When we saw live musicians were scheduled to play on the Bacon Free Library lawn on Tuesday night, we thought, hey, we should walk over there, grab a picnic, and catch some tunes.
The picnic turned into takeout from Pizza Shop at South Natick, but we earned it by lugging our folding chairs to the shady spot amidst high 70’s temperatures.
Folk duo Hungrytown had just begun entertaining the crowd with their singing, and guitar/banjo/harmonica playing, and stories from the road—a road they’ve badly missed during the pandemic. After all, it’s the road where Rebecca Hall and Ken Anderson meet the characters and see the places that inspire their music. They even talked about talking a stroll around “your village” before the show. Maybe the iconic South Natick dam might someday be immortalized in one of their songs?
Although most of the crowd wasn’t familiar with Hungrytown’s songs in a sing-a-long sort of way, the melodies seemed to have a magical effect, especially on the 5-and-under members who outnumbered adults at least two-to-one. Kids showed off their eating-while-running, break dancing, ax throwing (yes, a plastic ax!), and non-stop energy skills. Some big kids walked around carrying smaller kids, and others walked their moms and dads and grandparents ragged in rings around the library.
We clutched our salad and sandwich, kept our legs out of tripping lanes, and enjoyed both shows—the pre-bedtime kids and the once audience-starved musicians.
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