Before the pandemic hit, as Wattle & Daub, Susan and I frequented The Coffeehouse at Chestnut and Pine, a coffee shop that hosted a weekly open stage on Thursday nights. We did a couple of songs one night, one of which was “Sandlot Boys” off our first album Struggles and Love.
After the last performer that evening we headed to our car. As we loaded our guitars in the car, a gentleman wearing a “Vietnam Veteran”cap stopped us. We thought at first that he was going to confront us about something. Instead, he said, “I’ve been coming to this open mic for a couple of months now and that was the first protest song I’ve heard here. Thanks.” That made for a pleasant ride home.
Over the next couple of weeks, we got a chance to chat more with the guy and learned that he got a guitar from “Guitars for Vets,” a nonprofit group based in Milwaukee, WI. We knew of the group because it was one of the organizations that received funding from the Newport Festival Foundation. We encouraged the man to bring the guitar to the open mic and show us what he’s learned.
Then the pandemic hit, and it’s been a year since any live music has been heard at that small venue in Burlington, WI. Fortunately, they decided to offer the opportunity to submit videos to be shown on the same Thursday nights. We’ve done several ourselves and were pleased to see that that vet who spoke those kind words decided to do the same.
The good work of the Newport Festivals Foundation and Guitar for Vets is evident. This is Bruce’s latest effort. You can see him at around the 57:00 mark in the video.
https://facebook.com/TheCoffeeHouseAtChestnutPine/videos/368160077827141
In addition to providing the music for the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, the Foundation provides money and grants to numerous music programs around the country. With the pandemic, they've also assisted artists hit hard from the lack of performance opportunities. You can donate to them here.
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