Freedom Festival fun...

It's Freedom Fest fun in Linton this week.

And what a busy week for all.

As a child I remember heading to the Fourth of July parade with my family, sitting under a big shade tree on Main Street and being showered with candy.

As a freshman, I marched in the parade playing clarinet in the Linton-Stockton High School band. We wore the ugliest band uniforms ever. I think they were relics of the '70s disco era. Silky pants, a funky collared shirt, white felt hat with a red feather to top it off. And it was hot. But, we looked professional, I guess. Of course, it wasn't our idea of cool as it was the mid '80s -- which meant neon colors, jams, belly shirts, jelly shoes, spandex, mini skirts, parachute pants, Madonna's boy toy phase, the gloved-one's dance moves, and hair metal bands.

MTV played "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Home Sweet Home", "LIke A Virgin", "Take on Me", "Billie Jean"... and being in the marching band wasn't the coolest thing to do.

I played clarinet from elementary school through my freshman year and never signed up for it as a sophomore.

Looking back I (almost) wish I had finished what I started, but I was a teen and was exploring my first taste of independence and had more 'important' things to do.

Now, Kade and I are encouraging our youngest son, Jazz, to join band. He'll be in the fifth grade this fall and he really has a knack for keeping the beat. He's on time, just about every time. Tick, tock. He's got a natural rhythm and it didn't come from me. I love music, but Jazz inherited his steady '1-2-3-4' from dad.

Wanna know a secret? Kade is known for his smooth skills on the guitar, but he started out on drums.

It's funny because in junior high, Kade and I were in band together and I can remember Mr. (Mike) Puckett) hollering mid-song a lot.

As band director, Mr. Puckett, has a reputation for running a tight ship and his band is known for being professional and well-practiced.

But sometimes, Mr. Puckett would have to stop us because of the percussion section. At the time, I never understood why he would holler out "Puckett" to Kade. Now I know.

Turns out Kade liked to improvise at an early age... and he would play his own drum beat which was not what Mr. Puckett wanted.

Playing music on the fly isn't an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of skill as well as practice.

Nowadays, Kade has continued to use his innate ability to improvise during live performances. No two shows are ever alike. The words fresh, high energy and natural-stage presence come to mind.

I've listened to Kade practice, watched him perform, been drove nuts during records sessions.... and more. You name it, I've endured and few things seem to surprise me anymore.

But, during his most recent live performance in Terre Haute, my husband the "guitar slinger", shared his rendition of "Human Nature" complete with his melodic voice.

And made a liar out of me. I know he can sing, but singing isn't something he just belts out. A couple weeks ago someone referred to Kade as a singer and I quickly made the correction by saying, "Kade doesn't sing. He's a fingerstyle guitarist." Instrumental.... that is.

So, I asked 'the hub' why sing now? His response was it's all about being in the moment and if the mood strikes, it'll happen. This is what I call magic.

Being in the moment is a very magical thing to me. There's no explaining it, it's like letting go and hanging on. A spiritual and scientific balance... and once you realize it, it's gone.

And believe me, he was in the zone at that Terre Haute show. It was the acoustical guitar sounds of Kade Puckett on fire along with a voice. A soulful lyric here, a melodic hum there, plus outta-this- world guitar skills all created one hot show.

Of course, having an appreciative audience helped to light the fire...which brings me to the next live show.

As a part of the Linton Freedom Festival, Kade will share some sweet acoustical sounds from 8 - 10 p.m. Wednesday, June 30 at Humphreys Park in Linton.

We invite you to help light the fire and really hope to see you there... and if the mood's right I can guarantee you'll get a surprise too.

In closing, please encourage our son Jazz to keep the family tradition of song alive by belting out the beat in the school band.

P.S.

Kade doesn't like me to brag on him. He is extremely modest, but please don't mistake his down-to-earth attitude for being a pushover.

It takes fire to pull off his songwriting skills. And his artistry has once again evolved to include a stage presence that I've only begun to witness.

Shine on...

Timberly is a staff writer at the Greene County Daily World. She can be reached by e-mail at tferree@gcdailyworld.com or by phone at 1-800-947-4487 or (812) 847-4487.