Sometimes getting things done in the crazy environment of a busy festival is like trying to follow the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Last year, we ran into Roger Creager a bunch of times during MusicFest at Steamboat. But we never were able to 'consummate the relationship,' so to speak...we didn't get a chance to have quality time to film him. For this year's MusicFest 2011 in Steamboat Springs, he was on our short list to capture, so we were leaving no stone unturned.
I usually like to set things up in advance with artists. That works most of the time, in most of the circumstances for Music Fog. I have to say we have great luck scheduling people and having them show up on time. We are so thankful for that. But Steamboat poses its own set of challenges, though they are all good. Everyone there is so happy to see and spend time with one another, it makes it difficult to button down some of the specifics. Friends are asking friends to perform with them, jam, hang, and the spontaneity of that HAS to take precedence.
We really wanted Roger Creager to come play, though. And we were trying to get a message to him. So to get the word out to his camp, I reached out to a trusted source, Abbey at Luckenbach, though she wasn't even in Colorado! The traffic on cell phones was making it hard to reach anyone on their cell phones, as calls were just going directly to voice mail with no ring, and no ability to take the call. Festival Overload Syndrome at work. Texts were still coming in though, and Facebook ALWAYS seems to work, so Abbey sounded the alarm amongst the Creager camp. We tried to schedule the appointment for the afternoon, but that ultimately didn't allow us to block out enough time. So we invited Roger back at the very end of our production day. He arrived with Paul Overstreet, and we proceeded to raise the rafters. Here is one of the songs from that session, "Tangle Me In You." And we dedicate it to Abbey - thanks for the long distance assist!
- Jessie Scott
