Last night was the annual Dave Carter Memorial Writers Roundup at Passim, a show held around the time of Dave’s birthday in which Tracy performs and invites two other songwriters to join her. It’s noted for having “tweeners” – audience members whose names are picked out of a basket to come up to each play a Dave Carter song between sets. We were in Toronto on Saturday for a Bar Mitzvah, but it was really important to me to be at this event – it’s a lot of fun, it’s a way to commemorate Dave (especially this year, the 10th year since his death), and Tracy often introduces completely new Dave songs at this show. So we got up really early to drive all day and get back in time for it. Several people commented “you’re driving all day to go play a show” to which I always responded “I’m only playing one song” (although I did learn a new-to-me Dave Carter song for the occasion). Darryl Purpose, a long-time friend of Dave’s (who has recorded a number of his songs) and a great songwriter, was one of the featured performers. I hadn’t seen him play but I had heard a few of his songs and was excited about hearing him. Shortly before the show was scheduled to start he came up and introduced himself to me, saying that Tracy had texted him that she was going to be late, and would I be willing to play a couple songs near the beginning of the show. I, of course, agreed, and awaited further instructions. He was texting back and forth with Tracy who formulated a plan. She decided that she wanted to get people singing, so she asked that I start out by playing Gentle Arms of Eden, which everyone could sing to. And I’d told her in advance that I’d lured Laura Joy, another great songwriter who learned Crocodile Man for the Falcon Ridge song circle, to come to the show. So she sent word that I should start and then Laura (who she’d never met!) should play. So we did that – and, of course, a Dave-primed audience sang along. Then Darryl got up and played The River Where She Sleeps, and then invited Kevin Faherty (who Tracy had told me would be there) up to play his extremely cool song “Singer-Songwriter Heaven,” which mentions Dave and is all about songwriters who died too young. While that was happening, Darryl and Tracy were texting; she kept thinking she’d be there soon but wasn’t yet. So somehow it was decided that I should get back up and play another song – I played Quickdraw Southpaw’s Last Hurrah, the song I’d learned for this event. And then scanned the backroom for Darryl, who motioned me to play another song, so I played Red (alas, I screwed up the chords in the second verse but kept going and most non-musicians probably didn’t notice). And then another, so I played Merlin’s Lament. (I’d asked the guest musicians beforehand which Dave songs they were planning to play, so I didn’t play something they were likely to, and I also tried not to play anything I thought Tracy would play.) When I finished those songs, Darryl mentioned (possibly on instructions from Tracy), that I should pull the name of someone from the basket to play, so I picked Pat and Amanda D’Amico who came up and did a glorious version of Farewell to Bitterroot Valley. During that time Darryl and I were consulting about a plan, because Tracy still wasn’t there and it was getting late. We contemplated having Abe Loomis (the other billed guest) start, but figured that Tracy wanted to be the one to introduce him and explain how she’d come to pick him to play at the show, so we decided to send me up for one more song in the hopes that Tracy would arrive soon. Which she did, just as I was starting. I played When I Go, and then we took a quick break for Tracy to get set up and get the official part of the show going. Whew. I mentioned at some point when I was up on the stage coming up on the fly with what Dave song I would play next that it was good to know how to play a lot of Dave Carter songs because you never know when you might have a Dave Carter emergency. And actually I can imagine poor Tracy, stuck in ridiculous traffic – some of which we encountered on our way through the state – worrying about what to do for a show she ended up being an hour late for. So I’m glad I did know the songs, and that Tracy had enough confidence in me to send me up there to play some (and that I was comfortable enough on the Passim stage to do that). At the end of the evening the last song Tracy played was The Mountain, and she invited me up on stage to lead the Sumerian chant and sing harmony on the chorus. She joked that next year she should leave me in charge of the Passim version of this event and start one at a place closer to where she lives. I suspect that this is likely to be the last year the even happens at Passim (the audience was smaller than in previous years and it really is a long trek for her now). I’m glad I was there. For me, this year’s was certainly memorable!