WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That, my friends, is the combined sound of relief, accomplishment, and the conclusion of two-plus months of rehearsals.

Along with the other fabulous bands, Bound by Circumstance finally had its moment in the spotlight, and what an experience it was! Our set seemed to go by so fast while the minutes crawled by as we waited backstage.

(And on a side note? COOLEST. BACKSTAGE. EVER. My newest life goal is to someday have my signature on that wall.)

Bound by Circumstance had the honor of being smack dab in the middle of the afternoon’s show. We were preceded by the lovely Approaching Crickets and TTS alumni, and were followed by a faculty performance then Loose Gravel and the Steamrollers. I truly wish I could have seen more of the performances ahead of us (beyond the TV screen in the back room), but it was a joy to sit and decompress even for just a bit between our set and the encore.

And now for the set. I suppose no final blog post would be complete without some micro-focused self-critique. All in all, I’m pretty happy with my efforts, and totally stoked about the band’s overall performance. Everyone’s individual banter was terrific, and (I think) it looked like we had it together!

While I didn’t make any fingering or melody mistakes, I didn’t anticipate the effect of nerves. Towards the end of my solo, it finally hit me that ‘Ohmygod, I’m soloing!,’ and I started to get a teensy bit intimidated. That intimidation manifested itself in involuntary trembling in my extremities and a resulting bouncy bow. For 10-15 seconds, I had the biggest brain-body battle in music history, and while my brain didn’t explode, it didn’t win, either. I pulled off my part, but a bit shaky for my taste towards the end. The good news? No one seemed to notice. I think.

After the bands did their thing, we all returned for a rousing encore rendition of ‘Goodnight, Irene.’ I honestly think there might have been as many folks onstage as in the audience, if not more. We were smushed and a bit disorganized, but there was such an intensely happy energy present that no one seemed to mind. What better way is there to commemorate a major accomplishment than chill shoulder-to-shoulder in one giant jam?

Oh, that reminds me. I apologize if I bowed anyone in the eye. I promise it wasn’t personal.

Yes, I’ll have a beer or five

As soon as we hit the last chord, it was time to pack up the instruments and head to Jupiter. I think it’s safe to say that I had been looking to that post-show beer for close to a month.

Meeting the newest batch of TTS alumni for some drinks and munchies was, in some ways, just as fulfilling as completing the show. It was at a table over a pint that I finally got to chat a bit with members of the other bands. Up until that point, we had all been very insular, sticking to our bands and rehearsing as much as we possibly could. And before a show, that’s totally the right thing to do. But now it was refreshing to talk to the other folks who I never really had the pleasure of meeting.

In a mere hour or two, we managed to make rough plans for festival meet-ups, jam sessions, camps, and other musical interactions. I hear there’s a festival in Yosemite around Memorial Day Weekend, and some members of Bound by Circumstance will aim to be there. I’ll be attending some or all of the Father’s Day festival in Grass Valley, and would love to hear if there are any others considering the same.

A round of applause

For our band – as I’m sure for others as well – this experience marked important personal milestones for each of us. For some of my bandmates, it was the first time their originals were performed. For others, it may have been the first time they played in a band, as opposed to solo. I know that Trent, Molly, and Addy played new instruments for the first time (mandolin, bass, and banjo, respectively). For me, it was my first fiddle performance, ever. Actually, it was also the first time I managed to get something resembling courage to sing two lines in public.

And while I probably sound like a broken record at this point, I would sincerely like to thank everyone who played a role in this wonderful experience. Thank you Dave for your direction and encouragement, Hilary for your leadership and vision, and the Freight for letting us play rock star for 25 minutes. Thank you to my wonderful bandmates for great conversation and giving up two nights a week to produce a pretty cool product.

So cool, in fact, that I’m already missing it.

Take the Stage was founded in 2007 and is a project of Nell Robinson Music, in partnership with the California Bluegrass Association and the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse.  For more information, please visit www.nellrobinsonmusic.com/tts.