Happy summer, everyone!
“‘…Cause it’s July…and tomorrow’s the last thing on my mind…” (well, it was very recently July, anyway!)
It truly feels like summer…a few weeks ago Katie and I had the honor of being at Camp Namanu playing music for the Centennial Celebration Kick-Off. At first I figured we would just show up to play…but then we recalled that we love hanging out at beautiful summer camps! So we set up our stuff in the morning (with the help of Daisy, our excellent Roadie 🙂 and then spent the day watching kids row duck boats and chatting with old friends. Folks gathered around for our set (many took naps in the shade while we played!) and then afterwards, Daisy showed us the path down to the Sandy River! For those who have never been to Camp Namanu: it was an incredible beach at a bend in the river, with mossy cliffs all around. Some of us maybe had to jump in for a swim:
With all that good sunshine and river water in our skin, we’re gearing up for two more shows this month! On August 16th we’ll be back at Ridgefield’s “Musicians in the Park” and on the 27th, we’re excited to open for Larry Lotz at Spinella’s (indoor stage), in beautiful, downtown Gresham!
And then…the exciting-est news of the century…we both got in to the Tumbleweed Music Festival!
For me, this is a real-life dream come true. Growing up, almost every summer my parents took me to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, where I got to wander and dance in the grass and hear up close and personal legendary singer-songwriters like Ani DeFranco and Jill Sobule, along with artists from all around the world! As I grew older, I would sometimes get that desperate feeling: I want to do what you do. But how in the world to do it? Is there a school for becoming a touring singer-songwriter?
After Jill Sobule’s set when I was maybe a first year in college I waited at the side of the stage after her set to ask her how one becomes a singer-songwriter, and bless her, I think she thought I was much younger (*achem* my height sometimes fools people) because she said something like, “just practice your instrument every day.” All in all, not the worst advice! But not exactly what I was looking for.
Now that I’m 39, I wonder if maybe she didn’t know, either. As far as I can tell, she got famous mostly after her song got placed in the hit 1995 film “Clueless” (ironically! I’m sure she didn’t have a teen movie in mind when she wrote “Supermodel.”) The journey seems different for almost every one.
All that to say: I can hardly believe 20-ish years later that I, Rachel Estelle Jumago nee Byron-Law aka Arbielle get to play at a REAL LIFE FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL!
Katie Fitz (2019 first-place winner of Tumbleweed’s song contest) and I each will play on each other’s sets at the 2023 Tumbleweed Music Festival in Tri-Cities, Washington this Labor Day weekend! (We also have been asked to play the Troutdale First Friday on September 1st, so we’re making it a mini-tour–our first post-COVID)!
We’ll let you know how it goes–if we don’t see you there!
Here’s to dreams coming true,
🙂 Rachel aka Arbielle
Arbielle 