2 posts tagged “springfield mo”

Anyone who knows Dave and I well, knows that one of our favorite bands is a local Springfield, MO band by the name of Big Smith. A couple of years ago a documentary film, Homemade Hillbilly Jam, was made about the band and their extended family. Dave and I and many of our friends were very excited about the movie and couldn't wait to see it. We watched as the film made its way around the documentary circuit to places far away from Springfield. It was shown in Hot Springs, AR once, but it was the night before our daughter's birthday so we didn't go. It was shown in Columbia, MO once, but during tax season, so we didn't go. We didn't worry too much about these missed opportunities because we knew it would eventually get shown in Springfield and we would get to go see it. Of course, I decided this spring that I had to attend to grad school in Virginia, so we no longer live in Springfield, which means it was the perfect time for me to discover that the film will make its Springfield debut at the Jordan Valley Park next weekend along with a free concert from the band. Were we about 10 years younger we would probably make a careening long weekend car trip to visit friends and see the film, but since we are not 10 years younger, we will stay here next weekend. I think we have both decided that our timing is just bad and we will never get to see the film, but we still follow where it's being shown, just in case.

We've hit the point in our move to Virginia where we are settled in and starting to get nostolgic or lonely for the familiar things from Springfield. In response to that, I have been playing lots of music by local Springfield musicians. Earlier this afternoon, I put on Big Smith & Family: From Hay to Zzzzz. I decided to play the second cd from the two cd set as we haven't listened to that disc as much. The first song on the second disc is a song titled "When I'm One" by Bill Thomas, another Mayapple recording artist. I didn't realize that my four year old's preschool in Springfield had played this song for the kids. Mara has requested that I play this song over and over again all afternoon. At first she would dance around half singing the lyrics until it got to her favorite part (Each day I get bigger, Each day I grow tall, Use a yard stick to figure, Make a mark on the wall), at which point she would jump up, stand as tall as she could, stretch her arms high overhead and belt it out. That was an hour and a half ago. She is still requesting the song be replayed each time it ends, but now she is just laying on the couch listening.