CHARLES CITY, IA (September 2019) - I loaded the camera bag into the backseat of my car and headed south on a two-lane road and I... I met a gravel road flanked by Cedar and Hickory trees on one side and a cornfield on the other, the corn was tall enough to get lost in, then I... I followed the gravel road until it dead-ended at the Cedar river and then I made a turn down an almost-hidden driveway, then ... as the driveway curved through the thinning woods, a house and some

There was a nervous energy in the air. Anticipation. Like a comfortable, friendly tension.

"Honestly, we’re having so much fun making this whole thing from scratch.

Often times the dancing and singing and joking would stop, so director Janice Bergland or Music Director Derek Sturtevant could offer advice

Musicians are like organized crime, they tend to keep work within their "family" and they wear a lot of black clothing.

MIDWEST OF EVERYTHING (2019) - It has been a few years, so I don't remember exactly when I met Brent (Brent) and Joan (Juni West) Estlund, but I do remember that I met them separately and not as a couple. I first met Joan at a local coffee shop after she had played downtown (Charles City) for a local art event called Artafest. She complimented my artwork and I complimented her singing. End of conversation, really. ...my coffee came up and I bounced, as is customary for me in

Midwest Life 101. Vinton, Iowa. When I was about 16 years old, my friend Kyle came over to my house driving his beat-to-shit old Ford. It was a 4-door something-or-other from the mid 60's. It didn't seem collectible and he didn't have it long enough for any of us to make claim and fall in love with it, or even remember what the hell kind of Ford it was. But I remember a few things about it. It was a mix of white paint and rust, it smelled like an old car, the seats were freez