Channel 8 Here We Come!

Yesterday was the big day. Tiffany, from Channel 8 in Carbondale, came with her television camera and equipment around 4:00 p.m. I was in a fiddle lesson with 9-year old Nathan. Nathan is a born entertainer even when he is just being himself. He didn't know anything about the news feature, and when the camera came around to the front of the shop, he saw it outside the window and starting waving. He was so excited! He started dancing around the front of the shop saying, "I'm going to be on tv! I'm going to be on the news"! I only got him to start playing again when I suggested he "practice" while he had the opportunity to before the camera came inside. Finally, I just went out the front door and told Tiffany she'd better come in and film right away because Nathan couldn't stand it anymore! He was making me laugh!

Next, Tiffany went to the other teaching room where Chelsea and Paige were working together. I told Chelsea what to expect, but her student Paige didn't know anything about it. All I can say is there's nothing like trying to teach or learn when there's a news camera pointed at you!

The kids' band "Austin and the Bluegrass Belles" came in at 6:00 p.m. for their group lesson. This particular group lesson is so that the kids can learn to play with other people, can learn how to sing lead and harmony, structure, how to jam, chord progressions, order, etc. There are four of them (Austin, Makayla, Haley and Jaclyn), and they range in age from 8 years old to 12 years old. They definately played the best I've ever heard them play. They were incredibly composed, even when the camera was taking close-ups of their hands and faces. They played five or six songs in all, then each one of them was interviewed.

The Chris Talley Trio played a few songs, then we started a jam session. Since this was not the usual Tuesday night jam, I had to make some phone calls to get some jammers here. Basically, I didn't tell too many people what was going on because I wanted to make sure we weren't too crowded. We had Carla, Bill, Zane, Terry, John, Chelsea, Ben, James (edited to add), Dave, Denise and me. I hope I didn't leave anyone out. We went around the circle once so that everyone had a chance to pick out a song, then I just announced an "open" call to make sure there wasn't anything else someone really wanted to have recorded. Tiffany interviewed several more people, including me, and then we were done.

The entire session will be reduced to 2-4 minutes, so I have no idea what will actually show up on television. I don't know the air date or time yet, but Tiffany said it would be about two weeks. It will air on our local PBS channel 8 out of Cardondale, IL, and it will show in St. Louis and Illinois. What an exciting day!