West Mountain Inn - Arlington, VT - August 22-24, 2008

[bonuela]

I know we already have a thread here, but it is finally "3000 Miles" worthy!!

It is time to start getting excited!!! YAY!!!

Who from the board is going?

I know of:

Bonnie
SusanH
Lyn

Karen, I know the rooms are sold out, do you know how many people will be there?

[KarenZ]

Bonnie and all,

I'll be there along with BeckyG and Sue Ellen.

There are 20 rooms (one is Mr. Paul's) so the total number of persons will be just above 40.



KarenZ

[bonuela]

Bonnie and all,

I'll be there along with BeckyG and Sue Ellen.

There are 20 rooms (one is Mr. Paul's) so the total number of persons will be just above 40.



KarenZ

That's a pretty decent Ellis to Stalker - I mean fan- ratio.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonnie
SusanH
Lyn
KarenZ
BeckyG
Sue Ellen

[Richard + Jela]

Richard and I will be there and so looking forward to it.

Love the 'stalker' observation Bonnie - made me laugh out loud.

Jela

[monicar]

I'll be there with my friend Steff!!!

Can't wait, although I'm certainly not wishing the summer away!

Monica R.

[bonuela]

Bonnie
SusanH
Lyn
KarenZ
BeckyG
Sue Ellen
Richard
Jela
MonicaR
Steff

How about you Dean? Are you joining in at the Inn?

[annieb]

Ok, between this thread, and the boston thread....trying not to be bitter.

Ya'll have fun!! And take tons of pictures!!

Annie

[KarenZ]

annie,

FYI.....there *is* a waiting list for the Vermont weekend.

KarenZ

[annieb]

Karen wrote..

FYI.....there *is* a waiting list for the Vermont weekend.

Karen,

Then definitely put me on it!! Although that's kind of like being on an organ donor list....in order for me to get to go, someone else -tragically- does not get to go.

I wouldn't wish that on any of you!

Annie

[KarenZ]

Annie,

It's all in how you look at things. You could end up doing someone a big favor if they weren't able to go at the last minute because they would lose their money if the room weren't re-sold.

KarenZ

Karen,

Then definitely put me on it!! Although that's kind of like being on an organ donor list....in order for me to get to go, someone else -tragically- does not get to go.

I wouldn't wish that on any of you!

Annie

[bonuela]

Annie,

It's all in how you look at things. You could end up doing someone a big favor if they weren't able to go at the last minute because they would lose their money if the room weren't re-sold.

KarenZ

Karen,

Then definitely put me on it!! Although that's kind of like being on an organ donor list....in order for me to get to go, someone else -tragically- does not get to go.

I wouldn't wish that on any of you!

Annie

I was going to say the same thing, but Karen types alot quicker.

I think I'll check with the registry about putting a new sticker on my license.

"Ellis Paul VT Weekend room donor"

[monicar]

Too funny, Bonnie!

[KarenZ]

You mean in Massachusetts you get to put stickers on your license plate??

I want to move to Massachusetts and I want to move there NOW!

VerucaS

I think I'll check with the registry about putting a new sticker on my license.

"Ellis Paul VT Weekend room donor"

[bonuela]

You mean in Massachusetts you get to put stickers on your license plate??

I want to move to Massachusetts and I want to move there NOW!

VerucaS

I think I'll check with the registry about putting a new sticker on my license.

"Ellis Paul VT Weekend room donor"

Nope a dee dope. Just on the driver's license. We put little organ donor stickers.

I will be honest. I don't even have one. All of my next of kin know I want to donate my organs, I just can't bring myself to get that sticker. It feels like betting that I will die before it is time to renew.

[AndaleOrbea]

Yes, Elaine and I will be there

Can't wait...

Oh, but we're going to see EP tomorrow night in Traverse City, MI - a mere 5 hour drive - Yea!!!! Can you say Road Trip???

