Well, Rita and I rolled into Orlando a week ago on Sunday, officially coming to the end of The RV Project Tour 2011! Some preliminary numbers for you: we traveled to or through 28 states including Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, District of Columbia, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, New Jersey, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Connecticut, Kentucky and Arkansas! From California to New York, we criss-crossed the United States, racking up 17,599 miles and performing on 60 different days at various festivals, house concerts, churches, pubs, clubs and coffee houses. Though we hit a few mechanical snags along the way (most notably, alternator troubles in Pennsylvania and New York, air conditioning issues in Tennessee and a sort of benign incident with a tire), Rita, the '91 Winnebago Warrior with the heart of gold, sallied forth into both boiling deserts and freezing mountains with great determination and never once failed to get me to the show on time. I feel very confident that Rita will be around for another round of touring in 2012. I wish to thank Folkcraft Instruments for their official endorsement and support of this tour. Thanks also to V-Picks, for making the best dulcimer pick ever - and General Case, for helping to protect my Folkcraft dulcimers while on the road.
Besides getting there, the next joyful experience was BEING there. Whether it was sharing music and visiting with folks or camping out at a state park, this was an amazing few seasons of experiencing American life. From spring at the start of tour, through the blazing summer and into the chill of fall, I've watched the colors change, tasted the harvest bounty from early gardens and late farms, seen so much more than my fair share of this great country and have come back with more inspiration and determination than ever to continue creating and channeling music. It's not mere dramatics to state that this past six months has been the most incredible, defining and eye-opening journey of my entire life. Quite honestly - I'm a different person today for having made the trip. The result is a combination of all the people I've met and shared time with, all the places I've been and all the music that was the soundtrack for the past half a year.
It's appropriate that Rita and I arrived back home during the week of Thanksgiving because there are so many things that I'm thankful for in this life. I'm thankful for the gift of music that God gives to all of us; thankful for my encouraging and supportive wife, Jae, for sending me back out into the world for weeks at a time in order to fulfill my musical purpose; thankful for the freedom to travel and explore this beautiful country; thankful for the many wonderful friends that I've met along the way and, most of all, thankful for everyone who helped to make The RV Project Tour 2011 a blazing success! This is one, quite literally, for the record books, and if it never happens again, I've still got a whole lifetime of memories (and pictures) to savor and hold within my heart.
THIS WEEK'S SHOWS
The Pub Thang returns to McWell's (4757 S. Orange Ave., Orlando) at 6 pm this Thursday, December 1st. I'll once again be performing everything from traditional and original music to obscure covers and your requests.
Then, December 3rd - it's a special holiday concert and I'll be opening for the wonderful duo
Four Shillings Short!
AT: DEC 3
7:00 – 10:00pm
IN CELEBRATION OF WINTER - a night of Seasonal music, stories & poetry with Bing Futch and Four Shillings Short
FODOR’S GROVE HOUSE CONCERTS
2218 Vincent Road
Orlando, FL 32817
$15.00 cover
Rsvp Requested: Mark Fodor (407) 923-0712 or politimark@msn.com
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Those are my only two public shows for the month of December - the rest of the performances are all for-hire private events, so come out and share the one time of year that I play Christmas music!
"Last Christmas"
Last year, Folkcraft Instruments commissioned me to record a solo mountain dulcimer Christmas recording which was made available to their customers. This year, I'm making it available to those of you who are on my mailing list. You can download the music here. If you're not on the mailing list and want to join now to get this limited time release - you can sign up here.
Thanks a bunch! Have fun out there!
Sho na bish,
Bing
