Back On The Mountain

Jae and I rode into Black Mountain, North Carolina while the Sourwood Festival was in full swing. The tiny downtown was stacked with traffic as people sought parking spaces. We were headed to Cabin Creek Lodge, our digs for the weekend during which Steve and Kay Fernandez would renew their wedding vows high up on the mountain. Steve and Kay are good friends and have had me over at their Orlando home for a couple of house concerts - they also come out regularly to see me at Dicey Reilly's (now, once again, called O'Doherty's) and had asked me to participate in their ceremony, providing music.

Not only was it an honor to do so, but they also booked me into the Town Pump Tavern for a post-ceremony/reception party. The Town Pump Tavern has been around for 30 years and is a magical little place with a warm feel (partially due to the lay-lines that intersect at the stage.)

Just prior to our time in Black Mountain, Jae and I had stopped in Asheville and spent a couple of days there exploring the place. It was great to be back in the Swannanoa Valley and to be sharing it with her - even though the winding roads to get here nearly took her out. An avowed flatlander, Jae has a low tolerance for heights and curves.

All in all, it made for a magical weekend and the pictures from this North Carolina leg of the tour can be found here.

The Town Pump Tavern gig was a lot of fun (again, I played for three hours straight before a broken string forced me to take a four minute pause) and I'm looking forward to coming back some day. In the meantime, the next gigs on the horizon are this coming Friday at McWell's in Orlando; Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom on August 31st with Manitou and a return to The Logon Cafe in Beaumont, Texas on September 25th! Details on these shows can be found by checking out my gig calendar at http://tinyurl.com/bingcalendar!

Have a great week and thanks to everyone who made this weekend such a blast!

Ending On A High Note

The Swannanoa Gathering rolls out over the course of five weeks in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with the final week devoted to the music of mountain and hammered dulcimer. It was my first time experiencing this mix of community, family, instruction and beauty, leaving me breathless from the journey. Besides wonderful students in intensive workshops throughout the week, the fantastic fellowship among everyone, the gorgeous campus of Warren Wilson College and incredible food in the cafeteria and during mid-morning breaks, there was plenty of jamming to be had and evening concerts that entertained as well as enlightened. I, once again, had the distinct pleasure of sharing the stage with Ken Bloom and Ken Kolodner at the Monday night instructor concert, as well as joining Kolodner and Rob Brereton during the informal lunchtime concert series.

Jae and I are actually heading back up to this area of North Carolina this weekend to spend time with friends who are having a vow rededication ceremony in the mountains. I'm looking forward to sharing this beautiful spot of the country with my wife and also getting a chance to explore it some more, as I never left the campus during the week, picking and visiting and hanging around near the beer tent with the other students and instructors (now, a dulcimer festival with a beer tent, that's a novel idea!)

Next up: I'll be starting early tomorrow night at McWell's (5 pm) and performing throughout the evening for Simon Time Trivia, which begins at 8 pm. Then, Manitou is having a partial reunion in Manitou Springs, Colorado on Saturday, August 28th where our album "In The Garden Of The Gods" was recorded, followed by a gig at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on Tuesday, August 31st. After that, I'm actually home for awhile (imagine that.)

I'm working on getting back into the groove of things - including updating "Dulcimerica" - but for now, I'll settle for cleaning the studio, getting caught up with e-mail and, of course, picking.

Texas Sized Fun!

Well, to say that I had a blast in Texas is sort of understating the plot point. The Bayou City Music Festival was a lot of fun in Houston while t.v. appearances, workshops and a wild three-hour show at the Logon Cafe organized by Linda and Barry Evans of Sweet Sounds Dulcimer Shop was an exciting end to this stopover in the Lone Star State. I'll be back in September. Check out my three friends Gwennie (with floppy ears), Molly (all shaved up) and Briona (whom you can't miss, even if you tried.)



Now, I'm en route to Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville. Here's a great summation of what I'll be doing there along with Stephen Seifert, from Stephen's page:

"Bing Futch and I will be teaching, performing, and contest judging THIS WEEKEND at Kentucky Music Weekend 2010 in Louisville, KY. Here's the details:
Mountain Dulcimer Workshops

10 to 11:30 AM, Saturday, July 31 - Bing Futch and I are each preparing a 90-minute lesson plan covering a kind of greatest hits of each of our most popular topics. ($20 per person) We are both presenting our material in a way that easily scales from novice to intermediate. Before we begin, we'll each talk briefly about what we're going to teach so we can split into separate groups. In addition, we will both be available throughout the weekend for private lessons at $25 per half hour. If you want to be a better player, we want to help. Just let us know.

Performances

I will be performing a 20 minute set during Friday night's concert while Bing will be performing a 20 minute set during Saturday night's concert. You might catch us both sitting in on other sets as well.
Contest

I don't care how good a player you think or don't think you are. Come to this contest and play something you've been playing for a while. Don't try anything new. Some years, there's not very many contenders. Seriously, come give it a shot."

Thanks, Steve!

Now, I'm checked into a place in Forest, Mississippi where there is a Mexican restaurant within sight across the parking lot. How cool is that? Looks like I have a date with destiny. See you soon.

Houston Means That I'm One Day Closer To You

Had a great time at the Indiana Dulcimer Festival - huge thanks to Richard Ash and everyone at Folkcraft who made this event happen. Looks like you have really started something! See a neat article here. Pictures and video are now being posted on the IDF official website.

