Barn Dance Success

This past Saturday, northern Kentucky members held a Barn Dance in historic Rabbit Hash. Members Dinah Devoto, Patrick Kennedy and Terrie Marksberry did most of the planning, including reserving the space and recruiting a line-up of talented local musicians.

Dinah welcomed everyone to the event, and she and Patrick Kennedy began playing. Their band, the Red Cedars, has played for KFTC several times before, including last year's Annual Meeting, the last Music For The Mountains, and will be appearing on the Music For The Mountains 2. Playing old-timey inspired songs, ranging from covers to traditional to originals, they used part of their set as an opportunity to talk about some of the issues that are important to them.

Dinah gave an introduction letting people know what KFTC means to her, and a brief overview of the work we have done in Northern Kentucky and across the state, and then introduced Kristi Kruer. Kristi had previously played for KFTC alongside the Red Cedars at Northern Kentucky Loves Democracy the previous fall, and she has been a featured artist at the Covington Farmers Market where the chapter tables.

Member Ben Baker, before Ma Crow and the Lady Slippers performed, thanked the Rabbit Hash General Store, the bands that performed, and spoke about why everyone had gathered there. He encouraged everyone to take the time to stop by the KFTC booth, and join us in taking action for justice.

Ma Crow and the Lady Slippers, the only all-female bluegrass band in the Cincinnati area, played for the next couple hours, and invited the Red Cedars to play alongside them for a few tunes. The members of the band were excited to lend their voices in the fight for clean water, good jobs in Appalachia, and an end to mountaintop removal mining. In fact, members of the northern Kentucky chatper first met Ma Crow at 2010's Music For The Mountains cd release, and all are looking forward to the follow up cd on October 12th.

The event ended up raising over $450 for KFTC, members recruited 12 new members to join our work in building a more just Kentucky. The event planners were so excited that they plan on doing two barn dances next year!