First published in  Lonely Goat Print Magazine Volume II - #6

June 1999 Goat Notes

Goat Greetings - It's June and there are lots of new festivals being added this month and for late summer. I'll see you there. More changes are happening at Lonely Goat. The magazine is now distributed by subscription only. It will no longer carry dates and venues separate from The Goatee. All subscribers will receive The Goatee each month with Lonely Goat. What does that leave for content in the magazine? Well, I'll still have the custom cover illustrations, the Goat Notes and the Goat's Gallery. Special Events (festivals, etc.) will also come only in Lonely Goat. Advertising is now only in The Goatee, which is now circulating around 1000 copies. Again, all of these changes are so that we can increase our exposure and reach more people. The Goatee is small, simple and cheap to print and distribute. It carries the vital information to the masses. Lonely Goat is the high content product for anyone interested in more coverage for a small fee of $10 per year. Currently, the magazine mailing list is at about fifty names. I'll continue to produce Lonely Goat and have plans to improve the content with more feature articles and reviews.

I'm pleased to announce that Mama K (aka Karen Pepe-Delage) has taken on the role of Features Editor for the Lonely Goat magazine. She will be responsible for soliciting and coordinating all editorial content submissions. Contact her via the office line to discuss your article idea.

Another delightful announcement - If you are a Folkswaggin' fan, you probably remember Jen. She's one of those spinning dancers you used to see at their shows. You may also remember her now infamous tambourine contributions or her constant screams requesting Althea. Anyway, she and Joseph moved back to Maryland a few months ago to settle down and focus on their soon to be arriving baby. Jacob was born May 1 at 2:26 AM. He was seven pounds and two ounces and measured 20 3/4". Congratulations Jen and Joseph!

Congratulations are also in order for everyone's favorite vendors Mark & Celeste. They will be getting married Thursday, June 3 just before this years Smilefest. I can't think of a more appropriate place for two such generous people who have contributed so much through the years to the growth of Smilefest. Best wishes to two wonderful people!

Just in case you forgot, Smilefest is this weekend. Look for the Lonely Goat Lounge at the venue. It's nothing fancy, but we hope you will find it a place to sit for a bit in the shade and hang out with some friends. There will be a few scheduled activities throughout the weekend which will be announced in the program you receive at the gate. It's going to be a great weekend so don't miss it!

Grasshopper Highway has a new CD out called "The Way Love Goes" featuring twelve new tracks. If you were not fortunate enough to catch them at Cue-N-Spirits April 29 with The Low Country Boil Bluegrass Band, you should try to see them soon. Based in Chapel Hill, this five piece ensemble makes some very enjoyable grooves. Jason Cade plays violin. Clark Gibson plays string bass. Jeremy Baggish, you may remember him from a few sit ins with Folkswaggin', plays mandolin. Chris Carson plays drums. Rafael Goldberg is the front man andplays acoustic guitar. Combined, they are making some kind music and growing quickly throughout NC and GA. I'll be listing their dates, so catch a show soon. If you like the show, you'll love the CD. Buy it while you are there and soon you will be involuntarily humming some of their tunes. Very catchy stuff.

Tumbleweed Junction came to Cue-N-Spirits May 1 and I'm glad I went. Those of you who are wondering where the jam music is headed would be well advised to check them out too. They produce strong momentum building songs which evlove into energetic sometimes nonsensical jams with space enough for you to fill in your own meanings. Mark Benson plays guitars, mandolin, harmonica and sings. Peter Haver plays guitar and sings. Justin Meyers plays electric bass and Dave Stephen plays drums and percussion. Their 1998 self produced CD "Out of Ford City" is a studio treat when you can't see them live. You will find them mostly in GA, where they have a name in Atlanta, but we will keep an eye out for some NC dates. I've played their CD in a five disc shuffle and folks keep asking, "Who is this playing and when can I see them?" Enough said.

One final note of thanks to the five folks from Lonely Goat who helped as staff at Hookahville over Memorial Weekend. I was pretty proud of our rag tag NC crew for digging down and helping out with a great festival despite the urge to just relax. Thanks also to Acoustic Productions and company for making us feel welcome and involved. All of you web folks check the site in the next couple of weeks for some great shots of the festival including Bob Weir sitting in with ekoostik hookah on Friday nite. I'm sure it'll be reviewed next month, but I'll go ahead and let you know that we Hookavillians were treated to Throwing Stones and a Sugar Magnolia/ Sunshine Daydream encore. Whew!

be seeing you...