Happy May Day!

Yes. I’m late. I know.
Doesn’t matter – it’s all so wonderfully spring!
The Mourning dove has been singing to me every morning and all the other birds are doing their best to bring the chorus to a magnificent crescendo.

I’ve been playing for some wonderful audiences invited by some wonderful hosts in some beautiful locations; Cape Girardeau, Lawrence, Cedar Rapids. That’s right – the Midwest is a beautiful place. I especially want to thank the Underberg’s and the Veatch’s for their hospitality. They both put on a great concert and made me feel right at home. If you've never been to a house concert I suggest you search one out. It has to be one of the best ways to experience the music and most importantly, the musician.

May Day itself was spent with my friend, Carolyn Cruso in the quaint little burg of Fairfield (home of the Maharishi’s). We played together and we played solo and we had the most wonderful time. The weekend was spent in Des Moines jamming with my friend Adam and a few other friends at Demicon. It’s always a groovy time when I’m playing with Adam and everyone around us could tell.

As I look around me and the signs of spring are everywhere. The magnolia, pear and locust trees have bloomed and feathered the landscape with their petals. The Mississippi (yes, we have one here, too) swells its banks to overflowing – simultaneously cleaning the streets and filling its waters with all the debris of all the cities from the north to the south.

And that, my friends is where I shall flow myself. South – to Texas… to Kerrville.
The Kerrville Folk Festival is something I’ve thought about for many years - and even tried to get in to once or twice. It’s been a while since I’d thought about it until recently when some friends told me about this great festival that they went to and how wonderful it was and how wonderful the people are and all the groovy music and musicians and… everything. Suddenly, Kerrville was in the forefront of my thoughts once more.

I was naive when I first tried out for the festival years ago - I tried out for mainstage… yeah, oops – so, thought I’d try the more regular route this time. I sent in my songs and my money and then tried to put it out of my mind once more. You see, I’ve never entered a song competition before, ever. So when I got the e-mail – 4 months after entering – that said, “You may be a winner” I went to the website not really expecting to see my name… yet, there it was! “Logo Russo - Davenport, IA”. (Yes, they’ve since fixed my name on the site.) It’s taking awhile to sink in – and mostly I’m just trying to keep it level and do my best to be myself. I’m going to Kerrville to play some music, meet some groovy people and enjoy myself. And, if I happen to win a songwriting contest - well, wouldn't that just be the thing!

So, on May 25th at approximately 2:30pm CST if you would be so kind as to put a few good thoughts out into the universe (in a southerly direction) it’d be most appreciated.