I’ve been having a pretty awful September. The start of the school year (where my non-music job resides) caught me much more unprepared than usual, involved some bad omens (having my work computer die on the first day of school was not a good sign and led to a pretty frantic first week), and has been much busier and frustrating than expected with some urgent and stressful deadlines approaching. And there have been some other unexpected, and unfun, things to deal with this month that have little to do with music or work. I even asked my facebook friends for a “do over” for the month of September, but those who were happy to grant it to me don’t seem to have the actual ability to make it happen. Last night I went to see the Kennedys play at a venue reasonably near me. (Even that didn’t start auspiciously; there was an accident nearby shortly before the show, everything was backed up and people couldn’t get to the venue so it started more than a half hour late.) They were playing mostly songs from their newest CD, which is a little less folk than some of their other stuff, so it might not have been on the top of my list of favorites. But they are consummate professionals and put on a good show no matter what. Pete’s playing last night was especially impressive. And they’re also simply some of the nicest people on the planet. At intermission Maura remembered to ask how the dog (who has had complicated health issues this year, not least of which was a brain tumor) is doing, and after intermission, Pete mentioned me and my songwriting from the stage (while pronouncing my name correctly, something almost no one does). And then I was one of the people they invited on stage for their second encore to sing backup on “Stand,” which was a lot of fun. Today I was playing at the Joe Davies folk festival, a little festival (combined with a harvest fair) I’d never been to, on the south coast. I decided to go for the whole day, and it was the best thing I could have done. I enjoyed my time playing – the audience sang along when asked to on Between the White Lines (and throughout No Toll in Canaan, suggesting that some of them already knew my music) and I got lots of great feedback on the newest song, Dandelion Wine, which people really liked. (I also got offered another show, which is always a good sign.) And I got to experience the rest of the festival. Rich Mosley, who books this festival, does a fantastic job in all the music he presents of funding fantastic (and not always well-known) musicians (which makes me feel especially honored to be among the people he chooses to present). And I enjoyed literally everyone I heard play today, including those I’d never heard, or heard of, before. And mostly it was just fantastic to sit all day overlooking a field/wetland of wildflowers listening to music (with a brief interlude in the middle to watch the show of horses doing tricks, and also eating some of the great food served at the festival). I was reminded of what a great songwriter Michael Troy is; I remembered how much I love – and know deep in my bones – Bill Staines’ music, and the members of the Boxcar Lilies are friends of mine, so it was great to get to see them headline the show. The last 24 hours of music have done wonders as an antidote to most of the rest of this month. Music is indeed a wonder.