On Friday, February 17, 2023, at 8 p.m., Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds will headline a sold-out show at the Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY. They are known for their rousing soul-oriented rock sets. The ensemble lineup features Arleigh Kincheloe, Sister Sparrow, on lead vocals. She is the chief songwriter and is backed up by her brother, Jackson, on harmonica. Josh Myers is on bass, Dan Boyden on drums, Phil Rodriquez on trumpet, and Brian Graham on baritone and tenor saxophone. They have four albums to their credit and have opened for Dr. John, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and the Soul Rebels Brass Band. Their 150-night-a-year touring schedule has taken them to 28 states and has included appearances at Bonnaroo (Manchester, Tennessee), Bear Creek Music Festival (Live Oak, Florida), and locally at Mountain Jam in Hunter, NY. Sister Sparrow grew up in the Catskills and sang in her parents’ band, Blues Maneuver. By 18, she was a seasoned performer and moved to Brooklyn to found Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds. Sitting in on Friday night at Levon’s will be Arleigh and Jackson’s dad, John Kincheloe, on drums.

Coincidently, John wrote a memoir in 2018 about his arrival in Delaware County. Titled Heroes for Hire: A Tall Tale of the Catskills, it recounts his arrival—with his twin brother George—on the Roland Van Benschoten dairy farm for the summer of 1969. The pair of city slickers, freshmen from Williams and Harvard, were immediately assaulted by the smell of cow manure pervading their new home’s living space. This was quickly forgotten as they fought to get up to speed milking forty cows at sunup, baling hay during the rest of the day, and milking the dairy herd at sundown. Being young and in good shape helped them toughen up to farming life. The book details their after-work high jinks of mingling with the locals in bars, romancing farm girls, and general hellraising.

Roland Van Benschoten, the dairy farm’s owner and George and John’s boss, later recalled watching John one morning milking a cow. Suddenly its manure-laden tail whipped him across his eyes at full speed. He saw John look up at his tormentor, blink away tears without taking his hands off the milking machine, rub his eyes against the animal’s soft flank, and finish the task. At that moment, Mr. Benschoten realized he had made a good summer hire and that John had staying power.

The end of the first haying season earned George and John a three-day weekend, which aligned perfectly with August 15 to 18. The boys, musicians themselves, and fans of The Band and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had mailed away for tickets to the Woodstock Festival. When the weekend arrived, they hopped in a friend’s Jeep Wagoneer, loaded up on provisions in Margaretville, and headed out for the festival site in Bethel, NY. As it turned out, they saw the whole lineup, had many adventures too numerous to relate and were amazed at the camaraderie and neighborliness of the crowd. The boys returned to the farm refreshed and worked for several more weeks before leaving for school. Upon graduation, they journeyed to the west coast to play in a band and hobnob with a coterie of musical idols like Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Gram Parsons.

When their dream of rock n’ roll glory faded, John left his brother in California and returned to Delaware County in the Catskills, where he became a social studies teacher and raised a family of musicians who honed their chops in Blues Maneuver. The latter is a smooth, good-time party band that performs classic rhythm and blues numbers and covers Motown hits. You can catch them on March 11, 2023, at the Belleayre Mountain Music Center. Heroes for Hire is a breezy coming-of-age tale that should resonate with any boomer who worked summer jobs during college. The title is available via WoodstockArts and Amazon and retails for $20.