Winfield is underway. Walnut Valley Festival and Flatpicking Championship is underway. Cherish the Ladies is one of the headliners this year, and tho there won’t be a huge number of whistles on stage, they will be played around camp by more than me.
The camp where the most whistle-friendly crowd hangs out is Carp Camp. If you come to Winfield and enter the west campground everyone you see will be able to direct you. Check out
Any whistlers going to Winfield look for me at Carp Camp evenings playing whistles and the b-word. You have to have a full fest ticket to get into the campground even to visit.
Well another Winfield is history. Joanie was in fine form even tho the girls arrived home from Down Under only hours before. CTL played three shows on the main stage, plus was invited to play with Tommy Emmaual in one of his sets - you can’t imagine whistle with wild Aussie guitar until you hear it.
I had fun playing whistles in all kinds of unnatural positions (for whistles that is, heh). Played with rock & roll, cowboy singers, old-time fiddles, and did a stupid whistle trick when a steam train whistle was called for. (You know the one, C whistle in one hand, D in the other, cover the top three holes of each and blow both simultaneously.)
There were actual Irish sessions and whistle friendly jams to be found too. Check out this festival. It is unique in many ways, mostly due to the fact that you get to camp where and with whom you please, so tribal culture has sprung up to very colorful effect.
Despite a cash-only gate policy and a highly unreliable ATM (a heads-up for you folks who plan to go), everything else was great. Besides the almost continuous string of great concerts and contests, there were also plenty of arts, crafts and instrument vendors who, unlike the ATM, didn’t mind if you used MasterCard. My wife and I came away from that with a couple of T-shirts, a candle, some banana nut bread, a couple of mountain dulcimer tunebooks, and a new (b-word) tipper.
For me, though, the highlight of the trip was seeing the Ladies perform at two of their three gigs (I got overheated and had to spend Saturday night at the motel drinking plenty of fluids and nursing an incredible headache). Both times, we got to sit up very close to the stage. (Yes, Joanie, that was me yelling like a madman when you presented your “good side”!) Both times we saw them, they were “on” and sounded incredible! Of course, it was great to see Joanie again, and our reunion with Mary was very special indeed! We came away from this with two great new albums and an even greater love and admiration for these Ladies!
I hope next year to get full-event tickets and a spot in Carp Camp!
Both times we saw them, they were “on” and sounded incredible! Of course, it was great to see Joanie again, and our reunion with Mary was very special indeed! We came away from this with two great new albums and an even greater love and admiration for these Ladies! 
