Reunion Concerts
November, 2015
Saturday the 14th
Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA
Friday the 20th
Minstrel Coffeehouse, Morristown, NJ
Reunion - Laurie Riley
One afternoon in January 2015, the telephone rang and I was surprised to see Bill Hall’s name on the caller ID. I’d last heard from Bill five or six years ago, and hadn’t actually seen him since the Frostwater days, nearly forty years ago. (His face in my mind's eye is, I'm sure, not quite accurate anymore.) It was fun to hear his cheerful voice. He had a story to tell:
“Godfrey Daniel’s Coffeehouse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - remember that place? I’m still friends with the owners. A few days ago they told me they were planning a special series of concerts in November to celebrate forty years of being in business. They’re trying to get people who played there in their early days. So they asked if Frostwater would do a reunion concert.”
Although we haven’t played together in all those years, our music was so well practiced at the time that I doubted any of us would have a hard time resurrecting it. We used to practice together three hours a day, five days a week. We could have played those songs in our sleep. Well, we often did....
What a great opportunity to cap off a lifetime of being a musician, going back to re-live the most ecstatic music I’ve ever played. Of course I gave it a big thumbs-up, and so did the rest of the band. We know what the challenges will likely be: how to practice when we’re all living in far-flung parts of the country!
As we discussed the possibilities, we realized that the other obvious venue we should play at would be the Folk Project’s MInstrel Coffeehouse, our old home base in Morristown, New Jersey. Contracts are signed. We are committed.
Good thing for new technology that will allow us to practice with recordings that we can send to each other or post online. Luckily some of our old demo recordings still exist. We’ll be able to play some tunes the same way we originally did, and can update others to include, for instance, the harp. And we can do some new material that represents our current skills and styles.
Getting re-acquainted with the band will be a pleasure, I trust, and probably also a bit disorienting. We don’t, I’m sure, look at all as we used to, which may or may not be a good thing (LOL). I will have to put their familiar names with older faces.
Preparing to practice the old songs, I put the mp3's Bills sent me on a CD to play in my car so I could sing along. When I heard "Gypsy Boy" I experienced the elation I used to feel when we performed it, and was transported back to those nights under the stage lights making beautiful harmonies with my friends. I don't expect many dry eyes during these upcoming reunion concerts, least of all mine.
As I listen to our old recordings, it amazes me that the quality of our music still holds up to and exceeds current standards. The music was precise, exciting, heart-touching, and those harmonies and guitar licks were... well, no wonder people loved Frostwater. I envision that we will play to sold-out crowds of people who were our loyal fans back in the day, as well as those who may be too young to have ever heard us, and who will catch the fire as our audiences did so many years ago.
Don't miss these concerts.
more...
Reunion Concerts
November, 2015
Saturday the 14th
Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA
Friday the 20th
Minstrel Coffeehouse, Morristown, NJ
Reunion - Laurie Riley
One afternoon in January 2015, the telephone rang and I was surprised to see Bill Hall’s name on the caller ID. I’d last heard from Bill five or six years ago, and hadn’t actually seen him since the Frostwater days, nearly forty years ago. (His face in my mind's eye is, I'm sure, not quite accurate anymore.) It was fun to hear his cheerful voice. He had a story to tell:
“Godfrey Daniel’s Coffeehouse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - remember that place? I’m still friends with the owners. A few days ago they told me they were planning a special series of concerts in November to celebrate forty years of being in business. They’re trying to get people who played there in their early days. So they asked if Frostwater would do a reunion concert.”
Although we haven’t played together in all those years, our music was so well practiced at the time that I doubted any of us would have a hard time resurrecting it. We used to practice together three hours a day, five days a week. We could have played those songs in our sleep. Well, we often did....
What a great opportunity to cap off a lifetime of being a musician, going back to re-live the most ecstatic music I’ve ever played. Of course I gave it a big thumbs-up, and so did the rest of the band. We know what the challenges will likely be: how to practice when we’re all living in far-flung parts of the country!
As we discussed the possibilities, we realized that the other obvious venue we should play at would be the Folk Project’s MInstrel Coffeehouse, our old home base in Morristown, New Jersey. Contracts are signed. We are committed.
Good thing for new technology that will allow us to practice with recordings that we can send to each other or post online. Luckily some of our old demo recordings still exist. We’ll be able to play some tunes the same way we originally did, and can update others to include, for instance, the harp. And we can do some new material that represents our current skills and styles.
Getting re-acquainted with the band will be a pleasure, I trust, and probably also a bit disorienting. We don’t, I’m sure, look at all as we used to, which may or may not be a good thing (LOL). I will have to put their familiar names with older faces.
Preparing to practice the old songs, I put the mp3's Bills sent me on a CD to play in my car so I could sing along. When I heard "Gypsy Boy" I experienced the elation I used to feel when we performed it, and was transported back to those nights under the stage lights making beautiful harmonies with my friends. I don't expect many dry eyes during these upcoming reunion concerts, least of all mine.
As I listen to our old recordings, it amazes me that the quality of our music still holds up to and exceeds current standards. The music was precise, exciting, heart-touching, and those harmonies and guitar licks were... well, no wonder people loved Frostwater. I envision that we will play to sold-out crowds of people who were our loyal fans back in the day, as well as those who may be too young to have ever heard us, and who will catch the fire as our audiences did so many years ago.
Don't miss these concerts.
more...
