters.

Floydfest 2006 – kites, puppets, costume ensemble 2010 – dragon puppet costumes

10K Lakes 2007 – Puppet Performances (Sid & Molly), On stage performance with Wookiefoot

Club Sol 2007 (NYC) - Ensemble Performance Director, Promotions

Club Spirit (NYC)

Halloween 2007 w/ Jeff Hernandez- Performer,Dancer, Drumming

Sullivan Hall (NYC)

Rehab Party 2008-2009 - Director, Promoter, Booking Agent, Designer, Performer

Disorient Times Square 2010 – Dragon Show

Phish 8 – Dragon Show (Puff's Debut, Dragon commissioned by Phish)

Puff T. Magic-Dragon spots in Phish's 3D movie

Kites Over Washington 2009 http://discovercreditunions.com/kites

Promoter, event coordinator at Cleo of Alpha Chi, Hartford CT 2000-present

Elysian Fields 2010-2011 – Dragon shows and costume ensembles

Camp Barefoot 2-5 – Glodeo! and costume ensembles

Culturefest 2010 – Dragon show, kites and costume ensembles

Reed Speed @ Awful Arthur's, Blacksburg VA - Dragon show

Papadosio @ The Sun Music Hall, Floyd VA – Dragon show
The Shangri-La Party w/ DJ Rahbee @ The Sun, Floyd Va – Dragon show
EOTO @ The Pearl Street Nightclub, Northhampton MA - Dragon
EOTO @ The Royale, Boston MA - Dragon
EOTO @ 123 Pleasant St, Morgantown, WV – Dragon

Rock Camp Productions Festivals

Pink Moon I 2009 (Rock Camp, WV)

Pink Moon II 2010 “

Pink Moon III 2011 “

http://www.pinkmoonfestival.com

Other Experience:

Guild Works Kite Flight Studio

Building kites, performance group organizer

The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

The Today Show

Dances for Wave Hill with Heather Hensen

Phish

Oswego 1999 - Kite Performer

NYE 2000 - Kite Performer

IT – Kite Performer, Bunny Troupe, Production Assistant

Coventry - Kite Performer, Bunny Troupe, Visual Design Team

http://rock-camp.com

http://www.pinkmoonfestival.com

http://www.facebook.com/rockcampproductions

http://www.facebook.com/pufftmagicdragon

http://www.facebook.com/SidGlo

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Molly-Glo/138083346262436

http://www.facebook.com/festieart

http://rockcampproduction.blogspot.com

What a strange life

Let me preface this post by saying, I am a New England Girl. Though i was really raised on a secluded mountain top in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York...I spent most of my life in suburban CT. Then I decided I was a city girl...so I moved to the mother of all cities, The Big Apple....and HATED it. So back to CT...Hartford for me and I began my career in theater production.

How the hell did I end up in West By God Virginia? Don't misunderstand, I love it here...I just find my path interesting and obscure.




After being swept off my feet by Sethro to rural (and I mean rural) Rock Camp, and a little bit of convincing, I fell in love with this place and this lifestyle.

Our lives are perfect. Oh we have our day to day troubles, bills, bickering, dirty dishes, the works....but we also have acres upon acres of beautiful fields and forests. Our farmhouse is humble (and yes there are cluster flies, not this time of the year though). It needs a lot of work....we have holes in our floors and walls,and a back door that really needs repair. But we're fixing it up in leaps and bounds. And it's comfortable. Maybe it's primitive, but It is definitely
home. (I'll write a full post about the farmhouse and landscape later).
Our jobs are incredible. What could be more fun, fulfilling and perfect for Seth and I, than touring a spectacle art show with our favorite musicians at our favorite events and venues?!?! And although throwing the festivals is A LOT of work, it's also a kind of rewarding I've never gotten from anything else.
We're living the dream. And the perfect people, who share that dream, are popping out of the wood work all of the time.
We're building a real community here, and I'm loving it.



- All roads lead to Rock Camp

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Country living

      Winter time in Rock Camp West Virginia where the Blue Jays bully their way around the feeders, and the deer graze in the fields. Not to mention our “Dragon Family” tackling the day to day task of survival. A typical winter morning on the farm consists of starting your fires if they have burned out through night. As for me starting the fires is an enjoyable task, preparing your kindling and arranging your smaller pieces of wood so there is optimal air flow. Once that is accomplished it is always good to have a glass of tea and a heart warming breakfast before setting out in the morning cold for the days activities.

