Saturday was a big day - my first paying gig!
Tom, my fiddle instructor, started priming me about a month ago - with five new strathspeys - for the Bozeman Scottish Country Dance Club annual dance party on Saturday 5 March. At the dance he and I played fiddle, and Hallie played piano.
We played the first 4-by strathspey set (Jessie Smith, The Warlocks, Lord Banff). It was such a hit the dancers asked us to play it again, and we played it even better the second time 'round. The second set was a 6-by strathspey, playing Lime Hill, Castle Newe, and Captain Campbell's. Tom launched into some pretty wild harmonies, so I held the melody together. We tore it up!
The mic was positioned such that I couldn't very well watch both the dancers and Tom, so I missed watching most of the dance. Kind of a bummer because strathspeys are really beautiful dances. Maybe it's time I get my fiddle mic'd with a wireless???
At the end of it, the president of the dance club handed me a check, thereby making this my first paying gig!
I'll tell you, though, the richest part of this adventure is playing music that makes people move. This is dance music anyway and it's designed to get people moving. But for me to be able to play it, and they dance and are excited and appreciate my music ... THAT is what it's all about!
