Burning Man 6

I woke up and stretched some achy bones.The ground was starting to get to me.

After a few moments of deliria, I began to hear a pretty accurate rendition of Beethoven's Moon Light Sonata while lying on the floor of my tent.It was being played on a slightly out of tune piano somewhere near by. Stepping out of my tent and into the sunshine, I fixed myself some breakfast.I cut up a few apples and heated some water for tea on my propane stove.

I finished the meal and the music continued.I soon decided to check out the source of this music, bringing my guitar just in case.

I walked about 2 doors down to the largest shade structure on our block.They must have just put the piano out front, because I had not seen it the night before when I stumbled in. It surprised me that it was in tune as much as it was considering it was in a desert.

At the dusty bench, was a brunette who looked to be in her mid twenties.Her fingers danced on the faded keys smoothly, keeping the integrity of the piece very much intact.I set my guitar down and sat in the sand and watched her play.Passerby's gathered around and listened as well.Live music is really appreciated at a festival like this since there is so much bad techno being played at all hours of the day. (Oh yea, that is one of my biggest complaints about Burning Man… but most everything else is great though.)

When she was done, the passerby's, the shade structure dwellers, and I, all clapped for her performance.She said thanks and blushed a bit.

"Hey you play guitar." she said as she got up from the bench. "I got to run but we should play next time I swing by."

"No problem." I said."That would be great. My tent is right over there." I said pointing at the blue roof to my tent. "I'll listen for you."

She began walking down C, leaving the air empty of melody.

"More music!" the shade structure dwellers shouted from amidst their not so humble abode."You have a guitar.Play for us." a woman asked.

"Ummm, sure." I said.I picked my self up off the sand and grabbed the neck of my guitar.I pressed a few random keys as I passed the piano.

"Sit down and make yourself at home." A guy inside said.

"Yea, I don't know if you heard me talking to that girl but we are neighbors." I said."You guys have quite the set up here."

Their canopy must have been 20ft by 40ft.All of their tents were safe underneath away from wind and sand storms.In the middle of the structure were cushions and blankets laid out like rolling hills.A handful of people were already lounging in a landscape of comfort.On a table to the right was a bar, filled with handles of both cheap and expensive liquor for every occasion.I was really starting to get good at telling the veterans from the virgins out here.

I sat down and started tuning.

"Hey is that a Taylor?" a guy asked.

"Yea." I said.

"You're a brave man for bringing that out here." He warned.

"I bring it everywhere.I have to.It's all I got for a guitar." I explained.

"Fair enough." he said, seeming to understand my plight as a traveling musician.

When I was done tuning, I started playing a tune I wrote on the road.It's basically about a stuck up b**** back east, that I took s*** from for too long.I explained to them, she was part of the reason for my travels in the first place.Anyway, they liked the song and got a couple chuckles out of the story. At least someone enjoyed something that derived from that relationship, I thought.

"More!" they demanded.

I played a few more and was given a bottle of wine with the label True Blood stuck to the front. It was actually made by the guy handing it to me at his winery in Napa Valley. You never know who you are going to meet at a festival like this.

"Hey come back here any time." one guy said."We love live music."

"Smart to bring the piano." I said."I can't believe how well that is staying in tune considering where it is right now."

Then a guy walked in with a banjo off of Chaos Street with a cloud of dust rolling in behind him.

"Hey, I heard you playing when I was walking by.Do you want to pick one quick?" He asked.

"Sure." I said casually, submitting to the randomness.

"Do you know any fiddle tunes?" He asked.

"I do. How about Angeline The Baker?" I offered.

He nodded."Yea that's a simple one. Sounds good."He said.

I found a D chord near my second fret and started strumming.His fingers flew on his Goodtime 5 string.Our audience started clapping to the beat.

"Angeine the baker, Angeline I know. I should have married Angeline, 20 years ago." I sang.

Wow they said when we finished as they applauded us. That was great!(It's sorta weird to keep talking about all the applause you get, but it's just the way it happened that day.)

"Pickers!" another random guy yelled from the other entrance to the shade structure."Hey you have got to come play for us next." He demanded.

I looked at my new banjo buddy and nodded.

