Great High Mountain

I'm not totally sure about the copyright ramifications of posting this photo - I bought it from Rahav Segev, the photographer who took it at the Beacon Theatre (pre-renovation) in NYC in May 2004.  I'm sure if there's a problem with it, I'll eventually hear about it.  Anyway... this is a bunch of musicians from the Great High Mountain tour (music from and related to the movies O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Cold Mountain) and assorted Sacred Harp singers singing 282 in the Sacred Harp, "I'm Going Home."  Jerry and I were able to participate in four of the concerts on that tour, in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York and Council Bluffs (which, we discovered after we decided to do it, is on the other side of Iowa - but we'd had so much fun at the previous three concerts that we drove all the way across Illinois and Iowa anyway just to do it one last time).  Some of you will see yourselves in this photo.  Jerry is on the far left (stage right), next to Riley Baugus; that's me front and center, next to Tim Eriksen.  Me, awkwardly, the only person who neglected to take her backstage pass sticker off her dress before heading onto the stage - there it is right below the neckline of my dress.  The way my thoughts run these days, a quick glance at the photo shows me two other people I know of besides Jerry who have died since this photo was taken.  Anyway... hiding among the musicians (many of them were very uncertain about singing Sacred Harp and definitely huddled behind the Sacred Harp singers when they could) are Alison Krauss and members of Union Station, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Reeltime Travelers and Ollabelle, among others (some of those bands are now no more).

Singing in these concerts, and our participation in the concert in LA of music and readings associated with Cold Mountain, which ended up in the extra features on the Cold Mountain DVD, were a lot of fun - definitely something we never would have imagined getting to do.  I'm so glad I got to share that with Jerry.