Reunion Concerts
November, 2015
Saturday the 14th
Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA
Friday the 20th
Minstrel Coffeehouse, Morristown, NJ
Reunion - Laurie Riley
One afternoon in January 2015, the telephone rang and I was surprised to see Bill Hall’s name on the caller ID. I’d last heard from Bill five or six years ago, and hadn’t actually seen him since the Frostwater days, nearly forty years ago. (His face in my mind's eye is, I'm sure, not quite accurate anymore.) It was fun to hear his cheerful voice. He had a story to tell:
“Godfrey Daniel’s Coffeehouse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - remember that place? I’m still friends with the owners. A few days ago they told me they were planning a special series of concerts in November to celebrate forty years of being in business. They’re trying to get people who played there in their early days. So they asked if Frostwater would do a reunion concert.”
Although we haven’t played together in all those years, our music was so well practiced at the time that I doubted any of us would have a hard time resurrecting it. We used to practice together three hours a day, five days a week. We could have played those songs in our sleep. Well, we often did....
What a great opportunity to cap off a lifetime of being a musician, going back to re-live the most ecstatic music I’ve ever played. Of course I gave it a big thumbs-up, and so did the rest of the band. We know what the challenges will likely be: how to practice when we’re all living in far-flung parts of the country!
As we discussed the possibilities, we realized that the other obvious venue we should play at would be the Folk Project’s MInstrel Coffeehouse, our old home base in Morristown, New Jersey. Contracts are signed. We are committed.
Good thing for new technology that will allow us to practice with recordings that we can send to each other or post online. Luckily some of our old demo recordings still exist. We’ll be able to play some tunes the same way we originally did, and can update others to include, for instance, the harp. And we can do some new material that represents our current skills and styles.
Getting re-acquainted with the band will be a pleasure, I trust, and probably also a bit disorienting. We don’t, I’m sure, look at all as we used to, which may or may not be a good thing (LOL). I will have to put their familiar names with older faces.
Preparing to practice the old songs, I put the mp3's Bills sent me on a CD to play in my car so I could sing along. When I heard "Gypsy Boy" I experienced the elation I used to feel when we performed it, and was transported back to those nights under the stage lights making beautiful harmonies with my friends. I don't expect many dry eyes during these upcoming reunion concerts, least of all mine.
As I listen to our old recordings, it amazes me that the quality of our music still holds up to and exceeds current standards. The music was precise, exciting, heart-touching, and those harmonies and guitar licks were... well, no wonder people loved Frostwater. I envision that we will play to sold-out crowds of people who were our loyal fans back in the day, as well as those who may be too young to have ever heard us, and who will catch the fire as our audiences did so many years ago.
Don't miss these concerts.
more...
Reunion Concerts
November, 2015
Saturday the 14th
Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem, PA
Friday the 20th
Minstrel Coffeehouse, Morristown, NJ
Reunion - Laurie Riley
One afternoon in January 2015, the telephone rang and I was surprised to see Bill Hall’s name on the caller ID. I’d last heard from Bill five or six years ago, and hadn’t actually seen him since the Frostwater days, nearly forty years ago. (His face in my mind's eye is, I'm sure, not quite accurate anymore.) It was fun to hear his cheerful voice. He had a story to tell:
“Godfrey Daniel’s Coffeehouse in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - remember that place? I’m still friends with the owners. A few days ago they told me they were planning a special series of concerts in November to celebrate forty years of being in business. They’re trying to get people who played there in their early days. So they asked if Frostwater would do a reunion concert.”
Although we haven’t played together in all those years, our music was so well practiced at the time that I doubted any of us would have a hard time resurrecting it. We used to practice together three hours a day, five days a week. We could have played those songs in our sleep. Well, we often did....
What a great opportunity to cap off a lifetime of being a musician, going back to re-live the most ecstatic music I’ve ever played. Of course I gave it a big thumbs-up, and so did the rest of the band. We know what the challenges will likely be: how to practice when we’re all living in far-flung parts of the country!
As we discussed the possibilities, we realized that the other obvious venue we should play at would be the Folk Project’s MInstrel Coffeehouse, our old home base in Morristown, New Jersey. Contracts are signed. We are committed.
Good thing for new technology that will allow us to practice with recordings that we can send to each other or post online. Luckily some of our old demo recordings still exist. We’ll be able to play some tunes the same way we originally did, and can update others to include, for instance, the harp. And we can do some new material that represents our current skills and styles.
Getting re-acquainted with the band will be a pleasure, I trust, and probably also a bit disorienting. We don’t, I’m sure, look at all as we used to, which may or may not be a good thing (LOL). I will have to put their familiar names with older faces.
Preparing to practice the old songs, I put the mp3's Bills sent me on a CD to play in my car so I could sing along. When I heard "Gypsy Boy" I experienced the elation I used to feel when we performed it, and was transported back to those nights under the stage lights making beautiful harmonies with my friends. I don't expect many dry eyes during these upcoming reunion concerts, least of all mine.
As I listen to our old recordings, it amazes me that the quality of our music still holds up to and exceeds current standards. The music was precise, exciting, heart-touching, and those harmonies and guitar licks were... well, no wonder people loved Frostwater. I envision that we will play to sold-out crowds of people who were our loyal fans back in the day, as well as those who may be too young to have ever heard us, and who will catch the fire as our audiences did so many years ago.
Don't miss these concerts.
more...