Peddlin Bedlam

A few years ago, I moved with my family to Roanoke, Virginia. I had been born and raised there. Our trek to Roanoke was precipitated by a series of catostrophic events and several gnawing cataclysms as well. Moving back home felt good to me and my wife. We dragged our family with us. There was no direct prospect of getting jobs. We just knew that the time was right to make the move...so we went for it.

I ended up teaching elementary school at a Roanoke County elementary school. Strangely, I discovered that one of the other male teachers at the school was a guy named Tim Summers. His name sounded familiar...Soon we deduced that we had gone to elementary school together at Southview Elementary in Roanoke back in the 60's. Later in the 70's, we actually rode the same school bus to middle school. Back then, Tim and I were never close friends, although we did know each other. Our mothers knew each other better than we knew each other.

When I ended up at Oak Grove, Tim and I renewed a friendship that has continued to build. As it turns out, we share many of the same beliefs and feelings about the world. He's a die-hard righteous liberal, and I'm a die-hard. Tim was always artistic, and I was always wishing to be artistic.

What Tim and I share more than anything else is music. I enjoy every kind of music, and Tim can play every kind of music. Back in his youth, there were few kids who could rock harder than Tim. As he's aged, his tastes in music have evolved, as have mine. It turns out that we share a love for the same types of music.

I'm so very lucky to have gotten to know Tim again. He and his delightful wife have two amazing children. The oldest is the same age as my youngest daughter, and they became friends in elementary school. Tim's youngest was in my fourth grade class last year, and she was a true delight and a rare rose in the classrooom.

About five years ago, Tim formed a band with a lady who later became a speech teacher at our elementary school , along with another lady from nearby Blacksburg. Together, they created the band, "Beggar's Circus." This celtic band has now gone on to produce two outstanding CD's, "Peddlin' Bedlam" and "Moor ForThe Asking." Tim is responsible for guitar, whistle, various percussion, bagpipes, bouzouki, and vocals while Michele plays concertina, dulcimer, whistle, and vocals. The trio is rounded out by teacher Mary Beth, who plays fiddle, percussion and sings.

I love music, and I love this band. They play their style of celtic music with a dark, raw edge. I can't tell you exactly how many times I've gone to see them play in local pubs, but there have been many trips. One time, I was sitting in an Irish pub in Roanoke at a table by myself when a group of firemen at the neighboring table began experimenting with Jagermeister and Guiness shots. Jagermeister, in case you don't know, is somewhat like the old Vick's Formula 44 cough syrup. I used to love that stuff. So when a fireman bought me a Jager/Guiness shot, I eagerly accepted. Bam!

I really enjoy hearing Tim vocalize. In his latest CD, he sings on three cuts.; "Dublin Bay," "Jesuitmont," and "My Son John." Each tune is intense and passionate. "Dublin Bay" is about a young couple that sails across the Atlantic for their honeymoon only to die in a horrific shipwreck. Most of Beggar's Circus' tunes reach into a darker place for their inspiration, and in most of them they extract some sense of righteousness or forlornness:

Dublin Bay

They sailed away on that gallant barque,
Roy Neal and his fair young bride
They had ventured all on that bounding ship
That danced on the silvery tide
And his heart was young, and his spirit light
As he kissed her tears away
And they watched the shore retreat from sight
Of their own sweet Dublin Bay

Three days they sailed when the storm arose
And the lightning swept the deep,
When the thunder crash broke the short repose
Of the weary sailors' sleep
Roy Neal, he clasped his weeping bride
And he kissed the tears away
"Oh, love, 'twas a fearful hour," he cried,
"When we left sweet Dublin Bay!"

On the crowded deck of that doomed ship
Some fell in their deep despair
And some, o'ercome with a holier heart,
Sought the God of the storm in prayer
"She has struck a rock," the sailors cried
In their breath of wild dismay
And that ship went down with the fair young bride
That sailed from Dublin Bay

They sailed away in that gallant barque,
Roy Neal and his fair young bride
They had ventured all on that bounding ship
That danced on the silvery tide
But his heart was young, and his spirit light
As he kissed her tears away
And they watched the shore retreat from sight
Of their own sweet Dublin Bay

Beggar's Circus is currently working on their third CD. They play shows all across Virginia and a few up and down the seaboard.

You can find out more about this outstanding group by going to http://www.flat5.com/feature.html

Enjoy their grim songs. :)