NEWS FROM DIRK

September 7

I'm sitting in a cramped plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean with my
dear friend Riley Baugus occasionally grabbing my elbow from the seat
behind. Now that I have the computer out and am trying to type, my elbow's
poking back into his space a bit. No one I'd rather have grab my elbow than
Riley.

We're on our way back from Northern Ireland, where we played at the Ulster
American Folk Park Bluegrass Festival, along with Sammy Lind and Caleb
Klauder. It was a real pleasure, as always, to play music with these
soulful, spirited friends. One of the things I love about what we do
together is that the social aspect of the music comes raging through. It
becomes clear that it's about expressing connections to the people you're
playing with and having a medium in which to put your emotions forward
without fear or hesitation. It pulls the audience in rather than projecting
something towards them and if it's powerful enough it can pull in 1200
people that way, which is what happened at the festival marquee on Saturday
night.

That aspect of the music is conveyed, to me, not only by what happened on
stage this weekend, but also what happened back in the apartment in which we
stayed. There were some free meals being provided at the festival, but
everyone wanted to go to the grocery store and get a bunch of food to cook,
so we cooked pork chops one night and steak the next, with great vegetables
and other sides. We told stories and jokes non-stop, from a well that never
seems to run dry. And when the meals were done, when we weren't on at the
festival, we went to Conways' Pub in Newtonstewart and played each night
until we got kicked out at 3 in the morning, after which we slept for as
short a time as possible, woke up, and dove right back into all of it again.
One thing I really want people to understand, so that they can find it in
their own lives, is that the music grows out of those experiences, not the
other way around.

It was also a real treat to perform with Eileen Carson and Mark Schatz,
great friends who brought oodles of talent and passion to the stage with us.
We created some really unforgettable moments together. Dear friends Jock
Tyldesley and Martha Scanlan also sat in with us, and vice versa. It's
always a pleasure to play music with them, in any capacity. They can get as
spiritually profound and as unabashedly wild as anyone! It was also a treat
to spend time with Claire Lynch and her band, Jeff and Vita, The Foggy
Hogtown Boys, the Rough Deal Stringband, and many others too. Good, good
times.

The previous weekend I performed at the Santa Fe Bluegrass and Old-Time
Music Festival with Riley, as a duo, and that was a great time. I flew out
to Los Angeles and picked up our small 1992 Toyota motor home, which we'd
had to leave earlier in the summer, and drove it through Santa Fe and all
the way home to Louisiana. It was a long, hot drive, but in the end it was
a great experience, particularly staying at La Paloma Hot Springs in Truth
or Consequences, New Mexico and swimming at the incredible spring-fed pool
at the state park in Balmorhea, Texas. If you're ever driving across I-10
in West Texas and you need a break from the heat and dust and fumes, drive a
few miles out of your way to this state park and jump off the high dive into
the crystal clear water, 30 feet deep in spots!

Before that came the Ottawa Folk Festival and an outdoor performance at
Lincon Center in New York. Those dates were also wonderful, performing with
my wife Christine Balfa, who always brings such incredible soul and drive to
the music, and our friends Ball and Chain, Preston Frank, Corey Ledet, Kevin
Wimmer, Jed Greenberg, etc. All of it was musically wide open and really,
really fun.

Now I'll be around home for a while, with a few things coming up, before
heading back out with Joan Baez towards the end of the month. Mainly
looking forward to being home, bringing my sweet daughters to school,
cooking good meals and getting good exercise, focusing on a holistic sort of
healthiness that will hopefully spread good ripples of energy through my
home the same way that I feel I've been able to spread them through other
places over the last little while.
August 14, 2009

We had an interesting encounter with some folks protesting Joan Baez's
concert in Idaho Falls a few nights ago. My diary about the event on Daily
Kos made it to the number one slot on the recommended list and remained on
the list for approximately 20 hours, no small feat. Daily Kos has 2.5
million unique visitors per month and 215,000 registered users. To maintain
that position for so long meant quite a lot to me, especially as it is my
favorite progressive website.

The diary has also been posted on Joan's site. You can still find it on
Daily Kos, along with the 500 plus comments it generated, but it's probably
simpler to read it here:

http://www.joanbaez.com/joansanddirkscorner.html

August 7, 2009

The last few weeks of touring have brought several highlights. On July 27th, we performed in New York at a benefit for Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping. What an experience! If you haven't come into contact with Billy, dig around for him on YouTube or check out the film "What Would Jesus Buy?" The Good Reverend performs full-on preaching mode, but his message is about assuaging our addiction to credit cords and corporate products. His choir and band perform with as much passion and precision as the best Gospel band, but the messages are about pushing back against corporate developers and resisting the forces of globalization that hurt the working class. It was a treat to finish out with "We Shall Overcome," with Joan Baez, our band, and Billy's full outfit.