Got home and had just enough time to pack, go to Epcot to see 2U, and then roll out for Houston, Texas where I'm now getting ready for the second day of the Bayou City Music Festival. This is my first official show in the Lone Star State and they aren't kidding about Texas hospitality (though I had a taste of that at the Winter Creek Reunion last year, where I'll be returning in October.)

Looking forward to another fun couple of days of music before heading out to Beaumont Texas on Monday to teach a workshop and perform at the Logon Cafe.

Be sure to check my Facebook page for tons of video and pictures from this final leg of summer tour!

To all who come to this happy place...

I'm safely ensconced at the hotel in Woodburn, Indiana where the first annual Indiana Dulcimer Festival is taking place today and tomorrow. When the idea first came about from Richard Ash, president of Folkcraft Instruments, it was a shining beginning to yet another chapter of a wave created by the mountain dulcimer and its many enthusiastic supporters.

It's an honor, not only to be endorsed by Folkcraft, but to be a part of this first festival and to share teaching duties with Stephen Seifert and Lois Hornbostel, performers who have directly influenced my own journey on the instrument.

We're about to embark on two days of instruction and performance on a cornerstone set by Walt Disney 55 years ago with the dedication of Disneyland. When Richard mentioned the dates, the July 17th benchmark rang like a gong in my head. So, as we go forward in celebrating the music and legacy of the mountain dulcimer, not to mention the promise of the instrument as it moves into a wonderful and progressive future, I'm reminded of the spirit that infused the opening day of such a beautiful place not so long ago.

Many pictures to come, and video. Suffice it to say that this is a special weekend to be shared with enthusiasts of music and magic alike. Peace and be well.

Detroit Airport

Detroit Airport

Orlando International Airport

Orlando International Airport

En route

I'm the cab, heading to the airport. Hope Outback is open.

I've grown out my fingernails on the right hand in anticipation of focused fingerpicking. Takes some getting used to when they're usually nubs.

Will post some pics from the Florida-to-Indiana transition. Happy Friday, y'all!

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Tour Update!

I'd like to call it a whirlwind tour, but three weeks does not a whirlwind make! It was more of a steady breeze that carried me through six state stopovers, two major festivals, a trade show, three house concert/workshops and more Mexican food than I've had in a number of months. As I've discovered, it's easier to update via the iPhone than attempt to find wi-fi and use my laptop, which is why I mainly shot tons of pictures and then posted them on Facebook. There are over 400 photos from Nashville, Tennessee (NAMM Show), Townsend, Tennessee (The Pickin' Porch and the Great Smoky Mountains), Bardstown, Kentucky (Kentucky Music Week), Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio (Doug and Deena Snapp's), Portage, Pennsylvania (JT and Missy Taylor's) and Westminister, Maryland (Common Ground On The Hill.) You can find those pictures in three albums on Facebook entitled "Summer Tour 2010" parts 1, 2 and 3. The photos and captions tell the story:


Summer Tour 2010

Summer Tour 2010 Pt. 2


Summer Tour 2010 Pt. 3

Tomorrow, I fly out to Woodburn, Indiana for the 1st Annual Indiana Dulcimer Festival, teaching and performing along with Stephen Seifert and Lois Hornbostel, both of whom I've rubbed elbows with earlier on tour. Looking forward to a great weekend at Folkcraft Instruments headquarters. Returning on Monday, I'll have a quick shot at Epcot to see U2 tribute band 2U before climbing back into Buster and heading westwards to Houston, Texas for the Bayou City Music Festival, thereby kicking off the second leg of this crazy summer tour.

I'll try to be better about at least posting updates here on the blog - but if you follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter, you'll probably get more info until I'm back home with reliable wifi.

Many thanks to those of you who have signed up for the mailing list and regularly drop a line to say "hey". I do my best to answer each e-mail in timely fashion and sometimes the spam filter arbitrarily grabs a message. If you don't hear back from me, try again. We'll see you on the road.

There are Hotwire coupons you can use to get here.

aah......

The Energy of Excited

Going on tour is always an exciting prospect and, after it's all said and done, I'm also excited to come home as well. Variety is truly the spice of life for Sagittarius and it sometimes makes me do crazy things. Like last night, after The Pub Thang and Simon Time Trivia at McWell's - I packed up my gear, put it in Buster, went home, unpacked, re-packed, said goodbye to Jae and hopped in for a ten-hour drive to Nashville. Normally, I'll break up anything over eight hours into two days, but for some reason, I figured that I could do this without getting any sleep. I was right.

It's currently 4 p.m. ET and I've now been up for a consecutive 31 hours and showing no signs of fading. Too early to knock off now - better wait until later in the evening. Got a long day at NAMM tomorrow.

Met up with Richard and Nick from Folkcraft - got my exhibitor badge, heard some music at Tootsie's and checked into the hotel room, which is niftily within walking distance of Broadway. Hopefully, this time around, I'll get a chance to see 16th Avenue.

But for now, I'm thinking "pool." Pool, and maybe a nap.

Tradition

The annual 11th hour prep of songbooks.

Mountain Dulcimer Blues 101 at Mel Bay Dulcimer Sessions

Dulcimer Sessions » Blog Archive » Mountain Dulcimer Blues 101

peace in the garden

Showers of summer foreshadowed

Weather Conditions from The Weather Channel

Now for Orlando, FL (32805)

Temp: 98F
Feels like: 100F
Fair
Humidity: 31%
Wind: CALM at calm mph
Updated: 6/14/10 6:05 PM EDT

Dulcimerica 163 - "Key West Dulcimer Fest Pt. 5"

The Cool of future

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