by Craig F. Eisenbeis
I like your nose, I like your smile,
I like to see your clothes lyin' in a pile...
Those are some of the lyrics that Folk Festival performer Chuck McCabe says were inspired by a beautiful girl he saw at a "clothing optional" resort.
It certainly wasn't his first professional gig as a musician, but it's one that made a lasting impression.
After being assured that "optional" meant exactly that, McCAbe agreed to make the appearance, clothed. Still, he was caught off-guard when he arrived at the resort and six-foot stauesque beauty running down the hill toward the parking lot.
Since he's as much a humorist as he is a singer, the incident -of course- inspired McCabe to write song: "I Like Your Skin"
McCabe, who hails from San Jose, California, was precviously in Sisters for the 1998 Folk Festival when he won the festival's songwriting competition.
In addition to performing this year, he also returned as one of the contest judges. He performs at only about four such festivals each year, but acts like he wouldn't want to miss Sisters.
More than all the rest, I like your skin the best... and though it's just a shell, you wear it well.
McCabe describes his musical genre as "porch pickin'," which, he explains, is descended from blues, ragtime, and eclectic folk ditties. His catchy song about the nudist was one of four songs he performed to earn him top honors at Sisters two years ago. It was subsequently picked up by "Dr. Demento" on his syndicated radio show for "exposure" on hundreds of radio stations around the country, according to McCabe. Dr. Demento plays only "the most far-out, twisted songs available".
I like your skin, it's never thick or thin, it keeps your face in place, it holds your insides in
In addition to his career as a folk-singing soloist, McCabe plays in an oldies rock'n'roll band, picks a banjo with a folk band, and plays bass in a Celtic band.
Much of his year, however, is taken up by more than eighty performances for a non-profit organization called Young-at-Heart. Young-at-Heart sponsors performances at senior centers and nursing homes throughout Northern California.
His career path could easily have taken a different direction.
"My dad was a career military man, and I had an NROTC scholarship to the University of Washington. That was what I was supposed to do, but I decided that music was what I really wanted," he said.
"My dad is my hero," McCabe said. "I don't know who said it, but there's an old quote that says 'I became a soldier so my son could be a poet,' and that kind of defines my relationship with my father... although he wasn't neccesarily happy about it," McCabe added.
The crowd at the Sisters Folk Festival seemed pretty happy about it, though. McCabe established an easy rapport with the audience with his folksy dialogue and other memorable songs like "Barefoot John", a touching ballad about a Seattle bum who passes on... somewhere.
And of course, no listing would be complete without mention of his tale of a lovelorn, talking dog named Fred. Fred -in chasing across the road for his lady love- became "The Dog Who Died For Love" (alternately titled "Love's a Bitch").
One of McCabe's biggest fans at the event turned out to be Bend physician Jeff Boggess. A musician himself, Boggess jammed with McCabe while studying pre-med at University of California at Irvine.
"We both played a place called Sid's Blue Beet at Newport Beach," Boggess said, after rushing over from Bend to visit with his old friend. Boggess went on to say that they used to do warm-up sets for the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, John Stewart (of the Kingston Trio) and Hoyt Axton.
Dr. Boggess keeps his musical talents active through a music ministry at his church in Bend. When he saw McCabe's name on the folk festival's bill, he was afraid it "might be some 18-year-old kid with the same name."
But it wasn't. It was the real article.