On This Date: Photo taken 6/20/2013
Mark Sahlgren, that is, who’s pictured here with Patty Williams in front of the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival stage.
Well, not entirely with Mark–I can trace other influences–but consider:
- Mark’s band, Sweetcorn, began appearing at political fundraising events I attended sometime in the 1970s. (My friends Mike Stoline and John Flynn were also performing bluegrass at those events, but Mark’s band was far better than theirs.)
- Mark and his friends (mostly band members) began hosting a radio program, Grassroots, at around the same time. I learned to recognize “Footprints in the Snow” and “Bringing Mary Home,” and learned to love Emmy Lou and Jim & Jesse and Country Gazette. Mark’s still hosting the show, but now the co-host is his daughter Darcy.
- Also around this time I attended my first bluegrass festival, at Charlton Park near Hastings. Sweetcorn was a featured performer. I kept going back. I soon moved to the Lansing area, and added the Charlotte fest to my routine.
Mark changed my life.
Patty played at Charlton Park, too; she was the cute young lead singer in the Williams Family Band. (I had a crush on her.) Now she promotes the music in West Michigan.
The current incarnation of the Williams Family Band was setting up to perform when I took this picture. Patty apparently no longer sings with them; she sat in the audience and listened.
And a new “camera” note: Also on 6/20/2013 I took my first photograph with my new phone, a Galaxy Note 2. It was of the festival’s new stage, and taken just a few minutes before the photo of Mark and Patty.
Number of pix taken on various June 20ths: 1794
Year of oldest photo: 1992
How I Rated the Date’s Photographs:
- 1 Star: 15
- 2 Stars: 197
- 3 Stars: 1093
- 4 Stars: 418
- 5 Stars: 71