Holy New Year Batman

Another year has come and gone and I can already hear the resolutions falling by the way side.  I haven't really committed to any resolutions this time around, I've already given up all the easy bad habits.  I don't smoke, don't drink, I stopped eating meat on my last birthday, I've even gone so far as to exercise every morning, so what's left?  I suppose I could work on becoming a better human being, but that kind of goes against my nature.  I could commit to writing a song every week, but that would probably be more difficult than exercising every morning,  and under that kind of pressure I could probably count on turning out at least fifty bad songs by the end of the year.  So here I am, in search of a resolution that make some sense, any suggestions will be thoughtfully considered.  Just don't expect me to give up my morning coffee, that would definitely take the better human being resolution off the table.  

    Happy New Year!

   

Sunday 8/21/11

Well it's been a while since I posted any earth shattering news on here, so I thought I'd check in and see if anyone is still out there.  I've been working on some tunes in the studio during the summer hiatus, I guess I'm probably going to put together a new disc soon.  No details as of yet, but as they say, bug me and it will get done.
   My brothers and I took off on a summer motorcycle adventure recently.  We journeyed up to Pennsylvania for the BMW rally in Bloomsberg.  Unfortunately we managed to have our journey coincide with a nasty heat wave that covered the entire north east.  It's just not funny when you leave Florida to seek the cooler northern climate and get shafted by Mother Nature.  Oh well, we did manage to have a laugh or two along the way in spite of the insane weather.
  Last night we made the short journey up to Melbourne to see our musical friends, String Theory.  A trio of folkies from the area, Bill Stewart on Guitar and vocals, Scott Taylor on violin, viola, mandolin and vocals, and Ken Parker on Bass.  They were playing at The House of Joe, a nice little venue right on US 192.  They did a great job and played some familiar and not so familiar tunes.  I'd say a good time was had by all.
   That's it for now, take care until next time.

   

                                                     
                                                                       
   

Monday, June13

   We put on our traveling shoes last weekend and headed out for high adventure.  My musical compadre' Paul G asked if I'd mind playing a little dobro and Hawaiian steel on his upcoming CD, and being the musical sleaze bag that most musicians are, I agreed to give it a shot.  We rendezvoused at a secret location and  made our way to the studio in the woods.  Things went well and we were treated like royalty by our hosts.   It's been my experience that people involved in artistic persuits are the best folks in the world.  I'm sure there are a few exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between.
   After we accomplished our recording goals and said our goodbyes to our hosts we headed for our weekend hide out in Gold Head Branch State Park.  A great park I'd never visited before, great hiking trails and I imagine at one time some beautiful lakes.  The sad state of the water shortage in Florida is painfully obvious by looking at all the dried up lake beds in this part of the state.  This area is supposed to be the recharging point for the states aquifer, if that's true, we're in worse shape than I thought.  It's a great place to visit just the same, and checking out the ravine is like going back to the stone age.
     We had some folks renting the cabin next to us who thought that all the nature was just a little to quiet for them, so they cranked up their boom box with some urban wildlife noises of their own.   We played it cool and let the party continue until it burned itself out, that or the ranger finally showed up and made them turn off their booty caller.  Just amazing!
   Until next time, keep your sense of humor intact!

Thursday 5/2/11

I have finally recovered from attending the Florida Folk Festival in White Springs and thought I'd post a short review of the event.  It was great!  Is that short enough?  Just kidding.  This years headliners were John Anderson, of Seminole Wind fame, and Billy Dean.  Both great performers and song writers, however I managed to miss all of their sets, I heard they were good from reliable sources.
   The one thing about this festival is that you miss more acts than you see.  It could be the heat, or the distance between stages, or it may just be that you get so busy having a good time you forget stop and smell the roses.  We caught up with all of our friends from around the state and managed not to get heat stroked, that was a challenge.
    Our missing bass player returned from her extended sick leave, and it was great to have her back.  We have been playing without her since November of last year, and hearing her sing harmonies with us again was just fantastic.  We're hoping she continues to improve over the summer, and is ready for the fall festival season.
   Until next time, don't let your strings rust!

Wednesday 5/25/11

So my compadre Norm got me this fantabulous guitar stand about a year and a half ago, it holds three guitars securely by grabbing the neck when you put the guitar on it.  It's called a Hercules Stand.  Well, one of the grabbing mechanism's went haywire on me and it wouldn't open all the way or close securely. So I tracked down the e-mail for the Hercules company and made some inquiries about getting a repair part.  No I didn't have the reciept, it was a gift. No, I didn't know where it was purchased.  So after a couple e-mails with the good folks at Hercules, they said "we're going to send you a RA #, ship the stand back to us and we'll send you a new one".  So I did, and within a weeks time I had the new and improved supersonic triple guitar stand back in hand.  I have always loved the way this stand works and I'm sure a few other folks have ordered stands based on seeing how awesome mine worked.  So I'm glad to report that this company stands behind their products and has received my official seal of approval.  If you'd like to see this amazing stand in action we'll be playing at the Florida Folk Festival Memorial day weekend inWhite Springs Florida.
  Until next time, Keep on Plucking!