On Thursday, April 19, 2001, I left home at 6:30 am after some last minute packing. (The only items I forgot were pillows and my new NiCad battery charger.) The first part of my journey was familiar territory because my friend Bob Ashmore and I have been going on hiking trips in the Blue Ridge and sometimes the Smokey Mountains almost every year since 1995. I took Rt. 22/I-78 west from Allentown to I-81. The scenery begins to get dramtic as I-81 approaches Front Royal, Virginia and Masanutten Mountain looms on my left. At I-77, I continued south. At Fancy Gap, Virginia, where Bob and I would leave I-77 to get onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, began the unfamiliar part of my journey. I continued on to North and South Carolina, eventually taking I-85 towards Atlanta.
Around 7 pm, I stopped at a Cracker Barrell to call Vic Rek, our intrepid event planner. He wasn't home but I got to speak with Marcel Engels (Free System Projekt from the Netherlands). I estimated a 9 pm arrival at Roswell, too late for dinner. So I ate a small crock of stew and some corn bread at the CB. I got all the way to Roswell before the MapsOnUs directions I had printed back home began failing to be letter perfect. I stopped at a K-Mart for two pillows and pillow cases. After that, I realized that the maps weren't working out so I asked a few of the local people for directions. All were very nice and eager to help. I arrived at Vic's about 30 minutes after my estimate, making the trip 15 hours.
I was greeted by Vic's wife Natasha and chatted with her and their son Patrick, too. Soon, people began arriving. Out came the Tangerine Dream tapes and CDs, beer, travel stories, and all sorts of topics flowed. All the male guests camped out in the living room or dining room on fold out couches, sleeping bags, or the floor. Marion (from Scotland) somehow snagged a bed upstairs. The end of day one.
Day two began with stories of my near legenday snoring. (But I've got nothing on Roger!) Frank and I made scambled eggs and toast for everybody. Coffee and tea were every-man-for-himself. Soon after that, Vic's bathrooms got a good workout. Around 10:30, the crew (pictured above) started a four car wagon train. First stop, the liquor store (essential!). Then Vic rented a PA at a music store where several of us attacked some keyboards. The wagon train continued until a late lunch in southern Georgia where we ate at a Wendy's and shopped for groceries. (Let's go Krogering!)
We mounted up and continued the rest of our journey to Stephen C. Foster state park in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia. Marcel was my companion in the car and we talked about our lives and, of course, music. As a DJ, I don't often get the opportunity to really get to know the musicians whose CDs I play on EMUSIC. This, for me, was a special treat. Marcel and I met briefly when, in April 1999, I went to the Alfa Centauri EM Festival held in Huizen (pronounced How'-zen), the Netherlands. Marcel was volunteering at the festival, making our meeting brief. Coupled with my horribly jet lagged mind, our meeting remains very fuzzy in my mind. But over five hours in the car together while I was clear minded was a wonderful time.
A few minor stops for gas, oil, and incidentals, and we were on the last 17 miles to the park. The scenery started to change, taking on swamp-like features. At one point, three kamikaze deer ran in front of Vic's car. Two made it across the road but one turned back. I never heard how close they came to Vic's fenders, but it looked like it was too close for comfort from my point of view, many yards back. Finally we arrived at the park and began settling in. Marcel, Dave, and I began setting up gear in Cottage #5 while Roger was making spaghetti for dinner. Thank goodness that we hooked up Vic's cassette to the mixer because that was the only recorder to capture anything relevant from Friday night. I had a grand time since I, as a newbie EM musician, was playing with the veterans. It's kinda like starting at the top! (I've been a musician since the fourth grade but EM is a new genre for me in terms of creating it as opposed to listening to it.) Several of us went for a stroll that night. The swamp sounds were fantastic! The end of day two.
It's day three. Although I was elected as breakfastmeister the day before at Vic's, I woke too late (9 am) to act in that capacity. This is the first day we went out on the swamp. Marion and Steve beat us out there and were in a canoe. I captained one of the motor boats until the clutch died. Then Vic had to tow us back in. But first we stopped at Billy's Island ("It's MY island!") where we hiked and took pictures until the mosquitos had their fill. When we returned to the cottages, we found that the AirSculpture boys had arrived. After greetings and beers (essential), Vic took Peter and John out on the swamp. While they were gone, I connected my DAT to the mixer, wrote a log entry into my trip memory book, and gave Marcel some Ibuprofen for a headache that had been plaguing him all day.
When Vic, John, and Peter returned, John and Peter began setting up their gear. What glorious sequencing madness these guys get out of their Nords. I kept looking over John's shoulder to see the patch editor he had running on his laptop. I dare say I learned a thing or two. The music flowed and I captured it all on DAT. I also got a lot of it on minidisc (my new toy!) using a microphone a la audience tape. Was it alligator for dinner that night?
About midnight, I took my minidisc and mic and started it as I left the cottage. I made an audio document of my walk to the swamp where I set up the gear and left it. I went back to the cottage to rejoin the party. I had a rather nice conversation with Peter. Others were included but I was so tired that it was difficult to engage too many people. At about 1:24 am (per Vic's watch - I don't wear one) I left to retrieve my minidisc. This is the first of my environmental recordings. When I got back to the cottage, a minidisc of Quark Soup was playing over the PA, AirSculpture at Jodrell Bank. (This is the same performance as on the Neu Harmony 6 CDR set.) End day three.
Unfortunately, this is where my personal logs ended in my memory book. Part 2 was written entirely from memory with no aids.