June at the Folk Connection

Without a Net

June 18, 2010

David and Mary Lowther as Without a Net David and Mary Lowther were employed by the Province of British Columbia until spring of 2002, where they had busy careers serving the sick and needy and, despite being well acquainted (well, married anyway) they had never played music together! However, when the new government decided it did not need to care for the sick and/or needy anymore, they found that they had a lot of time on their hands.

Since they are married sex was out of the question, which left either bridge or gardening to pass the hours. Unfortunately, David cannot count to 52 without getting very confused indeed, and once you have them planted the peas do much better if you leave them alone. Digging them up every morning to check for growth is actually counterproductive! Consequently, once our heroes had caught up on their reading they were left with a whole lot of not much to do.

Then one day, while looking for his zig zags, David discovered a clarinet in the back of the closet. "Honey," he called, "can you actually play this thing?" Did we mention that they had been married for years at this time? Is David a true guy, or what? Do you suppose he calls Mary "Honey" as an endearment, or because he can't remember her actual name? Before you answer, we remind you he is a guitar player. He owns a banjo.

Yes, in fact, Mary can play that thing, among others. This led to much klezmer music, and a few original songs.

Eventually it occurred to them that they should take their act to an open stage or even a main stage, which is kind of frightening when you do it, because you are playing live, with an audience but without a net. Thus we have David and Mary, "Without A Net."