Fun and serendipity abound!  Thanks to the ambition and vision of Hannah Toole we put together a last minute concert for the community of Inspiration in Aurora, CO.  Hannah is the Lifestyle Director for the community and we were honored to help her try out her idea for a Pop-up concert.  We met Hannah at Mark Rise's concert in Ft Collins on June 16th and over drinks and conversation after the show set the plan for the pop-up show on Wednesday June 20th.  The weather was gorgeous, 35+ community members attended.  Among them old friend Laura Fincke's cousin with Laura in tow.  Laura knew she was attending a concert, the big surprise upon arriving was that she knew the musician, Andy!  Laura and Andy had worked together often when Laura was the stage manager at the Alvord Theater at Northland College.  Great to catch up with Laura and meet her family as well as be welcomed by the lovely community of Inspiration.  How can you go wrong with a name like that?  

On a perfect summer evening in a back yard in KS -40 of more friends and neighbors gathered round and listened to Andy play music and share stories.  The temp was warm but not too warm in the shade and everyone had alot of fun!  

Andy and I were glad to find out about Catamount Center and Catamount Institute, 2 Environmental education organizations started by Julie Francis and husband, Howard Drossman.  Both are doing great and different work promoting and supporting the environment and outdoor experiences.  Approximately 60 people attended the house concert during the blustery but mostly not rainy evening in Julie and Howards yard.  It was a beautiful eveing of music and community with a portion of the contributions going to support Catamount and their scholarships for kids to attend camp. 

A group of close friends gathered to celebrate life, with brats and burgers on the grill, fresh nan from Star of India Restaurant, wonderful homemade salads and music in the living room.  Colorado weather was fickle with rains threatening as show time neared and we opted for an indoor concert.  The evening went late before we knew it.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Following a pot-luck feast Andy preformed to a full yard and upper deck of friends and former strangers and his biggest fan, Ranger the dog.  It was a lovely concert with a rousing version of "Reptile Drive," preformed while Andy jumped around like he was on the trampoline with the kids. The concert was followed by a bon-fire where we roasted home-made marshmallows  for s'mores with peanut butter cups.  Rick wowed all with hot bacon grease and water explosions!  While in the area we hiked at Moffat Tunnel and rode the Happiness Carousel.  We had a fabulous time with former room mate Casey Hutchins and her family!

Around 40 friends, family, neighbors and former strangers gathered to celebrate the completion and move in, just 3 days earlier, of Paul and Kelly into their new home in McCall ID.  Paul and Kelly have lived all over-- in really cool places, from Key West to Yosemite.  For them to choose McCall to finally settle and build their dream home says alot.  The area is stunning with Mountains in every direction and long views of sky and sunset.  It was a festive night with great food!  Andy played in the living room in front of a wall of windows facing south so the crowd could listen to his music and enjoy the amazing view!  Especially sweet was Andy's preformance of his new song, Ahwanee Wind, inspired by Kelly and our visit to Yosemite just 2 months ago.  We made many new friends and house concert contacts for the future.  We will definitely be back.