Jeff and the RF's are traditionally a rock band, a very lively band, but they can tone or turn or tune in down on occasion, because I say so. In fact, I insisted they do so when we played at the Yakima Folklife Festival in 1999 and 2000. I was surprised to be contacted by organizers of the festival in early 1999, and I wasn't sure all of the guys in the band would be interested. I knew our guitarist Dave Park would want to play a folk festival, because his first love has always been acoustic music. As a young guy, he loved the music of Don McLean, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Melanie. Later on, he got into music by Richard Thompson, Tom Waits, and John Prine. I was never a strict folkie, but I admired artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Arlo Guthrie, Ochs, Dylan, acoustic music was always part of what I did as a musician.
I was surprised that our bass player, Joe Anderson, was interested in playing the festival - he has always identified himself as a hard rocker, although his interest in music is actually much more diversified than that. I didn't know, though, that he loved eastern Washington. He would've gone to Yakima just to hang out, no gig necessary. I wasn't sure how Jeff would feel about it, either, but he was up for it.
Getting there was an adventure - we all met at McDonald's on Military Road in Sea-Tac, but got separated as we drove on I-405. Jeff and I lost track of Joe, and several times lost sight of Dave, going up the mountain passes - but then we'd see him speeding past us going down the other side. We stopped in Cle Elum for cold drinks, hoping Joe would come cruising through town in his red pickup truck; we waited as long as we could, but we needed to get going so we could get to Yakima on time.
Joe did show up in time for our performance, but he was angry that we had left him behind. We kept trying to explain that we had been looking for him, but he was convinced we didn't want him there. I don't know how we managed to calm him down, but we did, and by showtime, everyone felt better.
We were playing on the Grove Stage in the park (Tieton Park, next to the Yakima Valley Museum), the best place to be on a 95 degree day. A good crowd had gathered there, and no, we didn't scare them away. We gave them acoustic versions of Tales to Here, Safe From Harm, The Airplane Song; Dave sang Is it Like Today (a World Party song) and Neil Young's I Am a Child. Joe sang Crystal Blue Persuasion. We ended with Summertime Love. Our last show, in Tacoma, had gone badly, so it was an ego boost to come over to Yakima and be received like friends. It was a nice time, playing for a warm audience in a hot city. I don't think Dave ever had more fun at a show, doing what he loved most - acoustic music.
When it was over, Joe, and his lady companion Linda, and her son Chase, headed out of town, while I stayed on the grounds a little longer with Dave and Jeff to hear some other performers. When we did finally leave, we'd only gotten a short distance out of town when we saw Joe's truck stopped along the roadway. He'd been having trouble with it all day. Dave ended up giving Joe and his friends a ride home - and we heard all about that later. "Dave! Slow down! You've got a woman and a child in the car, you're gonna kill us!" "PISS ON IT!" A few weeks later, Dave left the band, and we had to audition a new guitar player.
I can only speak for myself, but I was devastated by Dave's leaving. I don't think it bothered Joe Anderson at all - he had been threatening to quit all year, until Dave left. Our next guitarist, Adam Finley, came via an ad in The Rocket - the free music newspaper all NW musicians looked at. Adam was not really a lead guitarist, and he said so. Joe didn't have the patience to try out anyone else, though - i don't think he really cared what the guitar players in the band did. So I had to play some lead parts on some songs; divided them up between Adam and myself. On the plus side, though, he was a great rhythm player, a really disciplined player who worked on his parts until he got them just right. That was a big contrast with Dave, who got bored with songs quickly.
Adam was very much into the grunge and alternative rock scene, he idolized Kurt Cobain, but he also knew the kind of classic rock songs we liked to play - I Can't Explain, The Last Time, Baby Blue, All My Loving. I really enjoyed the opportunity to make us a tighter group instrumentally, and Joe was singing more harmony onstage instead of just burying his face in his bass.
Adam was also a fun/funny guy to hang out with. Everytime a good looking girl walked by he'd say "did you see that? I can't believe you didn't see that!" And we got a lot of the Findog philosophy over dinner at the Totem House in Seattle. "Britney Spears is prettier, but Christina Aguilera is more attractive". "A girl's gotta have some flaws to be really good looking, like Jewel, she has crooked teeth!" "If I knew the last person leaving Guitar Center at the end of the day had forgotten to set the alarms and lock the doors, I'd go in there and grab a bunch of guitars and amps!"
We returned to Yakima in 2000, I rode over with Adam, and heard him say "Oh! The sun is evil!" He did not like Yakima. As soon as our set was over, he got the *&$#@ out of there! Joe was happy, though, cause we were in his favorite place again. And Jeff was happy cause his drumming was better than a year before. I can't hear Adam's playing on the tape, though. Adam really was not a lead guitarist, and we didn't need one, cause Joe was playing lead bass. That's why it was so important for three of us, Jeff, Adam, and myself, to hold the rhythm together, and we did, because I said so. Nobody ever played those songs better on the drums than Jeff did. He knew the songs better than anyone except me.
Mr, Sun, Mr. Moon, Hello Mary Lou and No Date for the Prom are not folk songs, but they seemed to go over alright with this crowd. Once again, we were on the Grove Stage, out of the hot sun, and had a good crowd, because I said so. After we finished our set there, Joe, Jeff and myself walked over to the open mike stage where we did another half dozen or so songs. That was just as enjoyable as our scheduled performance.
Both of these years, Jeff and I taped our performance on a portable cassette recorder. We usually recorded the shows for our own reference, to listen to and critique. That was really the only way we could improve - the time just flies by when you're actually up there on stage.
I'm glad we saved some of these tapes, it brings back memories of good times. In fact, I'd enjoy playing at the Yakima festival again, but we always seem to get busy with other things in the summer - and it's been quite a few years since they've invited us to come over there. Well, we're easy to find, we're on the net, we're on facebook, myspace, youtube...all they've gotta do is call or send us an email, because I say so.
Ron Fowler lead singer/guitarist The RF's
YAKIMA FOLKLIFE 2000/1999
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