I will post a show report when possible. We've got a busy weekend this weekend, but I will take copious notes and post as soon as possible, it may be Monday though - unless Jester Fool lets me post on her computer over the weekend. =-) We get to see the littlest JesterFool, too! Yea again.

love you guys.
Dean

[bonuela]

Oh, but we're going to see EP tomorrow night in Traverse City, MI - a mere 5 hour drive - Yea!!!! Can you say Road Trip???

The miles on the dash will be doing backflips.

Will you be breaking out the tux in Vermont? Perhaps we should make one of the nights "fancy dress"? That'd be fun!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bonnie
SusanH
Lyn
KarenZ
BeckyG
Sue Ellen
Richard
Jela
MonicaR
Steff
Dean
Elaine

[KarenZ]

Dean,

Hope you and Elaine had fun last night! Looking forward to seeing you both in Vermont!

KarenZ

[bonuela]

I was re-reading this old thread and it got me thinking that VT might be a perfect place for a costumed audience.

http://ellispaul.com/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=972

[KarenZ]

OMG! Did I really say I wanted to wear a red taffeta strapless dress? What was I thinking?

KarenZ

[annieb]

Karen,

I think you could pull it off, but where would you put your pin?

Annie

[msmeetngreet]

Hey, Karen

After all the fun we had on the Boston Harbor Cruise I was thinking it would be great to have the audience double as Ellis' back-up band on the VT weekend.

Do you think he'd mind if we brought a few percussion instruments in order to play along... or at least help keep the beat on BLACKTOP TRAIN?

I know Bonnie has a pair of BELLS she rings at REVS games that she could bring & I have a basket full of noisemakers I could share with whoever wants to participate.

I have a feeling this is going to be the closest most of us ever get to karaoke-ing along to ELLIS PAUL songs so we might as well go all out for it!!! And make it a totally interactive music experience. At least on a few songs.

Lyn

[KarenZ]

Folks,

There has been a cancellation for the Vermont weekend and ONE room is now available at the West Mountain Inn. If you're interested, please contact Tim Blixt asap at 973-616-0853. Would love to see you there!



KarenZ

[paddyinthepub]

Have a great weekend everyone.....there in spirit!!!

[monicar]

A quick note to let you all know it was a GREAT weekend in VT. Unfortunately, I had to head back a day early, but the 2 days I was there were fantastic. Ellis was amazing, as always, and it was so good to see those who I know and meet some new people as well.

I'll let the others, who are much better writers than myself, fill you in on all of the details and I'm looking forward to hearing how Sunday night went!

Can't wait to do it again some day down the road!

Monica R.

[mm]

Well, I will admit I have been checking in on this site to see if anyone has posted a report, seeing as some of the WAY coolest people I know were there and I couldn't be there.
Hope all are home safe and sound!!!

[KarenZ]

Folks,

I know I almost always say this, but I may never catch up to actually report. The weekend was the most wonderful moment in time for many, many, reasons....but mostly because having so many EP Devotees coming together under one roof makes incredible magic. And then there's the music. Pinch me. Did we really hear "King of 7th Avenue" and "Don't Breathe" and so many other gems? I swear I was wide awake in a dream.....

The wonderful Sue and Jerry are our newest members on the board. I'll let them tell you more about how we are all thanking the Lord for the friends he cast in the play he wrote for us all.

Still wide awake in the dream,
KarenZ

[annieb]

Oh Wow!! Tell me more!!

I could use a good daydream right about now!!

So glad ya'll had a great time!!

Annie

[KarenZ]

OK....I think this is just going to have to be random memories as they surface. The second night Ellis performed the new nameless song that we've been referring to here on the board as "nothing left to take". Then he asked everyone to suggest a title for the song by writing down their nomination a piece of paper and that we would have a clap-off. All the nominations were collected and there were several elimination rounds. Hearing some of the suggested titles was hilarious. Some were really awful.....like "24/7" and "equinox"....Some can't even be posted here! And, oh yeah, the worst one was "The hurt". Can you imagine anyone suggesting that? In the final round the two titles still in competition were "she is history" and "nothing left to take". (I got blamed for submitting "Like a song I'd like to crank you"!) Much to my satisfaction - "nothing left to take" won! It's official now! Yay!

