By Audrey Kletscher Helbling
A young mother hoists her daughter up to the drinking fountain. From across the park, I imagine the cool water wetting the preschooler’s lips as she slurps, rivulets seeping from the corners of her mouth, trailing down her chin.
Her thirst quenched, the little girl angles onto her mom’s left hip as they amble down the sidewalk, closer to the music. They stand, swaying gently to the rhythm, to the words, “The rain came down on me.”
The mother turns her head, kisses her daughter gently upon her chubby cheek. “The rain came down on you and me.”
It’s a sweet moment in Faribault’s Central Park, where on Thursday nights through late August, crowds gather for the summer “Concerts in the Park” series.
I have come this night with my husband to hear local musician and Faribault Middle School music teacher Barb Piper perform with her band, Top Shelf. I’ve heard Piper before, crooning with Minnesota guitarist, singer, writer and composer Bill Hammond. Tonight she’s onstage in the bandshell with lead guitarist Mike Sjulstad, percussionist Mark Whillock, Scott Lundberg on bass, and vocalist and harmonica-player Ed Treinen.
The is an evening of bluesy tunes, of sometimes soul-wrenching lyrics: “I need someone to love me…I miss the arms that used to hold me…I was a fool to ever leave you…It’s so lonesome here without you…It hurts so bad, you were the best man I ever had…”
A mop-headed toddler turns jerkily in circles, imitating his older sister, who twirls effortlessly, barefoot, across the grass, her long, dark hair spiraling outward. They are, I think, making their own music.
Everywhere in this block-long, block-wide park near the heart of downtown, folks have gathered—frail, white-haired elders in wheelchairs and in lawn chairs, young families on blankets, grandparents with grandchildren in tow, baby boomers—to listen to the sultry voice of Piper, the deeper voice of Treinen, the sometimes mournful sound of the harmonica, the gentle strums of guitars.
“The sweet devil’s got my soul,” Piper sings.
Next to me, a gaggle of preschool girls gather in a circle of play, placing their hands atop each other in a game I don’t understand. Then they are tumbling across the lawn, turning somersaults, carefree as the cool breeze that wafts through the park, lifting flags, stirring leaves.
Nearby, a father and son toss a softball back and forth. A young family munches on peanut butter sandwiches, Cheetos and apples, all washed down with orange pop. A grandma arrives with an American Girl doll tucked securely under her arm, her granddaughter alongside, clutching two more dolls. A brother and sister splash each other at the water fountain. Concert-goers dip into boxes of warm, buttery popcorn, freshly-popped by the Boy Scouts.
“Find me a good man…,” Piper sings in her storytelling lyrics. A shrill whistle pierces through her words, wailing from a train that roars through town just blocks away.
A pre-adolescent kick-glides her scooter back and forth along a sidewalk that cuts diagonally across the park in front of concert-goers. No one complains.
We are all here to enjoy this music, this beautiful, cool, mosquito-free evening, these moments with each other.
“It’s a good day,” Piper proclaims, “for the blues.”
Faribault’s free summer “Concerts in the Park” series continues with the following musicians on-stage at Central Park beginning at 7 p.m.:
Aug. 6: The Bend in the River Jazz Band
Aug. 13: Generation II Big Band
Aug. 20: The Bandshell Brass