A Rookie's Story (continued)

Kerrville is Texas hill country, and the ranch had its share, and there were makeshift dwellings pitched behind every rock and bush. And music afoot, people picking and singing all kinds of music. Blues, bluegrass, old timey, folk. Already I was wondering why the hell it had taken me so long to check this out, I was already having such a good time, and I'd just arrived.

What I came to know over the next day or two was how incredibly lucky I'd been to have landed a spot in Camp Nashville. First of all, it was laced with really interesting and friendly spirited people, many of whom had been doing it together for 10 years or more. I'm indebted to Jerry Rutledge and all the happy campers for welcoming me in to a great circle of players and of family.

When we weren't playing our own tunes around Camp Nashville, there were great shows to see, and I enjoyed the small spectacle and drama of the New Folk competition. I'm not sure I like the idea of mixing music and competition, especially in the songwriting area, where it's so subjective. But the payoff for the winners is good, in terms of their resumes and sometimes a quick route to the Kerrville main stage. Almost none of the players I would have picked won New Folk and some omissions struck me as absolutely ludicrous. But I was a rookie, and I'm told that these kinds of reactions to the New Folk competition are totally normal and part of the total experience, so I took them in stride.    continue

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