"I play the mandolin and my friend plays fiddle." He said with enthusiasm from the opposite end of the canopy.

"We got ourselves a band." I said.

"If we had a bass player, we'd be bonafied!" the banjo player said in a fake southern accent. "Whewie!" He yelled.

"Just so you know what you are getting into, it actually just turned into an engagement party so pick it hot. No pressure though." he said with a smile.

"Ok." I said, again giving into the situational gravity.

"You guys came at the right time!" he said.

I later found out he was actually from Telluride, Colorado, the home of the biggest annual bluegrass festival in the world.

We walked around the corner and quickly found ourselves under another shade structure, made from an old army parachute.In the center, was a guy on one knee in front of a blushing woman.He slipped a ring on her finger and stood up.The future groom stood up and held his future wife.They started kissing as the on lookers shouted and whistled.

This was amazing timing, I thought to myself.

The mandolin player hurried back with his fiddle friend and their instruments."Ok, guys, lets pick one." He said with urgency.

"What do you know?" I asked.

"How about Wagon Wheel?" he offered. "She loves that one."

"Sure, I know it." I replied.

"Headed down south to the land of the pines, thumbing my way down to North Caroline.Staring up the road, pray to God I see headlights." I sang.

The mandolin chopped and the banjo plucked, only slightly speeding up the tempo with them.(I was a bit annoyed at the time, but I got over it.) The couple turned to us and smiled.They started dancing.Others joined in.In a matter of moments, we turned the place into a bluegrass dance party.

"Rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama and way you feel."

The bride and company sang out with us as the chorus sounded.

"Rock me mama like the wind and the rain, rock me mama like a southbound train. Hey mama rock me." we sang.

I repeated the progression and gave the pickers a couple extra solos.I also repeated the chorus a few extra times at the end so they could dance a little longer.They clapped and cheered for us when we were done.

Without any hesitation, the banjo gave us a look and counted off quick, 1 2 3 4. His left hand started flying up and down the fret board, as his right hand was doing acrobatic finger rolls.It sounded like I had been transported to an old Flat and Scruggs recording session.Luckily, I recognized the tune and was able to jump right in and strum the chords.

We played tune after tune as the bride, groom, and company danced to our sometimes unsteady, yet fun and danceable break neck tempos.I sang all the old timey tunes where I could remember at least 80% of the lyrics. (Some might have argued that percentage may have been a bit high towards the end of the set.)

After about an hour and a half or so, I felt like my hand was going to fall off… I hadn't been practicing as much as I normally do, so I wasn't really prepared for that much picking… What? I've been busy.

To slow things down a bit and to give my tired fingers a break, I went into Angel from Montgomery, a famous old John Prine song.The bride to be stopped dancing and took a seat in front of our crowd level stage.She started singing along to every word.

Realizing, this was the last song I could possibly play for the time being, I gave it everything I had left to give.I put as much emotion I could muster behind it.The mandolin player looked on at my chords while the banjo player plucked chords in perfect rhythm.We were really listening and locked into each other on this one.

It was one of those moments that we all sort of live for as musicians.It's like letting go of the steering wheel, except way less dangerous.The music plays you in a way.

"Make me an angel, that flies from Montgomery.Make me a poster of an old rodeo." We sang.

The bride had her eyes closed.She leaned on the groom and started crying as we played.

I got goose bumps down my arms.

They all clapped as we finished.I put my guitar down and grabbed a seat as the party continued on.I felt content with what we had accomplished there, so stopping seemed right.I also didn't want my left and right hand to have to be surgically repaired.

"Thank you so much." The couple said to us as they held each other."You guys just played some of my favorite songs." the bride to be said."One after another. It was so nice.Hey can we give you some cake or fruit smoothie to go for playing?"She asked.

We happily accepted the bridal offering.

"I want you to play at my wedding." She asked me."We will fly you out when it happens.We live in New York right now.You have to come!"

"Well, I guess I can't say no to that." I replied."It would be an honor.Please, just let me know when you get you plans in order."

I scratched down my email address on the back of a random old business card I had in my wallet and gave it to them.

"Thanks for the cake.I'll see you around." I said as I headed back to my tent, sort of smiling to myself.