tag:timmueting.com,2005:/blogs/newsNews2018-06-17T20:43:47-04:00Tim Muetingfalsetag:timmueting.com,2005:Post/1384112012-02-08T11:05:00-05:002022-05-10T17:16:08-04:00In the Category of It's a Small World...As a folk singer that plays in smalls bars and clubs I’m keenly aware of the obstacles we face in getting the attention of the audience – even if it is just a tiny portion of the audience. We are often competing with flat screen televisions on every wall, people enjoying themselves talking, laughing, yelling, hooting and hollering with their friends. We each have to devise our own way to survive a 2 to 3 hour set without losing our sanity. For me, if I can find one person, one couple, or table that I can connect with I will typically go home happy. One of the most enjoyable aspects of doing what I do is having the opportunity to meet people and make new friends.<br><br>
A few nights ago I was playing a small place in Round Rock, Texas called <a href="http://juniorsgrillroundrock.weebly.com" target="_new">Junior’s Bar & Ice House</a>. As the night went on and the place started to thin out a little, I noticed two couples sitting few tables back from the stage. They seemed like they liked the music. They would clap after most songs and sometimes look up and smile. After a while I noticed that they were playing a card game.<br><br>
“What are you playing back there?” I asked.<br><br>
They looked up with smiles and one of them said, “Euchre”. <br><br>
“Really”, I said, more of a statement than a question. <br><br>
Now, Euchre (pronounced ˈyoōkər) is a card game played with the nines, tens, jacks, queens, kings and aces of a standard deck of cards. It is a fairly simple game, but not a game you see much in Texas. Which is kind of surprising, now that I think about it, given the large German population in this part of central Texas. But I digress. Euchre is very popular where my family is from – that being rural Nebraska and Iowa.<br><br>
“Are you from the Midwest?” I asked. <br><br>
Smiles spread across their faces and I could see them looking at each other and then back at me curiously.<br><br>
“Yes, were from Nebraska”, one of them said.<br><br>
“Where in Nebraska”, I asked? <br><br>
“Lincoln”, they said.<br><br>
Now my brother and his family live in Lincoln and I have been to Lincoln many times. A wonderful place a few months out of the year – considering the brutal cold winters and hot humid summers. <br><br>
Much of my father’s family is originally from a small Nebraska farming community called Bow Valley, which is over 150 miles north of Lincoln. It’s so small in fact that it isn’t even listed on Google maps anymore. Though, I did find it after an exhaustive search using Google’s satellite image feature. As a kid, my father spent many of his summers in Bow Valley with his cousins working on the farm and getting into the type of trouble most boys get into. <br><br>
I think that he always had a special place in his heart for that area. In fact, he seemed to like it so much that when he and my mother were married they moved from their home town in Iowa to a little town just a few miles from Bow Valley called Hartington, where, after coming into this world, I lived until I was three years old. I still have family living there today.<br><br>
From what I can tell from the satellite images Bow Valley today is very much like what I remember it to be many years ago. A few small houses, a small farm implement shop of <a href="/files/56968/Saints%20Peter%20&%20Paul%20Church.jpg"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/55505/7ac5a7639884374fd6bbc61a6d0a785d6457c53f/medium/Saints-Peter-Paul-Church.jpg?1380573405" class="size_orig justify_right border_" alt="" height="121" width="200" /></a>some kind, a little gas station/general store/bar which was close to both the Catholic church – a beautiful old traditional style church – and my great grand parents house. I remember many times my uncles, cousins and my dad sitting in one of the booths, drinking beer and playing, you guessed it, Euchre.<br><br>
For whatever reason Bow Valley popped into my head. There was no reason to think that these people would have any idea or knowledge of this obscure little village in Nebraska but I figured I’d throw it out there anyway.<br><br>
“Do you know where Bow Valley is?” I asked. <br><br>
Now the smiles went from just smiles to something more. One said something to the other and their heads bobbed as if to say, “yes we do” and “how do you”?<br><br>
I mentioned that I had family in that area and it was there that I first learned to play Euchre and that I would be playing the game soon with my brothers on our yearly golf outing. <br><br>
During my break I stopped by to introduce myself. It turns out that the four of them had been vacationing in the area and were headed back to Nebraska the following day. They just happened to pop into Junior’s for dinner and a beer. They asked me to sit with them and offered to buy me a beer and then insisted that I play a hand of Euchre with them. I protested, saying that I didn’t want to be responsible for messing up their game but they would have none of it.<br><br>
As they dealt the cards we started talking, it turned out that one of the women, Jo, grew up in Hartington and knew many of my cousins and friends of my parents. She even remembered the very popular band <a target="_new" href="http://www.yankton.net/articles/2010/09/16/river_city/doc4c92e573b55cb900972579.txt">Quazy</a> that my cousins played in back in the 70’s and 80’s. Each name mentioned would lead to another and then another that we would both recognize. <br><br>
