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.



 

CAROLING IN THE CAVERNS

BLANCHARD SPRINGS

FIFTY-SIX, AR

December 1, 2018

 

 

     The world keeps turning and the years keep flying by. Maybe you've noticed that. Given that information, we thought we should head out to Mountain View, AR, and the even smaller community of Fifty-Six, AR, in the Ozark Mountains. The day began in dreary, stormy conditions. We waited but hit the soggy trail when the skies began to lift. And lift they did! To a blazing sun and high winds! It's over 200 miles from where we sit, but when Caroling in the Caverns is in the plans, nothing could keep us away.

       The Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce provides the grandest introduction to the Christmas season. They decorate their town square, provide carolers and dancers for the chilly night at the courthouse, and arrange for the Visitor's Center at Blanchard Springs to provide caroling in the wonderful caverns at Blanchard Springs in tiny Fifty-Six, AR. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there is caroling each Saturday and Sunday.

 

Visitor's Center Blanchard Springs, AR





       This year, the last opportunity to hear the music is Sunday, December 16, 2018. You will need tickets, so if they aren't sold out, grab tickets and head on over for the treat of a lifetime. Enter the visitor's center, show your tickets, pick up a seat cushion (damp in the cave), and wait for the elevator to take you down about 215 feet to the beautifully-lighted caverns below. You sit in the stands on your cushion and gaze at God's handiwork of some 50 million years or so, and await the carolers who have selected wonderful songs of the season. No flash photos, please. We have a cave to preserve here!

      

View of cavern from the stands

View of cavern, different angle

As you leave the visitor's center, you will need to walk on a shallow pad of water, Lysol(r), and Woolite(r). That recipe cleans off the soles of your shoes in an effort to prevent white-nose syndrome in bats. The

 cave is free of the deadly bat syndrome , and they are trying to keep it clean and the bats healthy. So squish along and head out to the parking lot with your memories, your family and friends.

       When the stands are filled, the carolers enter from behind your seating. This year's carolers are: Pam Setser (dulcimer, guitar, spoons, vocals), Mary Gillihan (comedy, vocals), Robert Gillihan (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Ron Haines (guitar, vocals), Matt Jones (vocals), and Irl Hees (upright bass, vocals). We thank them for their giving spirit as they share their season with us.

 

2017 Photo of the Carolers

L to R: Irl Hees, Unidentified Photo Bomber, Ron Haines,

Matt Jones, Pam Setser, Mary Gillihan, Robert Gillihan

 

        This year's set: Hallelujah He Is Born, Joy to the World, Christmas Is a Blessing (Thank You Lord for Christmas Day), Jesus Shall Be His Name (Ron, Pam), Do You Hear What I Hear?, New Kid in Town (Pam), Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Mary Did You Know?, O Holy Night (Matt Jones from somewhere deep in the cavern), I'll Be Home With Bells On, Mr. Grinch (Ron and Pam), Jolly Old St. Nicholas (Mary and Robert), Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Deck the Halls, I'll Be Home for Christmas (Pam), Ozark Version of The Twelve Days of Christmas (hilarious!), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, White Christmas (Pam, Mary), and Silent Night.

View of the river from JoJo's Catfish Wharf

JoJo's Catfish Wharf  Oh my!!

       Sponsors of Caroling in the Caverns are: Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce, Centennial Bank, JoJo's Catfish Wharf, and Mountain Thyme Mercantile. We thank them for their generous gift of music each year at the holidays.

 

       We are predictable if anything, so we must hit PJ's Rainbow Café on the town square at least once (or maybe twice!), go to Caroling in the Caverns, drive out to JoJo's for a fine mess of catfish, and finally head on home with a sackload of Christmas memories to last us for another year.

 

For more information:

       Web: http://YouPlaceintheMountains.com

       E-mail: mvchamber@mvtel.net

Mountain View Area Chamber of Commerce: Phone (Tickets/Info) 870.269.8068

                                                                          Toll Free: 888.679.2859