Eric Addington

Hello Reader, Well, last weekend I participated in my first songwriting competition at the Highway 61 Folks Festival. Needless to say, I did not win. Or even place for that matter. But, as they say, songwriting is a subjective thing and just being recognized is winning enough. I'm a little torn with the competitive songwriting thing...part of me thinks it's a little silly to try and judge something like songwriting. Part of me also thinks it'd be sweet to be named a finalist in some of the big folk festival competitions. In any case, I'm not sure if I'll continue to submit songs for competitions or not. I suppose it depends on how desperate I get to list some sort of accomplishment in my bio. On to the festival details…. It was held at Rob’s Mahtowa Tavern in Mahtowa, MN. For those geographically inclined, it’s south of Duluth, MN about 30 miles I think. It’s a shame to me to have been that close to Duluth without actually going into town to see the lake. There were 25 of us in the songwriting competition, and the top five won prizes. Each writer performed two original songs. To demonstrate the subjectivity of songwriting, of the 25 people involved, none of my personal top 5 were in the actual top 5 that the judges picked. Not to say that the judges top 5 weren’t good. I actually enjoyed most of the performances of the day. The weather was beautiful, though my fair skin forced me into the bar several times to get out of the sun…and to have a beer. The organizers of the festival were very organized and very kind. I felt fortunate to be involved. When the competition wrapped up at about 7pm I jumped in the old car and proceeded to drive to Devil’s Lake, ND. I arrived there at about 1AM. I was on my way to Minot, ND for a friend’s wedding reception, and I probably could have made the whole drive the night before but I didn’t want my sleep schedule to get too out of wack. I rose early Sunday morning and made it to town in good time. I was able to spend a full day at Lake Metigoshe with the family, which is always restful and good. I really don’t have much in the way of cell coverage up in the Great North and so it feels good to unplug for a few days. Kecia and I made the drive back to the Twin Cities on Tuesday. All told I put about 1500 clicks on the ol’ odometer, but it was well worth it to get out of the city for a few days. iPod Listening: Extreme – “Pornograffiti”; Garrison Keillor – “A Life In Comedy”; Storyhill – “Dovetail”; Dar Williams – “The Honesty Room” Culinary Highlight – Aside from the home cooking at the lake, I had an excellent bratwurst at Rob’s Mahtowa Tavern. I’m pretty sure a lot of it had to do with the cold beer and hot sun environment. Culinary Low Point – Burger King in Grand Rapids, MN. Enough said. That’s all for now, Check ya later. Eric