Okawville Heritage Days

The last two days have been very hot, but so much fun!   I was at the Okawville Heritage Days.

I rode over with Paige's Mom (Dawn) on Saturday to help with the Pickin' Chicks' performance.  They played for one hour under a tent when the outdoor temperature was 99 degrees!  There are pictures posted on Facebook if you'd like to take a look.  They played wonderfully and the crowd really enjoyed them!  Every single schedule and business card was taken.

After The Pickin' Chicks played, there was a group called the "Gospel Messengers" that performed.  They did a nice job.  Bart and his two sons, Daniel and Dennis, performed for about an hour.  What really struck me was that the older son, Dennis, had already played a baseball game earlier in the day.  I really don't know how he did both things in the heat.  We want to personally thank Bart for letting The Pickin' Chicks use his PA system.  All we had to do was set up our microphone.  What a blessing!

There was lots of great food there.  I had homemade ice cream not once, but twice!  I also bought a loaf of homemade wheat bread and some lemonade.  The bread was freshly made and looked and smelled so good.  On the way home, I was telling Dawn how much I just wanted to take a huge bite out of the loaf of bread.  I've never done this before and never even remember being tempted by such a thing, but since I bought the bread for my husband, I decided I wouldn't do this.  Funny thing is, the next morning when I got up, there was a huge chunk out of the side of the bread!  I guess Earl felt the same way I did!

Today I went back to Okawville to perform with The Chris Talley Trio.  It was just as hot today as it was yesterday.  I was all sweaty before we even finished setting up the PA system!  We played for 2-1/2 hours and had a very responsive crowd.  I am amazed that so many people sat out in the heat to watch and listen to us.  The crowd helped us out by clapping, singing and cheering us on.  I even brought someone up on stage to help sing Jambalaya with us!  Her name was Barb -- so we thank you, Barb!  If you are reading this, you did a great job!

Several of my students also came and played some fiddle tunes.  Breck (from Okawville), Chelsea (from New Athens) and Rosemary (from Ellis Grove) all came up and fiddled a few tunes.  Zane even picked up the bass instead of taking a break.  Charlie and the Girls also stepped up and played several songs during our break.  Even Natalie sang with them today.  They do such a fantastic job.

I want to personally thank Kabbie for playing bass for us today.  Carla (my mom) was unable to play bass with us today due to having surgery.  She is fine now, but is recovering at home.  Kabbie not only played bass with us today, but she came and practiced with us on Friday for five hours!  Now that's dedication!  Anyone who saw our performance will agree that she did a wonderful job!

If you haven't seen The Chris Talley Trio this year, you'll want to be sure to catch a show.  Emily, our newest band member, is wonderful!  She is just 15 years old and has a beautiful voice!  Emily plays both the mandolin and the banjo with the Trio.  Check out the schedule at http://www.chris-talley.com/.

Last but certainly not least, we want to thank the folks from Okawville Heritage Days for allowing us to perform at their event.  We hope that we exceeded your expectations and that you enjoyed it as much as we did!