I mentioned earlier that there have been all kinds of events related to this project that I call "good-spooky" kinds of stuff. I usually try to stay in the Rational Life lane, but, enough of this good spooky stuff has happened over the course of book work that it does occasionally make me feel like an Unseen Hand is nudging me over into the Mystical Lane. So I want to share what just happened.
On Sunday, we had the great delight of having John and Melanie Lomax and Vince Farsetta over. I've known John and Melanie for two years now, and have spent some good times with them. I communicated with Vince alot during the same time period; like John's, Vince's help on Pluck has been invaluable. Sunday was the first time I met the great Vince Farsetta in person (he is even more cool live than on the phone.) Anyway, Vince shared a story with us about a young singer named Lindsay Lou who jammed with Vince and his buddyVince Herman of Leftover Salmon the night before. (yes, two Vinces). Back to the two Vinces and Lindsay in a sec.
Today, I received an email from Steven Stubblefield, another friend of David's. If you've read Pluck, you'll know that, back in the day, David convinced two of his students and buddies Steve and Tim Bryan to take up the dulcimer and form a band, which they did. They called themselves Starlings, Tn. You'll learn more about the Starlings in a future blog post.
In his email, Steven Stubblefiend mentioned a video on Youtube that I hadn't seen before. The video shows Steve and Tim performing "Hey Little Birdie" in 2003 in the Villager Tavern in Nashville's Belmont/Hillsboro neighborhood. For many years The Villager was a favorite haunt of David and friends. I almost fell off my chair when I watched Steve and Tim's video. It's phenomenal, a real piece of American music history that deserves to be seen far and wide. And if you want to experience these two young musicians as they were when David mentored them first as students and then as colleagues, there they are. Steven is singing, and Tim is bowing the dulcimer. Have you EVER heard such a hauntingly beautiful sound? If you listen closely at the end of the clip, during the applause, you can hear David's voice. You don't see him, but his spirit is definitely there.
After watching the video, I did a google search to see what I could find out about "Hey Little Birdie"'s history. Guess what popped up first in the search results? Lindsay Lou's song, "Hey Little Birdie." It's not the same song, but, there you have it. Isn't that strange? I never heard of Lindsay until Vince showed us the video; she's a powerful singer, and looks about the same age as Tim and Steven do in their 2003 video.
FINALLY, the point of this story has to do with that previously-mentioned Unseen Hand. Or, maybe it was a Little Birdie:
The two Vinces were jamming with Lindsay and friends Saturday night as part of a fundraiser for a young musician named Josh Morrison. Josh is from the music community of southern Illinois and now in Nashville. He is a brilliant young multi-instrumentalist who never let being blind keep him from pursuing his dream. Unfortunately, he has blood clots in his pulmonary artery and has been in a coma. His friends are raising funds to help cover expenses for Josh and his family. If you have a little money to spare, please consider dropping in to GoFundMe for a good cause. If you donate and share the post, GoFundMe promises you'll spark five more donations.