Good times at Riverdog

I can't get over how lucky we are to have the Riverdog venue just outside of Oberlin!  Not only do we have the good fortune to be friends with the owners, Deborah and Terry :-) , but their concerts are without fail of the highest quality and a ton of fun.  Woody Pines and his band was no exception last night and got us on our feet for some great roots music.  It was the first really chilly night we've had in the coming fall season - although it wasn't too bad in the barn - and there's no better way to warm up than by dancing.

Of course we love seeing lots of our friends there, but it was also great to see new faces and especially the crowd of Oberlin College students that came.  I guess they were there to support their friends, Sweet Potato Spoon, who opened for Woody Pines, but I hope they'll come back for more concerts - their enthusiasm was infectious, to say the least!

Brave Dominique takes the ice bucket challenge

Nominated by our Welsh friend Simon Goldsworthy, Dominique was inspired to take the ice bucket challenge to raise awareness - and funds - for ALS research.  What better place to do it than at a rollicking concert at our friends' Deborah Banyas and Terry Speers' Riverdog Retreat? 

Sandwiched between the opening acts of Emily Keener and duo Andru Bemis and Tom Brosseau, Terry did the honors and dumped the first bucket of icy water over Dom's head in front of 200 witnesses who had come for the concert.  Admittedly the ice had rather melted, but as you can see, the water was plenty cold!  Janet had prepared a second bucket for good measure.  All in good fun and all for a good cause.

Dominique nominated his son Mathieu, his brothers-in-law Kirk Bierman and Dan Dickerson, and also our Oberlin friend Bill County to carry on the trend.

Music music everywhere!

With one of the most prestigious conservatories in the country, you would expect Oberlin to have great music.  But musical events go well beyond the academic schedule of the College and Conservatory.  One of the best things about summer in Oberlin is the many concerts on the bandstand in Tappan Square.  This one featured my friend and guitar/keyboard teacher, Kevin Jones, and his band The Scrooges.  They did a lot of great old songs and even got one couple on their feet to dance.

Kevin and Marcia Jones

 The Scrooges played as a wrap up to the popular Chalk on the Walk event, but there are concerts almost every Friday night throughout the summer with all different kinds of music.

Nancy Gray and the Buckeye

Unfortunately, it seems to be feast or famine here and that night we had another concert to go to at our friends' Riverdog Retreat, with Oberlin's own Soul Proprioters followed by the unofficial duo of Peter "Madcat" Ruth and Dave Boutette.  If we had to cut out early from Kevin's group, at least it was for something as amazing as the show we headed to.  The jam at the end was really special and I don't think anyone wanted the evening and the music to end.  Anybody coming to Oberlin should really check out the Music at Riverdog Facebook page to see if there's a concert scheduled.

Soul Proprioters, the Buckeye

Dave Parsh, "Madcat" Ruth, Brad Conklin, Jakob Faber