Unike other years at Falcon Ridge where the rain came in quick torrents of fury, yedterday brought a slow constant rain for nearlly four hours of the Emerging Artists Showcase.

Before the afternoon was half over, my program was too soggy to write on and my fingers were prunes, so I,m writing this without any usable notes. Fortunately, I had listened to and read about the performers ahead of time, so I had sone clear expectations.

Pretty much, everyone lived up to expectations, with a few sounding much better live then they did online. ellen cherry stood out it this respect. Many of the artists embraced the Falcon Ridge experience thanking the audience for hanging in through the rain, joking about sunblock and staying hydrated, or the need for a giant slippy slide made out of tarps in front of the Main Stage.

They pitched their CDs, websites and mailing lists.. They told their fan which late night song swap on the hill they would be attending. One musician thar I really liked was Bobbie Lancaster, but she was heading straight back to Indiana. Spuyten Duyvil,which I also really liked is sticking around and performing all over the hill.

There were quite a few good acts and it hard to limit my choice to three. So, along with those zia,ve already mentioned, I want to give a shout out to Vanessa Torres, whom I really liked.

With that, let me list me current picks for next years most wanted. Barnaby Bright was one of my early picks. They have a great song about a father dying of AIDS which they didn,t play. I liked this other pieces as well and they're still on my top three list.

John Wort Hannam is a school teacher turned musician. He has a great song about his father;s reaction to the decision to leave teaching. His father was a carpenter and made an obtuse comment about going against the grain.

At the top of the list is Chis O'brien. He did really well Thursday night at Tribe Hill and equally as well on the main stage. He has a powerful song about dealing with his father's alcoholism. He wonders what it means for him to have blood like his father's flowing through his veins.

An old friend of mine has a genetic degenerative disease. He watched it take his father and now it is taking him. To the best of my knowledge, I do not carry alcoholism or degenerative diseases, but I wonder what of my father do I carry, and what of me do my children carry. I hope some of it is alove of folk dancing and sitting in the rain on a hill for hours listening to great stories put to music.