Good morning and Greetings to you all. My sincere apologies for the delay in getting my blog out to you and please forgive me for the lack of not providing my blog a week ago. It is the first time since the inception of my blog that I have not produced one during the week. As some of you might know I had traveled to France to photograph a wedding for a dear friend of mine. I am looking forward to showing you some of the escapades from that trip.
On Sunday, the 4th Annual Microwave Dave Day was held downtown on Washington Street. What has become an annual event to raise money for music education in the local schools started out as a “thank you” to give recognition to the local blues artist Microwave Dave. Back in 2015, Mayor Tommy Battle declared the last Sunday in June as Microwave Dave Day and gave blues musician Dave Gallaher a key to the city.
As they saying goes, “What a beautiful day in the neighborhood!” We could have not asked for a better day other than a little less humidity but it is June. Last weekend was suppose to be an exceptional weekend for music with Claire Lynch playing City Lights at Burritt Museum on Friday evening, Tangled String Studios hosting Tangled String Music Fest downtown in the park on Saturday and then MDD 2018 on Sunday. Unfortunately Mother Nature dampened the shows ever so slightly on Friday and Saturday but allowed us an uninterrupted day of music on the streets.
Microwave Dave Day had become known for its celebration of community and our desire to feature the best of local talent in north Alabama and we do have some exceptional musicians playing in the area. One of the highlights of this years event, and there were many, was the reunion of the world famous Snake Doctors, a local band that has been around Huntsville since the early days of the music scene. The Snake Doctors have been described as Huntsville’s very own Grateful Dead and this is the first time in years that they have played together. It was a real treat for the crowd!
One of the things that I love most about the day is the sense of community and how the city comes together to celebrate Dave Day. For the last two years, with the support of the city, we have blocked off streets in downtown and brought a festival like atmosphere back. We are very fortunate and very blessed to have had the support over the past four years and to be showered with the love of everyone in attendance. And of course, there is the music and all the musicians that come out and give their time and energy. There are always a few surprises added to the lineups.
One of the other things I love most about the day is whether young or old it is all about being “young at heart!” When you look through the crowd you see a variety of people of all races and all ages with one thing in common, a love for life, a love for this community and a love of music. It is a beautiful thing to see everyone come together and dancing in the streets.
We are so extremely grateful to everyone that came out Sunday to support Microwave Dave Day and to ours sponsors and donors that have made a commitment to further our educational vision through their donations. All of the proceeds from the Microwave Dave Day go to the MDMEF to further our educational mission. (www.microwavedaveMEF.org). Even with the exhaustive nature of the day and the toil it takes to put it all together, we could not help but look back on the event Monday morning and give thought to what the 5th Annual Microwave Dave Day will be like.
“It’s only rock and roll, but I like it!” Enjoy!
