Hello!
Despite Mother Nature throwing a couple of snow flurries at us a week or so ago, it looks like spring may be well and truly here. We’ve already harvested a few asparagus spears, the azaleas and our volunteer forsythia are in full bloom, and the blossoms on the peach, pear, and crabapple trees have popped open. Our yard had its first mowing last week, and the dandelions immediately started peeking up again. All the trees around us are leafing out, and the birds and peepers are filling the air with their sweet songs. Hooray for spring!
Another sure sign of spring up here in New Hampshire is the opening of the Mt. Washington Auto Road for the season. Mt. Washington is the highest peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, at 6288 feet. Our friend Dan Szczesny’s book, The White Mountain, introduced us to a number of wonderful tales about the mountain, including the story of Alton Weagle. In the mid 20th century, Mr. Weagle became known as “Mr. Mount Washington”, and is credited with a number of unconventional “firsts” on the mountain that include being the first to walk up the mountain backwards, as well as walking up it blindfolded. In 2011, the Mount Washington Auto Road folks introduced Alton Weagle Day as part of the road’s 150th anniversary, and a ragtag group of eight intrepid adventurers performed their own unconventional “first climbs” up the mountain that day. They would have made Alton Weagle proud! Other than 2020 and 2025, this event has been held every year since then. Dan Szczesny’s description of it (he took part in 2017) was delightful, and Faith wrote her song Alton Weagle Day based on it. This year’s Alton Weagle Day is Saturday, May 23rd, and we’ve been invited to perform the song as part of the awards ceremony after the climb! If you’d like to join the celebration of this year’s chosen adventurers (weather permitting), come join us at the foot of the Auto Road in Gorham, NH at 12pm. And if you want to be one of those intrepid adventurers, it’s invitation-only, so send your first ascent idea to events@mt-washington.com and see if they’ll consider it!
The following weekend, Friday May 29th through Sunday May 31st, we’ll be taking part in the People’s Music Network Summer Gathering at Grotonwood Camp & Conference Center in Groton, MA. The People’s Music Network for Songs of Freedom and Struggle is a diverse community of singers, artists, activists and allies that cultivates music and cultural work as catalysts for a just and peaceful world. They use music and culture to promote progressive ideas and values. The summer gathering brings folks together to share a weekend of panels, workshops, and (of course) singing. If you’ll be there, too, give us a shout! We’d love to touch base.
In honor of the upcoming Alton Weagle Day on Mount Washington, we’re releasing Faith’s song Alton Weagle Day as a single! Check it out here on Bandcamp.
Our albums Who We Are, Then and Now, Seeking, and Simple Grace are available from us at shows and on our website, through Bandcamp, or you can find them at iTunes and most other online music stores. Our music is also available streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
As always, you can find additional schedule information on our website. For additional content, follow us on Patreon. For more frequent news updates and information, check out our Facebook fan page.
Music touches a part of the brain that is deeper than memory. Find some live local music today!
Dan & Faith