In Portland, Maine, I met with David Conover, the director of a film I'm very excited to be working on entitled "Behold the Earth." The film is a feature-length musical documentary that inquires into America's divorce from nature, built out of conversations with leading biologists and evangelical Christians. It is an important work, to me, looking at healing an unnatural divide between those who believe in "stewardship" of the earth. Proud to be on board. Learn more at: www.beholdtheearth.com

After Maine we went to the Newport Folk Festival, where I performed with both Balfa Toujours and Joan Baez. Both sets were wonderful. It was great to be at Newport, which meant so much to my father-in-law Dewey Balfa. His first trip there, in 1964, was literally a life-altering trip for him - he returned to Louisiana with a determination to fight for his Cajun culture. We played the Newport Waltz, of course, a tune he wrote to express the strength of those emotions. It was emotional, of course, for my wife Christine as well, knowing how much the event meant to her dad.

The set with Joan was a treat also. An honor to be there with her on the 50th anniversary of the festival and the 50th anniversary of her career! The set was really fun, and the closing Angel Band was poignant enough to cause Pete Seeger, at the age of 90, to run and climb up the scaffolding at the side of the stage to see who was singing.

The finale, too, was a treat. We closed out the fest with our version of "Madeleine," along with Pete and Joan and Tao and Del McCroury and other assorted pals and kindred spirits.

Last night we played at Interlochen, up in Michigan, and it was a wonderful time, especially since I attended the summer music program there in 1983. Afterwards we got a very special treat in going to meet filmmaker Michael Moore and getting an advance screening of the work in progress, "Capitalism: A Love Story." The film is going to be another masterful work from Mr. Moore, whose bravery and conviction and talent I have admired for a very long time. This one may be his best yet - an amazing wake-up call about what has happened in this country over the last 30 years.

Now on to locales further west. We'll be back on the west coast this time next week, coming close to the end of our full circumnavigation of the US!

July 27, 2009

I'm currently in the middle of Joan Baez's summer tour, having a blast as
we drive from coast to coast. The concerts have been wonderful, including
many outdoor shows that have taken on a very special feel. The Denver
Botanical Gardens was a highlight, largely because the crowd of 2000
surrounded the band very closely on sloping hillsides. When they sang along
to songs like "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," it was like being in
the middle of the biggest choir in the world! Wonderful.

Joan's also been doing my original song, "Just the Way You Are" every night,
and that has been a great experience. She sings it with such feeling and
presence. There isn't a night that goes by that many people don't come up
and tell me, afterwards, how much the song moved them and, of course, that's
what any songwriter hopes for. To play with Joan as she delivers such
powerful performances of my song is a real treat.

We wrapped up the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, of which I'm currently
Artistic Director, earlier in July and it was an amazing experience as
always. Incredible music and incredible soul. To get one performer's
perspective on the power of the event, check out what Patti Lamoureux had to
say:

http://www.pattilamoureux.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&I
temid=27

One highlight of the summer was the 3000 mile family drive from Louisiana to
Port Townsend, Washington, for Fiddle Tunes. We had an amazing time
stopping at hot springs and swimming pools in the Southwest and the Rockies,
etc. Wonderful memories all around.

Looking forward to more coming up soon, including the Newport Folk Festival,
where both Joan and Balfa Toujours will perform. It's the 50th and should
be a massive celebration and party!


May 11, 2009

I'm just back from Ireland, where Joel Savoy and I had a non-stop raging
good time from the moment we landed. We had a blast hanging out and
performing with our friends from the groups Prison Love and I Draw Slow,
starting out in Dublin and then heading down to Baltimore, West Cork
for the always amazing Fiddle Fair. The wonderful Vera van Heeringen
came over for our first gig in Dublin and that was a treat, as always,
saving the day with her huge, solid guitar playing.

I've got a great collection of scars on my hands from the different
instruments I played over the weekend..... one side of my right thumb the
nail has a callousy/torn place from playing the banjo, the other side a
rosin-filled indentation from holding the bow, my left thumb is cut up from
this old piano I beat on for hours at Casey's Hotel, my right middle finger
has a bass blister, the back of my right fingers are cut up by the nails
from playing guitar on Sherkin Island, and my right thumb knuckle and left
hand knuckles have sore places from playing the accordion. Perfect! Battle
scars from a sleepless weekend.

Our good friends Sammy Lind, Caleb Klauder, Nadine Landry, Betse Ellis, and
Tom Krueger were there.... that always means music at least 20 hours a day
and laughs the rest of the time. We enjoyed some beautiful drives along the
coast, some great seafood, incredible beer and whiskey, etc. So much fun.
One of the highlights came in swiping a gas grill from our neighbor's
cottage at about 6 in the morning and grilling the bacon and sausages that
some conscientious person had generously stuck in our fridge. Guinness and
matches and butane and pork may not seem to be the most safe combination as
the sun comes up after an all night jam........ but we made it through
well-fed and happy.

Thanks to Declan McCarthy, Mark O'Mahony, and everyone else for making it
another unforgettable trip and an example of why, if I were a doctor, I'd
recommend at least 2 trips to Ireland a year for the health of the soul.