Day 5

  Last night the compound was
surrounded by a beautiful fog. We celebrated by standing in from of someones room and drinking beer and wine until almost 2am. After some sort of social wind down at the end of the day I have been sleeping like a baby, but naps are out of the question (for the first time ever). I find myself filled with too much nervous energy and I've actually been practicing my own stuff in the evenings. Although this afternoon my shoulder and teeth started to hurt from too much playing so I have banned myself from practicing until further notice. I figure if playing fiddle is making your teeth get loose in your scull it might be time to cut down.

In other news, today was Oriental Friday at the Chuck Wagon (one of the three places we can eat for free). There is even a sign that says that. This spurred five minutes of the ever classy Coal Diggers matching racial slurs to days of the week.








It's 50 degrees and has been raining for 48 hours so the cast hasn't been able to rehearse on the stage at all. Also the band won't be joining the cast until Monday because of the rain situation which is a pain because what we really need to practice is how to put the music to the singers. Basically everyone is grumpy and covered in red mud.

day 4

 

No, you aren't supposed to be seeing anything other than a recently mowed dandelion and some dirt. I'm just obsessed with how red the dirt is here. Even the rocks are red. With the bright green grass from all the rain we are having it seems like the whole world is ready for Christmas!!

 

Sandy has been mentioning that this band is ahead of the game compared to how previous years. I have to say I think we sound pretty fantastic. Of course my job is a little easier than most of the others, I just add the little squiggles on top of the guys. I will say this, the groove is solid as hell. The only problems are things that are easily addressable and fixable. (I apologize for crappie pictures. I'm snapping cell phone shots or taking pictures with my disposable which won't help until I take it in to get digital copies of those.)

We the Coal Diggers haven't yet played with the singers, so there will probably be a little insanity the first day of that, which I believe is Saturday. Everyone in the cast is already super tired and we don't start the show til the 7th of June. So that means crazy rehearsal schedules for everyone strait up until then. I haven't touched my huge stash of books and crafts or watched a movie since I got here. Although that proves something else, which is that I get along great with the guys in the band. We eat lunch/dinner together and hang out in the evenings as well as rehearsing 10am-5pm. I feel really lucky, how horrible could this summer have been if we didn't all get along?

Day 3

 Today we thought we would have our first day of uninterrupted rehearsal with Sandy (the Music Director). But Belfield had a different idea. There has been no hot water in one of the buildings in the compound that we live in and when they came out to check it out they discovered they could turn on the heat.... but they discovered  fairly large water leak. So now the building that had water but no heat has heat but no water. Long story short we stood around outside the lounge/rehearsal room that just so happens to be within the building with all the trouble.
After a while of all of us lounging and looking bored Sandy said "does anyone have a frisbee?"  I yelled "Actually, I DO!!!" So Bass player Ed, Drummer Marc, and Fiddler Josephine through the frisbee at each other. I was carefully aiming at Marc and managed to hit Steel player Roger's car. I thought the whole thing was kind of cute. The Coal Diggers can't play? fine, they will romp around in the sunshine.

Which brings me to another thing. We have hilariously taken to calling ourselves the Coal Diggers.
"Hi ma'am, we are the coal diggers and we would like some pizza"
Yelling at cars if they try to cross in front of us (even if it is legal). "What are you doing! Don't you know we are the coal diggers!" Except all of that and more with WAY more profanity. 


                                                                                                                       

Day 2

Yesterday the band joined the singers and the tech crew on the stage for photo shoots and filming for a TV ad. Mostly it was just a matter of sitting on a crate, slapping a big ol' cowboy hat on your head and smiling like crazy. For the band TV promo we had to act like we were getting ready to play. They filmed us tuning, and warming up. The they wanted to film me rosining my bow. Since no one had told me to bring anything other than my instrument I had left it on my music stand in my room 20 minutes away in Belfield. So at dinner I went back to spend 30 minutes waiting for them to film me and 10 minutes being filmed rosining my bow from various angles. It all felt kind of ridiculous since what the band really wanted to be doing was practicing. But I presume that this sort of thing is what gets so many people to come to the show.

I should clarify, I am living in Belfield which is about 15 miles down the highway from Medora, where the musical takes place and the restaurants we can eat for free at are located. The Majestic worm above is from right in front of my room.

Day 1

My first full day in rehearsal for the Medora musical was a fantastic success. I am staying with the rest of the cast about 20 minutes from Medora  in a town called Bellfield. My day started at 8:30 for breakfast in Medora and a costume fitting. after that we had our first band practice. I am very happy to say that we sound great. Having never done anything like this before I had no idea what to expect but it was easy-going and friendly. The musicians I am working with are seriously excellent and I am proud to be working with them. I think that this summer will be a great lesson in how I can improve my playing and become a better musician, but it is also nice to realize that I am not lagging horribly behind the veterans. I may not have experience but I can do this. I think this summer will be the perfect combination of inspiration and encouragement that will help me to grow as a musician.

* The picture above is of South Dakota. Snapped with my trusty smart phone from a rest stop off I-29.