      Seth and I usually set out for a load of wood racing to the door to beat the dogs. Jess shuts them in as they gloomily stare out the window beseeching with their eyes to come with us. Checking our equipment and loading the truck we begin our journey up the mountain looking for any standing dead wood. After a short distance we always find a good cluster of hardwood from locust, white oak, and hickory to maple and birch. Seth mans the chainsaw as I wrestle the wood into the truck, meanwhile back home Jess is preparing for her day organizing our festivals and “Dragon Tour”.

Some of the difficulties of winter are preventing the water lines from freezing and finding the good warm days to get ahead of your summer chores. We have been lucky this winter and haven't had to worry about the snow blocking the driveway or the bitter nights nipping at us. As always you have the beauty of winter from breath taking views to the abundance of wildlife. Red Tail Hawks flying above searching for the next meal and the squirrels hiding their treasure. Sitting on the porch we can see the sun set in the evening as the rays of light warm our faces and souls.

      All in all winter isn't that bad when you have good friends and family to spend them with. Snuggle up in a blanket, grab a good book, or watch some “Lost”. Best wishes and happy playing from the dragon family and all other Rock Camp critters.

I got a feeling

Seth and I want to do an elaborate, bluegrass/jam/electronica performance piece cover of "I Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas.

Listen to it:

Start off acoustic guitar, Seth and I on vocals maybe violin and drum sticks.
Then blow it up with the addition of a dj. Washboards. Crowd involvement. The works. Who's down?
Oh so many plans.

I love it.

Location:Rock Camp, WV

From idea to reality in one night: Festival Artists Collective

So today I was searching Facebook for hours looking for cool, talented and interesting artists. It was a pain in my fucking neck and I ended up getting pretty pissed off. I wondered why there wasn't a database for music festival artists, live painters, performers, vendors, giant glowing dragon troupes, etc.
Then through the magic of some strongly worded Facebook status posts, I found like-minded artists willing to help me build this database.
And lo and behold, not a day later we're up and running!
Check out the Festival Artists Collective
We've also set up an assortment of Facebook sites for Festival Artists Collective which you can access here:
www.facebook.com/festieart
http://www.facebook.com/groups/186597074777062/

I think this site will be an incredible resource for artists, promoters, festival organizers, vendors and anyone in the "scene". Anyone who's interested in helping develop it should email me at jessofrockcamp@yahoo.com!

Couldn't have made so much progress on this project without Brian McGregor and Tom Howard! Thanks guys!

Location:Rock Camp, WV

Exciting Dragon News - A EOTO Tour!!

The dragon family is officially announcing our EOTO tour! Puff T. will be traveling across the mid-east (?) from:
4/1 in Millvalle, PA
4/9 in Charlottesville, VA
4/18 in DC
AND
4/28 in Richmond, VA

Check out EOTO's full tour here: http://eotomusic.org/upcoming-shows/

We are so excited, and you should be too!!

Location:Millvale, PA - Charlottesville, VA - DC -Richmond, VA

Sleepy Sundays

It's been mellow on the farm today. We slept in until Ginny's tail thumped loudly and continuously on the cookstove. We futzed around, picking up after the Christmas party and cuddling. We left briefly to pick up the essentials (coca-cola, toilet paper and camel blues) and got lunch at the Hometown Restaurant in Peterstown.
On the way home we stopped in on Mark and James. Mark left behind the pink snuggie we gave him last night so we dropped that off and played with his animals. Mark has cats, old English sheep dogs, turkeys, chickens, emus, sheep, cows, horses and donkeys!
Back on the farm we pulled in the evenings firewood, and are now comfortably curled up on the couch. Just an easy, happy Sunday in Rock Camp!

Location:Rock Camp, WV

A Rock Camp Christmas Party

We just had an absolutely lovely Rock Camp Christmas Party! Sabrina, Jeremy, Tori, Justin and Jamie came up, as well as Mark. I made spaghetti and crescent rolls for dinner, with sugar cookies, cheese cake and Mark's apple cobbler for dessert. Then we opened some Christmas presents. Sabrina gave us towels, candles, snacks and marigold seeds. I gave Sethro some Angry Birds stuffed animals. We gave Jeremy a new camera and Mark a pink snuggie! We proceeded to chill out in our cozy little living room, sipping some apple pie moonshine and munching Christmas cookies. I love our adorable little Rock Camp family...Mark is a character, but an insanely good guy. He was Pinky's best friend, and really looks out for us. Sabrina is the toughest cookie I know, our Rock Camp mama. Sabrina is on a short list of people I just never get tired of! Jeremy is living with us up on the mountain. He's been a huge help, getting wood and looking out for us. We're going to set him up in the apartments above the Rock Camp Store soon, but for now he's staying in the farmhouse with us. Rusty is on the farm, up at his cabin, but didn't come to the party. I was hoping he'd bring Isaac and Cici (his kids) up as we have some great gifts for the kiddos, but oh well. Rusty did however stop by last night at 1:30AM. I had just fallen asleep, and Jeremy and Seth were watching "Lost", when Rusty showed up and came in the house. He gave us a used candle and some apples. I don't pretend to understand. Anyway, I'm almost done with my Christmas preparations. The lights are up, the tree is decorated, my Santa Clause collection is up, mistletoe and wreaths are hanging, and the stockings are over the fire. Every year, Seth and I get a live tree, with the root ball, and plant it after Christmas. Last year we got a fraiser fur, this year we've got a Norwegian spruce. Our Holiday Epic (10 days, through 9 states, visiting 4 families, 2 dogs, 2 holidays [Hannukah and Xmas], 1 wedding gown fitting, and 1 optometrist appointment) starts December 18th. It is sure to be chaotic, but it will also be fun. Now we're watching The Santa Clause. It was a lovely day, and now we're cozy and cuddling by the fire. Merry Christmas !

