Thoughts from Clifftop 2006
or
Should YOU Go to Clifftop 2007?

     Are you the kind of person who has to be booted out at the end of the FOB jams? Do you race to the car to turn on the CD player and listen to old time music all the way home ~ all the while scheming to play with a fiddler again soon?

     You might be a good candidate for Clifftop! Here are some other questions you might want to ask yourself:

Are you willing to spend HOURS discussing the relative merits of various nail-care products and picks? Are you intrigued by the kinds of bridges, strings, capos, banjo wrenches, cases, etc. etc. that other folks use? Do you actually CARE when someone describes the intricate differences among tuners? Do you not merely tolerate these discussions, but TAKE NOTES???

For favorite tunes, do you know the differences between and among the Ernie Carpenter version, the Henry Reed version, the Burl Hammons version, the Edn Hammons version, the Ed Haley version, and so on? Do you ask how Alan Jabbour plays it? Or Walt Koken? Or Claire Milliner? Do you care most about the Howard Jones version and hope he’ll play it for you? (Thanks Howard!)

Do you aspire to play banjo like Diane Jones, Cathy Fink, Dave Bing, Mac Traynham, Ron Mullenex or Dwight Diller?  Do you engage in conversations that include the phrase, “How does Hubie play that?” Are you determined to learn every tune you hear ~ "before breakfast" the next day?

Would you be thrilled to spot Sam and Joe Herrmann, Adam Hurt, John Herrmann, Bob Carlin, Rafe Stefanini, Bruce Molsky or any of the other great players from your CD collection, from a distance, in the dark? Are you the kind of tacky person who’ll whip out a camera when you spot Cathy and Marcy chatting with Walt and Claire? Does your heart rate elevate slightly when you discover that the guy standing next to you in the OME tent is Chris Coole, the fella watching the finals right behind you is Mike Seeger, or the cute little dog that just ran by belongs to Nancy Sluys?

Do you sleep best in a tent listening to the seven different jams around you, jams that you know will continue until dawn?

Can you be as cool and collected as Ruth was when singled out by local news to represent the old time tradition? 

Could you live for days on a diet of freshly-made apple crisp ala mode? Are you willing to try?  Is your idea of a healthy serving of vegetables a fried green-tomato sandwich?

Do you love jamming with total strangers from Milwaukee, or Coral Gables, or Denver or wherever,  between earnestly interrogating them about their local “old time scene”?  Are you equally thrilled that you drove over 300 miles to jam with friends from FOB?

Are you filled with gratitude when the fiddler says “Can I slow that down for you?”  (Thanks Tom, Howard, JC, Lou, Bill and Bob!!)

Are you willing to see how many hours of banjo-playing the human arm will tolerate before it falls off?

Do you harbor an inner desire to gather your courage and perform before a critical audience, competing against some of the nation’s very best musicians? Hats off to Tom and Bill, who did just that and made us all proud!

Do you have the patience and stamina to spend hours each day poring over the 10,000 old time tapes and CDs in the CD tent? Do you want to BUY all 10,000?

Are you the kind of person who wants to record every second of every jam, contest, and concert? Are you willing to sit a couple of feet from monster speakers in full sun in blazing heat FOR DAYS to make sure that your mic doesn’t pick up crowd noise? (This one’s for Paul, FOB's own amazing field recorder! We bow down!)

When you see new and strange sounding instruments, are you compelled to buy one?  Do you want to buy every banjo you see? Do you mention the names Zepp, Gordon, Smakula, Krack, Fielding, etc. so often that your colleagues and friends think you are referring to family members?

Do you want to build wonderful memories of music and hikes and crafts and meals with good friends in gorgeous places?

This year's essay was written by Rosemarie and formatted by Leslie,  photos were taken by Paul, Tom, Rosemarie and Leslie and fun was had by all. Thanks everyone!