Did anyone get any pictures of the clap-off? I was laughing so hard and having such a good time that I didn't take one picture!

More later....

KarenZ

[SueandJerry]

We love Ellis Paul’s music and jumped at the chance to sign up for the West Mountain Inn event as soon as we learned of it last autumn. It’s pretty amazing that so many folks would sign up and prepay so far in advance for an event like this, but also a testament to the power of EP’s music and lyrics. Two days before Christmas (2007), I came up with the idea of making a “Memory quilt” - as a way to memorialize the sense of fellowship and community surrounding the West Mountain Inn adventure. His art is his music, my art is my quilting - cobbling together bits fabrics of varying colors and patterns in endless combinations.

A “memory quilt” is any quilt which allows lots of writable space and is meant to be signed; for this quilt, the central area was comprised of blocks called “Attic Windows”. It was also a “Scrap Quilt” - insofar as it was made entirely from odds and of fabric left over from many previous quilting projects. This is how most quilts were made a few generations ago - constructed entirely from carefully saved scraps of men’s and women’s clothing, old linens, curtains, towels, or even washed and pressed flour sacks. In those days you of course “made do with what you had”. It’s only in recent memory that someone would actually buy fabric to make a quilt. To me, scrap quits are extra special because, for the maker, they carry with them the memory of all the prior projects or quilts which used each of the fabrics. So, like the quilts made by my great grandmother, this quilt incurred no real expense, other than the time invested in its construction. It was also sewn entirely by hand, providing many happy hours of quiet reflection during it’s construction.

The EP memory quilt has a Vermont and New England theme. At the four corners of the quilt are traditional “Maple Leaf” blocks. Centered on each side is a block called “Covered Bridge. Around the border, is lots of blue sky. On two sides, the sky has been quilted with a design called “Moon over Mountain”, and on the other two sides, “Flying Geese” (always represented by triangles) appear. Along the top is the West Mountain Inn and the date. Along the bottom, I embroidered one of my and Jerry’s favorite EP lyrics (on Jerry’s excellent suggestion): “Thank the Lord for the friends he cast in the play he wrote for you”, since after all, the whole weekend was to us about friendship and fellowship (with a heap of amazing and awesome music piled on!)

So for Ellis Paul, I made the memory quilt, but to complete the circle of fellowship, for each of the guests of the weekend, I made a single Covered Bridge quilt square, which would be signed by Ellis. The “Group” knew of (and pre-signed) the Memory quilt for Ellis, and Ellis knew of the individual squares for the group, but only me and Jerry, and Tim and Lori knew of both. And an extra special kudos to Tim and Lori for organizing the event and helping with our little surprise!

The weekend far exceeded our expectations. The music was awesome, EP was flawless, the camaraderie fantastic and the atmosphere and ambiance were amazing. Kudos to the West Mountain Inn for making our retreat extra special. I will rely on others for set lists and details that I may have forgotten, but at least for us, it was a magical weekend we will long treasure. Thanks to all who participated and made it so special.

For the record, “Team Ellis” (Sue, Jerry, Bobbie, Lisa, Gail, Patrick, Julie and Lyn) summitted Mount Equinox on Saturday (as duly recorded in the hike registry book at the trail head) ; we climbed it of course “because it was there”.

PIctures to post when I get a chance.

Regards to friends, old and new,

Sue and Jerry

[mm]

That weekend and that quilt sound like absolute treasures. Thanks for that post and explanation, Sue, and welcome to the fold. Karen, thanks for posting your great photos! Sounds heavenly, all of it, and "wish I coulda been there" is too little of a statement! I can only imagine the good vibes that must have been there, all of you folks together.

[monicar]

Sue,

Thanks again for our beautiful quilt squares!!! You are extremely talented and I love that you explained all of the detail.

I'm going to put mine in a frame and hang it in my office.

Welcome to the board!

Monica R.

[KarenZ]

Folks,

Sue Eckler-Kerns was kind enough to share a much better photo of Ellis with the beautiful quilt. (I've also added the picture to my online album linked in the Photgraph forum.)