I mentioned that my father had run the drive-in theater there in Hartington and, of course, Jo had worked there as a teenager. I remembered that one of my mother’s best friends name was Jolene Cottle and that she had a son, Alan, that was the same age as I was. Yes, she knew Jolene and Alan.<br><br>
If all this wasn’t enough, one of them asked about my brother in Lincoln. I mentioned that he was a big shot with the department of roads for the state and joked that if he had any complaints to be sure to call and ask for him. Cindy, the other woman at the table, then got a curious look on her face.<br><br>
“What’s is your brother’s wife’s’ name?” she asked.<br><br>
“Marcia”, I said.<br><br>
“Oh my gosh, I know her, I worked on a project with her. I’ve met her husband too!”<br><br>
Turns out they had worked together on a project dealing with the growing problem of pharmaceuticals in our water. Apparently people are often now flushing expired or unused prescription drugs down the toilet which are being detected in our drinking water at higher and higher rates. Marcia is an expert in pharmacology and not long ago had explained to me how big a problem this is becoming. <br><br>
In the end we didn’t finish the game, which was a good thing because I had a horrible hand. I ‘d met new friends who inspired fond memories family I had not thought of nor seen for far too long. <br><br>
So here’s to Jerry and Jo Pflanz and Randy and Cindy Kreifels from Lincoln, Nebraska. If you are reading this, I hope you had a safe and enjoyable trip back to Nebraska and I hope to see you again sometime down the road.<br><br>
It is a small world.<br><br>
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world….<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Tim Muetingtag:timmueting.com,2005:Post/1264442011-12-03T11:05:00-05:002023-12-10T13:07:31-05:00Hill Country BookstoreLast night Michael Hare and I had the pleasure of playing at Georgetown's <a target="_new" href="http://www.hillcountrybookstore.com">Hill Country Bookstore</a>. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/55505/06a61991a91b730d55dfebb0d027f625c89ebc83/original/hillcountrybookstore.jpg?1380573405" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="120" width="180" /><br>
For those of you that don't know, every first Friday of the month the stores on the square are open during the evening for shopping, food, wine and live music. The Hill Country Bookstore is a great little place right on the square in downtown Georgetown. Stop and say hello to Sara and Preston. They not only know their stuff when it comes to books but they are great music fans as well. I'm looking forward to playing there again soon. Last night was particularly refreshing as Ellen Sweets was present to sign her new book <u>Stirring It Up</u> wth Molly Ivins. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/55505/e38b49e604710b9e920c6c34b83933fe52a02cbf/original/ellensweets.jpg?1380573404" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="220" width="145" /><br><br>
Ellen is a beautiful, articulate and very funny lady and entertained us with a few stories of how she first met Molly and subsequently became best of friends. I encourage all of you to check it out. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture with her to share with you all.<br type="_moz">Tim Muetingtag:timmueting.com,2005:Post/1058172011-07-16T04:53:57-04:002022-06-01T21:17:16-04:00Kerrville, House Concerts and RadioLong time since my last post. Had a wonderful time at the Kerrville folk festival this year. Met a lot of new friends and great performers like Jon Hogan and Maria Moss, and Leslie Krafka from Houston - regional winners who played the Ballad Tree this year. Please check them out if you have a chance. I've also been keeping very busy with travel to the Northwest to escape the Texas heat and even had the opportunity to play an impromptu house concert while in Colorado.<br><br>
For those of you in the southern part of Texas, tune in to KEDT 90.3 in Corpus Christi, or KVRT 90.7 in Victoria Sundays between 7 & 9. Brad Brown hosts a program called <a href="http://www.kedt.org/fm/brad_brown.html" target="_new">Some Call it Folk</a> and will be playing a few of my songs. For more information go to: www.kedt.org/fm/brad_brown.html.<br><br>
Here's my official Kerrville performer badge <img src="//bandzoogle.com/common/FCKEditor/editor/images/smiley/msn/regular_smile.gif" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" /><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/55505/f348cb07516754b9372079a4039aeac10fcd38ce/medium/kerrville_performer_badge-1-2.jpg?1380573404" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="My official Kerrville Performer Badge :-)" height="288" width="300" /><br><br type="_moz">Tim Muetingtag:timmueting.com,2005:Post/987812011-05-02T11:40:00-04:002023-12-10T13:55:16-05:002011 Kerrville Folk FestivalJust recieved the news that I was selected as one of seven 2011 Regional New Folk Ballad Tree Performers at this years Kerrville Folk Festival. This should be a lot of fun. I look forward to attending the Folk Festival whenever I can. There is truly no other place like it. Picking around the campfires late into the night, the great performers and the chance to hear new music and meet new friends. <br><br>
I'll be playing on Friday, May 27th. You can see the entire list by clicking on the link below as well as this years Grassy Knoll New Folk Finalist.<br><br><a href="http://www.kerrville-music.com/newfolk.htm"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/55505/15675a9f062d104e12876b22719a3db6e2497e5f/medium/new_folk_grassy_hill_logo_2011a.gif?1380573404" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="68" width="200" /></a>Tim Mueting