Coming to a Ford in the Road

Photo by Richard Parsons

As I mentioned in the previous blog, Banjolicious opened for Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside on Sunday. OK Productions booked us for this gig after seeing us open for Danny Barnes, one of my banjo heroes, last May. However, I initially thought we got booked because Sallie's dad, Hobey Ford, is a puppeteer friend of mine. Just a neat little coincidence.

Taking Hobey's foam carving workshop at the POA Festival in '92 in Charleston, SC

I met Hobey when I went to my first Puppeteers of America Festival in 1992 in Charleston, SC. He was one of a few solo puppeteers I remember being blown away by. Terry Snyder and Drew Allison (Grey Seal Puppets) were also on that list. I was so impressed that these guys did everything: built their own puppets, wrote their own shows and performed them. To a kid from south Alabama with no friends with whom to share his interest in puppetry, this was a revelation. You could do this work by yourself. Today, those puppeteers whom I admired so much are now friends and colleagues.

If you're curious about the marvelous work of these artists, just follow the links:

http://www.sallieford.com/

http://www.hobeyford.com/

http://www.greysealpuppets.com/