KarenZ



KarenZ

[bonuela]

I am still trying to process the wonder of this past weekend and will write a review just as soon as I am able to do so coherently.

For now let me just say WOW!!!

Pictures and details to follow.

[Patti]

Exquisite was the first word that came to mind... how beautiful the quilt and all your memories are....I can only imagine how hard it is to find the words that will capture the feelings of the weekend... looking forward to reading them...

[KarenZ]

Folks,

Here's the setlists for the weekend of shows. Ellis did not repeat any songs! The name(s) behind the song indicates that it was that person's request. I did NOT get every one, so please forgive me for that!

Ellis made fun of the fact there there were several persons keeping a setlist and questioned WHY! He just doesn't get it, does he?

Show # 1: Aug. 22, 2008

1. The World Ain’t Slowing Down
2. Maria’s Beautiful Mess
3. Road Trip
4. Hurricane Angel (piano)
5. Angel In Manhattan
6. The Swing Song
7. Because It’s There
8. Mr. George Mallory (snippet of brand new song for forthcoming childrens’ album that will be all song bios)
9. Blacktop Train
10. Jukebox On My Grave
11. Take All The Sky You Need
12. Waking Up To Me
BREAK
13. New Orleans (Elaine)
14. If You Break Down (Frank and Donna)
15. Gone, Gone, Gone (brand new song; my made-up title)
16. Ballad Of Chris McCandless
17. She Was
18. This Land Is Your Land
19. Rattle My Cage
20. When We Begin
21. Welcome Home To Maine (Almost as good as hearing it while sailing with Captain Jack two days earlier in Ogunquit, ME.)

Show #2: Aug. 23, 2008

1.Let It Be (At the end of the song there was lots of adlibbing and spontaneous rhymes (Wow!) about all the crazy things we all did today like hiking to the top of Mt. Eqinox and a 24-mile fun along the Appalachian Trail! Really fun!)
2. Marc Chagall (Elaine)
3. Rose In A Cage
4. Walking After Midnight/Change
5. Wabi-Sabi
6. Changing Your Name (Becky)
7. Martry’s Lounge (Ron And Annette)
8. Trolley Car
9. Here She Is
10. Kristian’s Song
11. Once Upon A Summertime (piano – sans “Like A Song I’d Like To Crank You”)
BREAK
12. Eighteen
13. Sweet Mistakes
14. 3000 Miles (this was a highlight of the weekend for me. Ellis asked us to sing the verses [which we did loudly] and he chimed in real quiet and soft on the chorus. It was absolutely the funnest thing ever!)
15. Saturday 2:15 (Tim And Lori) Unbelievable!
16. Words
17. All My Heros Were Junkies (lots of details about this song written about Tony Lombardi)
18. Alice’s Champagne Palace (once again we snag the verses and Ellis came in on the chorus. Too fun!)
19. Give In, Give Up
20. My Mother Popped Out (new poem)
21. Anna Lee (one verse of a new song)
22. Nothing Left To Take (the title won in the clap-off! Yay!)
23. Weightless

Show #3: Aug. 24, 2008

1. If I Could Catch The Rain (piano)
2. Calendar Man (under-21 version)
3. All Things Being The Same
4. Hard Travelin’
5. Rollaway Bed
6. Home (Piano)
7. Happy Birthday Rachel! (a 15-minute song with verses for every decade covering Rachel’s life and the thousands of jobs that she's had!)
8. Speed Of Trees (Dean And Elaine)
9. God’s Promise
10. Bad Bad Blood
BREAK
11. Did Galileo Pray
12. Abiola (Margaret Pennell singing Antje’s part! Wow!)
13. Dragonfly Races
14. Don’t Breathe (OMG!)
15. King Of 7th Avenue (Arthur)
16. Last Call (KarenZ on harmony! Pinch me!)
17. Seize The Day (KarenZ)
18. Minor Key
19. Kiss The Sun

KarenZ

[KarenZ]

Sue,

Thanks so much for posting the background story about the quilt! It's wonderful!

