Party

February 20, 2010, we finally held a Release Party for this CD in Bartlesville OK. It went very well--standing room only! (well, it wasn't a huge space--but we're lucky the fire department didn't bust us.) I had expected people would drop in and out, but most arrived on time and stayed the whole 2 hours. I inserted two breaks for refreshments (and CD sales...). People were still having a great time when the clock said we had to shut down.

The site was The Rolling Pin, a downtown Bville bakery/cafe which is usually not open on weekends. I know the owners, Susan and Charles Miller, because they sell goodies at our town's farmers market. Also, Charles is an accomplished musician who has played at the market. His excellent sound system (and technician skill) gave me fine vocal and instrument sound for the party performance.

The audience was mostly adults, including several of our son's school friends (he had invited them via Facebook) who brought their wee children. The tads were too young to understand much, but very well behaved although I didn't tilt the program in their direction. The young adults kindly told me their happy memories of the years when "You came to tell me stories" at their elementary school. I was also pleased to see a retired 2nd grade teacher, who had invited me to another elementary school for many years when I was just getting started: it was my "lab school" for polishing new stories and building curriculum connections.

I did stories and songs from Stories & Songs for a Green Earth plus additional material which we didn't record, and some tracks from earlier CDs. I was glad to introduce my studio engineer, who came with his wife and grandson.

Our son Ben and his bride Jessie took turns staffing the resource sales table, where Jessie had arranged a very attractive display. Sales covered the day's expenses several-fold, and there may be more as folks took home the contact flyers we placed on all the tables.

We served cookies and breads (cut in bitesize nibbles) and a carrot cake decorated to match the CD's colorful photo of wildflowers, with hot and cold beverages.

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It was such fun that we'll be discussing possible performances during their regular noon hour or special Saturday story-breaks.