“The Three Stars,” six people this time, left Washington County at the far eastern end of Maine on November 28, 2006 in a rented van fully packed — half with people and supplies, half with 222 (approx.) musical instruments.
We had been asked to be presenters at the first ISIM conference at the University of Michigan, and along the way also performed in Maine (small club), New York (large high school auditorium), Toronto (even smaller club), and Vermont (town hall).
The core group included Brian Dyer-Stewart, Duane Ingalls, Gene Nichols, Micah Pascucci, Jenny Penny, and Richard Sassaman (who also took the tour photographs).
Guest artists who joined us along the road included Jeff Shaw (guitar and bass) in Portland ME, Craig Chalone (guitar) in Fulton NY, Kwanza Msingwana (African drums) in Toronto, Voytek Konikiewicz (synthesizer) in Ann Arbor, and Ali Garrison (voice) in Toronto and Ann Arbor. A couple of them, thank you very much, also housed us.
The basic Les Trois theme is that anyone (including members of the audience) can play any instrument at any time during the performance, whether they know how to or not, and we’ll see how to make it fit.
While on tour the band drove thousands of miles, performed for hundreds of people, and made tens of dollars. Nine glorious days later we were back home, nobodies once again.
— RPS, January 2007
Pine Tree Curtain 