KarenZ

We love Ellis Paul’s music and jumped at the chance to sign up for the West Mountain Inn event as soon as we learned of it last autumn. It’s pretty amazing that so many folks would sign up and prepay so far in advance for an event like this, but also a testament to the power of EP’s music and lyrics. Two days before Christmas (2007), I came up with the idea of making a “Memory quilt” - as a way to memorialize the sense of fellowship and community surrounding the West Mountain Inn adventure. His art is his music, my art is my quilting - cobbling together bits fabrics of varying colors and patterns in endless combinations.

Sue and Jerry

[monicar]

Wowzah, I missed some good stuff Sunday.

That Let It Be song Saturday night cracked me up BIG time. We all thought we were being quiet, talking about what we did that day in the back of the room, and the man was obviously taking notes!!!!!

Re: Nothing Left to Take ..... I'm always going to refer to it as "One Way Suitcase!" HA!

Monica R.

[bonuela]

Re: Nothing Left to Take ..... I'm always going to refer to it as "One Way Suitcase!" HA!

Monica R.

Let's not forget the one vote for "The Wh*re Who Ruined My Life"

I'll admit it, I was the one who stuffed the ballot box with "Like A Song I'd Like to Crank You".

[monicar]

Bonnie,

I'm cracking up here. I thought my husband was there when Ellis read that one. HA!

You are too funny!

Once I move back home next week, I'm going to work on that 6 degrees of separation. Thanks for taking the time to help me out with that! I need all the help I can get!

Monica R.

[paddyinthepub]

Big thanks everyone for sharing highlights and photos from the Vermont weekend....

look forward to posts yet to come.......

Welcome aboard Larry and Sue....nice first post and quilt idea.....

[SueandJerry]

OK, its funny because Jerry did keep calling some people by the wrong name intentionally over the weekend, but unless a Larry entered the discussion too and I missed it, I'll point out that its Sue and Jerry (or Jerry and Sue). My father likes to joke that a father's worst fear is that his daughters will marry any Tom, Dick or Harry, but instead he got (as son in laws) Tom, Rick, and Jerry. (though Larry fits too!).

Anyway, glad you liked the post. Karen - thanks for posting the more final picture of the quilt. The set list is much appreciated! And I am very remiss for not thanking you and Becky for the really great souvenir M&Ms to commemorate the event. That was really sweet and special!

Sue and What's his name

[paddyinthepub]

Sue...my sincerest apologies for the oversight on Jerry's name.....

"First the eyes, then the mind" never more true than post time this morning.

Thanks for taking it so well and I can say without reservation I'll never again change his name.....

Oh what was it again?



Thanks again and just as a reminder:

Welcome aboard, Jerry and Sue!

[Patti]

Reminds me of the time a friend had a baby and through the grapevine (or maybe a bad cell phone connection) I was told the baby
was named Carl.??? hmmmm, I asked are you sure? She said, ya must be a family name. So out went the card, only to find out later the baby was named Kyle...some years later, the mom still "thanks" our mutual friend for changing the name of her son!!!

[paddyinthepub]

Ellis started it!!!



My dear old dad had a saying....

"call me anything...............but late for dinner!"

[Sue Ellen]

Thank you Ellis for being the brilliant sun around which so many amazing entities orbit and thank you Tim, Lori, Karen, et al. for being the force that brought everything into alignment for an unforgettable weekend. It is difficult to put the experience into words; the whole weekend was overwhelmingly positive, rejuvenating for me, uplifting. I treasure the opportunity I had to connect with old friends, and to meet so many new and interesting folks, all centered around the music and charisma of Ellis. My only regret is that there were too many people I did not have time to speak with, too many stories I didn't hear. I hope I have opportunity in the future to rectify that.

Lucky me, another show tonight, preceded by a trail run, just down the road.

Sue Ellen

[KarenZ]

Sue Ellen,

I'm glad you were there with us!

And I miss your "runner girl" avatar! Where is it???

