Last night, during morris dance rehearsal, I noticed some hairs starting to get loose on my bow. Examination revealed that the hair was starting to slip out of the tip end. (The violinists among you will know how unusual this is -- normally hairs break rather than slipping out while intact.) I was hoping the bow would last the evening, but the little wooden block that holds the hair in completely popped out as I was playing.
I was starting to wonder why this happened, since I've gone to the same luthier (
Deborah Segel in Troy) for all my rehairings since moving to Albany, and she's always done excellent work for me in the past. Then it hit me. While on tour in England with
The Flying Romanos last August, I had to get my bow rehaired at a violin shop in London. They seemed to know what they were doing...but I guess they didn't.
So today I am making an unscheduled trip to Deborah's shop, knowing now she can accomplish what a high-end London luthier could not. Who says the Capital District is lacking?