It is the evening of Sunday October 3rd, and Paul is back in South Jersey, jotting down some highlights of his recent experiences in Huntingdon and the surrounding area.

Late on Thursday September 30th Paul made the trip from Mount Laurel NJ out to Huntingdon PA. Along the way Paul made his routine stop at Stop 35, where he was pleasantly surprised by both the pizza burger and the pepper slaw.

Paul rolled into Huntingdon around midnight, tired from the drive, as well as from the presidential debate which he'd caught on the radio. Actually Paul only caught about the first 2/3 of the debate... purposely shutting it off near 10 PM out of embarrassment and fatigue. Curtis' parents provided the usual comfortable guest room, and Paul was happy to have it.

Friday October 1st was a day of sleeping late and kicking back, until gig time at least. Curtis and Paul went on at 7:30 PM in Tyrone as planned, starting the show with a back-and-forth set lasting about 45 minutes. Paul delivered six songs in this set, including two originals, "Her Song" and "E-Blue." To his great dismay Paul made guitar mistakes in three of the six songs, causing him to resolve to make more time for practice in the future.

Paul took a break and joined the audience as the talented Doug Anderson, who had arrived during the first Curtis and Paul set, took the proverbial stage alongside the unstoppable Curtis for a roughly fifty-minute set of country blues and folk. Most if not all of the songs of this set had railroad themes, in honor of the rail festival taking place in Tyrone over the weekend.

Sometime after 9 PM Doug returned to the audience, and Paul, having finished his first of two tasty iced Chai's, rejoined Curtis front and center. Another Curtis and Paul back-and-forth set followed, until 10 PM, with Paul delivering five songs in this set, including originals "Limestone Blues," "Here to Show You," and "Fear the Silence," the latter two making their first public debut.

For the record Paul was not overjoyed by his own performance, between his handful of guitar mistakes and his allergy-impacted vocals, however feedback from two different people who were in Tyrone for both this show and the last one suggested that Paul's performance had nonetheless improved a level or two between shows. This feedback, coming after Paul's lengthiest musical performance since the end of his classical days in 1999, made the evening a net positive for the Paul man. Paul once again thanks Bill and Carol Anderson of Joy Beans for their continued interest and support.

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On Saturday October 2nd Paul once again slept late as Curtis and fellow luthier Johanna headed off to Mount Union where Oriskany Stringed Instruments was to demonstrate guitar making as part of a historical festival. Paul eventually made his way down to the festival, where he was daring enough to eat fried pickles, a curious local delicacy of dill pickle wedges battered and deep fried. The proximity of the pickle frying to the funnel cake frying caused Paul to ponder whether anyone had ever tried combining the two delicasies into what Paul might call Pickle Cakes. On further thought Paul noted to himself that dill pickle juice and powered sugar might not be a palatable combination.

After wrapping up the festival exhibit in Mount Union, Paul, Curtis, and Johanna made their way to Cool Beans in Bellefonte for a Jim Colbert / Michelle Katz / Shannon Knight show, where it was a pleasure to kick back and, in Paul's case at least, imbibe coffee flavored with peanut butter (not pickle) syrup. The trio of Colbert Katz & Knight played from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, featuring original material from each performer. (No, Colbert Katz & Knight is not also a law firm, although one of the three partners is in fact an ex-lawyer.)

From Jim's set, Curtis was most impressed with a new song about the construction and destruction of a barn, while Paul was most impressed with a bluesy and comedic number about a man who loses his appliances along with his departing girlfriend. It's not that Paul doesn't appreciate Jim's ample "serious" material, but rather that he was pleasantly surprised to see Jim pull off both the blues and comedy, two areas which Paul had not seen Jim enter before.

Curtis and Paul both agreed that Shannon's songwriting and performance shined on the Oklahoma ghost story "Snake Creek," and furthermore that Shannon's ballad of a woman suffering silently in a dysfunctional relationship was arguably depressing enough to have been written by Paul himself, which is intended as a compliment, at least coming from Paul LOL.

Paul was especially impressed with Michelle Katz, never having heard her material before this show. Paul thought Michelle's songwriting and performance, especially vocally, shone brightest on the aggressive and political "Dirt and Money," and on two comedic numbers, one about soccer mom blues, and the other about the discovery that a certain brand of tea is made with valium. Combining confidence, character, and depth, Michelle's vocals pleased Paul almost as much as did the peanut butter coffee.

On a personal note, Paul was pleased to finally meet Jim's wife, Cynthia, and once again thanks the Reitz family at Cool Beans for their sincere interest in, and support for, local and original music.

Paul also thanks the Rockwell family for their hospitality over the long weekend, and he thanks the Mutti family for their generous help breaking down and carrying gear after the Joy Beans show.