KarenZ

[Rachel]

Hello all in the Ellis Paul world,
I generally don't write on the discussion board…I just read it to get the scoop on Ellis as he travels the back roads and byways of the country. I find out really great info that he often forgets to communicate back to management. It's a little like spying really, we find out stuff like…he was really late for a show, or that he was in an accident or his battery died in his car, he missed a flight or he forgot his guitar! It's quite amusing really! So thanks to all of you for being the informants! Never a dull moment managing musicians, I'll tell you that much!

The real reason I'm chiming in here, is to give thanks to all of you for being such special people. As many of you found out through Ellis' birthday tribute song this weekend in Vermont, I entered the Ralph Jaccodine, Ellis Paul, Antje Duvekot, and Flynn world via the big "pop star" and arena world. In my previous world I only elbowed fans away from the artist; in EP world I hug them and give kisses on the cheek! My, things change…they change a lot.

Here in EP headquarters we spend a lot of time in our work week laboring over press releases, show advances, booking shows, figuring out how to sell more tickets, budgets, soliciting music for movies, commercials and any entity we can to spread the music, setting up interviews, making travel plans, creating radio promotions, creating press kits, packaging CD's for distribution, updating websites, planning CD releases and budgets, figuring out how to get the CD's out into the universe with no record label.

The ultimate goal is to do everything we can to make it as easy as possible for artists to be the absolute best they can be with their writing and on stage.

We are curators for works of art written and sung by musicians that are so amazingly talented. They throw their guitars in the back of a portable museum and bring their masterpieces to audiences each night. We, as their management, have the privileged role of sustaining their ability to create music, live their lives as the chosen ones put on this earth to breathe their creativity into our souls. (While trying to feed their children and keep a roof over their heads…noooo pressure here!)

This is never a "job" for me, as it truly is a labor of love, and as Ralph always says "A Holy Crusade!" Ralph is so correct, and in this crusade we are all missionaries! But…nonetheless, this is a business and can get stressful. Just like everyone else in business, we can lose track of time, perspective, patience and enthusiasm, ourselves and our families. As in any profession, there are stressful times, worries about plans not quite going as expected, and risks to be taken that rob one of a good night sleep.

So, I jump in the car with Ellis and 4 hours later (and one wedding crashed, and I do mean crashed... with a car...that would be Ellis' car... yup, crashing into a wedding...yup, I was driving) I find myself in gorgeous Vermont at the perfect West Mountain Inn, surrounded by every reason why I do this. To be amongst this incredible community all brought together by the same passion...to listen to the masterpieces the artist brought with him today.

This, my friends is my perspective check and the reminder why I stand so passionately behind everything we do every day, not just for Ellis but for all our artists, and artists we do not even manage.

The value of what I do here and knowing that I help keep Ellis Paul out in the world making people as happy and inspired as I saw all of you in Vermont is absolutely priceless. Not to mention, the welcome and friendship that I walk into and away with; as well as the friendships that I saw blossom over the weekend amongst the missionaries. (Including the next generation of missionaries! CUTENESS!)

But you all do more than just show up to watch, you bring joy (and M&M's) and you take it back down the mountain. (that would be Equinox, go Team Ellis!) and as all good missionaries, you spread the word, you bring friends, you pass on the music and the passion to the non-believers. You are the very reason I got into this business and the reason why I stay on the Holy Crusade!

My gratitude, to all of you in Vermont as well as all the cities I have been to with Ellis along the back roads and highways of the country.

Beautiful job Lori and Tim…thanks for having me.
And the quilt...just spectacular Sue, thanks for contributing your art!

Warm regards,
Rachel
Okay, I know that was long...I'll only write once a year...now I'll just go back to spying!

[Mtn Gal]

Rachel,

I very much appreciate your input and candor as well as your devotion to Ellis and your labor of love. I hope you'll chime in more than once a year!

[monicar]

Great post, Rachel, and a belated Happy Birthday. Wish I got to hear that song!

Thank YOU for all that you do to help Ellis be the best he can be and is!



Monica R.

[KarenZ]

Rachel,

Thanks for chiming in and for all that you do!

One thing about EP shows that is so enjoyable for me is seeing the looks/expressions on folks' faces as they're listening to the music. It feels so good to be part of the magic!

KarenZ