Time to turn in because it'll be an early morning--packing up the car and heading down to the Holiday Inn of Bolingbrook, IL for the FARM Gathering '09. The registration desk opens at 4 pm, and walk-ins are always welcome--but we already have more preregistered than we ever had attend in total! We have a number of firsts this year:
An extra day and evening--Thursday with a welcome reception, Concerts In Your Home showcase (headlined by Claudia Schmidt), and jamming;
Friday seminars and workshops on the nuts and bolts of performing: singing, guitar, writing, performing, etc.
A keynote speaker (our first ever) Fri.: Claudia Schmidt
A Folk-DJ meet-and-greet reception Sat. afternooon where you can meet the folks who are giving you (or whom you'd like to give you) airplay
10-minute preassigned Performing Lane slots (and we've decided to make them amplified or unplugged, as you prefer) you can publicize. HINT: ANDINA & RICH are playing at 5:10 Friday in Room 2.
Your choice of where you want to stay and eat (and the hotel still has room for both of those things if you don't choose one of the many places in the immediate vicinity--with free shuttle rides to and fro)
Available shuttle service from Midway, O'Hare, and the Joliet rail stations (call the hotel to arrange it or put you in touch with a discount shuttle)
A hotel with pool, hot tub, in-room fridges, coffeemakers, and hairdryers.
Free coffee in the mornings in the lobby (and a limited amount of free continental bkfst each morning--when it's gone, it's gone).
On-premises bar & grill, restaurant, gift/sundries shop, coin-op laundry
And jamming till the last string breaks.
As in the last two years, we have the evening-only $10 Taste of Farm option that gets you into the audience at performances and into the jams and song circles afterward; we know you'll want to come back for the full experience!
See you this weekend! www.farmfolk.org (yes, the site's up) for details and links for the hotel, schedules, and driving directions.
And so to bed--been a long day cat-herding from a distance (I have SOOO many people to think for the actual heavy lifting), installing a new OS and cellphone.
And no politics or polemics here till at least Monday!