For one, Springsteen’s genuine, earnest approach to music hooked me a long time ago. When he decided to record this collection of songs associated with Pete Seeger, whose politics and music I admire unabashedly, I thought it would provide a rich mix of music and history. Seeger is one of the people responsible for the revival of folk music and the brand we now call Americana, influencing everyone from Bob Dylan to Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. To top it off, Springsteen did the almost unheard of in today’s music business: called musicians to his farm and recorded the whole collection in three days.

For those of us in the mountains, here’s an added reason to like this disc: Pete Seeger was studying jazz music in 1936 when he attended the Asheville Folk and Dance Festival and had what he called a life-changing experience when he heard the traditional five-string banjo players.

My perfect summer vacation

OK, I haven’t done it yet, haven’t booked the tickets, but it all came together in the last couple of days. The Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain, takes place the first two weeks of July every year. Ever since reading Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises as an undergrad, I, like millions of others, have dreamed of attending the festival and its nonstop parties and, if my nerve holds, running with the bulls. Three days of the festival would be followed by a trip to watch two or three stages of the Tour de France, the grueling bicycle race that has also captured my fancy. The lure of the Tour has caught hold in just the last few years. So there it is: bulls, wine, olives, cheese, wine, sweat, and lots of sleepless nights and bikes. Now, if Lori will just go along with me.

Folkmoot

It’s here, and it’s fun. There’s plenty about the international dance festival in this issue of the paper, so I won’t go into all the details. Just check it out.

— Scott McLeod