Moving Violations

Saturday evening found this fiddler and bass player in North Yarmouth at the regular 2nd Saturday Contradance.

The evening begins at 6:00pm with the Family Dance, led and called by Kathryn Larson. The band, The Wescustogo Ramblers, are led by Jeff (guitar) and Maggie (fiddle)... other musicians (including us) join in playing the tunes (most of which have been played and practiced via the Thursday night Pownal jam session). It's a lot of fun, and the experience has helped us gain confidence over the past year. This Saturday night we had a guest piano player. One of the family dances is called Nine-Pin... it's kind of like musical chairs, in that when the music stops, everyone has to get to their place. What that means for the band is, when the caller gives us "the signal", we are to IMMEDIATELY stop playing, and then resume a few moments later. Well, the piano is facing AWAY from the band and the dance hall, so there's no way this guest piano player is going to see "the signal". We're all trying to let him in on what's going to happen, and offering suggestions on how we'll tip him off... and he finally just says, "Well, I'll just play like this..." and turns around on the piano bench so he's facing out to the dance hall and he's got one hand on the piano keyboard ready to play. I wasn't really sure if he was serious or not, but he seemed to be... and sure enough, that's exactly what he did!

The Family Dance is followed by a potluck dinner which is ALWAYS delicious. We brought cream cheese brownies (a new recipe) that were well received (I've been encouraged to make them again).

Contradance runs from 8:30-12:00, this month's band was Moving Violations and the caller was Lisa Sievert... a winning combination for a fabulous night of dancing. The dances were fun and well taught, and the tunes played by the band were great. It's fun for me as a dancer to try and recognize the name of the tune that's being played, and then to tell Richard... and just as often he's doing the same thing. It's great fun to be dancing in different areas of the hall with different people, and meet up in line with a hasty "That was Wild One followed by Indian Point in that last set!". Though the dance lasts until midnight, we generally leave after the intermission. This allows us to get home at a respectable 12:00-12:30 most of the time.

For anyone out there who has the opportunity to hear Moving Violations either live or on a recording, JUST DO IT... you'll be glad you did :)