Dana & Susan Robinson (wrap-up)

Here's a wrap-up of Dana & Susan Robinson's visit to the Tree House (pictures of that night):

• The night was special for Susan, because she once lived in Pacific Grove and worked at CSU Monterey Bay, writing grants for the Watershed Institute and the Earth Systems, Science & Policy department. Many of the audience were old friends of Susan's and who were more than amazed at her rock star status.


• Dana & Susan probably tied Molly's Revenge for the most instruments on stage, including fiddle, two guitars, mandolin, and banjo.


• I stand corrected! Dana & Susan met at a house concert not in Felton but in Santa Clara. That Felton house concert was the catalyst, though. You can hear more in the interview I did with Dana & Susan.


• That interview marks the first podcast I created, using GarageBand and a Mac laptop. We recorded the interview with a unidirectional vocal mike that we sat around, which means you don't need much to do this. Dana commented at the end that it was "as good an interview as I've ever had on the radio."


• They were married in June 2004, so like us they are still newlyweds. In the interview, Susan talks about discovering and then meeting Dana.


• Also in that interview, you hear a clip from Dana's song "Heaven." He said that was a period when he was trying to sound like John Martyn and recommended me getting his album Solid Air.


• Dana & Susan sang "What Would Woody Do?" in reference to Woody Guthrie, and I jokingly reminded Dana we have a Toy Story coffee cup with Woody on it. Don't want to confuse the kids, right?
  


• Dana's CD "Avenue Of The Saints" was the first swag we ever received at the Tree House. Swag...stuff we always get. I remembered being shocked that the artist would send me the CD for free when I could listen to clips on the Web.


• Dana & Susan's car had a weathered Mammals sticker on it that read, "Trad Is Rad!" The Mammals, who are on the Tree House wish list, had played the night before in Santa Cruz, and sadly none of us could go.


• Dana was once a baker in Vermont and held small venue concerts in his shop. At dinner he described his spinach wrap that was a lunch staple, so next time they come by the Tree House...no music. Just baking!


• Susan had breakfast the morning after the show with another old friend, who couldn't make it to the concert but actually lived in the Tree House many years ago.


• Dana & Susan are driving back to Asheville, North Carolina, with eight redwood saplings, a gift from Jeff Emery the day before. Dana thinks they'll take to the climate of Ashville fairly well, so look for a little bit of Northern California out there in a few decades.