Get ready for a Rock Camp Wedding!

Sethro proposed and I said yes! We're engaged to be married, here on the farm, September 15, 2012!

Keep posted at www.sethroandjessica.com

Location:Rock Camp, WV

DJ Williams Projekt at Pink Moon III

Pink Moon Rises Over Rock Camp - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com

Pink Moon Rises Over Rock Camp - WVNS-TV - WVNSTV.com

There's a Pink Moon over Rock Camp

Today was a c-r-a-z-y day! I woke up at 9am (Seth was already at school) to the dogs barking at the porta-john delivery man. He spent the day placing our 15 johns around the venue!
Some wonderful folks from WVNS 59 News showed up today and interviewed me about Pink Moon. I showed Anne and Patrick around the farm, they took some great shots...and I was on the 6pm news!
Check out the article and video here!
That was nerve racking (as you can probably tell from my clip). I spent the rest of the day answering calls and emails about the fest. Got everything taken care of though! A ton of people are coming tomorrow to help decorate and get ready!
When Sethro got home we headed out to Christiansburg to get supplies from Lowes and Walmart (I know, I know...but sometimes convenience is king...) We bought the Lowes out of black light bulbs and we bought the Walmart out of walkie talkies! It was a very productive shopping spree.
I'm exhausted...but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep! I have to, I know...but I feel like I used to when I was young on the night before we went to Disney World!
Our article in the Roanoke Times came out today as well! Check it out here!
We received our really fantastic, vinyl custom printed weekend wristbands in the mail as well! They look great (and I'm already wearing one...even though I probably don't have too...). I also rush ordered Pink Moon stickers today!
Now it's time to enjoy Jeopardy (and maybe watch our tv spot one more time...that's definitely staying on the dvr!) and go to bed! More updates tomorrow...and then the fun begins!!!!

Saturday Night Live

It's turned into an even better evening. Katie and Bird showed up just after Sabrina left! We had a wonderful dinner, a few glasses of wine and relaxed.
Then Tom and Brenda showed up. The house got wild for a bit, and finally, after creating a small mess, went on their way.
Anyway, it's turned into a truly lovely evening. We're lounging in front of the fire, enjoying a relaxing evening before working out butts off tomorrow. I'm glad for the good company and a quite evening now.

It's the final countdown!

Sabrina came over today! She's the most incredible woman, and she really soothed my soul. When I woke up this morning, my eyes popped open and all that ran through my head was so much to do, so much to do, so much to do. By the time I was dressed and downstairs I was in full fledged stressed out panic mode. And then Sabrina came by, and we figured out literally all of the Pink Moon logistics, relaxed, and painted a ton of absolutely beautiful signs that Sabrina's Uncle Tony made for us. Sabrina also brought us a bunch of great little birdhouses for the kids to paint in the "kid's corner" and then hang up in Bird City.
Now, Seth's lit a fire and I'm cooking dinner. We're watching old episodes of Two and a Half Men and wrapping up some last minute busy work.
5 days...I can't wait! A bunch of my friends from NYC, Boston and CT are coming...my dad and his girlfriend are coming! So many cool people from this region and the surroundin ones are coming! This is going to be epic...and I do not use that word lightly!

Happy Birthday Krista!

Last night, after Seth got home from school and took a nap, we headed down to Rich Creek, VA for Sabrina's daughter Krista's 17th birthday party. Our good friend DJ Rahbee was playing, and it turned out to be a ton of fun! I danced my butt off, Seth played basketball (and raced, and got pelted with ballons) with the little kids at the party. It was adorable! Robbie raged it, and everyone had a great time.
This morning I woke up and immediately started working! 5 DAYS TILL PINK MOON! No time to slack! No time to lounge! Plenty to do! But this year is going to be incredible! I can feel it!

