Well folks, here we go again. After an absence of a couple of years I have decided to once again take the bully pulpit offered to me on this official web site and write a dispatch, meaningful or meaningless, depending upon your point of view. I fully expect your scrutiny of these observations, remarks, commentary, assertions, reflections, elucidations, explications, and general obiter dictum!

As I began the writing of this, I sat in the comfort of Bill Zorn’s living room in Phoenix. Considering the feeling of family we all have in Bill’s home (and the exorbitant number of musical instruments Bill has), this was the most comfortable of places in which to organize our new show.

The music had wound down and it was well after midnight, but I was far too excited about the day’s activities to retire for the evening. Although this first day was a day filled with the relatively tellurian activity of rehearsal, it had been lifted to the heights of delectation because of what it implied: the continuation of concerts by The Kingston Trio, our opportunity to once again share this wonderful repertoire.

Under normal circumstances, I might have delayed the commencement of writing to you until after the fact of a concert; however, this week in Phoenix was just far too much fun to keep under wraps - “raps” for those of you who can’t get enough hip-hop! The Kingston Trio appeared in front of 30 people at a private function in Phoenix in August, and got their first standing ovation! The function included some visitors from Japan-educators visiting the Phoenix school system.

Always included in a trip to Phoenix is time spent in Bob & Bobbie Shane’s home. This particular trip was punctuated with the official gifting to Rick of the Martin tenor guitar with which he is now performing. This particular guitar is actually thirteen serial numbers away from Nick Reynolds’ original guitar, featured in the poster at the Kingston Trio Store.

A visit to the Shane’s is never complete without bowing before the “Shrine of Shane,” as I refer to it.
I’m speaking of a wall full of gold albums, and his grammys.

After the proper genuflection, Bill and Rick were seen trying desperately to hone their Ms. PacMan skills in order to challenge Bob - a useless task as Bob Shane is the Universal Undisputed Champion of Ms.
PacMan.

A short business meeting was held to decide where we would eat. Although I relegated myself to behind-the-camera-activity, I could still be heard shouting out for such favorites as “Cracker Barrel!!” and “Barbecue Masters for ribs!!”

Since he was paying, we acquiesced to the winner of the PacMan contest (who else but Bob?) and repaired to the local curry house for some spicy dining and conversation.

Bonding over food always seems to work, and the food put Bill, Rick and me back into a rehearsal mode.

If you have heard Rick Dougherty in either The Limeliters or as a part of Glenn Yarbrough’s group, The Folk Reunion, you are aware of his soaring tenor voice. I have known that voice for fifteen years. What I could not know was just how easily that voice and Rick’s knowledge of singing in general would adapt itself to the repertoire of The Kingston Trio in general and to Bill’s and my voices specifically. Rick also brings a knowledge that complements the heights to which we aspire as well as the traditions to which we cling. All I can say is “Wow!”, which I did right before snapping this shot.

We began our rehearsals by choosing the standard repertoire that would be expected. After all, didn’t your mother teach you to go home from the dance with the one who brought you? After that our choices seemed to drift towards Trio songs from the albums The New Frontier, #16, and Time To Think, along with Goin’ Places, from the Hungry i, At Large.........well, as you can see, we were back to the question we have always had, which is more “What do we leave out?” rather than “What do we include?” It’s an excellent dilemma, but one which will take time to sort out.

In addition to these traditional repertoire songs, we have begun listening to new songs so that they may be recorded on a CD of all new material. We are hopeful that we might begin building this recorded repertoire very, very soon, actually within a matter of weeks. All of us - Bob, Rick, Bill and me - are aware of the dilemma in which the group called “The Kingston Trio” finds itself: on the one hand there is the performance art of continuing to sing the songs that make this The Kingston Trio, songs like Tom Dooley, MTA, Worried Man, Tijuana Jail, and the other several hundred songs recorded under that banner.

On the other hand, there are some fans who feel that the only group worthy to be called “The Kingston Trio” was the original group of Bob, Nick and Dave. Some others extend that accolade of worth to the first group with a replacement member, the extremely talented songwriter, John Stewart. Their justification for that inclusion is that the group continued to record songs with John and had several songs that made the Billboard Top lists, such as Greenback Dollar and The Reverend Mr. Black. If that is the standard by which the current group is to be held, then it is imperative for us to get into the studio with material that is brand new to the repertoire of The Kingston Trio.

Currently, The Kingston Trio has performed two public concerts. The first was at a beautiful winery in Chelan, WA, the Tsillan Winery. Our performance there was on September 2, 2005, but because of the uniqueness of the area we arranged for our trip there to begin a day earlier so that we could take in a local winery...

...followed by yet another winery...

before ending up at a delightful dinner (and some wine) at the Tsillan Winery on the banks of Lake Chelan.

Again, there was bonding over food,

and we were now in the mood for our first public performance. It went as we expected it would, with an audience who embraced both the performance and the performers in the continuing love affair of Kingston Trio music. Among those present were two of The Brothers Four, Mark Pearson and John Hylton. John is shown here surprising Bill with a hug.

It was an evening to be remembered forever, not just because of the good music and camaraderie, nor the continuing friendships with many of the audience, but because of the magnificent venue at which to perform our first concert together.

Our next performance was, again, in the state of Washington, at the Tulalip Amphitheater just north of Seattle. For this I was joined by my fiancé, Cindy, and all members and wives (minus Rick’s wife, Elisabeth, who was home watching over their twins) bonded once again over food.

Even our manager, Nikki Gary, was able to join us,

and it appears as though Paul Gabrielson, too, is enjoying his evening.

The performance was another musical high for all of us, with the fans apparently loving everything we sang and said. For the opening weekend of the rest of our professional lives, this was more than we could have hoped for had we been writing the script. And that is what we do, isn’t it? We all walk through our lives either writing our own book or allowing others to write it for us.

As Rick, Bill and I continue to perform as The Kingston Trio, we have decided to write each page of our own book with deliberation and joy. I hope to share much of that with you through the pages of Concert Chatter, and I will close this chapter with the words that became the highest compliment that an ensemble such as ours can receive. Cindy told me that as she listened to the group perform, she couldn’t pick out one voice that she liked any better than the others. That is testament to the sound of three voices becoming one through the rich and spirited music of The Kingston Trio.