The Joni Bishop Trifecta

The Sojourners' House Concert  

December 21, 2018

 

Welcome to the Sojourners' home



       It was a night like no other! We call it The JONI BISHOP Trifecta! You see, there was Joni with her annual house concert visit to the Sojourners' home. It was also the Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year). Furthermore, there was the most gorgeous full moon awaiting us when we departed that splendid, frosty evening out in the country. Ta-dah! The Joni Bishop Trifecta!

     The night represented probably fifteen such events with RICHARD and MARY SOJOURNER as hosts like no other. They spared no expense with food, libations, decorations, and so many friends that it was hard to count them all. Special thanks go out to the Sojourners for a splendid house concert.

Joni on mountain dulcimer

 



Richard Sojourner introduces
Joni Bishop on guitar

After Richard welcomed the guests and introduced Joni Bishop, we were set for just the finest evening. If you don't know Joni, you need to. This Nashville singer-songwriter has a million songs (including Delta Blues), she plays anything with a string (drums, too, that have no strings), and she's an artist as well. She makes instruments, strings them, and plays her music on them. She shares stories about dulcimers that she's made, cigar-box banjos that began life as Ford hubcaps, and even instruments she has brought home from a Goodwill Store. Her home-made instruments and other painted objects travel with her and they are for sale! Joni also has a nice selection of CDs that capture the mood of the Christmas season and all other seasons, too.

Joni and her Ford hubcap banjo

Bells on Joni's boot
Jingle My Bells

 

 These house concerts follow a general pattern: The guests gather, they begin to visit and graze around the bounteous tables, Joni tunes instruments and chats with fans she hasn't seen since last year about this time, Richard steps to the microphone to welcome the guests and introduce Joni Bishop, and we're off! Joni's warm voice and easy manner put everyone in a holiday mood. She talks a little about where she got this song, or what inspired her to write that one, and she takes requests throughout the evening. We all have our favorites. Ours is John McCutcheon's "Christmas in the Trenches," about a special 'silent night' during World War I.

 

Mom and daughter share a moment

       We are sharing some photos and will tell you what we heard from Joni on the Winter Solstice of 2018:

       Set 1 - Little Drummer Boy; Endless Christmas; We Three Kings (mountain dulcimer); Froggy Went A-Courtin'; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/Soul Cake (in counterpoint with guests singing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and Joni singing Soul Cake); Amazing Grace; The Road to Bethlehem; Toys; Go Tell It on the Mountain; Some Children See Him; Santa's Workshop; and Wayfarin' Stranger.

       Set 2 - When God Made You; Winter Wonderland; Christmas in the Trenches; Grandma's Garden; Mary, Did You Know; What Child Is This; It's Gonna Be All Right; The First Noel; Stone by Stone (another of our favorites, Joni wrote it for her dad); I'll Fly Away; and Silent Night (guests sang in English and Joni sang in her family's native language, Latvian). 

 

Additional Information:  www.jonibishop.com, Facebook and other social media

Click on each picture to get a better look.