Arlon Bennett's Blog

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Every year around the middle of November is the NE Folk Alliance Conference in upstate NY where a boatload of grassroots artists, venues, managers, agents, and fans convene for a great time, it is almost hard to call it business.. Maybe that is why I do it!

Here is me and my friend Amy Carol Webb, a formal showcase artist, in the exhibit hall. Then in a picture taken to illustrate the freedom of creativity… here is musician Dennis Mcdonough doing a modest imitation of Lady Liberty. Photo by me.

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Every year around the middle of November is the NE Folk Alliance Conference in upstate NY where a boatload of grassroots artists, venues, managers, agents, and fans convene for a great time, it is almost hard to call it business.. Maybe that is why I do it!

Here is me and my friend Amy Carol Webb, a formal showcase artist, in the exhibit hall. Then in a picture taken to illustrate the freedom of creativity… here is musician Dennis Mcdonough doing a modest imitation of Lady Liberty. Photo by me.

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This is Jill & I after opening for her at “The Music at the Mission” concert on Oct 17. A fun show all around!

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Dear Diary,

I was looking downtown this morning and reminiscing today. What a pair you were when you arrived downtown in full glory in 1974! You guys got all the attention and hoopla that I got back in 1933 being so tall n’ all. Yea, I was a bit jealous, but part of me was happy. You took the pressure off me and I could finally just be who I am. No longer did I have the limelight and record book, but I could relax and enjoy my history. I watched you like a father watches his kids grow. You’ll never know how proud I was when you passed my height to the point that I could look up to you! I came to enjoy having my space and sharing the skyline in our collective magnificence.

Overall, I enjoyed our time together and grew to love you more than compete with you. I was Art Deco, and you were Steely Moderne. I was rusty brick and you were glass. I used to chide you both about how lucky you were to have each other and how you would still be around long after I was a memory. And then there were those patronizing moments when I would lecture you both on your posture. I loved telling you stories like the one about King Kong – and you believed me! And we used to laugh at the stupidest things, like the time the power went out in and left us all standing there like tall dark weeds in tenement garden. None of us laughed when I told you the story of the time I took the accidental crash from a B-25 back in 1945. But, I hung on though. Who would have thought that one day.. oh never mind. I know the details. I’m just being sentimental again. I miss you guys and all you stood for.

These days, I can see the lady in the harbor more clearly now just like in the old days. She waves to me every now and then like she used to do when I was young. She was like a mother to me; always carrying the torch to light the way. I used to wonder if she was more keen on me or you guys. Deep down though, I know she loved all of us. Now though it’s just me, and I have to keep reminding her that it is not her fault that you guys are gone.

Yes, there will be new ones to take your place, but they will never really replace you. When they are finished, I will tell them all about you and what shoes they have to fill. That they must stand tall in the face of severe weather and bend but never break. That nothing is certain, and that all the names on their walls cry for remembrance. Still when they arrive, I will take the occasion to peek into the clouds to see you both resting ever so peacefully.

Your friend always,

The Empire State Building

Singin’ at the 2010 Corn Festival in Beacon, NY! That’s Mara Levine singing harmony accompaniment.

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Here is me, Gordon Roehrer on bass and John Sonntag on guitar during our set
on August 8 at the Liederplatz stage at Musikfest ’10 in Bethlehem, PA.

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Special thanks to the Lehigh Valley Folk Music Society for having us!

From my day swimming across the Hudson River to benefit the River Pool.

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Here’s Pete Seeger performing just before I jumped into the Hudson River to swim across to benefit the River Pool. Pete is largely responsible for creating the awareness of a polluted Hudson 40 years ago, and then the movement to clean it up well enough to swim it! Thanks Pete!  AND a big thanks to my bud Pete Kowalewski who kiaked across to spot me. A wonderful day!