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A good time was had by all at the Treehuggers Ball. It's a yearly event put on by the Canyonlands Conservation Fund and the Orange Hills Task Force of the Sierra Club to raise money to protect the last undeveloped land in the Orange County hills.

I was invited to play by my friend Karl, who is a member of an online protest songs group that I host. Karl is also a nephew of Woody Guthrie, so of course I played some Woody Guthrie songs...

It's a one of a kind party, held under the stars in still wild Baker Canyon. There was a deep pit barbecue dinner, micro brews, arts and crafts, petitions, green demos and presentations, and about eight hours of music under the stars. There was a Bluegrass band, a Jazz trio, a Blues-Rock band, and the headliner was Cubensis, a popular and inspiring So-Cal Grateful Dead tribute band.

One of the joys of being the opening act is that there wasn't much of a crowd when I played. The vendors were setting up and the treehuggers just arriving. But I had a great time and got a lot of positive feedback, and met a lot of good people. I was invited back next year and asked to play at the Country Fair in Silverado in October.

The video is my version of I Ain't Got No Home, by Woody Guthrie. The promoters know Arlo, and they sent him the video. He's probably too busy to watch it, but that was a nice thing for them to do...

.www.treehuggersball.org