GAfilk (part 2): Music collab

Above: Shar's and Becca's footware last weekend.

As I mentioned in yesterday's Blathering, Allison has already written a thorough convention report from Urban Tapestry's prospective, so I'm just going to touch on a few extra points.

For me, one of the most appealing aspects of filk conventions is making music with and appreciating music of others. I get as much pleasure while listening during an open filk circle as I do performing, sometimes more.



(Above: newlyweds Graham and Becca Leathers, who gave a WONDERFUL Concom's Choice concert last weekend)

Because different people attend different conventions, the flavor and personality of the filk circles varies as well, even within the same convention. Some con attendees opt to stay in one room all evening while others may choose to wander from one circle to another.



And if you get tired of the filk circles, you can always chat with people in the hallways, catching up with old friends as well as making new ones. I love this ebb and flow of conversation and music.



But back to the musical aspect...

As I've posted in Blatherings a while back, one of my goals for GAfilk was to write a song which Urban Tapestry and Summer and Fall could perform together. I almost gave up halfway through writing The Chocolate Song, but Allison and Jodi convinced me to finish it.

And I'm so glad they did! When we finally had the chance to finally rehearse the piece at the hotel, I could tell it was going to work just fine; Eva, Crystal and Rafael sounded wonderful, and it was SO GREAT to hear it all come together:



Eva and Crystal wrote out their parts on manuscript paper, including the instrumentals they had come up with:



In the end, we had five vocal parts and four instruments! Thanks to Dave Weingart for letting me re-post the photo he took when we performed the song in concert:



This will likely be the ONLY TIME the song is performed live; I'm not sure when the next time we'll all be together since Eva, Crystal and Rafael all live in Germany.

Allison, Jodi and I each had other opportunities to make music with others at the convention throughout the weekend as well, in performance but mostly just for fun. Allison, for example, with Linda Melnick and T.J. Burnside Clapp in the Ops Room before the convention started:



And Jodi performed with the fabulous Play It With Moxie, a band that also features Mary Crowell (Musical Director/Piano/Vocal), Dave Rood (Trumpet/Vocal), Andrew Powell (Sax/Vocal), Teresa Powell (Vocal/Bass), George Powell (Bass/Sax/Vocal), Brian Richardson (Drums and Emcee for the band at the banquet), and Carly Gibson (Guitar):



Joyeuse13 has some fantastic pics of the band on this page.

One thing I'm always aware of at filk conventions is that we all come from different musical backgrounds and widely varying levels of experience...this makes it far more interesting. One of my favourite things about open filk circles, for example, is the opportunity to hear different types of music and vocal styles, and the exchange of musical/creative ideas; I almost always find it inspirational in some way, whether in songwriting or performance aspects.

A few more photos...

Franklin was kind enough to help us out on a couple of songs. Here, he holds up a prop during "Wo Ist Der Bahnhof?" (photo by Dave Weingart):



Practising with Amy McNally in our hotel room early Friday afternoon:



Amy performed with us on "Still Beautiful" (written by German filker Aryana) and "Sing With Me" (a song I wrote with some help from Dave Clement). I've heard a rumour, by the way, that Amy's moving to Toronto! Or rather, we're trying to START the rumour... :-)

Tanya Huff and me:



Paul Kwinn performing "Carrot Juice Is Murder":



Teresa and Shar:



Jodi, Allison and me (photo by Dave Weingart):





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