Congradulations to our Jambase Contest Winner!!!

Can't wait to see you at Pink Moon III Mark Korman!!

So much thanks to Marcus Schmidt and everyone at Jambase!!

7 Walkers offer their protection...

Yesterday was a great day. After Sethro got home from school we showered and got dressed and headed to Floyd, VA. We ate a wonderful seafood dinner at the Oddfella's Cantina...a great bluegrass jam was going down on their little stage, and dinner was wonderful! We had two appetizers of oyster and chicken of the woods mushrooms sauteed in a butter garlic sauce, and muscles and clams in a tomato basil sauce. We shared their swordfish special for our entree, which included scallops, shrimp, and a shitake mushroom sweet and sour sauce.

After dinner, we headed over to The Sun Music Hall/Dogtown Roadhouse to see Billy Kreutzmann's band The 7 Walkers. Man...it was an incredible show. A great troupe of fire spinners did a performance before the show started. 7 Walkers RAGED....stole my face right off my head! We saw a bunch of our friends there, including Will and Mandy. I danced my butt off, and enjoyed the quality tunes with Sethro. Honestly...in my opinion, 7 Walkers, even with their fantastic, authentic, New Orleans flair, was the truest "incarnation" or off-shoot of the Dead, that I've seen. They were all phenomenal musicians, and clearly into what they were doing. They encored with an awesome Eyes of the World>Lovelight. It was a great time.

We handed out fliers for Pink Moon as people left. We skedaddled out of Floyd around 12:30am, (I drove) and we got home around 2am.
Seth had to get up for school this morning. I told him it was good practice for Pink Moon. He's really been doing an amazing job teaching Algebra at the local high school. I think he really likes it too! It's good to see him clearly having such an important and positive impact on the community around here...in a more main stream sense.
6 DAYS TILL PINK MOON!!! It's down to the wire here...but this thing is going down, and it's going to be incredible!!! I can't wait...I'm so excited, but I still have so much to do!

Labor Day Work Weekend

I woke up at noon on Saturday and realized that...duh...it was Labor Day weekend. I talked to Sabrina on the phone and had just settled into the idea of no one showing up for the work weekend, when people began arriving. First Broman and Aaron from outside of Roanoke. Then Katie and Melrod and Ben. Then David and Elijah. Then Sabrina and Boo. Then Evan and Victoria!
Despite the good turn out, the weather jinxed us and the afternoon was...soggy. Evan and Katie cooked dinner in the rain, while I cleaned the house and other cleaned up the farm.
It was a good time, with a ton of sweet dogs. Bird showed up that evening and we all chilled in the newly finished living room - which is finally clean and roomy and comfortable.
It was a really great evening with friends, and slowly, bellies full and hearts warm, we all petered off to bed.
When we woke up Sunday morning Bird was already weed whacking, and everyone else was cleanin3g up and working. Breakfast had been cooked! It was fantastic! I set Katie and Victoria on painting signs while I cleaned the sitting room upstairs.
It was a productive day of clean up and conversation. Everyone went their separate ways, and Broman, Aaron, Boo, Sabrina, Seth and I sat down in the newly cleansed sitting room to watch "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!"
After everyone left, Billy and our neighbor across the way and his girlfriend stopped by. They're going to help us out with some electrical work for Pink Moon.
Finally Seth and I got to sit down and relax. It wasn't long after that we shuffled off to bed.
Labor Day itself was rainy and lazy. Not much business work could be done and I spent most of the day playing Portal 2 and smoking cigarettes. In the evening we answered some questions about Pink Moon for 16 Blocks magazine...the story should come out Sept. 9th! We headed to bed early, because Seth began his job teaching Algebra I at James Monroe High School this morning.
In fact he woke up before five to get ready, showered, shaved, fed and out the door for school this morning. I woke up around 7am, right before he left, to help him pack up his lunch and wish him good luck. I spent the day tying up various Pink Moon loose ends, and promoting on the Facebook! We lost power (helluva rainstorm) for about four hours at 12:30pm.
It was still out when Seth got home at 3:30pm. We took a nap...then Sethro made BLTs for dinner while I banged out some business stuff.
Now, Seth's nursing the fire, the kittens are playing, and were watching the Jeopardy: Teacher's Tournament. It's chilly, but Seth just got the fire going. The house is clean, Seth has a respectable day job (he will have to work from 7am-4pm the Thursday and Friday of Pink Moon), we're well rested and well fed. Only 9 days until Pink Moon....
"Pink Moon is on it's way" - Nick Drake