Day 58 & 59: Chillin’ out by the Big Wood River.



I spent the past two days just chillin’ out. For real. Both days I woke up and watched Netflix on my phone that is mounted to my car’s dashboard, until about 10am. Then I went for a long hike. Then off to a brewery for lunch and a beer. Then a nap. Then a solar shower. Then check out a live local music concert. Last night I listened to a band called “Woven” in Bellevue, ID. Today, for Labor Day, I went to an all day music festival in Bellevue.
There are a ton of talented musicians in this part of Idaho! I always end up meeting really nice people when I go out to hear live music. They are very welcoming and interested in my music too. “The Hurdy-Gurdy Girls” opened up the Labor Day festival. I met one of the girls the other night at my show at “The Mint” in Hailey, so I figured I’d go check them out. I was so impressed with their music I ended staying for the next band, who was a bluegrass group called “Dewey Pickette & Howe”. They are a traditional bluegrass group, made up of guitar, mandolin and upright bass with all 3 singing and playing around one microphone. I wished I could have sat in with them on my banjo. After them was “Mia Edsall” with her band that plays a Tom Petty “Wildflowers” kind of folk-rock, except Mia played banjo for a few songs with an Ola Belle Reed song called “I’ve Endured” thrown in there. Amazing. A banjo player named Spike Coggins played next, but I was too involved in a conversation with some people I met to pay enough attention. Spike had a great look about him and I had much respect for the fact that he got up there all alone with just he and his banjo and some foot percussion. I wished I could have heard him more, but I was too far back in the crowd talking to new friends. Same with the last band.
This weekend off for Labor Day made me realize that I come to a place in my life where I am truly content. It’s not easy living out of a Toyota Prius for 59 days, driving thousands of miles, hustling from one gig to the next, but it is doing exactly what I want to be doing.  I was talking to my uncle on the phone a few weeks back and he said “Martin, one of these days you’re gonna have a big hit song”. I felt honored that he’d say that because my uncle has been a big inspiration to me, but I answered “Uncle, I don’t even care. I’m making a living doing what I’m doing and that’s enough for me. If I get a big hot song, that’d be great, but I’m not hanging my happiness on that”. It’s true. I am happy now. I am grateful for all that I have now. It feels great to allow myself to feel happy and content.

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