The Viper (Ryan Jerving) played the first two songs solo, and was joined by Peter Jensen, Bob Smith, and Susan Johnson for the second two. We had a lot of fun and got to celebrate both Labor Day and Hanukkah nice and early. I was exceedingly proud of the less experienced Ramblers’ ability to hold the show together – including our washboardist/autoharpist Susan Johnson, whose been playing the latter for less than one week and the former for less than two.

We played:

• Viper’s Blue Yodel no. 6.02 x 10 to the 23rd
• Das Kapital
• Heyse Latke Kalte Latke / Jerusalem Ridge
• Good Morning Irene

On the “Blue Yodel” (which is, of course, a mole of the blues) I made what is probably always an ill-advised attempt to play both jug and harmonica at the same time, a gesture sure to alienate (in the Brechtian sense) just about any crowd, but especially at a show peopled by singer/songwriters. “Capital” went over big, as usual, and gave me a chance to get in a dig at switchgrass. “Heyse Latke / Jerusalem” (which takes us from the diaspora to the homeland in one key change) marked the performance debut of the lyrics of this song, which we usually play as an instrumental.

If you want ’em, here they are:

Heyse latke, kalte latke
Bekelech mit royzn
Der vos trogt kayn shleykes nit
Der farlirt di hoyzn (oy!)

Which translates as:

Hot latke, cold latke
Cheeks so rosy red
He who wears no suspenders
Will surely lose his pants (uff da!)

And we got the whole crowd singing along with “Good Morning Irene,” loud enough (I hope) for my kid to hear it in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she’s been staying with her grandparents.